Physicists create 'anti-laser'

James Dacey at PhysicsWorld writes: ''In a fascinating case of physics being turned on its head, a group of researchers at Yale University in the US has created an "anti-laser" that almost perfectly absorbs incoming beams of coherent light. The invention is based on a theoretical study reported last summer in which Douglas Stone and his Yale colleagues claimed that such a system could be possible in a device that they call a coherent perfect absorber (CPA). Instead of generating coherent light beams with a laser, the devices absorb incoming coherent light and convert it into either heat or electricity. ''