GUWAHATI: A team of Italian scientists has achieved a groundbreaking feat by making light behave as a "supersolid," a rare state of matter that combines properties of both liquids and solids. Their findings, published on March 5 in the journal Nature, open new avenues for understanding quantum phases of matter.
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A supersolid is a unique phase where matter exhibits the ordered structure of a solid while flowing without friction like a superfluid. Previously, such states were observed only in ultracold atomic gases near absolute zero temperatures. This experiment marks the first time light has been manipulated to exhibit supersolid properties.
The researchers utilized a photonic semiconductor platform made of aluminum gallium arsenide. By directing laser light into this system, they induced photons to mimic the behavior of a Bose-Einstein condensate—a state where particles move in unison at extremely low temperatures. As the number of photons increased, they formed a condensate and transitioned into a supersolid state, displaying both a structured density pattern and superfluid characteristics.
This advancement offers a novel method to study light and could lead to significant progress in quantum physics and technology. The researchers suggest that this is just the beginning of exploring supersolidity, with potential implications for future technological applications.