idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
An international team of researchers from École polytechnique, Collège de France, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has achieved a world first: the experimental realization of an all-optical photonic time crystal (PTC), a material whose optical properties can be strongly and periodically modulated in time at ultrafast scales. Published in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10825-9), this breakthrough leverages HZDR’s TELBE superradiant terahertz source to drive the system into a new regime of light-matter interaction in the terahertz range. This discovery paves the way for ultrafast optical computing, new telecommunication systems and eventually new types of terahertz lasers.
Shaping the properties of light as it interacts with materials is the foundation of many discoveries and technological advances, whether optical fibers in telecommunications, lasers as light sources, or sensors for chemistry and biology.
At École polytechnique, scientists are setting the groundwork for a technology that has yet to be widely exploited: Prof. Yannis Laplace, assistant professor at École polytechnique and his team at the Laboratory of Irradiated Solids (LSI) are developing new photonic devices to control light in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. Research into this frequency band – 1,000 times faster than used for electronic components, is rapidly progressing and could unlock up new insights for observing and manipulating matter. “The THz range represents the frontier between electronic and photonic technologies,” explains Laplace. ”It is a range full of opportunities both for science and for the society, yet is still under-developed technologically compared to its electrical and photonic counterparts. Creating photonic crystals could lead the way to the closing of this gap.”
The breakthrough: from spatial to temporal control
Those photonic crystals are nanostructured materials with a periodic optical pattern (like a lattice) that controls the flow of photons. By cleverly adjusting the refractive index and the shapes of different materials, they can block, guide, or enhance specific wavelengths, similar to how semiconductors control electrons.
In previous studies, this research team had demonstrated how manipulating temperature or magnetic fields could alter the light-capturing properties of photonic crystals, but until now their control was static in time. This new work introduces the very first photonic time crystals, where the material’s optical properties (e.g., reflectivity, resonance frequency) are dynamically modulated on picosecond timescales, comparable to the light’s own oscillation cycle. “By extending photonic crystals from space to time, we open a new dimension for light control – and a novel path toward amplification and lasing. That could be a game-changer for optical technologies at terahertz frequencies and beyond,” explains Tingwen Guo, PhD student at École polytechnique and lead author on the publication.
Overcoming the arduous technical challenge
To unlock the ability to alter photon properties over time, scientists had to build a one-of-a-kind, complex device. Enrolling the help of Thales’ Laboratoire Albert Fert and Polytechnique’s Physics of Interfaces (PICM) laboratories, they created a special kind of photonic crystal, called “plasmonic metamaterial”. They consist of micrometer-scale gold crenellated structures, beneath which lies an insulating layer and, finally, a semiconductor material made of mixture of indium and antimony. These crenellations act as cavities that trap photons of light between the gold layer and the semiconductor layer; the excitation of the surface of this semiconductor leads to “surface plasmons”, where the electrons behave as a kind of collective wave able to capture light and sustain its oscillations.
By sending terahertz laser pulses to this device, thanks to the intense and frequency-tunable terahertz source TELBE at HZDR’s ELBE accelerator, the researchers demonstrated that the material’s optical properties, particularly its ability to reflect light, were modulated very strongly over very short timescales. This is an experimental feat, as achieving modulation that is both very strong (like forcing an object to emit a whole different color) and very rapid (on the picosecond scale – one billionth of a billionth of a second) was extremely difficult. “TELBE’s unique ability to generate high-field, phase-stable terahertz pulses was critical,“ confirmed Dr. Jan-Christoph Deinert, the coordinator of the TELBE facility. “Without this infrastructure, achieving the coherent, ultrafast modulation needed for the PTC regime would have been impossible. “
Beyond the experimental observations, a theoretical model developed by Dr. Marco Schiró, research scientist at Collège de France, and his team confirmed the experimental results, providing an explanation for the behavior of the photons within the device. The temporal modulation was also shown to reduce dissipation of photons within the metamaterial, i.e. the proportion of photons not reflected but passing through the surface of the material, by half. “The theory not only reproduces the experiment but also provides the basis for guiding future discoveries in this system,” rejoiced Schiró.
