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Scientists have designed new energy-carrying particles that improve the way electrons are transported and could be used to develop new types of solar cells and miniaturized optical circuitry.

The work of researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego, MIT, and Harvard University has synthetically engineered particles called “topological plexcitons,” which can enhance a process known as exciton energy transfer, or EET.

It’s a problem scientists have been working on for years but it’s been tricky due to the short-ranged nature of EET, which is on the scale of only 10 nanometers, or 100 millionth of a meter, according to researchers. Moreover, the energy quickly dissipates as the excitons interact with different molecules.