Metamaterials provide active control of 'slow light' devices

LANL researchers and collaborators have made the first demonstration of rapidly switching on and off "slow light" in specially designed metamate­rials at room temperature. Metamaterials are assemblies of multiple individual ...

X-rays capture electron 'dance'

(Phys.org)—The way electrons move within and between molecules, transferring energy as they go, plays an important role in many chemical and biological processes, such as the conversion of sunlight to energy in photosynthesis ...

Demagnetization by rapid spin transport

The fact that an ultrashort laser pulse is capable of demagnetizing a ferromagnetic layer in a jiffy has been well-known since approximately 1996. What we don't yet understand, however, is how exactly this demagnetization ...

Speeding up electronics to light frequencies

(Phys.org)—Modern information processing allows for breathtaking switching rates of about a 100 billion cycles per second. New results from the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP) of Prof. Ferenc Krausz (Max Planck ...

X-ray laser takes aim at cosmic mystery

Scientists have used powerful X-rays from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, to study and measure, in atomic detail, a key process at work in extreme plasmas like those found ...

Making insulator conduct

(Phys.org)—New results on the interaction of femto- and attosecond light pulses with a solid insulator hold promise for reaching electronic switching rates up to the petahertz domain.

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