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.
An international research team led by Alexander Kuznetsov at the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI) in Berlin has demonstrated a fundamentally new way to control the condensation of hybrid light-matter ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 11, 2026
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To unlock materials of the future, including better photocatalysts or light-switchable superconductors, researchers need to understand how the valence electrons within materials respond to light at the atomic scale. Materials ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 11, 2026
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The future for our computers will literally be at the speed of light. Extremely short light pulses can perform ultrafast logical operations: these are the findings of a study recently published in the journal Nature Photonics. ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 10, 2026
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By controlling magnetic fields using light, a team of researchers led by NTU scientists has solved a long-standing challenge to precisely direct electric currents produced by quantum materials. Their findings unlock new avenues ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 10, 2026
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Controlling light with light is a long-sought goal for computing and communication technologies. Achieving this capability would allow optical signals to be processed without converting them into electrical signals, potentially ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 9, 2026
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Researchers from Germany, Japan and India, led by scientists from DESY and the Universities of Kiel and Hamburg, have found a way to collectively make molecules on a flat surface rotate by exposing them to light using ultrafast ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 9, 2026
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The unofficial soundtrack of every basketball, squash or hard-court tennis match is the constant high-pitched squeak or shriek of the players' shoes. But can this squeak be designed out of them while retaining the grip?
General Physics
Mar 6, 2026
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Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance. For decades, researchers have explored light sails as an alternative. ...
Nanophysics
Mar 5, 2026
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Electrons can be "kicked across" solar materials at almost the fastest speed nature allows, scientists have discovered, challenging long-held theories about how solar energy systems work. The finding could help researchers ...
General Physics
Mar 5, 2026
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248
In recent years, van der Waals crystals have evolved from scientific curiosities into a versatile platform for exploring novel quantum phases and unconventional nanophotonic phenomena. Their layered nature allows stacking, ...
Nanophysics
Mar 3, 2026
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