Scientists Capture the First Ever Photograph of Light as Both a Particle and a Wave

Light behaves as both a particle and a wave. Now, though, researchers have succeeded in capturing a snapshot of the dual behavior of light for the very first time.

Quantum mechanics tell us that light can behave simultaneously as a particle or a wave. However, there has never been an experiment able to capture both natures of light at the same time; the closest we've come before now is seeing either a wave or a particle-but not both.

When UV light hits a metal surface, it causes an emission of electrons. In order to see both particle and wave properties, the researchers used electrons to image light. This resulted in a single snapshot of light behaving simultaneously as both a wave and a stream of particles.

For the experiment, a pulse of laser light was fired at a tiny metallic nanowire. The laser added energy to the charged particles in the nanowire, causing them to vibrate. Light traveled along the wire in two possible directions. When waves traveling in opposite directions met each other, they formed a new wave that appeared as if it was standing in place. This standing wave because the source of light for the experiment. Then, the researchers shot a stream of electrons close to the nanowire to image the standing wave. As the electrons interacted with the confined light, they either sped out or slowed down. The researchers then used an ultrafast microscope to image the position where this change in speed occurred.

"This experiment demonstrates that, for the first time ever, we can film quantum mechanics-and its paradoxical nature-directly," said Fabrizio Carbone, one of the researchers, in news release. "Being able to image and control quantum phenomena at the nanometer scale like this opens up a new route towards quantum computing."

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

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