Imagine being able to shape a pulse of light in any conceivable manner—compressing it, stretching it, splitting it in two, changing its intensity or altering the direction of its electric field.
Optics & Photonics
May 2, 2019
0
446
A weird feature of certain exotic materials allows electrons to travel from one surface of the material to another as if there were nothing in between. Now, researchers have shown that they can switch this feature on and ...
General Physics
Jan 8, 2019
1
319
Scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have demonstrated a surprisingly simple way of flipping a material from one state into another, ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 22, 2018
0
794
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used common electronics to build a laser that pulses 100 times more often than conventional ultrafast lasers. The advance could extend the benefits ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 27, 2018
4
192
Although critical for varied applications, such as cutting and welding, surgery and transmitting bits through optical fiber, lasers have some limitations – namely, they only produce light in limited wavelength ranges. Now, ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 2, 2018
0
141
Specially tailored, ultrafast pulses of light can trigger neurons to fire and could one day help patients with light-sensitive circadian or mood problems, according to a new study in mice at the University of Illinois.
Optics & Photonics
Nov 17, 2017
1
505
From hard to malleable, from transparent to opaque, from channeling electricity to blocking it: Materials come in all types. A number of their intriguing properties originate in the way a material's electrons "dance" with ...
General Physics
Sep 22, 2016
0
959
How can a person see around a blind corner? One answer is to develop X-ray vision. A more mundane approach is to use a mirror. But if neither are an option, a group of scientists led by Genevieve Gariepy have developed a ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 8, 2015
4
1895
Stanford engineers have created a plastic "skin" that can detect how hard it is being pressed and generate an electric signal to deliver this sensory input directly to a living brain cell.
Engineering
Oct 15, 2015
0
10549
(Phys.org) —Researchers have demonstrated a method for "temporal cloaking" of optical communications, representing a potential tool to thwart would-be eavesdroppers and improve security for telecommunications.
General Physics
Jun 5, 2013
2
0
