https://phys.org/physics-news/optics-photonics/ en-us The latest news on Optics and Photonics Most conventional methods of ultrafast photography use evenly spaced intervals in which images are taken, but new developments have shown how much can be left out of the story, especially when multiple timescales are involved. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-custom-captures-ultrafast-events-magnitude.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:20:10 EDT news711728369 Light is one of the most powerful tools scientists have for probing matter. By interacting with electrons, light reveals how atoms, molecules and materials are structured and how they evolve in time. Highly energetic ultraviolet and X-ray photons are particularly attractive because they can access electrons located close to atomic nuclei, where each chemical element carries its own distinctive electronic fingerprint. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrons-extreme-ultraviolet-team-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:00:31 EDT news711713761 Voltage fluctuations, light fluctuations, temperature fluctuations—any fluctuations are troublesome and thus undesirable. They don't just cause discomfort; in engineering and medical applications, they affect the accuracy of measurements or introduce errors in controls. Even at the minute level of quantum phenomena, fluctuations are considered undesirable. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-forbidden-emissions-graphene-expose-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:40:04 EDT news711626341 Researchers have developed and demonstrated a new hybrid photonic platform that integrates quantum emitters with photonic devices, providing a way to reliably control the interaction between photons and quantum information carriers. The chip-based platform, which combines gallium phosphide (GaP) with a diamond substrate, could help make quantum networks more practical by providing a way to connect quantum devices over long distances. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hybrid-diamond-chip-interactions-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:00:05 EDT news711300067 For the first time, scientists have achieved strong coupling between light and long-lived acoustic vibrations in an optical fiber. Optical fibers are used in both classical telecommunications and quantum communication and could serve not only as connections between computing nodes but also as quantum processors themselves in the future. The results, published in Nature Physics, pave the way for new technologies in quantum signal processing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-highway-racetrack-strong-coupling-optical.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:20:01 EDT news711373441 Researchers have developed and tested a new locking method for gravitational wave detectors that will advance the discovery of distant black holes and neutron stars colliding. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-infrared-mirror-coating-obstacle-gravitational.html General Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:00:05 EDT news711373401 Researchers used the European XFEL to create X-ray flashes that were not only extremely short but also reached record intensity for this type of pulse. The researchers focused the X-rays to an area roughly 100,000 times smaller than the cross section of a typical human hair. This concentrated the X-ray light into a tiny but extremely powerful spot. The method could enable detailed studies of how electrons behave in atoms and molecules and, in the long term, could even allow researchers to control electrons during chemical reactions. The team has now published the results of the experiment, carried out in April 2026, in the journal Optica. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-world-intensity-attosecond-hard-ray.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news711377641 Physicists at Auburn University have used flashes of laser light to bring order to tiny electrically charged "islands" inside a crystal. The discovery helps answer a decades-old question about how the material organizes itself and shows how light could be used to control its behavior—a step toward exploring new technologies for processing and storing information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-laser-pulses-quantum-material-tiny.html Condensed Matter Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:00:07 EDT news711286681 Researchers have developed a chip-scale optical ring-laser gyroscope that can measure rotation as slow as 37 degrees per hour. This record sensitivity, approaching Earth's rotation rate of 15 degrees per hour, could eventually be useful for precision navigation and orientation systems, particularly where GPS is unavailable. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chip-scale-gyroscope-rotation-unprecedented.html General Physics Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:00:10 EDT news711213061 A major software advance could aid the creation of bigger, more reliable quantum computers, a study suggests. Researchers have developed an algorithm that enables off-the-shelf computers to run quantum simulations previously only possible using the world's most powerful supercomputers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-software-advance-complex-quantum-simulations.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:01:09 EDT news711202202 Quantum networks are systems that connect different users or devices using principles of quantum mechanics. In the future, these networks could help improve the security of communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-network-entanglement-detectors.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 14 Oct 2026 07:00:01 EDT news711023003 Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the University of Regensburg have developed a method for determining, using light, a quantum property of electrons that has hitherto been difficult to access. The focus is on what is known as Berry curvature—a quantity that describes certain geometric properties of the quantum mechanical states of electrons. The researchers measured it in a layer of the semiconductor tungsten diselenide, just one atomic layer thick, using ultrashort laser pulses. The results have been published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Photonics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ultrashort-laser-pulses-probe-electrons.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 13 Oct 2026 19:40:02 EDT news711123481 Magnetic skyrmions (MSks) are swirling patterns of magnetization that form inside certain magnetic materials. They can behave like actual particles in many ways, exhibiting a stable internal structure and distinct boundaries. Because they are extremely small and can be pushed around with relatively little energy, MSks are regarded as promising information carriers in emerging technologies, including low-power memories and logic circuits. However, a major goal in the field has been to find practical ways to control their motion with high precision. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-optical-skyrmions-motion-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:40:11 EDT news711121981 Researchers have developed a new computational model that accounts for the effects of aging on our eyes' ability to discriminate color. It could help guide lighting designs that make it easier for older adults to perceive colors while preserving the expected appearance for people with typical color vision. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-discrimination-aging-eyes.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:20:13 EDT news711121921 For highly fragile quantum information systems, the ability to store quantum information is vital—but also challenging. Quantum information is transported in particles of light called photons, which often must be temporarily paused (or "stored") while other, slower quantum operations catch up. This storage must be performed on microchips as small as 1 centimeter (0.4 inches)—a distance covered by light in a few trillionths of a second. Storing photons for a microsecond would represent a massive leap forward for the capabilities of quantum chips. