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Valley-controlled photoswitching in metal-insulator nanotextures

The ability to manipulate materials at the nanoscale is key to future technologies, from ultrafast electronics to quantum computing. A longstanding challenge has been to control electronic properties with high spatial precision. In a recent study, the groups of Prof. Wippermann (Marburg), Prof. Manmana (Göttingen) and Prof Ropers (MPI-NAT, Göttingen), demonstrate a novel approach to switch nanoscale insulating and metallic regions in a material using laser pulses. This phenomenon, termed "valley-controlled photoswitching", leverages the interplay between light polarization and specific electronic states - so-called "valleys" in the band structure - to dynamically reconfigure a material’s conductive properties. By selectively inducing specific optical transitions, this work opens new possibilities for designing reconfigurable electronic devices and optoelectronic applications. The study marks a major advance in light-induced phase transitions, demonstrating how valley-specific optical excitation can drive materials into new, non-equilibrium states beyond the limits of conventional thermodynamic. The work is published in Nature Physics.