News & Comment

Quantum optics has come a long way since its birth at the beginning of the 1900s. Nature Photonics spoke to Anton Zeilinger to gain some perspective on its progress.

The optical world has long been the perfect playground for exploring quantum mechanics and its applications. Now, improvements in the fabrication of optoelectronics and integrated optics are promising dramatic enhancements to the capabilities of quantum communication and computing.

Recent progress in manipulating quantum states of light and matter brings quantum-enhanced measurements closer to prospective applications. The current challenge is to make quantum metrologic strategies robust against imperfections.

Photonics currently lacks a way of amplifying terahertz pulses in time-domain spectroscopy. Nathan Jukam from the École Nomale Supérieure in France spoke to Nature Photonics about how his group has achieved a semiconductor-based terahertz amplifier that gives a greatly improved amplification factor.

Quantum information protocols based on continuous-variable entangled states are attractive because they exploit standard optical modulation and measurement equipment, and do not require single photons. Recent progress in the field is reversing initial concerns about the practicality of the approach.

The detection of light at the single-photon level is important for tasks ranging from fluorescence imaging to quantum information processing, reports Neil Savage.

Two innovations in photonics that underpin society's adoption of information technology have been honoured in this year's Nobel Prize for Physics.

From humble beginnings, the Belgian company Xenics has grown to become one of the world's leading suppliers of short-wave infrared cameras outside the US. Nadya Anscombe finds out how the company has survived the economic crisis by changing its business strategy and continually developing its products.

With new laser sources and detectors coming onto the market, terahertz imaging is starting to become a valuable tool for non-destructive testing, process control and quality inspection.

Although the machine vision industry is being affected by the global recession, Mats Gökstorp, president of the European Machine Vision Association, explains to Nadya Anscombe why he is optimistic about the industry's future.

Hyperspectral imaging, traditionally used for airborne remote sensing, is now becoming a valuable tool for in-line inspection and quality control.

Digital holographic microscopy's ability to reconstruct three-dimensional surface topography from a single measurement without the need for any scanning makes it extremely robust and immune to vibrations. Its applications range from bioimaging through to analysing micro-electromechanical systems devices and quality-assurance tasks.

The discovery that the eye of a particular mantis shrimp has an achromatic quarter-waveplate that is superior to modern-day devices could be a source of inspiration to those designing optical components. Nature Photonics spoke to Nicholas Roberts, one of the researchers involved in the study.

Analysis of the spectral content of light is important in countless applications, ranging from biomedicine to material analysis and product quality control, reports Neil Savage.