News tagged with applied optics

Could light and matter coupling lead to quantum computation?

(PhysOrg.com) -- In science, one of the issues of great interest is that of quantum computing, and creating a way to make it possible on a scalable level. This could be achieved by taking advantage of the strong interaction ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Oct 11, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Light, instead of electrodes, could control deformable mirrors

(PhysOrg.com) -- The field of adaptive optics is advancing in interest as technology makes it possible to use deformable mirrors for a number of applications in optoelectronics. Deformable mirrors usually make use of rigid ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Jul 15, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (62) | comments 5 | with audio podcast feature

Carbon nanotubes show the ability to amplify light, could lead to new photonic applications

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Carbon nanotubes have a lot of really nice properties that make them good for photonics," Laurent Vivien tells PhysOrg.com. Ever since the discovery that carbon nanotubes have photoluminescence when encaps ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jun 23, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (38) | comments 0 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum dots as midinfrared emitters

(PhysOrg.com) -- “People are interested in the mid-infrared,” Dan Wasserman tells PhysOrg.com. Infrared light has a wavelength longer than visible light, and many molecules have numerous very strong optical resonances in the ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Feb 23, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (10) | comments 1 feature

The Power of Light: Moving Macroscopic Amounts of Matter

(PhysOrg.com) -- Since 1970, scientists have been working with “optical tweezers” - lasers that move microscopic amounts of matter using forces originating from the light matter interaction. Now, for the first ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jan 29, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (12) | comments 17 feature

Fabricating 3D Photonic Crystals

(PhysOrg.com) -- “In photonic crystals, the ability to control the structure of a material in full three dimensional space, allows you to control the way that light flows through it,” John Rogers tells PhysOrg.com. “This ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jan 21, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (9) | comments 1 feature

Researchers demonstrate highly unidirectional 'whispering gallery' microlasers

Utilizing a century-old phenomenon discovered in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, applied scientists at Harvard University have demonstrated, for the first time, highly collimated unidirectional microlasers.

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Dec 13, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Ultra-powerful Laser Makes Silicon Pump Liquid Uphill with No Added Energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics have discovered a way to make liquid flow vertically upward along a silicon surface, overcoming the pull of gravity, without pumps or other ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Mar 16, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (9) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

The Future Is 3-D Liquid Crystals

(PhysOrg.com) -- Dr. Tim Wilkinson from the Department's Photonics Research Group, University of Cambridge, has made an exciting breakthrough, he has combined liquid crystals with vertically grown carbon nanotubes ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jan 15, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (16) | comments 6

Ultra-sensitive electrical biosensor unlocks potential for instant diagnostic devices

A new quantum mechanical-based biosensor designed by a team at University of California, Santa Barbara offers tremendous potential for detecting biomolecules at ultra-low concentrations, from instant point-of-care ...

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Butterfly wings inspire design of water-repellent surface

Researchers mimic the many-layered nanostructure of blue mountain swallowtail wings to make a silicon wafer that traps both air and light.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New nanostructured glass for imaging and recording developed

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Southampton researchers have developed new nano-structured glass optical elements, which have applications in optical manipulation and will significantly reduce the cost of medical ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 15, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Caltech-led engineers solve longstanding problem in photonic chip technology

Stretching for thousands of miles beneath oceans, optical fibers now connect every continent except for Antarctica. With less data loss and higher bandwidth, optical-fiber technology allows information to ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Aug 04, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Physicists move closer to efficient single-photon sources

A team of physicists in the United Kingdom has taken a giant step toward realizing efficient single-photon sources, which are expected to enable much-coveted completely secure optical communications, also known as "quantum ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 16, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Short-range scattering in quantum dots

Chinese researchers, reporting in the Journal of Applied Physics, published by the American Institute of Physics, have described a new breakthrough in understanding the way electrons travel around quantum dots. This might ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Oct 20, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast