https://phys.org/physics-news/optics-photonics/ en-us The latest news on Optics and Photonics For over a century, the accepted value for a firefly's brightness has mostly stood, tracing its origins to experiments carried out in 1912. Through rigorous new analysis published in the American Journal of Physics, David Silver of Remiza AI in New York has discovered that this value has likely been vastly overestimated. His results provide a stark reminder of what can happen when widely accepted older measurements are converted into modern standard units. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-firefly-brightness-cautionary-tale-older.html General Physics Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:20:09 EDT news703147806 More than half a century ago, Sir Roger Penrose envisioned a scenario in which energy could be extracted from a black hole spinning at extreme speeds. He proposed that a particle entering its ergosphere—a region of space dragged around by a rotating black hole—could split into two. One part could fall into the black hole while the other escaped carrying more energy than the original particle. Building on this theory, physicist Yakov Zel'dovich later predicted that a wave interacting with a sufficiently fast, rotating object could extract energy from it and become amplified. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-synthetic-rotation-black-hole-energy.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:00:06 EDT news702729354 Modern life depends on quantum physics. It makes technologies such as GPS navigation, MRI scanners and computer chips possible. Now, the same science may also lead to a new way to test the health of our eyes. A University at Buffalo-led team has used a technique from quantum optics to make a little-known visual pattern produced inside the eye easier to see—potentially opening the door to a new way to test retinal health. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-optics-rare-visual-phenomenon.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:40:03 EDT news702832091 Plasma pinches: From pursuits of nuclear fusion to an attractive point source of accelerated protons for proton radiography. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-plasma-radial-proton-crisp-imaging.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 17:00:01 EDT news702737542 The explosive growth of data generated by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and modern digital infrastructure is placing increasing pressure on existing information storage technologies. Although magnetic storage systems such as hard disk drives remain the dominant platform for digital storage, they face challenges including rising costs, limited lifespan and relatively slow information retrieval. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-wavelength-multiplexed-diffractive-optical-storage.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:40:05 EDT news702721575 Researchers have created a special flat lens that shapes light into an optical needle—a thin beam that stays tightly focused over a long distance. Combining this lens, which is about 7 microns thick, with optical coherence tomography (OCT) could allow imaging that reaches deeper into tissue while maintaining a sharp focus. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ultrathin-lens-focuses-optical-needle.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:44:03 EDT news702646976 A German-Japanese research team involving the University of Augsburg has made a significant breakthrough in the use of antiferromagnets. For the first time, the team has succeeded in writing magnetic information using only ultrashort laser pulses—without the need for electric currents or magnetic fields. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-optical-antiferromagnets-storage-devices-energy.html Condensed Matter Sat, 04 Jul 2026 16:00:03 EDT news702223904 Werner Heisenberg's famous uncertainty principle describes one of the most intriguing features of quantum physics: certain pairs of physical quantities describing a particle, such as position and momentum, cannot simultaneously be determined with arbitrary precision—not because of imprecise measuring instruments, but because nature forbids it. Between position and time, however, there is no Heisenberg uncertainty principle. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ultrafast-scanning-tunneling-microscopy-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:06 EDT news702290288 Researchers from the Molecular Physics and Physical Chemistry departments of the Fritz Haber Institute have shown how two highly synchronized infrared (IR) laser beams can control molecules as they switch between different structural conformations. Their study provides a new window into how molecules rearrange themselves during chemical reactions, offering fundamental insights into the microscopic processes that govern chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-synchronized-infrared-lasers-molecular-expose.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:10:01 EDT news702230341 The transmission of optical information through random scattering media is a major challenge in optics, biomedical imaging, telecommunications and remote sensing. When light passes through a turbid or diffusive medium, such as biological tissue or a randomly structured optical material, the original image information can be severely distorted, making reliable recovery difficult. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-diffractive-networks-enable-optical-random.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:20:01 EDT news702222722 Quantum properties of light are extremely delicate. When researchers attempt to measure them, even small losses on the way to a detector can make them invisible, limiting their use outside carefully controlled environments. A collaborative team of researchers involving scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) has shown a new way to measure several quantum channels of light at the same time and reveal their entanglement, even when almost all of the light is lost before reaching the detector. The results, recently published in Nature Communications, open new possibilities for scalable quantum technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-properties-multimode-extreme-losses.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:20:04 EDT news702215161 In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers have demonstrated the Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) effect with up to 12 indistinguishable neutral atoms—an effect that has been predominantly observed in photonic systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-physicists-hongoumandel-atoms.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:00:01 EDT news702035661 When a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma, the charged particles typically oscillate back and forth like waves on the ocean. But what if the laser itself could twist like a whirlpool? Researchers have now demonstrated a rotating, spring-shaped laser pulse, opening new possibilities for fusion energy, particle acceleration, astrophysics and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-kind-laser-avenues-plasma.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:00:07 EDT news701962082 An international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, their response is averaged over many different local environments and therefore appears isotropic, as expected for a cubic crystal. