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A pulling force can be generated via amplification of the photon linear momentum when a fairly uniform light field passes from one dielectric to another with a higher refractive index. This force can drag small objects over macroscopic distances along dielectric interfaces.
Vertically aligned nanowires on a solid surface in conjunction with table-top lasers create an ultrahigh-energy-density plasma with extremely high ionization in the laboratory.
Researchers show that the breakdown of temporal coherence in a fibre laser has strong similarities with the onset of turbulence in fluids. Establishing a conceptual connection between these different systems can offer new perspectives for both fields.
Inertial fusion energy is one potential path towards realizing sustainable energy. The development of a laser power plant capable of delivering high-energy laser pulses is crucial for realizing laser-driven inertial fusion energy.
Flexible electronics and optoelectronics have potential applications in energy generation, biomedicine, robotics and displays. Two recent demonstrations of highly stretchable polymer LEDs suggest that commercial devices may soon become viable.
Laser-driven plasma accelerators have the potential to replace existing particle accelerators, as they are highly efficient systems that are orders of magnitude smaller than conventional particle accelerators. This review discusses recent progress and future challenges in this area.
Silicon-waveguide-integrated graphene photodetectors offer high responsivities, high speeds and broad spectral bandwidths, paving the way for graphene-based optical interconnects.
The abundance of unique effects found at the nanoscale offers advantages for electronics. Now, complex heterostructures of metal clusters grown on a carbon-dot support exhibit interactive plasmonic activity that enhances the performances of LEDs and solar cells.
The generation of light pulses with programmable waveforms opens up exciting new avenues for coherent control. Researchers in Japan have now introduced a way to tailor the polarization state of custom-shaped terahertz pulses at the push of a button.
Recent progress on terahertz-emission devices based on the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ is reviewed. The emission mechanism is explained as a result of collective resonant modes in a stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions. Remarkable features of the linewidth, tunability, the optimum bias condition and the thermal influence are discussed.
This article provides an overview and illustrative examples of how the electric and magnetic fields of intense terahertz transients can be used to resonantly, and even nonresonantly, control matter and light. It discusses the fundamental interaction mechanisms of intense terahertz radiation with matter.
This article reviews state-of-the-art engineering of the spectral and spatial emission properties of terahertz quantum cascade lasers by focusing on three key factors: photonic structures for extracting and confining light in a cavity, an upconversion technique based on nonlinear intracavity mixing and a frequency stabilisation technique based on femtosecond-laser combs.
Further sensitivity improvements are required before advanced optical interferometers will be able to measure gravitational waves. A team has now shown that introducing quantum squeezing of light may help to detect these elusive waves.
Caging pairs of propagating solitons in a fibre ring resonator allows scientists to observe the solitons travelling astronomical distances, revealing the effects of extremely tiny forces exerted by the leading soliton on the trailing one.
Two independent groups have concurrently reported the first bosonic lasers driven by electrical injection. Although the devices operate only at low temperatures and in a strong magnetic field, they represent an important step forward in the evolution of polariton-based optoelectronics.
By using propagation in a nonlinear medium, several spatial modes and photons can be simultaneously interacted spatially. This enables the conventional laws of imaging, which are based on linear propagation theory, to be bent.
