Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2012

The experimental observation of bright dissipative polariton solitons in a semiconductor microcavity excited on picosecond timescales paves the way for ultranarrow light–matter localization and next-generation ultrafast information processing.

Scientists have demonstrated strongly coupled photon states between two distant high-Q photonic crystal cavities connected by a photonic crystal waveguide. Remote dynamic control over the coupled states could aid the development of delay lines, optical buffers and qubit operations in both classical and quantum information processing.

Picosecond acoustic pulses can be used to shift the optical transition energy of a quantum dot towards the resonance frequency of a microcavity, thus temporarily causing the device to lase. This ultrafast modulation technique has significant potential for exploring phenomena throughout quantum physics.

The demonstration that quantum information can be stored in a bulk-diamond crystal in the form of an optically excited phonon gives researchers a new type of mechanical solid-state quantum memory to explore.

Telecommunications component manufacturers across the globe have been affected by the recent flooding in Thailand, which has caused manufacturing facilities near Bangkok to shut down.

Quantum physics offers a way to enhance the amount of information a photon can carry, with potential applications in optical communication, lithography, metrology and imaging.

This Review provides an introduction to the compensation of loss and amplification of surface plasmons in waveguides and resonators. Future challenges, including how to overcome the large losses present in plasmonic systems that offer strong electromagnetic confinement, are also discussed.

Researchers demonstrate a scheme that combines the high spatial resolution of full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) with high-spectral-resolution near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). The idea could lead to a wide range of new material studies that combine high-resolution spectroscopic techniques with nanoscale tomographic imaging.

Researchers use femtosecond laser pulses to create acoustic pulses that strain quantum dots and modulate their transition energies. When the quantum dots are housed in a microcavity, tuning the quantum dots to the optical resonance of the cavity causes the emission output to be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude.

Researchers describe a mechanism capable of compressing fast and intense X-ray pulses through the rapid loss of crystalline periodicity. It is hoped that this concept, combined with X-ray free-electron laser technology, will allow scientists to obtain structural information at atomic resolutions.

Researchers investigate the optical phonon modes of bulk diamond at room temperature. Ultrafast Raman scattering measurements show an extended and highly non-classical state in the optical phonon modes of bulk diamond. The researchers also demonstrate a terahertz-bandwidth quantum memory based on transient ultrafast Raman scattering from the optical phonons.

Researchers demonstrate a reconfigurable integrated quantum photonic circuit. The device comprises a two-qubit entangling gate, several Hadamard-like gates and eight variable phase shifters. The set-up is used to generate entangled states, violate a Bell-type inequality with a continuum of partially entangled states and demonstrate the generation of arbitrary one-qubit mixed states.

Scientists present the first experimental observations of bright polariton solitons in a strongly coupled semiconductor microcavity. The findings should pave the way to the investigation of a variety of fundamental phenomena, such as interactions between solitons with different spins and the formation of soliton molecules.

Scientists demonstrate strong coupling between distant nanocavities separated by more than 100 wavelengths as well as dynamic control over the coupling state. The strong coupling state can be stopped on demand by irradiating one of the nanocavities with a control pulse, thus freezing the photon state.

Using laser-driven spinning birefringent spheres to create a localized microfluidic flow, scientists show that they can control the direction of growth of individual nerve fibres. The approach is potentially useful for the development of nerve systems, as well as for nerve repair and regeneration.

Laser-driven spinning particles can be used to control the direction of nerve fibre growth. Michael Berns from the University of California at Irvine explains this control mechanism and its potential applications.