Featured
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News & Views |
Folding photography in the time domain
Exploiting an optical cavity that folds space in time in a conventional lens design provides a novel route for time-resolved imaging and depth sensing.
- Sylvain Gigan
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Article |
Photography optics in the time dimension
By folding large spaces in time using an off-resonant Fabry–Pérot cavity in camera sensors, new capabilities such as ultrafast multi-zoom imaging and ultrafast multispectral imaging, of use for time-resolved imaging and depth-sensing optics, are found.
- Barmak Heshmat
- , Matthew Tancik
- & Ramesh Raskar
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Letter |
Giant optical anisotropy in a quasi-one-dimensional crystal
Highly crystalline BaTiS3 has been shown to exhibit record-breaking birefringence of 0.76 in the wavelength range of 7–16 μm. The large anisotropy is a result of its quasi-one-dimensional structure.
- Shanyuan Niu
- , Graham Joe
- & Jayakanth Ravichandran
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News & Views |
The super-resolution debate
In the quest for nanoscopy with super-resolution, consensus from the imaging community is that super-resolution is not always needed and that scientists should choose an imaging technique based on their specific application.
- Rachel Won
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Article |
Opto-thermoelectric nanotweezers
Heating due to optical losses in metal nanoparticles, which is usually an unwanted side effect, is harnessed to realize low-power opto-thermoelectric nanotweezers.
- Linhan Lin
- , Mingsong Wang
- & Yuebing Zheng
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Letter |
Activation of the surface dark-layer to enhance upconversion in a thermal field
Phonons on the surface of lanthanide-doped upconversion materials are used to combat thermal quenching, enabling ~2,000-fold emission enhancement.
- Jiajia Zhou
- , Shihui Wen
- & Dayong Jin
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Letter |
Far-field nanoscopy on a semiconductor quantum dot via a rapid-adiabatic-passage-based switch
A spatial resolution of 30 nm (=λ/31) exceeding the diffraction limit is achieved by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. The nanoscopic imaging scheme can be applied to coherent quantum-mechanical systems such as quantum dots, as well as colour centres.
- Timo Kaldewey
- , Andreas V. Kuhlmann
- & Richard J. Warburton
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Review Article |
X-ray ptychography
This Review covers key advancements in X-ray ptychographic microscopy and tomography over the past ten years. Potential applications in the life and materials sciences, the latest concepts and future developments are also discussed.
- Franz Pfeiffer
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Article |
Room-temperature ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy of a single molecule
Frequency-resolved transient excited-state absorption of a single molecule is measured at room temperature. The dynamic Stokes shift and vibrational cooling are directly measured with 25 fs temporal resolution and a spectral detection bandwidth of hundreds of meV.
- Matz Liebel
- , Costanza Toninelli
- & Niek F. van Hulst
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Article |
Attosecond electron pulse trains and quantum state reconstruction in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy
Attosecond electron pulse trains in electron microscopy are demonstrated through the coupling of phase-locked multicolour optical fields with electron pulses. A new variant of quantum state tomography for free-electron ensembles is established.
- Katharina E. Priebe
- , Christopher Rathje
- & Claus Ropers
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Article |
Ultrasensitive plano-concave optical microresonators for ultrasound sensing
An optical-based scheme for ultrasound sensing provides very high sensitivity with excellent broadband acoustic frequency response and wide directivity.
- James A. Guggenheim
- , Jing Li
- & Paul C. Beard
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Letter |
Laser refrigeration, alignment and rotation of levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals
A nanocryostat is realized through the refrigeration of levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals to 130 K using anti-Stokes fluorescence cooling, while the laser polarization allows orientation control of the trapped nanocrystal and maximizes its cooling.
- A. T. M. Anishur Rahman
- & P. F. Barker
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Article |
Depolarization signatures map gold nanorods within biological tissue
An optical technique makes it possible to determine the distribution of gold nanoparticles in tissue.
- Norman Lippok
- , Martin Villiger
- & Brett E. Bouma
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Review Article |
Time stretch and its applications
Photonic time-stretch techniques and their applications are reviewed. The approach enables the observation of signals that are otherwise too short or rapid for conventional measurement.
- Ata Mahjoubfar
- , Dmitry V. Churkin
- & Bahram Jalali
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Article |
Broadband image sensor array based on graphene–CMOS integration
Graphene–quantum dots on CMOS sensor offers broadband imaging.
