Azerbaijan National Academy of Science

Light behaves as both a particle and a wave—at the same time. scientists have never been able to devise an experiment that documents light behaving as both a wave and a particle simultaneously, until now.

The experiment involves firing laser light at a microscopic metallic nanowire, causing light to travel — as a wave — back and forth along the wire. When waves traveling in opposite directions meet, they form a “standing wave” that emits light itself — as particles. By shooting a stream of electrons close to the nanowire, the researchers were able to capture an image that simultaneously demonstrates both the wave-nature and particle-nature of light.

discovery.com