Mar 14, 2025 23:00:00

Scientists successfully convert light into a 'supersolid' that combines properties of both a solid and a liquid for the first time

In a paper published in the scientific journal Nature on March 5, 2025, an international team of physicists reported that they had succeeded in converting laser light into a '

supersolid ' that is both solid and liquid. Live Science, a science news site, explains what a supersolid is and the significance of being able to generate it from light.

Emerging supersolidity in photonic-crystal polariton condensates | Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08616-9

Laser light made into a supersolid for the first time
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-laser-supersolid.html

Scientists turn light into a 'supersolid' for the 1st time ever: What that means, and why it matters | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/scientists-turn-light-into-a-supersolid-for-the-1st-time-ever-what-that-means-and-why-it-matters

Laser Light Transformed Into a Supersolid in Groundbreaking Experiment - The Debrief
https://thedebrief.org/laser-light-transformed-into-a-supersolid-in-groundbreaking-experiment/

Supersolids are a strange state of matter defined by quantum mechanics, in which particles are both solid and arranged like crystals, but also behave like a non-viscous liquid. Viscosity, in this case, refers to the friction within the material, and determines how smoothly the material flows. And while solids usually don't move on their own, supersolids maintain their orderly lattice structure, but change direction and density depending on the interactions of their particles.

Supersolids require extremely low temperatures, typically very close to absolute zero, to form, and at the lowest energy state possible, the noise that heat introduces into particle interactions disappears, and the behavior of matter becomes governed by quantum mechanics, including the loss of viscosity; all fluids, except for superfluids and supersolids, have some degree of viscosity.

A well-known example of a non-viscous fluid is helium cooled to a temperature close to absolute zero. When frictionless, superfluid helium exhibits the strange behavior of flowing up the walls of a glass and spilling out of it on its own.

Scientists

have previously used atomic gases to create supersolids, but the research announced this time employs an entirely new mechanism to create supersolids from light, without using atoms.

The key to achieving this was a quasiparticle called a polariton , which is a coupling between light and matter. The team first precisely shaped a piece of semiconductor gallium arsenide to create a special protruding shape that interacts with laser light.

When a laser is shone on the ridges of the gallium flakes, the light interacts with the material to generate polaritons, whose movement is restricted by the shape of the ridges, creating a supersolid state. In other words, the light binds to the material and condenses into a supersolid.

by Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08616-9

Supersolids are important for the study of quantum mechanics because they exhibit tiny quantum interactions between particles that are independent of temperature. In particular, supersolids made from light are more flexible and easier to handle than supersolids made from atoms, which may lead to a better understanding of the general properties of supersolids.

And our deeper understanding of the world of cryogenic matter and quantum mechanics could lead to applications we can't yet imagine, like quantum computing, superconductors and even friction-free lubricants.

The research team plans to continue further research by investigating the structure of their newly created supersolid, focusing on its crystal structure.