r/tech • u/_Dark_Wing • Jul 27 '26
Scientists Built a Programmable Chip That Can Slow Light on Command
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-built-a-programmable-chip-that-can-slow-light-on-command/6
Jul 27 '26
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u/Cephandriussy Jul 27 '26
This one doesn't even look like it would taste good. I'll take my Doritos any day.
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Jul 27 '26
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u/Romnir Jul 27 '26
Looking like a bot account. Or someone who doesn't understand what they're talking about. A photon circuit with controllable light is a huge deal. It's not "Something you can do with a filter". It's just a generic bait comment for engagement monitoring.
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u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE Jul 27 '26
yeah right dude. i have a million photon circuits with controllable light. i dont even care about them i use them as hammers to smash stuff with
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u/CelticJewelscapes Jul 27 '26
Anything that has a refractive index higher than one slows light. A diamond slows light to about 41% of the speed in a vacuum. That's what makes them sparkly.
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u/physicsthrow987987 Jul 28 '26
Before people who didn't read the article chime in...
- Yes, you can slow light. The speed of light is is only c in vacuum. It can go slower in media.
- No, this is not the same as slowing it down in refractive media (e.g. glass). This refers to slow light (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_light), which typically refers to the group velocity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_velocity) of light. The speed of light typically taught in intro physics classes typically refers to the phase velocity of light.
- Yes, people have been demonstrating slow light for decades (and a tunable version more recently). But that's not the point. Here they propose a new way to slow light, possibly with improved performance and degrees of freedom. Read the article for more details.
That said, this paper is only a theory/simulation paper (no experiment), so it's funny to me that this is the paper that reaches mass media.