Making dark semiconductors shine

Whether or not a solid can emit light, for instance as a light-emitting diode (LED), depends on the energy levels of the electrons in its crystalline lattice. An international team of researchers led by University of Oldenburg ...

New fluorophores could help fight cancer

Scientists from the Ural Federal University and the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created new fluorescent chemical compounds (fluorophores) for photodynamic therapy of cancerous tumors, the latest method ...

Physicists build an atom laser that can stay on forever

Lasers produce coherent waves of light: All the light inside a laser vibrates completely in sync. Meanwhile, quantum mechanics tells us that particles like atoms should also be thought of as waves. As a result, we can build ...

Optical cavities could provide new technological possibilities

A research team from NTNU is studying a topic called optical cavities and how the light trapped in them interacts with atoms, molecules and other particles. The technology could prove valuable for the development of energy-efficient ...

Microdrones with light-driven nanomotors

A hand-held laser pointer produces no noticeable recoil forces when it is "fired"—even though it emits a directed stream of light particles. The reason for this is its very large mass compared to the very small recoil impulses ...

Light amplification accelerates chemical reactions in aerosols

Aerosols in the atmosphere react to incident sunlight. This light is amplified in the interior of the aerosol droplets and particles, accelerating reactions. ETH researchers have now been able to demonstrate and quantify ...

Physicists create compressible optical quantum gas

Researchers at the University of Bonn have created a gas of light particles that can be extremely compressed. Their results confirm the predictions of central theories of quantum physics. The findings could also point the ...

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