- Stijn Goossens
- , Gabriele Navickaite
- & Frank Koppens
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Article |
High-temporal-resolution electron microscopy for imaging ultrafast electron dynamics
Ultrafast electron microscopy with an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the typical temporal resolution is demonstrated, permitting the imaging of ultrafast electron dynamics that last a few tens of femtoseconds.
- M. Th. Hassan
- , J. S. Baskin
- & A. H. Zewail
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Article |
Background suppression in fluorescence nanoscopy with stimulated emission double depletion
Stimulated emission double depletion addresses the issue of background in super-resolution imaging and quantitative microscopy through implementation of a two-pulse sequence in a modified stimulated emission depletion set-up. The measured background intensity is removed from each voxel in the acquired images thanks to time-resolved detection.
- Peng Gao
- , Benedikt Prunsche
- & G. Ulrich Nienhaus
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Letter |
Optical determination of the Néel vector in a CuMnAs thin-film antiferromagnet
Due to their nature antiferromagnets are difficult to probe with conventional magnetometers. The Néel vector of a practically important antiferromagnet, CuMnAs, has now been determined by a femtosecond pump–probe magneto-optical experiment.
- V. Saidl
- , P. Němec
- & T. Jungwirth
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Review Article |
Optical clock networks
This Review covers optical clock networks that are established to synchronize remote optical clocks. Further upgrading of optical clock networks and their impact on a future redefinition of time are also discussed.
- Fritz Riehle
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Article |
High-resolution adaptive imaging of a single atom
The position of a single Yb atomic ion is determined with a minimum uncertainty of 1.7 nm for 0.2 s integration time — the highest position sensitivity reported to date for an isolated atom.
- J. D. Wong-Campos
- , K. G. Johnson
- & C. Monroe
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Article |
Two-photon direct laser writing of ultracompact multi-lens objectives
Femtosecond two-photon direct laser writing is used to create 100-µm-scale high-performance multi-lens objectives.
- Timo Gissibl
- , Simon Thiele
- & Harald Giessen
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Letter |
Real-space mapping of tailored sheet and edge plasmons in graphene nanoresonators
Researchers demonstrate graphene plasmon edge modes at infrared wavelengths. Such modes may offer additional electromagnetic field confinement compared with conventional sheet modes.
- A. Y. Nikitin
- , P. Alonso-González
- & R. Hillenbrand
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News & Views |
Super-resolution fight club
A 2016 competition to find the optimum software for 3D single-molecule localization microscopy will help practitioners choose the best tool for the job and spur further developments in the field.
- Seamus Holden
- & Daniel Sage
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Article |
Ultrafast switching of tunable infrared plasmons in indium tin oxide nanorod arrays with large absolute amplitude
Ultrafast plasmon modulation has been realized in the near- to mid-infrared range by intraband pumping of indium tin oxide nanorod arrays.
- Peijun Guo
- , Richard D. Schaller
- & Robert P. H. Chang
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Commentary |
Standardizing the resolution claims for coherent microscopy
The definition and reporting of spatial resolution for coherent imaging methods varies widely in the imaging community. We advocate the use of a standard spoke-pattern imaging target and the mandatory inclusion of information about underlying a priori assumptions.
- Roarke Horstmeyer
- , Rainer Heintzmann
- & Changhuei Yang
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Letter |
Femtosecond and nanometre visualization of structural dynamics in superheated nanoparticles
Single Xe clusters are superheated using an intense optical laser pulse and the structural evolution is imaged with a single X-ray pulse. Ultrafast surface softening on the nanometre scale is resolved within 100 fs at the vacuum/sample interface.
- Tais Gorkhover
- , Sebastian Schorb
- & Christoph Bostedt
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Article |
Coordinate-targeted fluorescence nanoscopy with multiple off states
By exploiting a second off state of a reversibly switchable fluorophore, a general approach that can reduce photobleaching and enhance resolution of coordinate-targeted fluorescence nanoscopy has been demonstrated.
- Johann G. Danzl
- , Sven C. Sidenstein
- & Stefan W. Hell
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Progress Article |
Non-fluorescent schemes for single-molecule detection, imaging and spectroscopy
Various optical schemes that can detect single molecules without the need of fluorescence are discussed.
- Jaime Ortega Arroyo
- & Philipp Kukura
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Article |
Non-collinear generation of angularly isolated circularly polarized high harmonics
Scientists have demonstrated non-collinear circularly polarized high-harmonic generation and showed that this method generates bright circularly polarized extreme-ultraviolet beams with both left and right helicity simultaneously.
