Erwin Schrödinger Center for Quantum Science & Technology (ESQ)

Research teams from TU Wien and from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found a surprising trick that allows a beam of light to be completely absorbed even in the thinnest of layers: They built a "light trap" around the thin layer using mirrors and lenses, in which the light beam is steered in a circle and then superimposed on itself – exactly in such a way that the beam of light blocks itself and can no longer leave the system. Thus, the light has no choice but to be absorbed by the thin layer – there is no other way out. This absorption-amplification method, which has now been presented in the scientific journal "Science", is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the two teams: the approach was suggested by Prof. Ori Katz from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and conceptualized with Prof. Stefan Rotter from TU Wien; the experiment was carried out in by the lab team in Jerusalem and the theoretical calculations came from the team in Vienna.

For more information see:

https://www.tuwien.at/en/tu-wien/news/news-articles/news/eine-perfekte-falle-fuer-licht-1

Massively degenerate coherent perfect absorber for arbitrary wavefronts, Science 377, 6609 (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abq8103