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-disorder-optics-compound-semiconductors.html Condensed Matter Mon, 29 Jun 2026 18:10:02 EDT news701968441 Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have developed a technique for interrogating molecules on surfaces with spectroscopic precision, thereby reaching the ultimate quantum limit for the first time. With their findings, published in Science, the researchers open new opportunities for the study of molecule-surface interactions and molecular quantum technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-crystal-surface-molecules-ultimate-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 26 Jun 2026 17:00:01 EDT news701698772 Almost every material expands when heated. Well-known examples include railroad tracks and concrete roadways, which feature visible expansion gaps to accommodate this effect. However, thermal expansion poses a far more acute challenge for extremely precise technologies, such as lasers and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, where even minute dimensional changes can compromise precision. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-crystal-strategy-thermal-expansion.html Condensed Matter Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:40:01 EDT news701696989 Physicists at Paderborn University have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the so-called "return" of Rabi oscillations in semiconductor quantum dots. The phenomenon, which was first predicted theoretically in 2007, describes the decrease in the emission intensity of the quantum dots, which are initially damped by interactions with the lattice vibrations of a solid (phonons). https://phys.org/news/2026-06-semiconductor-quantum-dots-reawaken-rabi.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:00:04 EDT news701694781 Researchers have developed light-transmitting hydrogel fibers that are just hundreds of micrometers in diameter. With further development, these soft fibers could one day make it possible to use imaging techniques to detect early breast cancer hidden inside very small breast ducts. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-microscale-hydrogel-fibers-enable-imaging.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:20:03 EDT news701621602 In an international experiment, researchers observed Jahn–Teller polarons—quasiparticles that could play an important role in future ultrafast spintronic devices. These polarons emerged within the crystal lattice of cobalt oxide that had been activated by carefully tailored laser pulses. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-laser-pulses-capture-unexplored-polaronic.html Condensed Matter Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:40:02 EDT news701617923 Scientists have developed a new type of "virtual" metasurface—capable of controlling light in ways traditional lenses and optics can't—which they say is superior to the current approach, which relies on ultrathin engineered materials. The Nottingham Trent University team says the work will help fully optimize metasurface potential for a range of real-world applications and paves the way for a move from physical to virtual platforms in nanotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultra-fast-technology-game-changer.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:00:02 EDT news701617246 Although the efficiency of organic solar cells has now risen to more than 20%, there are physical limits that make it difficult to further increase their performance. A research team from Linköping University in Sweden, the University of Potsdam, the Paul-Drude-Institut in Berlin and other collaborators has now demonstrated which physical processes limit a key parameter in the performance of organic solar cells. This opens up the possibility of overcoming the long-standing efficiency limits of organic solar cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-longer-exciton-lifetimes-ease-efficiency.html Condensed Matter Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:40:05 EDT news701535301 Scientists at NPL have demonstrated the best-reported laser frequency stability achieved with an optical reference cavity operating at room temperature, marking a major advance in ultrastable laser technology. The team's results have been published in Optica. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-room-temperature-laser-stability-cm.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:30:01 EDT news701540282 Since the 1980s, researchers have sought to use laser light to control chemical reactions relevant to photochemistry, catalysis and light-responsive materials. But this technique, known as coherent control, has a blind spot: There has been no way to directly see the molecules in these reactions as their structures rearrange. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultrafast-rays-molecules-rearrange-chemical.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:30:01 EDT news701537341 How could we noninvasively distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue? And how could we increase the speed of wireless communications? These two seemingly unrelated questions may share the same answer: terahertz (THz) light. Spanning frequencies between 0.3 and 20 THz, THz light interacts with matter without causing damage and allows for faster data transfer than radio waves. It is thus ideal for advancing many applications in biomedicine and telecommunications, for which simple yet sensitive and fast detectors are needed. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-graphene-plasmon-cavities-enable-advanced.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 23 Jun 2026 18:20:03 EDT news701446621 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have used a classic optical phenomenon known as the Poisson spot to create stable patterns of light called optical skyrmions, which are tiny, swirling configurations in the properties of light—akin to the spikes of a hedgehog. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-optical-skyrmions-century-phenomenon.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:40:05 EDT news701425623 Two cups of warm water don't make one cup of boiling water. But in the quantum world, multiple low-energy photons can combine to produce a single, higher-energy photon. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-solid-state-material-visible-high.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 23 Jun 2026 05:00:05 EDT news701347021 Researchers have demonstrated a new way to make spatially separated lasers synchronize and act as a single coherent light source—without extreme conditions or complex materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-room-temperature-device-synchronizes-distant.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:10:01 EDT news701363941 In a paper published in Science Advances, researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in collaboration with the University of Minnesota and Kyung Hee University have found a new way to control quantum light sources, which is one of the key elements needed before quantum technologies can be used reliably in real-world systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tiny-quantum-sources-atomically-thin.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:00:06 EDT news701077501 Experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) require breathtaking precision. Each of the 192 lasers is focused to a width of a few millimeters to enter a 3-millimeter hole at the top or bottom of a 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) gold canister known as a hohlraum. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-circular-polarization-laser-backscatter-fusion.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:50:01 EDT news701019421 How does light turn into motion within a metal? A team of researchers from European XFEL, the University of Potsdam and other participating institutions has shown that ultrashort optical laser pulses can trigger extremely rapid lattice vibrations in periodically layered metal structures—not primarily by heating the atomic lattice, but through the pressure exerted by hot electrons. The results are published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-laser-pulses-layered-metals-vibrating.html Condensed Matter Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:10:03 EDT news701018641