Optics & Photonics news

Compressing photonic signals for greater bandwidth

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Nov 03, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (5) | 3

Cornell researchers have developed an ingenious method to time-compress optical signals. The process could enable optical communication systems to carry many more bits per second or could also be used to generate ...

Flipping a photonic shock wave

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 2

A team of physicists has directly observed a reverse shock wave of light in a specially tailored structure known as a left-handed metamaterial. Although it was first predicted over forty years ago, this is ...

Mantis shrimps could show us the way to a better DVD

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 25, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (17) | 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published today in Nature Photonics.

Laser Fusion and Exawatt Lasers

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 01, 2009 | 4 / 5 (17) | 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the recent past, producing lasers with terawatt (a trillion watts) beams was impressive. Now petawatt (a thousand trillion watts, or 10^15 watts) lasers are the forefront of laser research. Some labs are ...

Perfect image without metamaterials... and a reprieve for silicon chips (w/ Video)

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 29, 2009 | 2.9 / 5 (17) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Since 2000, John Pendry's work on metamaterials has been at the van guard of efforts to create a perfect image - images with perfect resolution that can stem from light being moved in odd ...

Time Lens Speeds Up Optical Data Transmission

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 28, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (14) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Cornell University have developed a device called a "time lens" which is a silicon device for speeding up optical data. The basic components of this device are an optical-fiber ...

Discovery brings new type of fast computers closer to reality

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 27, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (33) | 1

Physicists at UC San Diego have successfully created speedy integrated circuits with particles called "excitons" that operate at commercially cold temperatures, bringing the possibility of a new type of extremely ...

Prototype developed to detect dark matter

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 25, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (7) | 2

A team of researchers from the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR, Spain) and the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS, in France) has developed a "scintillating bolometer", a device that the scientists will ...

Diamonds are a laser's best friend

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 18, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (8) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tomorrow's lasers may come with a bit of bling, thanks to a new technology that uses man-made diamonds to enhance the power and capabilities of lasers. Researchers in Australia have now demonstrated the first ...

'Metamaterials' used to look at effects of black holes, other celestial objects

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 10, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (7) | 11

(PhysOrg.com) -- Dr. Dentcho Genov, an assistant professor of physics and electrical engineering at Louisiana Tech University and a Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) Institute fellow, is featured ...

Light at the speed of a bicycle and much more

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Sep 09, 2009 | 3.6 / 5 (10) | 6

The speed of light, 300 million metres per second, was long thought an immutable constant and has defined our understanding of matter and energy but recent research in the area of optics and photonics is proving ...

World's smallest semiconductor laser heralds new era in optical science

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 30, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (25) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have reached a new milestone in laser physics by creating the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light ...

Open wide and say 'zap'

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 18, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

A group of researchers in Australia and Taiwan has developed a new way to analyze the health of human teeth using lasers. As described in the latest issue of Optics Express,, by measuring how the surface of a tooth respon ...

UGA, UPR grant license for long-persistence glow materials, in any color

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 17, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 2

The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGARF) and the University of Puerto Rico have granted an international, non-exclusive license for a portfolio of glow-in-the-dark pigments that can be designed ...

New nanolaser -- spaser -- key to future optical computers and technologies

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 16, 2009 | 5 / 5 (20) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Because the new device, called a "spaser," is the first of its kind to emit visible light, it represents a critical component for possible future technologies based on "nanophotonic" circuitry, ...

New interferometer could simplify materials research

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 13, 2009 | 5 / 5 (13) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- “Most current hard x-ray interferometers are based on crystals, which require their high quality and high mechanical stability,” Anatoly Snigirev tells PhysOrg.com. “This can make x-ray interferometry quite ...

Scientists control living cells with light; advances could enhance stem cells' power

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 11, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 0

University of Central Florida researchers have shown for the first time that light energy can gently guide and change the orientation of living cells within lab cultures. That ability to optically steer cells could be a major ...

Effects of 'strong coupling' observed for the first time between light and a micromechanical object

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Aug 06, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (17) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria, have created an interaction between light and a micromechanical resonator that ...