Manipulating light on the nanoscale has become a central challenge in metadevices, resonant surfaces, nanoscale optical sensors and many more, and it is largely based on resonant light confinement in dispersive and lossy metals and dielectrics. Here, we uncover a novel paradigm in dielectric nanophotonics: Resonant subwavelength confinement of light in air. Voids created in dielectric host materials support localized resonant modes confined in air and do not suffer from the loss and dispersion of the dielectric host medium. We realize these resonant Mie voids by focused ion beam milling into bulk silicon wafers and experimentally demonstrate resonant light confinement down to the UV spectral range at 265 nm (4.68 eV), highest resolution nanoscale colour printing, as well as nanophotonic refractive index sensing on the single void level with unprecedented small sensing volumes in the range of 100 attoliter and sensitivities on the order of 400 nm per refractive index unit.
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