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  • Volume 61, Issue 01

    • Volume 61, Issue 01

    (Image credit: Francesco Tani)
    This schematic shows the differences between classical optics vs. quantum optics for the team’s work.
    Quantum

    Bright squeezed vacuum pulses generate high harmonics

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 20, 2024
    Using a bright squeezed vacuum to generate high harmonics enhances their yields—compared to classical coherent light—and provides a route to probe material properties beyond the...
    (Image credit: LLNL)
    NIF’s high-energy laser beams converge on a target at the center of the target chamber.
    Lasers & Sources

    It’s time for a fusion energy roadmap

    Hagen Zimer
    Dec. 19, 2024
    Growing energy demand coupled with global warming creates a unique opportunity for clean fusion energy. Now is the time for an international network to develop a realistic roadmap...
    (Image credit: AmeriCOM/DPOC)
    2501lfw_col_1_web
    Optics

    Meet AmeriCOM’s Defense Precision Optics Consortium

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 18, 2024
    The Defense Precision Optics Consortium, the research and manufacturing arm of the American Center for Optics Manufacturing (AmeriCOM), is open for business and accepting members...
    (Image credit: K. Arjas et al., Nat. Commun., 15, 9544 [2024]; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53952-5)
    Vortex laser pattern from 12-fold rotationally symmetric quasicrystal structure.
    Quantum

    Novel quasicrystal design further ‘green lights’ topological study of light

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 16, 2024
    A new quasicrystal design process—that enabled a structure with a 12-fold rotational symmetry—may prove useful for many photonic applications beyond plasmonics.
    (Image credit: PHIX)
    Integrated photonic module for space applications resulted from a collaboration within the Dutch photonics ecosystem.
    Executive Forum

    Growth in turbulent times: LioniX focuses on continuous improvement

    Jose Pozo
    Dec. 13, 2024
    Pointing out areas in which we can improve is never easy, but Arne Leinse, CEO of LioniX International, always searches for areas of improvement in his work.

    More content from Volume 61, Issue 01

    (Photo credit: Susanne Viezens)
    Birgit Stiller and Steven Becker in the lab with their setup.
    Optics

    Optoacoustic neural networks?

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 12, 2024
    Birgit Stiller’s lab at Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen and Leibniz University Hannover is pioneering building blocks for optoacoustic neural networks...
    FIGURE 1. Schematic of the HDSP setup (a), printed parts with line cross-section and different extrusion paths for parts 1-3 (b), and a complex object in 4 with the shown pressure pattern in the inset.
    Detectors & Imaging

    Holographic direct sound printing: Sound waves revolutionize 3D printing

    Mahdi Derayatifar
    Dec. 11, 2024
    Holographic direct sound printing (HDSP) is an innovative advancement in sound-based 3D printing technology that uses a patterned acoustic field to create complex shapes with ...
    (Image credit: Enablence Technologies)
    AI is fueling growth in optics for the data center.
    Optics

    AI needs optical chips

    Todd Haugen
    Dec. 9, 2024
    Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) growth, optics is expanding its footprint within data centers, automotive LiDAR, medical, and advanced vision applications.
    (Image credit: B. Ko et al., Adv. Funct. Mater.; doi:10.1002/adfm.202410613)
    External cooling performance of the radiative cooler.
    Optics

    Clear cooling film regulates solar heat

    Justine Murphy
    Dec. 6, 2024
    A transparent film based on radiative cooling could someday help regulate solar heat for environmental applications and architecture.
    FIGURE 1. Schematic of a system used to analyze carbon disulfide (CS2) Kerr gate [3]. It highlights the importance of polarizing sheets (magenta dotted boxes) and ND filters (blue dotted boxes).
    Optics

    Optical transmission of polaroid sheet polarizers and neutral-density filters

    Michael Pena
    Dec. 5, 2024
    Neutral-density (ND) filters and polarizers are two common optical components for applications within the visible and near-infrared (NIR) ranges. We measured light transmission...
    (Illustration by Rafael Barros/Tampere University)
    The reflection of a twisted light field from an object reveals the topological aberration effect.
    Optics

    Hidden deformations within complex light fields?

