Researchers at Imperial College London conducted a double-slit experiment using "slits in time" rather than "slits in space." This experiment involved passing light through a material that changes from transparent to reflective in response to certain wavelengths of light. By using a pump-probe laser system, the researchers created "time slits" that allowed them to redirect the beam of light for very short periods of time.
The results of the experiment showed a high degree of similarity between the spatial and time data, with the arriving pulse having a central carrier frequency and many additional frequencies. The researchers found that even with a single pulse, they got a broadening of the colors, but no interference pattern. However, when they used two pulses, they observed an interference pattern, similar to the one seen in the spatial double-slit experiment.
The researchers believe that this experiment could have useful applications in the future, such as fast optical switching for signal processing or reconfigurable components for optical computers. They also suggest that this technology could potentially enable processing information using light, rather than just transporting information using light. However, at the moment, the technology is still impractical for widespread use.
Overall, the experiment demonstrates the ability to create "slits in time" and observe the resulting interference pattern, which could have significant implications for our understanding of the behavior of light and its potential applications in technology.
Based on the provided text, here are the key facts:
1. Physicists at Imperial College London have conducted the famous double slit experiment using slits in time rather than slits in space [Source: Document(page_content="00:00:00.00: just this past month physicists are...")]
2. The experiment confirmed that behaviors in time and space are correlated [Source: Document(page_content="00:00:19.68: confirmed that behaviors in time and...")]
3. The experiment resulted in an advance in understanding that may help us one day make computers and bits out of beams of light rather than out of electrons and silicon [Source: Document(page_content="00:00:27.66: resulted in an advance in our...")]
4. The researchers used a material called indium tin oxide (Ito) in their experiment. Ito is a transparent material that makes your phone's touch screen work. It also transitions from transparent to reflective in response to certain wavelengths of light in a process called the Cur effect [Source: Document(page_content="00:02:30.90: researcher behind this project and his...")]
5. The research team used a common experimental approach in Optical physics called a pump probe laser system. The pump laser is responsible for eliciting a change in a material, while the probe laser probes the physics that's happening [Source: Document(page_content="00:03:50.52: researchers used a really...")]
6. The researchers used two pulses of light 2.3 picoseconds apart to create a sharp transition in the material, creating a temporal double slit [Source: Document(page_content="00:09:39.00: 2.3 picoseconds apart but we actually...")]
7. The research team found that the transition speed of the Ito was less than 10 femtoseconds, which is 10 millionth of a billionth of a second [Source: Document(page_content="00:10:48.30: found that it took less than 10...")]
8. The researchers believe that this sort of time-varying metamaterial could have several useful applications, such as fast optical switching for signal processing or reconfigurable components for things like optical computers [Source: Document(page_content="00:11:02.34: several actually quite useful...")]