The results open up possible new design routes for plasmonic-electronics, that combine nano-electronics with the fast operating speed of optics.

When light interacts with some metals, it can be captured in the form of collective, extremely fast oscillations of electrons called plasmons. If harnessed, the interaction of photons and electrons could be used to build ultra-fast computers (among other things). But these phenomena occur at a scale so small that we don't yet have the tools to investigate them, let alone harness them.