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.
Lasers, devices that emit intense beams of coherent light in specific directions, are widely used in research settings and are central components of various technologies, including optical clocks (i.e., systems that can keep ...
Forecasting earthquakes presents a serious challenge on land, but in the oceans that cover around 70% of Earth's surface it is all but impossible. However, the vast network of undersea cables that crisscross the world's seas ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
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A team of physicists from the University of Ottawa, led by Neda Boroumand, have developed a new theoretical model that shines new light on how scientists understand the way lasers interact with dense matter, such as solids ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 17, 2026
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When an electron travels through a polar crystalline solid, its negative charge attracts the positively charged atomic cores, causing the surrounding crystal lattice to deform. The electron and lattice distortion then move ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 17, 2026
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Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are helping to pave a path for the eventual discovery of dark matter. With new approaches to measurement in the quantum realm, using quantum optical ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 17, 2026
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In some quantum materials, which are materials governed by quantum mechanical effects, interactions between charged particles (i.e., electrons) can prompt the creation of quasiparticles called anyons, which carry only a fraction ...
Quantum physics may sound abstract, but Ph.D. candidates Kirsten Kanneworff and David Dechant show that quantum research can also be very concrete. Together, they are investigating how quantum technology can change the world. ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 13, 2026
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Harnessing the power of the sun holds the promise of providing future societies with energy abundance. To make this a reality, fusion researchers need to address many technological challenges. For example, fusion reactions ...
General Physics
Feb 13, 2026
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A research team has successfully implemented a programmable spinor lattice on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). This platform enables the realization of non-Abelian physics, in which the outcome of operations depends on ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 12, 2026
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Probing the vibration of atoms provides detailed information on local structure and bonding that define material properties. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) offers extremely high resolution to probe such vibrations. ...
Nanophysics
Feb 11, 2026
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