https://phys.org/physics-news/optics-photonics/ en-us The latest news on Optics and Photonics For nearly 80 years, physicists have relied on a thought experiment created by Richard Feynman to predict how quantum particles behave. For the first time, researchers in China have tested this trick directly in the lab. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-physicists-feynman-path.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:00:02 EDT news707138733 Quantum technologies promise secure communication networks, powerful forms of computing and new sensing tools. One of the major challenges, however, is that different quantum systems often operate at different wavelengths of light. Quantum memories, trapped ions and other quantum devices may work best in the ultraviolet or visible range, while long-distance communication over optical fibers works most efficiently at telecommunications wavelengths. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hollow-core-fiber-platform-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:00:02 EDT news706879144 Despite all the advertisements for engagement rings and necklace gifts, natural diamonds are imperfect. Their carbon atoms are arranged in a cubic lattice, but they nonetheless contain several types of crystallographic defects due to impurities that occasionally replace a carbon atom. The most common types of impurities are nitrogen and boron; "Type I" diamonds contain nitrogen impurities, which can be isolated or clustered, at concentrations of up to 1%, and make up about 95% of all natural diamonds. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-diamond-clock-combines-temperature-driven.html General Physics Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:40:01 EDT news707129885 Electrons, particles that carry a negative electric charge, typically move through materials. At low densities and temperatures, however, the electrical repulsion between them can overpower their tendency to move, prompting them to arrange themselves into ordered patterns known as Wigner crystals. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-reveals-internal-motion-electron-crystals.html Condensed Matter Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news706964413 Table tennis professionals are true masters at redirecting fast-moving projectiles. Putting a targeted spin on a serve can make the little white ball fly straight toward the edge of the table but then, at the last moment, take a sharp curve into the left corner. The physical phenomenon behind this sporting trick is known as the Magnus effect. It acts on balls of all sizes and has helped decide more than a few soccer matches. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-optical-magnus-effect-sharpen-quantum.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 27 Aug 2026 11:20:04 EDT news707047501 A team of researchers from the University of Bonn, Heidelberg University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico has studied the critical behavior of light particles (photons) close to a phase transition. This critical scaling behavior, which sees thermodynamic quantities grow extremely large or diverge shortly prior to Bose-Einstein condensation, had never before been seen in photon gases until the researchers successfully secured precisely this proof. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-particles-reveal-critical-scaling-dimensional.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:30:01 EDT news707022164 Efficiently controlling heat generation has become a major challenge as the semiconductors used in smartphones, computers and similar devices have become higher-performing and more miniaturized. The way heat is transmitted is determined by the vibration of the atoms that constitute a material, but it is not easy to directly examine, at the atomic scale, how neighboring atoms vibrate in coordination with one another. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-vibrations-neighboring-atoms-atomic-scale.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:20:03 EDT news706961521 For decades, light has been used to understand the molecular structures of matter. A sample is irradiated with light, and measurements determine the wavelengths at which it is absorbed. Since each molecule absorbs light at very specific wavelengths that depend on its structure, the resulting absorption spectrum acts like a molecular fingerprint. For individual molecules, however, this signal is vanishingly small and mostly indistinguishable from noise. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-molecule-photon-entanglement-imperceptible-recoil.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:00:14 EDT news706866181 Detecting short-wave infrared (SWIR) light, a region of the electromagnetic spectrum just beyond the light visible to the human eye, could be advantageous for many real-world applications. For instance, it could enable more advanced systems for capturing images at night, as well as sophisticated medical imaging, environmental monitoring and industrial inspection technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hyperdoped-silicon-photodiode-advances-short.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Aug 2026 08:00:06 EDT news706796840 Scientists could have a new way to explore the hidden behavior of matter, thanks to research involving Queen Mary University of London that uses a quantum computer to carry out a new form of computational spectroscopy. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-quantum-method-broadens-spectroscopy-hard.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:00:07 EDT news706934991 The search for materials that can power future quantum technologies is accelerating, but identifying the most promising candidates remains painfully slow. Evaluating whether a material can efficiently emit quantum light requires computationally intensive simulations, making it difficult to screen the vast number of available materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bright-ideas-quantum-emitters.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 25 Aug 2026 05:00:02 EDT news706801202 Our everyday life is flooded with photons, the quantum building blocks of light. For cutting-edge technology, from quantum computing to deep-tissue imaging, detecting every single photon counts. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-supersized-quantum-sensors-faint-photons.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:30:01 EDT news706809782 A research team from Singapore, led by Associate Professor Dawn Tan of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Dr. Luo Xianshu, head of the Silicon Photonics Department at the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (A*STAR IME), has developed a low-loss silicon nitride waveguide that generates broadband light on a chip. By replacing hydrogen with its heavier isotope, deuterium, the team fabricated the low-loss SiN waveguide on an 8-inch wafer using a low-temperature process, demonstrating its potential for large-scale manufacturing and integration with CMOS-compatible semiconductor processes. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-deuterium-enables-chip-waveguides-generate.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:30:01 EDT news706807202 A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) has developed a new optical corner-detection imaging method that uses azimuthal Hilbert transform metasurfaces and is designed to work as a universal framework. The study marks an important advance in high-speed, low-power optical information processing and has demonstrated potential for motion-tracking applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-corners-focus-metasurface-enables-motion.html General Physics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:00:06 EDT news706792142 There's a new lighthouse on Long Island. But instead of shining light to guide ships through waterways, this one transmits and receives particles of light that carry quantum information. Perched atop a seven-story building at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, the "Quantum Lighthouse" is a key pillar of the free-space optical (FSO) link spanning Brookhaven Lab, the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University) and Yale University. