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.
Over the past several decades, light sources have gradually transitioned to light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and inorganic LEDs are now used across a wide range of applications. In parallel, organic LEDs, or OLEDs, have become ...
Nanophysics
Jun 11, 2026
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A new telescope technology—measuring just 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) in diameter—could improve how future space missions study and monitor the sun while simplifying onboard hardware and reducing costs.
Space Exploration
Jun 10, 2026
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24
Nature is filled with remarkable visual phenomena created by microscopic surface structures that interact with light in fascinating ways. The iridescent wings of butterflies, the shimmering feathers of birds and the glossy ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 9, 2026
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13
A team led by Raju Tomer, professor of biological sciences at Columbia University, has created a new design for microscopes and microscope lenses that could push 3D tissue imaging beyond state-of-the-art systems while drastically ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 9, 2026
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54
The terahertz (THz) frequency regime, sitting between microwaves and infrared light, has long promised revolutionary advances in wireless communication, security imaging and nondestructive sensing. A key roadblock, however, ...
Nanophysics
Jun 7, 2026
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57
Blurry light from lens imperfections is a problem everywhere, from microscopes to telescopes to smartphone cameras. Using a tiny yet carefully engineered optical element and artificial intelligence, University of California ...
Nanophysics
Jun 4, 2026
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42
Studying physics can be very useful—even when it comes to machine learning. A digital "super-brain" with built-in knowledge of the fundamental laws of nature can speed up the development of optical components for everything ...
Nanophysics
Jun 4, 2026
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42
Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles only a few nanometers in size. Because they are chemically highly stable and can host so-called color centers, optically active defects in the crystal lattice, they are considered promising ...
Nanophysics
Jun 3, 2026
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10
Laser systems operating in the 2-micrometer wavelength range open diverse opportunities in medical technology, agriculture, and plastics processing. In the Eurostars project DECOMP, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) has developed ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 1, 2026
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78
Physicists from Emory University have led work to develop a microscopic, nonlinear light source that can be switched on, off or tuned to a particular intensity by an electrical "knob." The paper is published in the journal ...
Optics & Photonics
May 28, 2026
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