By shining white light on a glass slide stippled with
millions of tiny titanium dioxide pillars, researchers at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their
collaborators have reproduced with astonishing fidelity the
luminous hues and subtle shadings of “Girl With a Pearl Earring,”
Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece. The approach has
potential applications in improving optical communications and
making currency harder to counterfeit.
Painting with light: Novel nanopillars precisely control
intensity of transmitted light
