Catenaa, Saturday, December 13, 2025-Scientists at New York University have developed a new hybrid material called gyromorphs that could overcome major limitations in photonic computing by controlling light more effectively than previously known structures.
Gyromorphs combine features of ordered crystals and disordered liquids, producing an isotropic bandgap that blocks light from all directions.
This property addresses challenges in current photonic chips, where small light signals often weaken or escape, limiting speed and efficiency.
The material could enable faster, energy-efficient computers that rely on photons rather than electrical currents.
Published in Physical Review Letters, the research highlights the limitations of quasicrystals, which either block light only from certain directions or reduce its intensity across all angles without full prevention.
Gyromorphs achieve complete light blocking by merging structural regularity at large scales with liquid-like disorder at smaller scales, a combination the researchers describe as “correlated disorder.”
The team created the materials using an algorithm that generates disordered yet functional structures.
This approach allowed them to tune optical properties precisely, producing a material that reconciles seemingly incompatible features to produce consistent, omnidirectional light control.
Lead author Mathias Casiulis explained that gyromorphs’ unique arrangement ensures that lightwaves cannot penetrate from any direction.
Senior author Stefano Martiniani said the discovery offers a new strategy for metamaterials design and could accelerate progress in light-powered computing, which promises higher speed and lower energy consumption than traditional electronics.
The study was supported by the Simons Center for Computational Physical Chemistry and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, with contributions from graduate student Aaron Shih.
