2015 Light as Wave and Particle

Light in Focus: Capturing the Wave-Particle Duality

In a ground-breaking feat at EPFL, scientists have captured the first-ever image depicting light's wave-particle duality, a fundamental yet elusive concept in physics. By employing an ultrafast energy-filtered transmission electron microscope, one of only two in the world, the team led by Fabrizio Carbone utilized a novel technique: imaging light using electrons.

This method successfully depicted light as both a wave and a particle simultaneously, a visual confirmation that was previously only an equation theory. This photograph not only marks a pivotal moment in the history of photography but also bridges theoretical physics and observable phenomena. It underscores photography’s indispensable role in scientific exploration and communication, enhancing our understanding of light and the physical world.

Credit: © Fabrizio Carbone/EPFL, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Author: Fabrizio Carbone/EPFL
Title: Light as wave and particle [Nanowire]
Date: 2 March 2015
Archive: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Original file: 1,440 x 1,440 pixels, file size: 135 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg
Description: Light photographed as both a particle and wave – Energy-space photography of light confined on a nanowire, simultaneously shows both spatial interference and energy quantization.
Available information: Light simultaneously showing spatial interference and energy quantization © Fabrizio Carbone/EPFL, The first ever photograph of light as both a particle and wave.