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Necessity is the mother of invention. Lasing in the extreme UV from a prototype compact free-electron-laser design is reported, continuing the push towards X-ray wavelengths.
Researchers at Hamamatsu report an indium-free laser diode operating at 342 nm, the shortest wavelength so far for an electrically pumped semiconductor laser diode.
Laser beams have an intrinsic spread. Normally this spread is overcome using lenses or curved mirrors to focus the light, but this typically involves meticulous optical alignment. Researchers have now shown that a surface-plasmon technique can reduce the beam spread.
Laser-based accelerator technology has been given a boost thanks to researchers based in Korea, Japan and the USA. Their latest research could lead the way towards compact accelerators that can deliver brilliant electron and X-ray beams.
Supercontinua — bright broadband light pulses — are helping a plethora of applications in imaging, sensing and defence. Nature Photonics reports from Sydney, Australia.
Polarization is a convenient way to encode quantum information for cryptography, remote transfer and optical quantum computing, but sharing entanglement is problematic over a noisy link. Hiding in an isolated corner of the state space can make a big difference.
Waveguides are crucial for directing light, but truly useful waveguides should confine light on the nanoscale. Researchers show that a semiconducting nanowire close to a metallic surface can confine light far below the diffraction limit and guide it over dozens of wavelengths.
Single-photon emission from carbon nanotubes has been observed by researchers in Switzerland. The findings give hope for a new type of light source for quantum computing and quantum communication.
Maxwell's demon has now been realized using laser light. The ability to let atoms pass one way but not the other through a light 'gate' could provide new means to cool atomic and molecular vapours.
The unique properties of wide-bandwidth and dispersion-free propagation in photonic-crystal devices have made them a good candidate for slow-light generation. This article gives the background theory of slow light, as well as an overview of recent experimental demonstrations based on photonic-band engineering.
This article reviews different approaches for slow- and fast-light generation in optical fibres at telecommunication wavelengths, with emphasis on the stimulated–Brillouin–scattering approach — a relatively active area in optical–fibre–based control of slow and fast light.
A tiny GeSi electro-absorption modulator with energy consumption at the femtojoule-per-bit level represents a step towards bringing photonics ever closer to computer chips.
The ability of a customized avalanche-photodiode detector to distinguish the exact number of photons that it receives will simplify the tools required to perform reliable experiments in quantum optics.
Combining optical and X-ray lasers enables imaging with high temporal and spectral resolution. By taking pictures of a succession of exploding targets, a movie can be made charting the dynamics of the solid material on a 10-ps timescale.
Gravity waves, event horizons and the interplay between light and fluids are just a few of the topics that were touched on at the CLEO/QELS Conference in the USA in May. Nature Photonics reports.
A chain of nanorods with weakly damped plasmon resonances is able to perform far-field colour imaging with subwavelength resolution, according to theoretical simulations.
Over the past 20 years photodynamic therapy, a cell-killing technique where a photosensitizing drug is activated by carefully targeted visible light, has led to new therapies for cancer and other diseases. In doing so it has won support from scientists, clinicians and patients alike.
