http://phys.org/physics-news/optics-photonics/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on Optics and Photonics (Phys.org) -- Whether used in telescopes or optoelectronic communications, infrared detectors must be continuously cooled to avoid being overwhelmed by stray thermal radiation. Now, a team of researchers from Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Duke University (USA) is harnessing the remarkable properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) to create highly sensitive, “uncooled” photovoltaic infrared detectors. http://phys.org/news256987449.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:01 EST news256987449 Blood tests convey vital medical information, but the sight of a needle often causes anxiety and results take time. A new device developed by a team of researchers in Israel, however, can reveal much the same information as a traditional blood test in real-time, simply by shining a light through the skin. This optical instrument, no bigger than a breadbox, is able to provide high-resolution images of blood coursing through our veins without the need for harsh and short-lived fluorescent dyes. http://phys.org/news256818055.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 21 May 2012 11:21:24 EST news256818055 (Phys.org) -- Using tiny solar-panel-like cells surgically placed underneath the retina, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a system that may someday restore sight to people who have lost vision because of certain types of degenerative eye diseases. http://phys.org/news256041317.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Sun, 13 May 2012 13:00:23 EST news256041317 Taking their cue from the humble leaf, researchers have used microscopic folds on the surface of photovoltaic material to significantly increase the power output of flexible, low-cost solar cells. http://phys.org/news254747162.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:06:21 EST news254747162 New laser-effect, discovered by scientists from the Vienna University of Technology, Princeton, Yale and ETH Zurich: If coupled, lasers can switch each other off, leading to a "laser blackout". http://phys.org/news254566542.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:56:46 EST news254566542 (Phys.org) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have designed a method to evaluate different conductors for use in metamaterial structures, which are engineered to exhibit properties not possible in natural materials. The work was reported this month in Nature Photonics. http://phys.org/news254474472.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:10:01 EST news254474472 Researchers discover that a deformed layer of graphene can focus electrons similar to the way an optical lens bends light. http://phys.org/news253968576.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:49:49 EST news253968576 Correctly and quickly diagnosing malaria is essential for effective and life-saving treatment. But rapid detection, particularly in remote areas, is not always possible because current methods are time-consuming and require precise instrumentation and highly skilled microscopic analysis. Now, a promising new optical imaging system, described in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express, may make the diagnosis of this deadly disease much easier, faster, and more accurate. http://phys.org/news253967710.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:35:53 EST news253967710 (Phys.org) -- Scientists in PML's Quantum Measurement Division have produced the first superluminal light pulses made by using a technique called four-wave mixing, creating two separate pulses whose peaks propagate faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. http://phys.org/news252920660.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:44:43 EST news252920660 Physicists at JILA have demonstrated a novel "superradiant" laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost the performance of the most advanced atomic clocks and related technologies, such as communications and navigation systems as well as space-based astronomical instruments. http://phys.org/news252758692.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:06 EST news252758692 (PhysOrg.com) -- Computing and medicine are among the many fields which could be revolutionised by a new form of ultra-small laser. http://phys.org/news252749441.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:12:36 EST news252749441 (PhysOrg.com) -- When an optical fiber is bent by 90° or more, the light begins to leak away, posing a problem for fiber optics communications. But by using special lenses that can bend light by not only 90°, but also 180° (i.e., a U-turn) or 360° (i.e., a full loop), scientists may limit light leakage in optical fibers and overcome this problem, not to mention provide a useful material for many other applications. Recently, a team of scientists has theoretically investigated materials for achieving this kind of advanced light control, which could work equally well for sound waves. http://phys.org/news252572239.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:58:00 EST news252572239 A team of physicists at UC Santa Barbara has seen the light, and it comes in many different colors. By aiming high- and low-frequency laser beams at a semiconductor, the researchers caused electrons to be ripped from their cores, accelerated, and then smashed back into the cores they left behind. This recollision produced multiple frequencies of light simultaneously. Their findings appear in the current issue of the science journal Nature. http://phys.org/news252163310.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:22:08 EST news252163310 Helping bridge the gap between photonics and electronics, researchers from Purdue University have coaxed a thin film of titanium nitride into transporting plasmons, tiny electron excitations coupled to light that can direct and manipulate optical signals on the nanoscale. Titanium nitride's addition to the short list of surface-plasmon-supporting materials, formerly comprised only of metals, could point the way to a new class of optoelectronic devices with unprecedented speed and efficiency. http://phys.org/news252072766.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:13:07 EST news252072766 In a new approach to invisibility cloaking, a team of French researchers has proposed isolating or cloaking objects from sources of heat—essentially "thermal cloaking." This method, which the researchers describe in the Optical Society's open-access journal Optics Express, taps into some of the same principles as optical cloaking and may lead to novel ways to control heat in electronics and, on an even larger scale, might someday prove useful for spacecraft and solar technologies. http://phys.org/news251980869.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:41:15 EST news251980869 (PhysOrg.com) -- Transistors, resistors, capacitors, and diodes. All of these are examples of common electrical circuit elements that can be found on a computer motherboard, for instance. Billions of transistors make up a processor, with each one being less than 100 nanometers in size. This is more than 10 times smaller than the diameter of a blood cell. http://phys.org/news251716104.