Light speeds through space, bouncing off objects as it races at about 186,282 miles per second. Now, scientists may have found a way to halt this mad dash. They've discovered that they can slow light by using embedded dye molecules in a liquid crystal matrix. Picture of the experimental setup for slow light in the liquid crystals medium: a green (532nm) laser beam is directed to the sample where it induces the structural changes of the dyes which are responsible for the slow light effect. (Photo : Umberto Bortolozzo.)
So what can this light do? If scientists can slow down the light enough, they could potentially store the pulses for optical communications. While the long length of the light pulses in this study makes this application impractical, the technique is well suited to sensing and interferometry applications. In fact, it can be potentially be used to build a highly sensitive instrument that works on a principle similar to the concept behind a police officer's radar gun.
"Realizing slow and stopped light in these media is very exciting both for the fundamental research that discovers such new effects in soft matter systems, and for the new possibilities that these investigations could open in the fields of remote sensing and optical storage, said Umberto Bortolozzo, one of the researchers, in a news release.
The findings are published in two papers, one in Optics Express and one in Optics Letters.
