A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

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A Physics Paradox: Holes That Block Light

                                     No entry. A scanning electron
                                       microscope image of the gold film,
                                           which didn't let much light
                                                   through its holes.
                                                Credit: J. Braun et al 

By Karen Fox
ScienceNOW Daily News
13 November 2009
The way light moves, with its fixed speed and its ability to act like either a wave or a particle, often leads to some of the most curious paradoxes of physics. A new one has just been found: Make holes in a film of gold so thin that it's already semitransparent, and less light gets through.
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