Light: it’s fast, massless, and goes straight through stuff. Right? Well, physicists in Italy just said, “Hold my espresso,” and turned light into something that’s both a solid and a liquid. Yes, you read that correctly. They’ve created a supersolid out of light, a feat previously thought to be the exclusive domain of ridiculously cold atoms.
Researchers in Italy have achieved a scientific first by turning light into a supersolid — a rare and exotic phase of matter that behaves like a liquid and a solid. The recent findings in multiple science news outlets, including the Economic Times, Live Science, and ScienceAlert, represent a major milestone in quantum physics and photonics research.
The team’s work demonstrates that light, typically viewed as massless and highly mobile, can be encouraged to form a structured state that holds its shape like a solid while still flowing like a fluid. This hybrid behavior indicates a supersolid, a state previously observed only under very specific conditions in ultracold atomic gases.
According to reports, the researchers created this state by coupling photons with a semiconductor material that allowed the light particles to interact — a behavior they do not typically exhibit. Through careful tuning, these photon-matter hybrids, known as polaritons, exhibited supersolid behavior at the quantum level.
A new phase of light
In classical physics, solids hold their shape and resist deformation, while liquids flow freely. Supersolids defy that dichotomy. They form crystal-like structures, but their particles move without friction — a phenomenon known as superfluidity.
By achieving this state with light-based quasi-particles, the researchers have effectively expanded the known light phases and shown that photons can organize into patterns usually associated with structured matter while maintaining flow.
The experiment builds on decades of theoretical predictions and previous work with Bose-Einstein condensates, which can also demonstrate supersolid characteristics under ultra-cold conditions. However, creating a photonic supersolid is especially challenging because photons typically do not interact.
Potential implications
While this discovery is in its early stages, physicists say it could eventually lead to breakthroughs in quantum simulation, precision sensing, and quantum computing. Supersolid light could provide a new medium for studying complex quantum behaviors and might be harnessed in future technologies that rely on quantum particles’ coherent, frictionless motion.
Moreover, using light as the medium — rather than ultracold atoms — suggests a route toward systems that are easier to scale or integrate into photon-based quantum devices.
Broader context
The discovery follows growing global interest in engineered quantum materials and light-matter interactions, which are foundational to the next generation of computing and communications systems. Research teams from institutions in Europe, North America, and Asia have been working to understand and manipulate quantum states of light for use in practical technologies.
While many technical hurdles remain before supersolid light can be applied in devices, experts agree the results mark a compelling development in fundamental physics.
The findings have been widely discussed in science media, including the Economic Times, Live Science, and ScienceAlert.
