"Laser light casting a shadow was previously thought impossible since light usually passes through other light without interacting," said Abrahao in a statement. "Our demonstration of a very counter-intuitive optical effect invites us to reconsider our notion of shadow."
"What started as a funny discussion over lunch led to a conversation on the physics of lasers and the nonlinear optical response of materials," Abrahao explained. "From there, we decided to conduct an experiment to demonstrate the shadow of a laser beam."
In simple terms, the green laser acted more like an object, not a beam of light, creating what by all accounts could be described as a shadow.
The researchers suggest this is because of "optical nonlinear absorption" occurring inside of the ruby cube. The green light increases the absorption of the blue beam, creating a darker region that casts the shadow.
#laser-physics #optical-phenomena #nonlinear-optics #scientific-experiments #brookhaven-national-laboratory
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