A sub-femtosecond stop watch for 'photon finish' races

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Diagram of two stack configurations with odd numbers of layers. Blue layers have a high index of refraction white layers a low. The stacks are nearly identical with the exception of where the extra layer is deposited. Credit: NIST
Diagram of two stack configurations with odd numbers of layers. Blue layers have a high index of refraction, white layers a low. The stacks are nearly identical with the exception of where the extra layer is deposited. Credit: NIST

Using a system that can compare the travel times of two photons with sub-femtosecond precision, scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute (a partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland) and Georgetown University have found a remarkably large difference in the time it takes photons to pass through nearly identical stacks of materials with different arrangements of refractive layers.


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