'Strange effect' raises possibility of smaller, smarter optical filters

Polarization, in sync. On the macro, everyday level, it reads as an oxymoron. To the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Xia Hong and her fellow nanoscientists, though, the apparent contradiction makes a kind of harmonious sense. And it might just spur the development of smaller, more versatile optical filters that are especially adept at playing with a trick of the light.