Electromagnetic pulses lasting one millionth of a millionth of a second may hold the key to advances in medical imaging, communications and drug development. But the pulses, called terahertz waves, have long required elaborate ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 9, 2017
1
4925
(Phys.org)—The sun's energy is virtually limitless, but harnessing its electricity with today's single-crystal silicon solar cells is extremely expensive—10 times pricier than coal, according to some estimates. Organic ...
General Physics
Jan 25, 2013
16
0
A team from UCF has developed the world's first optical oscilloscope, an instrument that is able to measure the electric field of light. The device converts light oscillations into electrical signals, much like hospital monitors ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 13, 2021
0
800
In 2019, astronomers observed the nearest example to date of a star that was shredded, or "spaghettified," after approaching too close to a massive black hole.
Astronomy
Jul 11, 2022
0
2158
(PhysOrg.com) -- While the most common device for converting light into electricity may be photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, a variety of other devices can perform the same light-to-electricity conversion, such as solar-thermal ...
Imagine walking into an airport or grocery store and your smartphone automatically starts charging. This could be a reality one day, thanks to a new wireless laser charging system that overcomes some of the challenges that ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 30, 2022
10
335
Engineers at Caltech have developed a switch—one of the most fundamental components of computing—using optical, rather than electronic, components. The development could aid efforts to achieve ultrafast all-optical signal ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 1, 2022
0
1464
In quantum physics, a vacuum is not empty, but rather steeped in tiny fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Until recently it was impossible to study those vacuum fluctuations directly. Researchers at ETH Zurich have ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 11, 2019
6
2469
With some careful twisting and stacking, MIT physicists have revealed a new and exotic property in "magic-angle" graphene: superconductivity that can be turned on and off with an electric pulse, much like a light switch.
Nanophysics
Jan 30, 2023
0
1307
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at the University of Konstanz, in Germany is claiming to have directly sampled electric-field vacuum fluctuations, which would be the first ever made. In their paper published in ...
