Tiny Light Box Merges States of Light, Matter

A nanosize light box, built from stacked atomically thin material, has demonstrated the ability to capture and amplify light and link light to matter at the nanolevel. The light box, created by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, makes the alternation between light and matter take place so rapidly that it becomes impossible to distinguish between the two states. The discovery combines the work of two research teams at Chalmers — one team’s work with nanoantennas, and another team’s research into transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials. Using a box built from stacked atomically thin layers of the material tungsten disulfide, Chalmers researchers created a type of feedback loop in which light...