Optics & lasers as a research area encompasses the fundamental and applied study of the generation, propagation, manipulation, and detection of light, with a particular emphasis on coherent and monochromatic radiation from lasers. It includes laser physics (gain media, optical cavities, nonlinear and quantum optical effects), beam shaping and guiding (waveguides, fibers, integrated photonics), optical materials and devices (mirrors, modulators, detectors), and advanced techniques such as ultrafast optics, high-power and high-intensity laser systems, laser spectroscopy, and laser-based metrology. This field underpins technologies in precision measurement, optical communication, imaging, microfabrication, and control of matter with light.
A tiny device that entangles light and electrons without super-cooling could revolutionize quantum tech in cryptography, computing, and AI.
Optics & Photonics
Dec 2, 2025
0
113
Researchers at the University of Sydney have cracked a long-standing problem in microchip-scale lasers by carving tiny "speed bumps" into the devices' optical cavity in their quest to produce exceptionally "clean" light. ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 28, 2025
0
79
Scientists have developed a new platform for the generation and detection of ultrashort UV-C laser pulses on femtosecond timescales. This breakthrough could unlock new opportunities for transforming optical wireless communication ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 26, 2025
0
78
Machine learning models called convolutional neural networks (CNNs) power technologies like image recognition and language translation. A quantum counterpart—known as a quantum convolutional neural network (QCNN)—could process ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 25, 2025
0
83
Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a new approach to applying thermodynamics to microscopic quantum systems.
General Physics
Nov 25, 2025
0
79
In January, a team led by Jim Schuck, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering, developed a method for creating entangled photon pairs, a critical component of emerging quantum technologies, using a crystalline ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 22, 2025
0
175
The understanding of complex many-body dynamics in laser-driven polyatomic molecules is crucial for any attempt to steer chemical reactions by means of intense light fields. Ultrashort and intense X-ray pulses from accelerator-based ...
General Physics
Nov 21, 2025
0
84
There are few technologies more fundamental to modern life than the ability to control light with precision. From fiber-optic communications to quantum sensors, the manipulation of photons underpins much of our digital infrastructure. ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 21, 2025
1
129
Researchers from McMaster University and the University of Pittsburgh have created the first functionally complete logic gate—a NAND gate (short for "NOT AND")—in a soft material using only beams of visible light. The discovery, ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 20, 2025
0
67
Using lasers as tweezers to understand cloud electrification might sound like science fiction, but at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) it is a reality. By trapping and charging micron-sized particles ...
General Physics
Nov 19, 2025
0
80
