News tagged with optics letters

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

Planet hunters no longer blinded by the light

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona astronomers have developed a way to see faint planets previously hidden in their star's glare. The new mode enables scientists to search for planets closer to the star ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 14, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (48) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Physicists Explain How Human Eyes Can Detect Quantum Effects

(PhysOrg.com) -- By greatly amplifying one photon from an entangled photon pair, physicists have theoretically shown that human eyes can be used as detectors to observe quantum effects. Usually, detecting ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Sep 29, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (48) | comments 19 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

Scientists design solar cells that exceed the conventional light-trapping limit

(PhysOrg.com) -- The best performing solar cells are those that are thick enough to absorb light from the entire solar spectrum, while the cheapest solar cells are thin ones, since they require less, and potentially ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 20, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (37) | comments 27 | with audio podcast feature

Scientists move objects across meter-scale distances using only light (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 40 years, scientists have been using the radiation pressure of light to move and manipulate small objects in space. But until now, the movements have always been restricted to ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 30, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (36) | comments 10 | with audio podcast feature

Using quantum methods to read classical memories offers surprising advantages

(PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, the data stored in classical digital memories such as CDs, DVDs, and barcodes is read by classical light. But as a new study shows, using quantum light to read these classical memories ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 14, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (31) | comments 5 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum leap for phonon lasers

Physicists have taken major step forward in the development of practical phonon lasers, which emit sound in much the same way that optical lasers emit light. The development should lead to new, high-resolution ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 22, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (30) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

New 'broadband' cloaking technology simple to manufacture

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have created a new type of invisibility cloak that is simpler than previous designs and works for all colors of the visible spectrum, making it possible to cloak larger objects ...

Physics / General Physics

created May 20, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (26) | comments 4

Physicists lay the groundwork for cooler, faster computing

University of Toronto quantum optics researchers Sajeev John and Xun Ma have discovered new behaviours of light within photonic crystals that could lead to faster optical information processing and compact computers that ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (27) | comments 5

Atomtronic transistor and diode could advance quantum computing

(PhysOrg.com) -- What if atoms could be used to perform the functions currently the province of electronic devices? The goal of atomtronics is to do just that by creating analogues to the common items found in electronic ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (25) | comments 5 feature

Physicists develop 3D metamaterial nanolens that achieves super-resolution imaging

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team from Northeastern University has developed a new nanolens that can beat the diffraction limit to achieve so-called super-resolution imaging, better than can be achieved by current technology. ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jan 18, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (24) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Invisibility carpet cloak can hide objects from visible light

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most of the invisibility cloaks that have been demonstrated to date conceal objects at frequencies that are not detectable by the human eye. Designing invisibility cloaks that can conceal ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 15, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (20) | comments 22 | with audio podcast feature

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

Scientists Create Light-Bending Nanoparticles

(PhysOrg.com) -- Metallic nanoparticles and other structures can manipulate light in ways that are not possible with conventional optical materials. In a recent example of this, Rice University researchers ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 03, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (21) | comments 2 feature