Optical techniques are experimental and analytical methods that exploit the generation, manipulation, and detection of electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared ranges to probe material properties, structures, and dynamics. They encompass approaches such as absorption, fluorescence, Raman and elastic scattering measurements, interferometry, and imaging modalities that rely on well-defined light–matter interactions. These techniques enable quantitative characterization of refractive indices, absorption coefficients, energy level structures, molecular conformations, and nanoscale morphology, often with high spatial and temporal resolution. Optical techniques are widely integrated with spectroscopy, microscopy, and metrology platforms and can be implemented in both far-field and near-field configurations.
Researchers at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology have, for the first time, measured the temporal duration of individual pulses of an extraordinary form of quantum light known as bright squeezed vacuum (BSV). Their ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 1, 2026
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In quantum technologies, everything depends on the ability to detect the properties carried by a single photon. But in the real world, that photon of interest is often buried in a sea of unwanted light—a true "needle in a ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 30, 2026
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Just as an antenna interacts with radio waves, light interacts with metallic nanostructures. Therefore, understanding how a structure influences field oscillations provides valuable insights into the structure's physical ...
Nanophysics
Mar 26, 2026
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30
A research group from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology reports in Nature an unprecedented achievement in electron microscopy: the direct measurement of "dark points" within light waves. By doing so, the researchers ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 26, 2026
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In a major advance applying insights from quantum physics to the inner workings of biology, a team of WashU researchers has successfully implanted quantum sensors in living cells to measure shifts in magnetism and temperature. ...
Biotechnology
Mar 26, 2026
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A team of NASA researchers is developing new types of optical masks that could help enable the many orders of magnitude of starlight suppression needed for future space observatories to pick out very faint habitable exoplanets ...
Astrobiology
Mar 25, 2026
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Cells are squishy and soft. Tiny nanometer-sized particles such as quantum sensors cannot move freely inside them due to viscous drag, which makes sensing challenging. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 24, 2026
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A laser-based system that can create mesh-like structures in a dish that resemble the cytoskeletons of cells has been developed by two RIKEN researchers. They demonstrated its usefulness for research by exploring how two ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 21, 2026
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22
Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed CarGAP, a chemo-optogenetic tool that uses vitamin B₁₂ and green light to precisely control gap junctions, the microscopic channels ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 20, 2026
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RIKEN researchers have demonstrated a method that can detect tiny amounts of biomarkers in liquid samples and can distinguish between highly similar biomarkers. This promises to boost the versatility and usefulness of liquid ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 18, 2026
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