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.
Overcoming the resolution limit in a light microscope of around half a wavelength of light (about 250 nanometers) is one of the most significant developments in optics. Due to the wave nature of light, even the best lens ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 27, 2025
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236
For the first time, researchers have used high-speed laser writing to create lines spaced just 100 nm apart on a glass substrate. The optimized printing approach could enable super-resolution 3D direct laser writing (DLW) ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 27, 2025
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76
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have invented an entirely new field of microscopy called nuclear spin microscopy. The team can visualize magnetic signals of nuclear magnetic resonance with a microscope. ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 25, 2025
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225
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, including STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) microscopy. This method can be used to observe processes, e.g., in ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 25, 2025
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26
Experiments coupling light and sound reveal the surprising effect that measuring nothing can cool the vibrations of an object.
Optics & Photonics
Feb 24, 2025
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127
Antennas receive and transmit electromagnetic waves, delivering information to our radios, televisions, cellphones and more. Researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis imagines ...
Nanophysics
Feb 20, 2025
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113
Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, developed Deep Nanometry, an analytical technique combining advanced optical equipment with a noise removal algorithm based on unsupervised deep learning.
Bio & Medicine
Feb 20, 2025
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112
In molecular shuttles, a ring molecule is threaded onto a linear molecular strand and can move between two portions of the strand, called stations, in response to external stimuli. Chemical stimuli, light or mechanical forces ...
Nanophysics
Feb 20, 2025
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40
EMBL tech developers have made an important leap forward with a novel methodology that adds an important microscopy capability to life scientists' toolbox. The advance represents a 1,000-fold improvement in speed and throughput ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 20, 2025
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80
Researchers at North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new technique that uses light to tune the optical properties of quantum dots—making the process faster, more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable—without ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 18, 2025
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