Italian scientists have made a significant achievement by freezing light, which challenges fundamental physics principles. The discovery, published in Nature, shows that light can behave like a supersolid, a rare type of matter that flows without friction while preserving a hard structure.
The study, led by Antonio Gianfate of CNR Nanotec and Davide Nigro of the University of Pavia, demonstrates that light can achieve supersolidity under precise quantum circumstances, which was previously only observed in ultracold atomic systems such as Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC).
Instead of cooling light in the typical way, the scientists used advanced quantum techniques to manipulate photons within a semiconductor platform. Polaritons, hybrid light-matter particles, were generated by shooting a laser at a gallium arsenide lattice with nanoscale ridges. As photon density grew, they created satellite condensates, a characteristic pattern indicating supersolidity.
“At temperatures near absolute zero, quantum effects emerge,” the researchers noted. Their findings not only redefine light’s behaviour but also open up new possibilities for quantum computing and photonic circuits. Supersolid light has the potential to assist in stabilising qubits, which are the foundation of future quantum computers.
Beyond computing, this discovery has the potential to alter optical technology and increase our knowledge of quantum mechanics.
