The laws of quantum physics rule the microcosm. They determine, for example, how easily electrons move through a crystal and thus whether the material is a metal, a semiconductor or an insulator. Quantum physics may lead ...
Quantum Physics
Jul 16, 2021
0
327
New research shows how to measure the super-short bursts of high-frequency light emitted from free electron lasers (FELs). By using the light-induced ionization itself to create a femtosecond optical shutter, the technique ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 14, 2021
0
192
If you heat a solid material enough, the thermal energy (latent heat) causes the material's molecules begin to break apart, forming a liquid. One of the most familiar examples of this phase transition from a well-ordered ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 2, 2020
1
41
Some molecules can exist in two mirror-image forms, similar to our hands. Although such so-called enantiomers have almost identical physical properties, they are not the same. The fact that they behave to each other like ...
Materials Science
Nov 14, 2019
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51
When beams of ultra-short laser pulses running in the same direction intersect with each other at a noticeable angle, various interactions occur between the pulses. These physical phenomena are complicated, and their mathematical ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 27, 2018
1
325
A team of researchers from the Dutch institute AMOLF, Western University (Canada), and the University of Texas (United States of America) recently demonstrated the use of algorithmic design to create a new type of nanophotonic ...
Nanophysics
Nov 9, 2018
0
67
What happens when a new technology is so precise that it operates on a scale beyond our characterization capabilities? For example, the lasers used at INRS produce ultrashort pulses in the femtosecond range (10-15 s), which ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 12, 2018
17
8636
If you want to get the greatest benefit from a beam of light—whether to detect a distant planet or remedy an aberration in the human eye—you need to be able to measure its beam front information.
Optics & Photonics
Jul 11, 2018
0
124
Tiny micro- and nanoscale structures within a material's surface are invisible to the naked eye, but play a big role in determining a material's physical, chemical, and biomedical properties.
Optics & Photonics
Mar 14, 2017
0
515
Electronic components have become faster and faster over the years, thus making powerful computers and other technologies possible. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now investigated how fast electrons can ultimately be controlled ...
General Physics
Aug 26, 2016
1
2102
