Rainbow Lightsail
This photograph captures the world’s highest-aspect-ratio nanophotonic element: a nanometer-thick, centimeter-scale photonic crystal “lightsail” suspended on a silicon wafer. The membrane’s billions of subwavelength holes allow for high reflectivity, producing the vivid rainbow colors seen here through optical interference. [OPN 2025 Photo Contest]
—Richard Alexander Norte, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