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-free-space-optical-link-wireless.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:43:00 EDT news706783326 When physicists at the ARC Centre for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) needed a key component for their terahertz experiments, they ran into a frustrating problem—they needed tiny optical devices, known as wire-grid polarizers, but these cost thousands of dollars each. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-laser-aluminum-foil-terahertz-polarizers.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:40:02 EDT news706536542 Loughborough University physicists and an international team have demonstrated that a grain-of-rice-sized microchip can be used to produce a spectrum of precisely spaced frequencies of light, which is then converted into multiple high-frequency electromagnetic signals known as millimeter waves. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-rainbow-chip-6g-networks-precision.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:00:03 EDT news706524302 Researchers from the MPIK in Heidelberg used an atomic gas as a time-dependent lens to shape and spectrally manipulate intense high-frequency laser pulses. This gas-based optical element could pave the way toward better XUV- and X-ray pulse control for applications such as chemical reaction steering, quantum computing, and advanced spectroscopy methods for fundamental science. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-intense-bent-ultrafast-lenses-gas.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 20 Aug 2026 17:50:02 EDT news706464781 The candela, the international unit of light in use for almost a century, forms the basis of photometry. According to a new study, measurements derived from it systematically misjudge the brightness of colored light sources and depart markedly from human perception. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-illuminating-limits-international-candela.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:09 EDT news706440521 At the bottom of the ocean, optical fibers transmit telecommunications and internet data around the world. Waveguides make that feat possible by channeling and amplifying the light—and therefore the data within—over enormous distances. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-3d-ceramic-waveguide-lasers-surpass.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:40:01 EDT news706369441 Researchers at the University of Oldenburg's Institute of Physics are working on techniques for precision control of electric fields of light, which allow the dynamics of individual electrons to be manipulated in experiments. Now a team from the Attosecond Microscopy research group, led by Dr. Jan Vogelsang, has taken a decisive step toward this goal. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-laser-stability-method-advances-precision.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 18 Aug 2026 22:40:01 EDT news706291201 Quantum communication promises many advantages over today's standard technologies, including absolutely secure transmission of large amounts of data. However, it requires single photons—and generating them is very difficult. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) have developed a new method that overcomes the problems of previous approaches. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-photonic-crystal-method-photon-sources.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:00:04 EDT news706273921 Optical fibers are already the backbone of global communication systems. Recently, however, physicists have started to explore how their functionality could be boosted further by conveying information via entangled quantum particles—potentially enabling instantaneous exchanges of information across vast distances. Such a system could eventually be the basis of a future 'quantum internet,' offering a level of security and computing power beyond anything possible today. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-physicists-entangle-quantum-memories-km.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:30:01 EDT news706284107 From helping doctors detect cancer to guiding self-driving cars through traffic, many modern imaging systems rely on near-infrared light, producing a crisp picture when visible light would scatter and yield a blurry picture. But near-infrared systems struggle when light passes through materials like deep tissue or dense fog, succumbing to the same scattering effect in which photons deviate from their path. Existing near-infrared imaging systems also rely on specialized detectors made from expensive materials, limiting their affordability and widespread use. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-gating-technique-deep-tissue-dense.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 17 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news706191901 Physicists at the University of Twente have improved the standard test for the quality of individual particles of light. By letting three photons interfere at the same time instead of two, they draw more information from every measurement. Their experiment outperforms even a perfect, noise-free run of the old method. The work appeared in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-photons-standard-photon.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news706188421 Researchers at Monash University have developed a new X-ray imaging technique that can image two overlapping samples at the same time, potentially doubling scanning efficiency while opening new possibilities for industrial inspection and scientific research. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ray-imaging-technique-scanning-efficiency.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:20:07 EDT news706184461 Over the past two decades, photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) have shown promise as a type of advanced semiconductor laser useful in defense- and aerospace-related applications. Typically, these devices are made with photonic crystal patterns that repeat across the area of the device. But new research from the lab of electrical and computer engineering professor Kent Choquette has demonstrated a quasi-periodic photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser (QPCSEL). Fabricated with their buried dielectric platform, the group's device highlights a new avenue for creating tunable, more reliable semiconductor lasers. Their findings appear in Applied Physics Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-nonrepeating-photonic-crystal-enable-tunable.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 15 Aug 2026 08:00:05 EDT news705982806 When one mentions "waves," we immediately think of a perturbation that propagates. This applies to waves on the shore, sound waves in the air or electromagnetic waves that we use to transmit information via optical fibers. The same idea of propagating perturbations applies to gravitational waves (GWs), which entered the mainstream media a decade ago after their first direct detection. These are perturbations of the elastic fabric that we are all embedded in, called spacetime. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bound-gravitational-photonic.html General Physics Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news705839245 A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that travels while rotating like a pinwheel to the left or right. Because different rotation directions can carry different information, it is drawing attention as a key light source for next-generation displays, optical communications and security technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-rotation-complex-materials.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:40:04 EDT news705931801 A research team has developed a new theoretical framework that can suppress light scattering in certain directions while enhancing it in others, even in irregularly arranged materials. The work extends research on controlling light scattering, which has traditionally centered on ordered crystal structures, into the realm of disordered systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-theoretical-framework-crystal.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:20:05 EDT news705849601