Researchers in the US have created nanoparticles that emit pulses of superfluorescent light at room temperature. Unusually, the emitted light is anti-Stokes shifted, meaning that it has a shorter wavelength (and thus a higher energy) than the wavelength of light that initiates the response – a phenomenon known as upconversion. The new nanoparticles, which the team discovered while looking for a different optical effect, could make it possible to create new types of timers, sensors and transistors in optical circuits.

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