Out: Lasers. In: Anti-lasers!

The researchers were looking into theories to explain which materials might be used to create lasers, and their theory predicted that it should also be possible to create a medium capable of absorbing incoming light. The device they ended up with turns to lasers tuned to a specific frequency into a silicon optical cavity. The cavity traps the light, forcing it to bounce around until all of its energy is dissipated as heat.

Their demo device can absorb 99.4 percent of incoming light at a specific wavelength, a property that could be used as an optical switch in future computing schemes that use light rather than electrons to carry out operations.