Optics & Photonics news

Sparkly Spiders and Photonic Fish

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Dec 09, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Israel and the UK have uncovered the details of how certain fish and spiders create their iridescent scales and silvery skins.

Research is shattering traditioinal notions of laser limits

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Dec 07, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

Air Force Office of Scientific Research and National Science Foundation-funded professor, Dr. Xiang Zhang has demonstrated at the University of California, Berkeley the world's smallest semiconductor laser, ...

Fine-tuned: A wholly new approach to tuning a laser's frequency

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Dec 04, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (10) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 30 years, scientists have been trying to harness the power of terahertz radiation. Tucked between microwaves and infrared rays on the electromagnetic spectrum, terahertz rays ...

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 (18) | 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.

Breakthrough with light could help viral research

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 20, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a method using the force of light to gently trap, manipulate and study tiny, active objects as miniscule as viruses -- opening doors to expanded viral research.

Chinese scientists create metamaterial black hole

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 16, 2009 | 4 / 5 (55) | 20

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two physicists in China have used metamaterials to create the first artificial electromagnetic black hole. The scientists, Qiang Cheng and Tie Jun Cui from the Southeast University in Nanjing, ...

A road of no return: Team implements the first '1-way roads' for light

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 08, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (21) | 2

Light readily bounces off obstacles in its path. Some of these reflections are captured by our eyes, thus participating in the visual perception of the objects around us. In contrast to this usual behavior ...

Scientists take step toward simple and portable tuberculosis tests for developing world

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 08, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Two billion people worldwide carry the pathogen that causes tuberculosis (TB), and most of them do not even know they are infected. This is because some 90 percent of people with TB have "latent" infections. They have no ...

Femtoseconds lasers help formation flying in space

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Oct 02, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has helped to establish that femtosecond comb lasers can provide accurate measurement of absolute distance in formation flying space missions.

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 (15) | 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 | 4.6 / 5 (34) | 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 (9) | 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 | 3.1 / 5 (9) | 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 | 3.7 / 5 (11) | 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 ...