Imagine a world where we can tweak the properties of light not just in space, but in time. Sounds futuristic, right? Well, scientists at Heriot-Watt University have made this a reality, marking a significant shift in photonic technology. After years of speculation, they’ve found a way to manipulate light’s optical properties through time, thanks to groundbreaking research at their School of Engineering and Physical Sciences in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Published in the prestigious journal Nature Photonics, this research involves some pretty clever experiments with transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). You might not realize it, but these materials are in everyday items like solar panels and touchscreens. The team has transformed them into ultra-thin films, just 250 nanometers thick, capable of manipulating light at extraordinary speeds.
Under the guidance of Dr. Marcello Ferrera, Associate Professor of Nanophotonics, the team, alongside Purdue University, achieved the impressive feat of controlling photon direction and energy by irradiating TCOs with ultra-fast light pulses. This innovation could be a game-changer for data processing, with potential impacts in optical computing, AI, and quantum technologies.
Dr. Ferrera explains, “By using a nonlinear material to fully exploit optical bandwidth, we can process vastly more information, benefiting data centers and advancing AI technology.” This could revolutionize bandwidth capabilities, making immersive 3D virtual meetings a reality and slashing energy consumption in computational processes.
He also notes, “The materials we are working on are the ingredients towards emulating the human brain through electronic hardware, lowering energy consumption and increasing processing power.” Key contributors Dr. Wallace Jaffray and Sven Stengel from the Heriot-Watt team emphasize the core achievement of manipulating TCOs to control photon speed, effectively adding a “fourth dimension” to light manipulation, enabling new quantum states and light control methods.
The quest for a material capable of fast, low-energy illumination changes has long been a target in all-optical technologies. Dr. Ferrera states, “This new class of time-varying media represents the biggest leap in optically controllable materials in decades, offering novel and exciting effects.” Vladimir M. Shalaev and Alexandra Boltasseva from Purdue University, who collaborated on the research, highlight the revolution brought by low-index transparent conductors in manipulating optical signals efficiently.
Their work demonstrates the unprecedented possibilities in using time for engineering optical properties beyond current fabrication capabilities.
