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Quantum optoelectronics

Swift switch of the strong

Nature volume 458, pages 157–158 (2009)Cite this article

How fast can light and matter be made to interact? 'Almost instantaneously' is the answer provided in the latest study of semiconductor structures embedded in an optical microcavity.

In recent decades, few things have changed as rapidly as the way in which we communicate with one another over distance. Starting from basic telephony, we have moved on to the Internet and web-based communication: e-mail, instant messaging, blogging, Facebook and Twitter. Rarely do we realize, however, that we owe the speed and pervasiveness of web-based communication to our ability to switch light on and off swiftly and conveniently in semiconductor devices. Fast-forward into the future, when transferring increasing amounts of data will require manipulation of light at even greater speeds, and at least one crucial question will need to be addressed: how fast can light–matter interactions, the building blocks of switches and light modulators, be turned on and off? On page 178 of this issue, Günter et al.1 show that ultrastrong coupling of light and matter can be turned on practically instantaneously, significantly faster than a single oscillation cycle of the light involved in the process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Claire Gmachl is in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and the Engineering Research Center for Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA. cgmachl@princeton.edu,

    Claire Gmachl

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  1. Claire Gmachl
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Gmachl, C. Swift switch of the strong. Nature 458, 157–158 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458157a

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