Light-driven nanoscale vectorial currents. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38326619/)

These scientists wanted to study how light can control the flow of electricity in really tiny things called nanostructures. They used special materials called metasurfaces that can manipulate light in different ways. They used ultrafast light pulses to make the electricity flow in a specific direction around these nanostructures. They could control how the electricity flowed by changing the pattern of the nanostructures. They could also see the flow of electricity by using special tools that can detect different colors and polarizations of light. They found that by using a material called graphene, they could make the electricity flow even faster and in more precise ways. This study is important because it can help us develop new technologies for things like faster computers and better medical devices.

Pettine J., Padmanabhan P., Shi T., Gingras L., McClintock L., Chang CC., Kwock KWC., Yuan L., Huang Y., Nogan J., Baldwin JK., Adel P., Holzwarth R., Azad AK., Ronning F., Taylor AJ., Prasankumar RP., Lin SZ., Chen HT. Light-driven nanoscale vectorial currents. Nature. 2024 Feb 7. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07037-4.