Volume 9 Issue 7, July 2015

The finding that a graphene sponge structure can undergo light-driven levitation exposes both fundamentally interesting physics and thought-provoking potential for next-generation space propulsion.

Large-area X-ray photoconductors based on solution-processed organic–inorganic perovskite layers may yield inexpensive X-ray imaging detectors.

All-dielectric photonic quasicrystals may act as zero-refractive-index homogeneous materials despite their lack of translational symmetry and periodicity, stretching wavelengths to infinity and offering applications in light wavefront sculpting and optical cloaking.

As the demand for data transmission escalates and optical fibre capacity approaches its limit, the telecommunications research community is debating if the capacity crunch is nearing and is suggesting ways to be technology-ready.

Nanophotonic systems, including photonic crystal microcavities and plasmonic metal nanoparticles, that are capable of changing the rate of spontaneous emission are reviewed and compared.

Kramers–Kronig theory points to a new way of designing perfect anti-reflection surfaces.

A computational optical imaging scheme is able to image the human retina without the need for any adaptive optics hardware.

Solid-state X-ray detectors have enabled real-time diagnostics as well as reduced patient dose. Now researchers have shown that potentially inexpensive perovskites can be used for efficient X-ray imaging.

Researchers show that nonlinear polarization dynamics in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser inside an external cavity can result in the emission of temporal dissipative solitons.

A 10 μm quantum cascade laser is phase-locked to a remote ultrastable laser referenced to primary frequency standards using an optical frequency comb. The obtained relative stability of 2 × 10⁻¹⁵ is record-breaking in the mid-infrared region.

Monitoring the interaction between the local environment and a particle trapped inside a hollow optical fibre offers a new approach for optical sensing.

Atomically thin layers of transition metal dichalcogenides are shown to exhibit a disappearance of strong excitonic absorption along with population inversion at the direct gap over a spectral range of hundreds of meV after pulsed photoexcitation.

The observation of macroscopic and direct light propulsion of bulk-graphene-based material offers an exciting opportunity for realizing long-sought proposals in areas such as space transportation driven directly by sunlight.