Science Daily  December 2, 2021 Self-ordering in molecular and biological systems typically involves short-range hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions. An international team of researchers (Sweden, Russia) has found a way process for micrometre-scale self-assembly based on the joint action of attractive Casimir and repulsive electrostatic forces arising between charged metallic nanoflakes in an aqueous solution. This system forms a self-assembled optical Fabry–Pérot microcavity with a fundamental mode in the visible range (long-range separation distance about 100–200 nanometres) and a tunable equilibrium configuration. By placing an excitonic material in the microcavity region, they were able to realize hybrid light–matter states […]