Research
Physicists use laser light to unlock a crystal's hidden electrical powers
The Brief
- Scientists report a way to use flashes of laser light to organise tiny electrical regions inside a crystal.
- The laser-induced alignment lasts only about a trillionth of a second.
- The work is presented as a solution to a decades-old mystery about how the material behaves.
Why it matters
It offers a light-based way to control the electrical structure of a crystal, which could help explain its behaviour, although the effect is extremely short-lived.
Who’s affected
- physicists and materials scientists
- #laser
- #crystals
- #condensed matter
- #materials science
- #physics
Scientists have discovered how to use flashes of laser light to organize tiny electrical regions inside a crystal, solving a decades-old mystery about how the material behaves. The laser-induced alignment lasts just a trillionth of a second, but the breakthrough could open the…