- Daniel D. Hickstein
- , Franklin J. Dollar
- & Charles G. Durfee
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Letter |
Direct observation of ultraslow hyperbolic polariton propagation with negative phase velocity
Time-domain interferometry and near-field scanning microscopy are used to investigate infrared phonon polaritons exhibiting hyperbolic dispersion. Negative phase velocity and group velocity as small as 0.002c are confirmed.
- Edward Yoxall
- , Martin Schnell
- & Rainer Hillenbrand
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Letter |
Optical nanoscopy with excited state saturation at liquid helium temperatures
Based on optical saturation of the excited state of single fluorescent molecules with a doughnut-shaped beam, sub-10-nm-resolution optical microscopy at cryogenic temperatures is achieved.
- B. Yang
- , J.-B. Trebbia
- & B. Lounis
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Article |
Seeing through chaos in multimode fibres
The prediction of light propagation up to hundreds of millimetres within straight or even deformed segments of multimode fibres is demonstrated. The concept is applied in an endoscope and exceptional resolution and footprint are obtained.
- Martin Plöschner
- , Tomáš Tyc
- & Tomáš Čižmár
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Article |
Imaging deep within a scattering medium using collective accumulation of single-scattered waves
Using the collective accumulation of single-scattered waves, scientists manage to image deep within a scattering medium, achieving an imaging depth 11.5 times the scattering mean free path and a near-diffraction-limit resolution of 1.5 µm.
- Sungsam Kang
- , Seungwon Jeong
- & Wonshik Choi
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Article |
Photoacoustically guided wavefront shaping for enhanced optical focusing in scattering media
Nonlinear photoacoustic signals are used to ‘guide’ laser light to a tight focal spot in scattering media.
- Puxiang Lai
- , Lidai Wang
- & Lihong V. Wang
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News & Views |
Device-level photonic testing
Non-invasive, multispectral characterization of integrated photonic circuits paves the way towards optical methodologies ready for industrial applications.
- Matteo Burresi
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Review Article |
Mapping nanoscale light fields
Recent developments in probe-based near-field microscopy are reviewed, including techniques for determining the phase, amplitude and separate components of the electric and magnetic field.
- N. Rotenberg
- & L. Kuipers
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Article |
Probing the Raman-active acoustic vibrations of nanoparticles with extraordinary spectral resolution
A nanoaperture tweezer excited by two lasers with slightly different wavelengths is used to trap nanoscopic particles. The beating field that is created allows low-frequency Raman spectra at the single particle level to be measured.
- Skyler Wheaton
- , Ryan M. Gelfand
- & Reuven Gordon
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News & Views |
Celebrating optical nanoscopy
The award of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the pioneers of various optical schemes capable of achieving super-resolution and single-molecule detection is recognition of a revolution in optical imaging.
- Michel Orrit
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Article |
High-throughput imaging of heterogeneous cell organelles with an X-ray laser
70,000 diffraction patterns captured over twelve minutes at the Linac Coherent Light Source yield reconstructions of the smallest single biological objects imaged with an X-ray laser.
- Max F. Hantke
- , Dirk Hasse
- & Inger Andersson
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Article |
Device-level characterization of the flow of light in integrated photonic circuits using ultrafast photomodulation spectroscopy
An all-optical modulation technique based on a pump–probe scheme for temporally, spectrally and spatially characterizing the flow of light in a variety of silicon photonic devices is demonstrated.
- Roman Bruck
- , Ben Mills
- & Otto L. Muskens
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Editorial |
Photonics dominates Nobel Prizes
Awards for blue LEDs and super-resolution microscopy announced.
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News & Views |
Nanoscale terahertz spectroscopy
The advent of terahertz spectroscopy schemes that offer single-photon sensitivity, femtosecond time resolution and nanometre spatial resolution is creating new opportunities for investigating ultrafast charge dynamics in semiconductor structures.
- Hidemi Shigekawa
- , Shoji Yoshida
- & Osamu Takeuchi
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Editorial |
Mobile science
Smartphones that have been cleverly 'accessorized' are starting to offer a convenient and cost-effective alternative to conventional laboratory-based imaging and sensing equipment.
Laguerre–Gauss and Hermite–Gauss soft X-ray states generated using diffractive optics
Global position by polarization
Mapping cell dynamics at visible wavelengths
Chiral spectrometer