Date Published: Nov. 1, 2024
Photon density mode guiding examples: (a) Numerical simulation of light transport through the human head, illuminated from the top. (b) Photograph of light guiding in human arm tendons.
Ewan Wright, professor of optical sciences, is co-author of a recent publication in Nature Physics, "Energy transport in diffusive waveguides." The article introduces a novel "waveguiding" mechanism for controlling light through scattering materials. Inspired by the way sunlight scatters through clouds, this method uses a low-scattering core encased in a highly scattering material to guide light with exceptional precision, offering transformative applications in medical imaging, thermal management, and nuclear technologies.
Daniele Faccio, professor of physics & astronomy at the University of Glasgow and adjunct professor of optical sciences at the Wyant College said, “We're still learning new tricks about light, in this case by a process that we were surprised to discover has more in common with our understanding of the way heat travels than light. That means that we can expect to use this technique to find new ways to see inside opaque biological tissue using light, but also that we can apply it to guide more than just photons. We could create new ways to carry heat through systems which need to be cooled, like data centre computers, or to transport particles like neutrons, which could open up new applications for nuclear power plants, for example.”
The research was supported by funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and UK Research and Innovation. Read more from the University of Glasgow.