Enabling future optical applications
The next step will be to figure out how to further prevent the dissipation of photons through the crystals, then amplifying the number of photons trapped within the device. At high level of amplification, they could be the source of new lasers with unparalleled modularity. This breakthrough could transform how we use light in technology, particularly in the terahertz range. By enabling the modulation of light over such short timescales, these photonic time crystals bring us closer to new types of ultrafast lasers for medical imaging and communications, and enables on-demand tuning of light’s properties, like changing its "color" or intensity instantly, for smarter, more adaptable optical systems.
Publication:
T. Guo, J. Sueiro, G. M. Andolina, A. Levchuk, S. Ponzoni, R. Grasset, D. Monthe, I. Aupiais, D. Daineka, J. Briatico, T. V. A. G de Oliveira, A. Ponomaryov, A. Arshad, A. Karimbana-Kandy, G. L. Prajapati, I. Ilyakov, J.-C. Deinert, S. F. Maehrlein, L. Perfetti, M. Schiró , Y. Laplace, Plasmonic metamaterial time crystal, in Nature (2026) (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10825-9)
Further information:
Dr. Jan-Christoph Deinert
Institute of Radiation Physics at HZDR
Phone: +49 351 260 3626 | Email: j.deinert@hzdr.de
Media contacts:
Laëtitia Piriou | Media Relations Officer
École polytechnique
Phone: +33 1 69 33 38 70 | Mobile: +33 6 66 53 56 10 | Email: laetitia.piriou@polytechnique.edu
Simon Schmitt | Head
Communications and Media Relations at HZDR
Phone: +49 351 260 3400 | Mobile: +49 175 874 2865 | Email: s.schmitt@hzdr.de
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) performs – as an independent German research center – research in the fields of energy, health, and matter. We focus on answering the following questions:
• How can energy and resources be utilized in an efficient, safe, and sustainable way?
• How can malignant tumors be more precisely visualized, characterized, and more effectively treated?
• How do matter and materials behave under the influence of strong fields and in smallest dimensions?
To help answer these research questions, HZDR operates large-scale facilities, which are also used by visiting researchers: the Ion Beam Center, the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources. HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association and has seven sites (Dresden, Freiberg, Görlitz, Grenoble, Leipzig, Rostock, Schenefeld near Hamburg) with almost 1,500 members of staff, of whom about 700 are scientists, including 200 Ph.D. candidates.
About École polytechnique
École polytechnique, also known as L’X, is a higher education and research Institution that cultivates multidisciplinary and scientific excellence. L’X combines research, education and innovation at the highest scientific and technological level. The Institution promotes a culture of excellence with a strong emphasis on science, anchored in humanist traditions. Through its range of training programs – Bachelor of Science, École polytechnique engineering program, Masters of Science and Technology, Executive Masters, Continuing education - École polytechnique trains leaders with a strong multidisciplinary scientific culture by exposing them to both the world of research and industry. With its 23 laboratories, including 22 joint research units with the CNRS, École polytechnique works at the frontiers of knowledge on major interdisciplinary challenges in the scientific, technological and societal fields. École polytechnique is a founding member of Institut Polytechnique de Paris.
Dr. Jan-Christoph Deinert
Institute of Radiation Physics at HZDR
Phone: +49 351 260 3626 | Email: j.deinert@hzdr.de
T. Guo, J. Sueiro, G. M. Andolina, A. Levchuk, S. Ponzoni, R. Grasset, D. Monthe, I. Aupiais, D. Daineka, J. Briatico, T. V. A. G de Oliveira, A. Ponomaryov, A. Arshad, A. Karimbana-Kandy, G. L. Prajapati, I. Ilyakov, J.-C. Deinert, S. F. Maehrlein, L. Perfetti, M. Schiró , Y. Laplace, Plasmonic metamaterial time crystal, in Nature (2026) (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10825-9)
https://www.hzdr.de/presse/ptc
A terahertz electromagnetic wave induces strong, fast temporal modulations that realize a photonic t ...
Quelle: B. Schröder
Copyright: B. Schröder/HZDR
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten
Chemie, Energie, Informationstechnik, Physik / Astronomie, Werkstoffwissenschaften
überregional
Forschungsergebnisse, Kooperationen
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
