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NanoPhotonics Centre

 

NanoPhotonics researcher Felix Benz has been awarded the prestigious Abdus Salam prize. His work utilizes the strange properties of tiny particles of gold; light is concentrated down smaller than a single atom enabling a look at individual chemical bonds inside molecules, opening up new ways to study light and matter.

For centuries, scientists believed that light, like all waves, couldn’t be focused down smaller than its wavelength, just under a millionth of a metre. Now, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have created the world’s smallest magnifying glass, which focuses light a billion times more tightly, down to the scale of single atoms. More:

Prize Details

The Abdus Salam Prize has been donated to the Department to be presented to a Research Student at the Cavendish. This prestigious prize is an excellent addition to a CV. It includes a cash award of £500.