Discover a new form of light

Light is an indispensable thing for everyday life so scientists are constantly discovering new things about light. Its basic nature makes us surprised. Its interaction with particles is extremely unexpected.

Recently, scientists at Imperial University, London seem to discover a new form of light created by combining light with a single electron.

Picture 1 of Discover a new form of light
Simulation of light trapped on the surface of topological insulator nanoparticles.(Photo: Vincenzo Giannini).

Normally, light will interact with a large amount of electrons. Using physical theories to simulate the behavior of particles and the type of material called topological insulators , scientists have obtained light that only interacts with a single electron. In a short time, topological insulators create bridges that maintain the characteristics of both light and electrons.

Creating new forms of light is important for many reasons, most importantly because this form of light can combine well with light and electrons.

Normal electrons will stop and cannot continue when there are no perfect points on the surface of the molecules it passes through. However, this new form of light allows electrons to ignore the defect and continue to move. This creates stronger and less vulnerable atoms.

Currently all are simulated models. Dr. Vincenzo Giannini is the leader of the research team, believing that this interaction can be turned into reality thanks to current technology. He also believes that this granulation process is also scaled up for easy observation.

The study has just been published in the journal Nature.