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.
Thanks to a recent study by researchers at IOCB Prague, it is now possible to monitor processes in living cells more effectively than before, including responses to drugs and changes in cellular structures.
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 18, 2026
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29
Researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology) have developed an innovative microscopy technique capable of improving the observation of living cells. The study, published in Optics Letters, ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 15, 2026
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134
Researchers from the Optics Group at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón have managed to correct in real time problems related to image aberrations in single-pixel microscopy using a recent technology: programmable deformable ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 13, 2026
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71
Researchers have shown that consumer-grade 3D printers and low-cost materials can be used to produce multi-element optical components that enable super-resolution imaging, with each lens costing less than $1 to produce. The ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 13, 2026
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131
In high-intensity laser–matter interactions, including laser-induced particle acceleration, physicists generally want to work with the highest possible focused laser peak power, which is the ratio of energy per unit area ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 9, 2026
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141
Researchers at the ArQuS Laboratory of the University of Trieste (Italy) and the National Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-INO) have achieved the first imaging of individual trapped cold atoms ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 23, 2025
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140
A breakthrough development in nanofabrication could help support the development of new wireless, flexible, high-performance transparent electronic devices.
Nanophysics
Dec 19, 2025
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91
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers and scientists, in collaboration with Stanford University, have demonstrated a breakthrough 3D nanofabrication approach that transforms two-photon lithography (TPL) ...
Nanophysics
Dec 18, 2025
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74
Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, in collaboration with Huzhou University, discovered that the entanglement workhorse of most quantum optics laboratories can have hidden topologies, reporting ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 17, 2025
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351
Light undergoes a unique phenomenon called superscattering, an optical illusion where a very small object scatters far more light than expected. This happens when multiple scattering modes overlap and interact, allowing tiny ...
