Home

Photonics Hot List: July 12, 2024

July 12, 2024

In this episode: Environmental monitoring is possible via light-run robot, nonlinear optics fix light distortion, and a quantum memory drum stores data.

Justine Murphy

Drawing inspiration from maple tree seeds—also called samara wings, which glide to the ground through the wind—an international team of researchers has developed a light-controlled robot poised to revolutionize applications including environmental monitoring.

Potentially anything from microscopy to quantum communications could benefit from a new approach to fixing light distortions. Researchers in South Africa can now send a patterned light through obstructions without distorting the message.

Using optomechanical systems, a team in Denmark has developed a tiny quantum memory drum that could replace platforms like atomic ensembles and rare-earth ion-doped crystals, in turn advancing quantum communications.

About the Author

Justine Murphy | Multimedia Director, Digital Infrastructure

Justine Murphy is the multimedia director for Endeavor Business Media's Digital Infrastructure Group. She is a multiple award-winning writer and editor with more 20 years of experience in newspaper publishing as well as public relations, marketing, and communications. For nearly 10 years, she has covered all facets of the optics and photonics industry as an editor, writer, web news anchor, and podcast host for an internationally reaching magazine publishing company. Her work has earned accolades from the New England Press Association as well as the SIIA/Jesse H. Neal Awards. She received a B.A. from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.