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.
Artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT are notorious for being power-hungry. To tackle this challenge, a team from the Center for Optics, Photonics and Lasers (COPL) has come up with an optical chip that can transfer ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 11, 2025
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Imagine a space telescope with a mirror stretching 50 meters across! That's larger than the width of a U.K. soccer field and nearly eight times wider than the James Webb Space Telescope. Now imagine that this enormous mirror ...
Astronomy
Jul 10, 2025
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57
For over two decades, physicists have been working toward implementing quantum light storage—also known as quantum memory—in various matter systems. These techniques allow for the controlled and reversible mapping of ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 9, 2025
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European researchers are developing quantum computers using light and glass, in a collaboration that promises breakthroughs in computing power, battery technology and scientific discovery.
Optics & Photonics
Jul 7, 2025
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A team of researchers has developed a novel method for using cholesteric liquid crystals in optical microcavities. The platform created by the researchers enables the formation and dynamic tuning of photonic crystals with ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 1, 2025
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5
How does a cloud stay cool under direct sunlight—or seem to vanish in infrared? In nature, phenomena like white cumulus clouds, gray storm systems, and even the hollow hairs of polar bears offer remarkable lessons in balancing ...
Nanophysics
Jun 30, 2025
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36
Using only a single-crystal piezoelectric thin wafer of lithium niobate (LN) instead of the usual two-part structure, a group from Nagoya University in Japan has created a deformable mirror that changes X-ray beam size by ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 27, 2025
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Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have transformed display and lighting technology with their vivid colors, deep contrast, and energy efficiency. As demand grows for lighter, thinner, and more energy-saving devices—especially ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 26, 2025
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7
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a long-sought milestone in photonics: creating tiny optical devices that are both highly sensitive and durable—two qualities that have long been considered ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 25, 2025
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20
The candidate pool for engineered materials that can help enable tomorrow's cutting-edge optical technologies—such as lasers, detectors and imaging devices—is much deeper than previously believed.
Optics & Photonics
Jun 24, 2025
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