Turning a material from opaque to transparent, or from a conductor to an insulator, in an instant might sound like science fiction, but it’s quickly becoming reality. In recent years, scientists have used lasers to control the properties of matter at incredibly fast speeds, within just one cycle of a light wave. However, these changes happen on the attosecond timescale (a billionth of a billionth of a second), making them extraordinarily difficult to observe.
Now, in a study published in Nature Photonics, Professor Nirit Dudovich and her team at the Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a groundbreaking method to track these ultrafast material changes. This advancement in attosecond science, the field that explores the fastest processes in nature, could open new doors for technologies such as ultrafast computing and next-generation communications.
To read more, click here.