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:09:06 EST news251716104 Duke University engineers believe that continued advances in creating ever-more exotic and sophisticated man-made materials will greatly improve their ability to control light at will. http://phys.org/news251297369.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:00:34 EST news251297369 Most light emitters, from candles to light bulbs to computer screens, look the same from any angle. But in a paper published this week on the Nature Photonics website, MIT researchers report the development of a new light source — a fiber only a little thicker than a human hair — whose brightness can be controllably varied for different viewers. http://phys.org/news250754225.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:57:14 EST news250754225 (PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists today will report on a prototype optical chipset, dubbed “Holey Optochip”, that is the first parallel optical transceiver to transfer one trillion bits – one terabit – of information per second, the equivalent of downloading 500 high definition movies. The report will be presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference taking place in Los Angeles. http://phys.org/news250417821.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:30:48 EST news250417821 Many of the communication tools of today rely on the function of light or, more specifically, on applying information to a light wave. Up until now, studies on electronic and optical devices with materials that are the foundations of modern electronics—such as radio, TV, and computers—have generally relied on nonlinear optical effects, producing devices whose bandwidth has been limited to the gigahertz (GHz) frequency region. Thanks to research performed at the University of Pittsburgh, a physical basis for terahertz bandwidth (THz)—the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave light—has now been demonstrated. http://phys.org/news250357412.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:43:46 EST news250357412 (PhysOrg.com) -- To improve transmission speeds, the Internet has transitioned over the years from one using copper to fiber optic cabling. Unfortunately, this has caused a bottleneck to occur where the light signals meet with electronic circuitry. Researchers have been working for years on a way to make routers, and most particularly, their memory, all optic, to avoid having to convert the signals at all. Now, it appears one such group, NTT, a Japanese telecommunications company, has figured out a way to do it. They describe their work in a paper published in Nature Photonics. http://phys.org/news249557153.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:26:17 EST news249557153 (PhysOrg.com) -- University at Buffalo engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer with extraordinary properties: When viewed from a single perspective, the polymer is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light. http://phys.org/news249235433.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:04:03 EST news249235433 The ability to manufacture photonic interconnect components -- modulators, detectors, waveguides, and filters -- on silicon substrates has finally been realized, and these optical interconnect structures show great potential for intrachip and interchip applications. HP Labs is studying how this shift to light-based interconnects may revolutionize the way computers are built. Moray McLaren of HP will present his findings at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference, March 4-8 in Los Angeles. http://phys.org/news249214004.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:06:53 EST news249214004 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers can be produced in high volumes at low cost, resulting in photovoltaic devices that are cheap, lightweight and flexible. http://phys.org/news248362356.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:33:07 EST news248362356 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using photons instead of electrons to transmit information could lead to faster and more secure ways to communicate, among other advantages. Now a team of physicists has taken another step toward realizing quantum photonic technologies by demonstrating how to quickly manipulate single photons at the same wavelengths used in existing optical telecommunications networks. The ability to control a photon’s path and polarization in the time of a few nanoseconds could allow photonic circuits to be integrated with existing optical telecom networks, leading to significant improvements. http://phys.org/news248346157.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:03:23 EST news248346157 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long known that butterfly wings produce their iridescent colors by bouncing light around and between tiny ridges in structures made of chitin. More recently they’ve discovered that the chitin material in their wings also expands when struck by infrared radiation which causes a change in its refraction index, converting it to visible light. Now, by adding a layer of carbon nanotubes to the wing material, the researchers have found they are able to increase the amount of heat absorbed. This discovery, the team writes in their paper published in Nature Photonics, could lead to new kinds of thermal imaging systems. http://phys.org/news248339539.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:12:47 EST news248339539 By harnessing quantum dots—tiny light-emitting semiconductor particles a few billionths of a meter across—researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain. Being able to switch neurons on and off and monitor how they communicate with one another is crucial for understanding—and, ultimately, treating—a host of brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and even psychiatric disorders such as severe depression. The research was published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express. http://phys.org/news247921692.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:08:38 EST news247921692 Scientists at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Penn State University have, for the first time, embedded the high level of performance normally associated with chip-based semiconductors into an optical fibre, creating high-speed optoelectronic function. http://phys.org/news247668805.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:00:07 EST news247668805 A team of MIT researchers has developed a way of making a high-temperature version of a kind of materials called photonic crystals, using metals such as tungsten or tantalum. The new materials — which can operate at temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius — could find a wide variety of applications powering portable electronic devices, spacecraft to probe deep space, and new infrared light emitters that could be used as chemical detectors and sensors. http://phys.org/news247472332.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:19:30 EST news247472332 A team of researchers at the University of California, Merced, has redesigned luminescent solar concentrators to be more efficient at sending sunlight to solar cells. http://phys.org/news246515432.html Physics - Optics & Photonics Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:31:19 EST news246515432