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Self-assembling structures close the gap to trap light

An innovative method uses the intrinsic attractive force between silicon surfaces that are separated by a tiny gap to engineer structures that can confine light — offering an ideal set-up for manipulating single photons.
  1. Takashi Asano

    1. Takashi Asano is in the Quantum Optoelectronics Laboratory, Kyoto University, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan.

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Light is generally thought of as an electromagnetic wave that propagates through space, but it is actually possible to trap it in a tiny region for a short time1–5. Confining light increases its energy density, and thus strengthens the intensity of its electric field. This enhances the interaction between light and matter — an effect that can be used to generate single photons on demand6, enabling the processing of quantum information7–9. One of the most promising light-confinement techniques uses silicon, and can therefore benefit from the advanced silicon-processing technologies of the electronic-circuit industry. But this method requires the silicon to be fabricated with nanoscale features that are difficult to engineer. Writing in Nature, Babar et al.10 report a clever approach that uses attractive interactions to create gaps that solve the problem.

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Nature 624, 49-50 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03685-0

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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