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.
A fleeting photoinduced electronic state and the subsequent formation of a photoinduced hidden state in a metal–organic framework were captured in just 30 femtoseconds by researchers at Science Tokyo, Tohoku University and ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 27, 2026
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10
For the first time, researchers can witness nanometer-scale thickness changes across a melting snowflake with a compact, lensless chip that captures gigapixel video at 30 frames per second across centimeter-scale fields.
Biotechnology
Jul 27, 2026
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17
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the University of New South Wales have answered a question that has been around for decades: whether ions of the metal ytterbium can enter certain long-lived, nearly stable ...
General Physics
Jul 24, 2026
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43
Our bodies generate extremely weak magnetic fields as electric currents flow through the heart, brain and other tissues. These signals are used in magnetocardiography and magnetoencephalography to assess heart function and ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 22, 2026
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16
Researchers at the University of Twente have developed an optical method that follows the shape changes of a single protein in liquid without attaching anything to it. It reads the protein's structure from its own molecular ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 22, 2026
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15
A research team led by UCLA and the University of Rochester has demonstrated a promising evolution of an imaging system designed to capture details within "complex media," which scatter light, from depicting structures inside ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 22, 2026
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17
In a promising development for cancer treatment, a collaborative research team has overcome two issues that have prevented photothermal therapy, a much less invasive treatment option than surgery and/or radiation, from becoming ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 22, 2026
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11
Are we alone in the universe? For scientists working on NASA's proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, that question is no longer purely philosophical. It is increasingly becoming an engineering problem.
Astrobiology
Jul 20, 2026
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74
Cells are like metropolises, home to millions of molecular residents. If one were to stand atop a high-rise, trying to identify most of its inhabitants would seem an impossible task. Even with the sophisticated imaging tools ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 17, 2026
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31
Nanocrystals are already used in millions of devices, including televisions, laptops and displays, and are considered key materials for the next generation of quantum, sensing and solar technologies. However, they have not ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 12, 2026
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51
