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.
Physicists have used a new optical centrifuge to control the rotation of molecules suspended in liquid helium nano-droplets, bringing them a step closer to demystifying the behavior of exotic, frictionless superfluids.
Optics & Photonics
Jan 22, 2026
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The interaction of silver materials with light is well-known as the basis of film photography. But, there are much more sophisticated interactions when we consider very, very small particles of silver that could have applications ...
Nanophysics
Jan 21, 2026
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A hundred years ago, quantum mechanics was a radical theory that baffled even the brightest minds. Today, it's the backbone of technologies that shape our lives, from lasers and microchips to quantum computers and secure ...
Quantum Physics
Jan 20, 2026
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In 2023, a team of physicists from Sandia National Laboratories announced a major discovery: a way to steer LED light. If refined, it could mean someday replacing lasers with cheaper, smaller, more energy-efficient LEDs in ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 20, 2026
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33
Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) semiconductor lasers are highly sought for medical, biotechnology, and precision manufacturing applications; however, previous UV-B laser diodes were limited to pulsed operation or required cryogenic ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 17, 2026
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Radio telescopes are instruments that capture faint radio signals from space and convert them into images of celestial bodies. To observe distant black holes clearly, multiple radio telescopes must capture cosmic signals ...
Astronomy
Jan 15, 2026
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41
Muons are unstable subatomic particles that spontaneously and rapidly transform into other particles via a process known as electroweak decay. Altering the speed with which muons decay into other particles was so far deemed ...
For the first time, physicists in Italy have created a 'lump soliton': an extremely stable packet of light waves which can travel through 3D space, and even interact with other solitons without losing its shape.
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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73
Physicists from Trinity College Dublin believe new insights into the behavior of light may offer a new means of solving one of science's oldest challenges—how to turn heat into useful energy.
Optics & Photonics
Jan 9, 2026
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