Credit: AlexanderAlUS via Wikimedia Commons
This illustration depicts the structure of graphene, which consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern. A new simulation suggests that spiraling pulses of polarized laser light could change graphene's nature, turning it from a metal to an insulator. Led by researchers at SLAC and Stanford, the study paves the way for experiments that create and control new states of matter with this specialized form of light.