{
  "id": 17812,
  "title": "World-first photonic time crystal opens a new era of light control",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/31/world-first-photonic-time-crystal-opens-a-new-era-of-light-control",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-07-31T09:13:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ScienceDaily",
    "slug": "sciencedaily",
    "url": "https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260731034131.htm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An international team of researchers, including scientists from École Polytechnique, Collège de France, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), has successfully created the first all-optical photonic time crystal (PTC). This groundbreaking achievement, published in Nature, leveraged HZDR's powerful TELBE superradiant terahertz source, enabling the exploration of a previously inaccessible form of light-matter interaction in the terahertz range. The researchers aim to advance ultrafast optical computers, advanced telecommunications, and new terahertz lasers by controlling light's behavior within materials in unprecedented ways.",
  "summary": "Scientists have built the first all-optical photonic time crystal, allowing them to reshape the behavior of terahertz light at extraordinary speeds. The breakthrough could open the door to ultrafast computing, smarter communication systems, advanced imaging, and a new generation of highly tunable lasers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}