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Necessity is the mother of invention. Lasing in the extreme UV from a prototype compact free-electron-laser design is reported, continuing the push towards X-ray wavelengths.

Terahertz technology seems set to become important in security screening and the pharmaceutical industry.

Noise reduction, integrated spectrometry and microscopy apparatus, and more.

Introducing coded apertures to X-ray laser holography paves a route to efficient imaging at the nanoscale.

The pollutant emissions and high-energy consumption of combustion engines using conventional spark plugs have long been serious environmental problems. Now, it has been demonstrated that lasers can provide a feasible green alternative. Duncan Graham-Rowe reports.

Photonics does not just mean optics performed at the chip-scale or below, at least not by the definition we use at Nature Photonics. Our September issue showcases research from some large-scale facilities, demonstrating the broad range of topics that the journal considers.

Researchers at Hamamatsu report an indium-free laser diode operating at 342 nm, the shortest wavelength so far for an electrically pumped semiconductor laser diode.

Laser beams have an intrinsic spread. Normally this spread is overcome using lenses or curved mirrors to focus the light, but this typically involves meticulous optical alignment. Researchers have now shown that a surface-plasmon technique can reduce the beam spread.

Laser-based accelerator technology has been given a boost thanks to researchers based in Korea, Japan and the USA. Their latest research could lead the way towards compact accelerators that can deliver brilliant electron and X-ray beams.

Supercontinua — bright broadband light pulses — are helping a plethora of applications in imaging, sensing and defence. Nature Photonics reports from Sydney, Australia.

Previously regarded as a laboratory method for the characterization of metal alloys, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is now showing great potential for field-based environmental monitoring and biohazard analysis.

Table-top laser-driven plasma accelerators have the potential advantages of being ultracompact and powerful. Electron beams can be created by irradiating gas jets with intense laser light, however, until now it has proved difficult to achieve stable, high-energy beams. Jongmin Lee and colleagues report the first generation of stable gigaelectronvolt-class electron beams using a laser-based accelerator, and make an important step along the road to future particle accelerators.

Here researchers report an integrated detection device for terahertz near-field imaging in which all the necessary detection components, that is, an aperture, a probe and a terahertz detector, are integrated on one cryogenically cooled, semiconductor chip. This scheme enables highly sensitive, high-resolution detection of the evanescent field and promises new capabilities for high-resolution terahertz imaging.

Polarization is a convenient way to encode quantum information for cryptography, remote transfer and optical quantum computing, but sharing entanglement is problematic over a noisy link. Hiding in an isolated corner of the state space can make a big difference.

Waveguides are crucial for directing light, but truly useful waveguides should confine light on the nanoscale. Researchers show that a semiconducting nanowire close to a metallic surface can confine light far below the diffraction limit and guide it over dozens of wavelengths.

Protecting your eyes is of course important when using lasers. The good news is that safety eyewear is becoming increasingly comfortable and stylish. Neil Savage reports.