This gets me reading but nothing is described!

The researchers beamed a laser at an opaque crystal, triggering a quantum reaction that turned the crystal transparent. Then they directed a secondary light source at the crystal before cutting power to the laser to render the crystal opaque again.

What happened? The light from the secondary source remained trapped inside the crystal. Through multiple trials, the team was then able to extend the period of time in which the light remained halted within the crystal for up to a minute.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/light-stopped-minute-crystal-record_n_3653385.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

How is ‘stopped’ and ‘trapped’ defined(is it a form of temporary absorption)?

How is the exit of the photons measured?

>>>How is the exit of the photons measured?”

Anything to do with this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evanescent_wave

was it stopped or merely stored? wouldn’t there have to be an infinity in some parameter for light to be stopped in a medium?

I really dislike this common explanation as it fails to take into account the role of the medium. When an electromagnetic field propagates through a medium, the charges in the medium move in response to that electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field associated with the charges adds to the propagating electromagnetic field in such a way as to produce a phase delay in the propagating electromagnetic field. Thus, the change in the speed of light (which is a change in the wavelength, but not the frequency) is the result of the ability of the changing electromagnetic field to alter the charge distribution within the medium. Media with a more easily polarisable electron density therefore have a higher refractive index. The refractive index also depends on the frequency of the propagating electromagnetic field. In the visible range, only the electron density can be deformed, whereas at frequencies lower than the infrared, the charge distribution can also be altered by deforming the shape of the molecules.

KJW’s explanation of refraction.