Scientists are investigating a new type of computer that could use light instead of electricity. These "photonic" computers would process and store information using photons, tiny particles of light, rather than electrical currents. If this technology becomes a reality, it could lead to machines that are significantly faster, more energy-efficient, and capable of handling vast amounts of data with ease.

However, this idea is still in its early stages. One of the main challenges is controlling small beams of light as they move through a chip. Light needs to be guided with even more precision than electrical signals, and it must be redirected without losing strength.

To solve this, scientists need materials that prevent unwanted light from entering a system from any direction. These are called“isotropic bandgap materials.” They function like noise-cancelling headphones but for light, they block stray light waves so they don't interfere with important signals.

A Surprising New Material: Gyromorphs

Researchers at New York University (NYU) have discovered a new type of material called“gyromorphs” that might solve this challenge more effectively than any existing material.

Gyromorphs behave in a way that no standard material does. They have qualities of both liquids and crystals but perform better than both when it comes to preventing light from coming in from all directions. Their unique structure allows them to create very strong isotropic bandgaps, which are essential for photonic computers to work efficiently.

This discovery, published in Physical Review Letters, opens up a new way to control how materials interact with light. The researchers also believe gyromorphs could be used in various advanced optical technologies beyond computing.

Why Earlier Materials Weren't Good Enough

For a long time, scientists used a special class of structures called quasicrystals to create isotropic bandgap materials. First developed in the 1980s, quasicrystals follow strict mathematical rules but do not repeat in a regular pattern like ordinary crystals.

While quasicrystals can block light effectively, they have a major limitation. They either block light from only certain angles or slightly weaken light from all directions but do not fully block it. Scientists need materials that can do both at once, and quasicrystals simply can't do that. This pushed the NYU team to look for something new, something that could block stray light completely and evenly.

Designing a New Class of Metamaterials

In their research, the NYU team worked with metamaterials, engineered structures whose properties depend on their internal patterns rather than their composition. The challenge is that these patterns are very complex, making it difficult to predict how they will behave.

To address this, the scientists created an advanced algorithm that could generate materials with a specific type of built-in randomness. This led to the discovery of a new structural pattern known as“correlated disorder.”

How Gyromorphs Work

During the research, the team noticed that all effective isotropic bandgap materials had a certain structural pattern that gave them their light-blocking ability. They tried to amplify this pattern as much as possible.

The result was the creation of gyromorphs. According to Mathias Casiulis, the lead author of the paper: Gyromorphs have a liquid-like disorder because they don't have a fixed or repeating structure. But step back, and you see they also form regular patterns on a larger scale. These two features work together to stop lightwaves from passing through from any direction.

This combination, disordered up close, patterned from afar, was thought to be contradictory. But it turns out to be highly effective, creating bandgaps stronger than those found in traditional crystals or quasicrystals.

Gyromorphs could become a key component in the next generation of photonic technology. They may enable light-based computers to operate faster, stay cooler, and use far less energy than machines that rely on electricity.

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