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A simple yet effective optical set-up, employing two controllable, indistinguishable photons, is proven to allow a direct measurement of the exchange phase due to the bosonic particle statistics.
Electromagnetic confinement in optical resonators of diminishing dimensions has enabled unprecedented light–matter interaction strengths. This miniaturization trend has a nonlocal limit, which, surprisingly, originates from the matter excitations rather than the light.
The adiabatic encirclement of exceptional points in non-Hermitian systems is known to produce surprising non-adiabatic effects. A new study finds a cheat code to exactly emulate this behaviour without ever having to produce an exceptional point.
Reducing the footprint of optical spectrometers is a critical requirement for many in-field applications. Now, a single black phosphorus photodetector with a wavelength-scale size enables mid-infrared computational spectrometry.
A ‘twin-field’ repeater-less protocol has enabled an experimental demonstration of secure quantum key distribution over a 511-km long-haul optical fibre link.
A chip-based optical frequency comb has enabled the realization of a 300 GHz signal with record low phase noise. The development could yield ultra-compact, ultra-low-noise sources for millimetre-wave applications in telecommunications, remote sensing and precision spectroscopy.
The unique optical properties of graphene were combined with lithium-ion battery technology to produce multispectral optical devices, with colour-changing capabilities.
Short period, femtosecond transient gratings in a sample can now be produced by X-rays. The approach promises to reveal the excitation behaviour of complex materials with high temporal and spatial resolution.
Tunnelling currents inside plasmonic nanostructures are fast enough to gain direct access to the oscillating electric field of near-infrared and visible light, opening up exciting routes towards attosecond metrology of light–matter interaction and unique approaches to spectroscopy.
The successful demonstration of two-stage acceleration driven by terahertz pulses bodes well for the future development of compact, efficient particle accelerators.
A new way to define the shape of tiny light-emitting semiconductor pixels provides a means to fabricate arrays of InGaN blue micro-LEDs with a resolution as high as 8,500 pixels per inch.
Photonics offers high hopes for next-generation neural network processors. Now it has been shown that even entirely using off-the-shelf photonics allows surpassing speed and energy efficiency of cutting-edge GPUs.
Optical acoustic sensors have gained interest for use in photoacoustic imaging systems, but can they dethrone conventional piezoelectric sensors altogether?
Laser-like radiation with a very large spectral coverage is obtained with a comb-like spectrum by concatenating nonlinear processes. Such a light source is extremely useful for detecting molecular trace gases.
More atoms can not only absorb more light but, if prepared in a particular quantum state, can also do so faster than single atoms. Now, researchers have experimentally demonstrated this time-reversed process of superradiance.
A new paradigm is emerging in which molecular properties are controlled by modifying the local electromagnetic environment, rather than the traditional approach of changing their composition or structure. Now, a tool to investigate such effects has been demonstrated that should accelerate progress in this exciting field.
Two independent studies employing the same narrowband deep-blue emitter, ν-DABNA, but different energy transfer schemes, achieve efficient and stable deep-blue electroluminescence.
A network of quantum sensors for estimating phase shifts is shown to operate with superior sensitivity when delocalized highly entangled states are employed.
A method to quantitatively map transient electromagnetic waveforms with atomic-spatial resolution is now possible using lightwave-driven scanning tunnelling microscopy featuring a single-molecule switch.
