The Random Anti-Laser
(World News Austria)

The laser is the perfect light source: As long as it is provided with energy, it generates light of a specific, well-defined colour. However, it is also possible to create the opposite - an object that perfectly absorbs light of a particular colour and dissipates the energy almost completely. At TU Wien (Vienna), a method has now been developed to make use of this effect, even in very complicated systems in which light waves are randomly scattered in all directions. The method was developed in Vienna with the help of computer simulations, and confirmed by experiments in cooperation with the University of Nice. This opens up new possibilities for all technical disciplines that have to do with...