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Lensless X-ray imaging is no longer limited to monochromatic sources. A new approach that is compatible with polychromatic beams can increase the efficiency of diffractive imaging experiments, thus significantly reducing exposure times.
Semiconductor light-emitting diodes may soon replace mercury lamps as the ultraviolet source of choice in a wide range of applications. Researchers around the world are now racing to increase the efficiency and output power of such ultraviolet solid-state devices.
The demonstration of a phase-sensitive optical amplifier with a noise figure of just 1.1 dB — three times lower than that of a conventional amplifier — could help significantly extend the reach of optical communications systems.
A scattering medium such as biological tissue distorts the propagation of light pulses in both space and time, making tasks such as focusing and imaging problematic. Fortunately, careful manipulation of the light field's spatial phase prior to entering the medium can help mitigate such distortions and open new prospects for nonlinear microscopy.
Structures exhibiting variable refractive index could soon represent a simpler and more flexible alternative to metamaterials for making sophisticated high-performance lenses.
Increasing bandwidth capacities while reducing the number of power-hungry components required to achieve this goal may seem like a contradiction in terms. However, researchers in Europe have now demonstrated a feasible technique whereby a single laser can carry optical data at transmission rates of more than 20 Tbit s−1.
Absorption is often dismissed as a dull phenomenon over which we have little control. Researchers have now used a combination of absorption and interference effects to not only control but also drastically enhance the absorption process.
A new asynchronous coherent optical sampling method allows for the direct visualization of actively mode-locked quantum cascade laser pulses at terahertz wavelengths.
A spheroidal shape of microresonator avoids the traditional wavelength limitations imposed by the resonator material in the generation of microresonator-based optical frequency combs.
Researchers have significantly enhanced the single-photon emission of atomic defects in single-crystal diamond by coupling the photons to microring resonators — a technique that may represent a powerful addition to the integrated quantum photonics toolkit.
Researchers have observed the inverse Doppler effect at optical frequencies, using a technique that combines a moving negative-index photonic crystal and heterodyne interferometry.
