“Purifying” photons: Scientists found a way to clean light itself

A new discovery shows that messy, stray light can be used to clean up quantum systems instead of disrupting them. University of Iowa researchers found that unwanted photons produced by lasers can be canceled out by carefully tuning the light itself. The result is a much purer stream of single photons, a key requirement for quantum computing and secure communication. The work could help push photonic quantum technology closer to real-world use.