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-chip-multiple-photons-path.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:00:10 EDT news710766541 Quantum computers, computer systems that leverage the laws of quantum mechanics, store and process information using qubits (i.e., quantum bits). In many quantum computers, qubits are linked via entanglement, a quantum mechanical effect that connects particles in such a way that their shared state cannot be described as separate, independent states. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-superconducting-circuit-links-smaller-photon.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:00:06 EDT news710499125 In a study led by Tampere University, researchers have developed a new lensless imaging method that produces precise quantitative data on living cells from a single image. The compact system can be placed inside a standard cell-culture incubator, allowing living cells to be monitored continuously for hours or even days without staining or other labels. The research is published in the journal Applied Physics Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-lensless-imaging-method-enables-term.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:50:01 EDT news710698142 Today, many physicists are actively exploring how light could be used to link objects through quantum entanglement. By fully harnessing the effect, they hope to unlock a wide array of applications, from secure communication networks spanning vast distances to sensitive new tests of the fundamental laws of physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-levitating-glass-sphere-entangled-room.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:40:13 EDT news710587355 Creating a quantum device often begins by intentionally damaging a crystal. Scientists fire an ultrafast laser pulse into a material, knocking atoms out of place and leaving behind tiny imperfections called vacancies. Far from being flaws, these vacancies can behave as qubits—the fundamental building blocks of quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ray-technique-reveals-quantum-materials.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:20:08 EDT news710508661 The world would look radically different without rulers and measuring tapes that fit into a pocket. Carpenters, fashion designers and engineers rely on these trusty tools to check the size of everything from a wooden board to a fabric swatch. But physicists who work with light lack that same convenience for one of the basic measurements of their craft. They routinely need to measure and compare the frequencies—colors—of the light waves they are using. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chip-based-frequency-potential-portable.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:00:10 EDT news710504281 The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE), a photoelectric effect that generates photocurrent without a p–n junction, can persist even when a material's average crystal structure remains centrosymmetric, a study from Institute of Science Tokyo has found. Researchers demonstrated this in CuCrP2S6, a van der Waals material that transitions from a noncentrosymmetric to a centrosymmetric average structure. The finding challenges the conventional view of BPVE and suggests a new strategy for enhancing photoelectric conversion. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-atomic-motion-solar-cells-conventional.html Condensed Matter Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:20:16 EDT news710425741 Researchers have demonstrated a technique that uses a laser to produce a plasma beam antenna capable of transmitting radio waves. The article, "Laser-Induced-Plasma-Filament Antenna Transmitting 30 MHz VHF," is published in the IEEE Journal of Microwaves. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-lightsaber-plasma-antenna-laser-ionized.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:20:10 EDT news710421001 When light travels through a strongly scattering material, such as biological tissue or other disordered opaque media, it follows many different paths and produces a seemingly random speckle pattern. Wavefront shaping makes it possible to control this complex interference and focus light through such materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-giant-fluctuations-focused-reveal-hidden.html Condensed Matter Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:00:01 EDT news710002088 When I explain topology to students, I start with a knot in a rope. You can stretch it, twist it or shake it, but the knot stays until you cut the rope. Physicists have found that some materials and devices carry similar "knots" in how waves move through them. These are topological properties, labeled by whole numbers that don't change under small imperfections. That robustness is why topology has become one of the central ideas in modern physics. It promises electronics, photonics and quantum devices that tolerate defects and noise. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-hidden-topology-energy-leaks.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:40:01 EDT news710151198 In recent experiments involving hydrogels and water droplets, researchers have proposed that exposure to visible light could make water evaporate faster without heating it. However, direct evidence that light acts on water itself has proven elusive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-visible-evaporation-rigorous.html General Physics Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:40:01 EDT news710151999 Imagine a proton catching a wave and surfing it to gain speed. While the imagery may seem wild, the premise of laser-driven ion acceleration has promise as an alternative to conventional accelerators. However, the ultrathin targets used to drive this increase in ion energy are vulnerable to the weak prepulse that precedes the main high-intensity laser pulse, meaning an adaptation in the process is necessary. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-protons-energy-pulse-lasers.html General Physics Fri, 02 Oct 2026 10:20:08 EDT news710151602 EPFL researchers have developed a chip-based laser that keeps a very stable frequency across its tested operating range, without needing active electronic control. Their research is published in the journal Nature Photonics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-laser-stays.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 02 Oct 2026 09:20:02 EDT news710149861 Working in close collaboration, researchers from Paderborn University, the University of Basel and Ruhr University Bochum have made a breakthrough in quantum communication. In their recently published paper in the journal Physical Review Letters, they demonstrate how special semiconductor nanostructures can be used to generate individual photons and pairs of photons that are almost perfectly identical. These "indistinguishable" particles form the basis for quantum entanglement and quantum interference. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-method-generates-indistinguishable-photons-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:40:10 EDT news710077741 Light scattered in tissue usually ceases to be a useful source of information. But what if, instead of forcing it to travel along a single path, we allowed it to wander a little differently each time? Scientists from ICTER tested this seemingly risky idea and showed that a series of measurements that differ from one another can produce a clearer image than a single frame. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-approach-imaging.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:20:22 EDT news710063761 By superimposing two ultrashort laser pulses that converge from different directions, a team of physicists at the University of Oldenburg has succeeded in generating three-dimensional light fields. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-3d-fields-electrons-quantum-states.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:40:26 EDT news709983422