A group of scientists from Standford created a device that can trap and steer light. The new technology offers potential future applications. It can also possibly improve coronavirus detection in the future.

There is a myriad of potential technological applications that can be derived from light. If only we can discover a better way to tame it. That is what a group of Standford scientists just did. They introduced a resonant nanoantenna that can control and re-direct light.

Light, as we know, is incredibly fast. With that kind of speed, a fast-paced exchange of information would be possible. However, light is challenging to control. The chances of successfully steering it to allow it to interact with molecules are very slim.

Jennifer Dionne is a Stanford associate professor of materials science and engineering. She and her team researchers have created a new way to slow down light particles and steer it. They have structured thin silicon chips into super tiny bars that can trap light. Once caught, they can then control the light's direction. They call it "high-quality" resonators. 

High-Q resonators offer new ways of using light. The technology can be used for new applications, including VR, light-based WiFI, and virus detection. Lead author Mark Lawrence said that it is easy to catch light particles. However, it isn't easy to do it if the sides are transparent.

How did they do it?

Creating the device alone is a challenge in itself. The material used for the device is an ultra-thin slice of silicon. That very thin layer of silicon can trap light efficiently. Likewise, it has low near-infrared absorption qualities. The near-infrared is the region of the spectrum that the researchers want to control.

They then used a transparent material where the silicon layer will sit. In this research, the researchers used sapphire. Next, they used an electron microscope pen to make the pattern out of the material. The etched nanoantenna patterns will then serve as walls that will trap the light particles.

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Dionne said High-Q resonances need very smooth sidewalls to trap light effectively. They achieved it by designing a pattern that can do the job given the kind of material they have.

High-Q resonators for Coronavirus detection

Dionne and her team are applying the innovation to COVID-19 antigens and antibodies detection: biosensing. Antigens cause an immune response that creates the antibodies. Dionne said that the new technology could give a readout that doctors and clinicians can use. 

Still, it can be refined to detect a single virus or scattered antibodies. Typically, these biomolecules are hard to detect. Dionne said that the device was designed to allow each antenna to work independently. Therefore, the device can detect any type of antibodies at once.

Moreover, the technology has other applications such as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). LIDAR is a technology used in self-driving vehicles. Their innovation has useful applications in quantum science as well.

Lawrence said that they are excited to look at the new science that's achievable now. And also try to push the limits of what's possible.

Nature Nanotechnology published the paper last August 17, 2020.

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