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The field of topology or the study of how surfaces behave in different dimensions has profoundly influenced the current understanding of matter. The prime example is the topological insulator, which conducts electricity only on the surface while being completely insulating inside the bulk. Topological insulators behave like a metal, i.e., silver on the surface, but inside, it would behave like glass. These properties are defined using the conductivity or flow of electrons depicting whether there is a highway or a road-block for their motion. One major driver of future applications for topological insulators is in the field of spin-electronic devices since these electrons spin in unison, all aligned with each other while flowing on the surface.

Replacing traditional computer chip components with light-based counterparts will eventually make electronic devices faster due to the wide bandwidth of light. A new protective metamaterial "cladding" prevents light from leaking out of the very curvy pathways it would travel in a computer chip.

A new approach to control forces and interactions between atoms and molecules, such as those employed by geckos to climb vertical surfaces, could bring advances in new materials for developing quantum light sources.

An international research team has used a "thermal metamaterial" to control the emission of radiation at high temperatures, an advance that could bring devices able to efficiently harvest waste heat from power plants and factories.

A newly described property related to the "spin" and momentum of light waves suggests potential practical applications in photonic communications and photonic circuits. Scientists already knew that light waves have an electric field that can rotate as they propagate, which is known as the polarization property of light, and that light waves carry momentum in their direction of motion. In new findings, researchers have discovered a "spin-momentum locking," meaning, for example, light waves that spin in a counterclockwise direction can only move forward, and vice versa.