“Superimposing two lattices of similar periods creates structures that researchers can design to control and localize light. Brighter LEDs and more efficient solar cells are two potential applications for ASTAR’s research into lattice structures that can slow or trap light. Harnessing wave energy by localizing it and suppressing its propagation through a medium is a powerful technique. Now, Alagappin Gandhi and Png Ching Eng Jason from the ASTAR Institute of High Performance Computing have calculated a design that localizes light in tiny loops, within a two-dimensional structure created by merging two lattices of slightly differing periodicities1. The new technique is not limited to light, and may enable the design of systems that can precisely control wave energy in any realm and at any scale — sound, thermal, water, or even matter waves such as in Bose-Einstein condensates.”