Recently, a collaborative research team comprising Dai Qing of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Hu Hai from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, and Zhu Maguang of Nanjing University has made significant strides in addressing the escalating demand for high-speed, low-power optical interconnects—a need driven by the exponential growth of artificial intelligence computing capabilities. Their work represents a notable advancement in the dynamic modulation of polaritons and non-Hermitian nanophotonics.

The researchers introduced an innovative concept termed "loss engineering." In this approach, energy loss—traditionally viewed as an obstacle to be minimized—is instead intentionally designed and controlled in terms of both intensity and direction through electrical means. This transforms loss into a functional parameter, offering a new degree of freedom for modulating nanoscale optical fields. By applying a gate voltage to modulate the anisotropic dissipation properties of aligned carbon nanotube films, the team successfully transformed these films into an electrically tunable "momentum-space loss filter."