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Semiconductor quantum dots that are engineered to have both fluorescent and paramagnetic properties offer great potential as biological probes for imaging cellular activity. However, before such probes can be used in vivo, several challenges need to be overcome.
Surface plasmons undergo ultrafast dynamics on the attosecond timescale. Probing these ultrabrief effects is notoriously difficult, but a new microscope could pave the way towards an understanding of these fields and, ultimately, control of them.
The first OSA topical meeting in China was dedicated to optics on the nanoscale. Experts from all over the world gathered in Hangzhou and heard how this emerging technology could help healthcare, communications and energy generation.
An elegant technique that provides molecular imaging with simultaneous anatomical co-registration of internal organs has now been demonstrated on a mouse. Nature Photonics spoke to Elizabeth Hillman about her dynamic fluorescence molecular imaging technique.
Biophotonics shows great promise but to fulfil its true potential, biologists, physicists and engineers will need to work harder to understand each other.
An elegant approach to imaging the interior organs of small animals with improved visibility and accuracy looks set to help drug development and disease research.
Lasers that are powered by sunlight alone could have a promising future thanks to an efficient and compact design that can scale to high output powers.