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 4, 2024
    By carefully observing aberrations of a complex light field reflected from a surface, its refractive index and thickness can be inferred.
    (Image credit: Benjamin Yuen)
    The “shape” (expected intensity distribution) of a single photon emitted by an atom on the surface of a silicon nanoparticle.
    Quantum

    Quantum electrodynamics theory unveils precise ‘shape’ of a single photon

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Dec. 2, 2024
    New theory developed by Angela Demetriadou and Benjamin Yuen at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level—at last!
    (Image credit: Red Pitaya)
    Red Pitaya's STEMlab device can be used as an oscilloscope, signal generator, or spectrum analyzer.
    Test & Measurement

    Open-source measurement helps photonics companies scale

    Črt Valentinčič
    Dec. 2, 2024
    The secret to consistent scaling? Embrace open-source tools for your measurements.
    FIGURE 1. A misaligned lens inserted into a Bessel beam pre-aligned to an ASM.
    Optics

    Tabletop optical alignment: A nightmare for QED scientists (with a solution)

    Robert E. Parks
    Nov. 27, 2024
    Precision optical alignment is currently used for centering lenses within cells, but a call from a quantum computing company made us realize it would be more helpful to quantum...
    (Image credit: A. Stevens et al., Bioeng. Transl. Med.; https://doi.org/10.1002/btm2.10727)
    H&E staining on rat brain coronal slices from all treatment conditions at three days post-injury and four weeks post-injury. Images were taken from frontal cortex, corpus callosum, and choroid plexus (body of the lateral ventricle).
    Bio&Life Sciences

    Light therapy approach better treats brain injuries

    Justine Murphy
    Nov. 25, 2024
    Photobiomodulation could soon expand its effectiveness beyond tissue repair and pain management into the brain.
    (Photo credit: Yuhui Wang)
    Professor Hui Deng (left), Lingxiao Zhou, and Chenxi Liu in the lab.
    Optics

    Ultrafast chirality optical switching?

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Nov. 21, 2024
    Cavity-enhanced Floquet engineering significantly improves the efficiency and speed of integrated optical communications.
    (Image credit: Stephen Sweeney)
    Cryogenic testing setup in Sweeney’s lab: A solar cell is held under cryogenic conditions (-196°C) while being powered by a laser.
    Lasers & Sources

    Space lasers: What’s up with that?

    Nov. 20, 2024
    In a Q&A with Stephen Sweeney, a professor of photonics and nanotechnology at the University of Glasgow, he answers our questions about what’s up with space lasers and his work...
    (Image credit: NTU Singapore)
    Two thin flakes of niobium oxide dichloride stacked on each other and photographed under a light microscope. One flake’s crystalline grain (gray flake) is positioned perpendicularly to the grain of the other flake (green flake).
    Optics

    Photonics breakthrough can drastically shrink quantum computing parts

    Leevi Kallioniemi
    Nov. 14, 2024
    Very thin materials can create entangled pairs of photons to be used as quantum bits.
    (Image credit: NTT Basic Research Laboratories)
    FIGURE 1. A THz electrical input pulse (with a pulse width of 1.2 picoseconds) was applied to graphene on a chip to generate and propagate a graphene plasmon wave packet, and its real-time waveform was measured with subpicosecond temporal resolution (hBN: hexagonal boron nitride).
    Optics

    Graphene plasmons can help achieve ultrahigh-speed terahertz signal processing

    Katsumasa Yoshioka
    Nov. 1, 2024
    While the terahertz region remains largely unexplored, graphene plasmons present a unique pathway to reach new frontiers within terahertz-based signal processing.
    (Image credit: Edmund Optics)
    FIGURE 1. The refractive index of UV-grade fused silica as a function of wavelength (left); this dispersion can lead to temporal distortion for ultrafast laser pulses. Attempting to focus a white light source through a single lens results in different focal planes for the various component colors (right); this is analogous to how ultrashort pulses experience temporal distortion when passing through a medium.
    Lasers & Sources

    A guide to group delay dispersion for ultrafast lasers

    Olivia Wheeler
    Oct. 17, 2024
    Managing the ultrashort pulse durations of ultrafast lasers can be a daunting task, especially if you are unfamiliar with their unique temporal characteristics. Understanding ...