Optical materials and elements, considered as a physical system, comprise engineered media and components that manipulate electromagnetic radiation in the optical frequency range through controlled refraction, reflection, diffraction, absorption, and emission. This system includes bulk and nanostructured dielectrics, semiconductors, and metals configured as lenses, mirrors, prisms, gratings, filters, waveplates, and coatings, characterized by parameters such as complex refractive index, dispersion, nonlinear susceptibilities, and anisotropy. Their collective behavior determines wavefront shaping, spectral and polarization control, and spatiotemporal light propagation, underpinning the performance of optical assemblies in imaging, beam delivery, photonic integration, and laser systems.
LEDs no wider than a human hair could soon take on work traditionally handled by lasers, from moving data inside server racks to powering next-generation displays. New research co-authored by UC Santa Barbara doctoral student ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 23, 2026
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Light powers everything from communications to sensing, yet even tiny imperfections can scatter it and weaken signals. To address this, a team led by the University of Bath—working with the University of Cambridge and international ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 23, 2026
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160
CU Boulder researchers have built high-performing optical microresonators, opening the door for new sensor technologies. At its simplest form, a microresonator is a tiny device that can trap light and build up its intensity. ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 23, 2026
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Smartphone cameras are becoming smaller, yet photos are becoming sharper. Korean researchers have elevated the limits of next-generation smartphone cameras by developing a new image sensor technology that can accurately represent ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 21, 2026
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Scientists at Microsoft Research in the United States have demonstrated a system called Silica for writing and reading information in ordinary pieces of glass which can store two million books' worth of data in a thin, palm-sized ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 19, 2026
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Applied physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered a new way to generate ultra-precise, evenly spaced "combs" of laser light on a photonic chip, a breakthrough ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 19, 2026
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Researchers have developed a unified theory of microcavity OLEDs, guiding the design of more efficient and sustainable devices. The work reveals a surprising trade-off: squeezing light too tightly inside OLEDs can actually ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 19, 2026
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Researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have devised a new way to make some of the smallest, smoothest mirrors ever created for controlling ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 18, 2026
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When light passes through materials, it typically changes direction and bends in predictable ways. This change in direction, known as refraction, is caused by a change in the speed of light as it enters a new medium. In some ...
Despite being riddled with impurities and defects, solution-processed lead-halide perovskites are surprisingly efficient at converting solar energy into electricity. Their efficiency is approaching that of silicon-based solar ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 16, 2026
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