Scientists in the quest for compact and robust sources of multicolored laser light have achieved a groundbreaking milestone by generating the first topological frequency comb. This innovative result, reliant on a small silicon nitride chip patterned with hundreds of microscopic rings, has been detailed in the journal Science. Traditionally, light from an ordinary laser emits … Read more
In a groundbreaking development at the intersection of quantum mechanics and general relativity, researchers have made significant strides toward unraveling the mysteries of quantum gravity. This work sheds new light on future experiments that hold promise for resolving one of the most fundamental enigmas in modern physics: the reconciliation of Einstein’s theory of gravity with … Read more
Quantum computers hold the promise of solving extremely complex problems rapidly—tasks that could take the world’s most powerful supercomputers decades to crack. However, achieving such performance requires building a system with millions of interconnected qubits. The creation and control of such vast numbers of qubits in a hardware architecture is a formidable challenge that scientists … Read more
Terahertz waves, typically known as non-ionizing radiation, have now been pushed to new limits where they can behave as ionizing radiation under specific conditions. A groundbreaking advancement by a collaborative team of scientists from Korea and the U.S. has led to the creation of the most intense terahertz pulses ever recorded. These pulses are powerful … Read more
Quantum information science is truly fascinating—pairs of tiny particles can be entangled such that an operation on either one will affect them both even if they are physically separated. A seemingly magical process called teleportation can share information between different far-flung quantum systems. These different systems can be coupled using quantum processes to form quantum … Read more
Researchers at the University of Bristol have made an important breakthrough in scaling quantum technology by integrating the world’s tiniest quantum light detector onto a silicon chip. The paper, “A Bi-CMOS electronic photonic integrated circuit quantum light detector,” was published in Science Advances. A critical moment in unlocking the information age was when scientists and engineers … Read more
Chemical reactions are complex mechanisms. Many different dynamic processes are involved, affecting both the electrons and the nucleus of the present atoms. Very often, the strongly coupled electron and nuclear dynamics induce radiation-less relaxation processes known as conical intersections. Such dynamics, which are at the basis of many biological and chemical relevant functions, are extremely … Read more
Think of all the information we get based on how an object interacts with wavelengths of light—aka color. Color can tell us if food is safe to eat or if a piece of metal is hot. Color is an important diagnostic tool in medicine, helping practitioners diagnose diseased tissue, inflammation, or problems in blood flow. … Read more
The field of integrated photonics is experiencing a revolution with the development of high-intensity spatial-mode steerable frequency up-converters, as discussed in a recent study published in Opto-Electronic Science. These devices play a pivotal role in on-chip integration, enabling control over photon spatial modes, frequencies, angular momenta, and phases—all essential for advanced quantum entangled states, photon … Read more
Skyrmions are topologically protected quasiparticles with sophisticated spin textures, widely studied in condensed-matter systems, magnets and recently in photonics, which predicts great potential in ultra-high-capacity information storage, due to their diversified and stable topological spin textures in ultrasmall particle-like region. Motivated by the demand for ultra-capacity information carriers, emerging research seeks to create and control … Read more
Look closely at Impressionist paintings in museums compared with photos of them taken 50 years ago, and you might notice something odd: Some are losing their bright yellow hues. Take the dramatic sunset in Edward Munch’s famous painting “The Scream.” Portions of the sky that were once a vivid orangish yellow have faded to off-white. … Read more
Responding to the increasing demand for efficient, tunable optical materials capable of precise light modulation to create greater bandwidth in communication networks and advanced optical systems, a team of researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Photonics Research Lab (PRL) have developed a novel, two-dimensional (2D) material capable of manipulating light with exceptional precision and minimal loss. … Read more
A team at the University of Tokyo have constructed an improved mid-infrared microscope, enabling them to see the structures inside living bacteria at the nanometer scale. Mid-infrared microscopy is typically limited by its low resolution, especially when compared to other microscopy techniques. Their work has been published in Nature Photonics. This latest development produced images at 120 nanometers, … Read more
Over the past decade, metasurfaces deploying two-dimensional artificial nanostructures have emerged as a groundbreaking platform to manipulate light across various degrees of freedom. These metasurfaces exhibit significant potential in foundational scientific research and industrial applications. Compared to the static control of optical fields, dynamic optical field control introduces new control variables in the time domain, … Read more
Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology proposed a pixelated programmable photonic integrated circuit (PICs) with record-high 20-level intermediate states of phase change materials (PCMs). The work, reported in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, could pave the way for the applications of laser-induced PCMs in neuromorphic photonics, optical computing, and reconfigurable metasurfaces. Prof. Jinlong Zhu, corresponding … Read more
In a new Nature study, Columbia Engineering researchers have built a photonic chip that is able to produce high-quality, ultra-low-noise microwave signals using only a single laser. The compact device—a chip so small, it could fit on a sharp pencil point—results in the lowest microwave noise ever observed in an integrated photonics platform. The achievement … Read more
Chip-based devices known as frequency combs, which measure the frequency of light waves with unparalleled precision, have revolutionized timekeeping, the detection of planets outside of our solar system and high-speed optical communication. Now, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators have developed a new way of creating the combs … Read more
Electrical engineers at Duke University have determined the theoretical fundamental limit for how much electromagnetic energy a transparent material with a given thickness can absorb. The finding will help engineers optimize devices designed to block certain frequencies of radiation while allowing others to pass through, for applications such as stealth or wireless communications. “Much of … Read more
New research from U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers delivers a novel contribution to fiber optics computing. Titled “Fiber optic computing using distributed feedback,” the paper published in Communications Physics journal brings the Navy one step closer to faster, more efficient computing technologies. Optical computing uses the properties of light such as its speed and … Read more
The many properties of light allow it to be manipulated and used for applications that range from very sensitive measurements to communications and intelligent ways to interrogate objects. A compelling degree of freedom is the spatial pattern, called structured light, which can resemble shapes such as donuts and flower petals. For instance, patterns with different … Read more