Natural and manmade physical structures all lose energy, and scientists work hard to eliminate that loss or compensate for it. Optical and photonic devices lose energy through light scattering, radiation or material absorption. In some situations, however, intentionally yet carefully designing loss in open optical devices and systems can lead to unconventional physical phenomena which inspires novel methods for optical control and engineering.
Click here for original story, Engineering various sources of loss provides new features for perfect light absorption
Source: Phys.org