Optical techniques articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tracking and stabilizing sample drifts is crucial towards realizing nanometer resolution in superresolution microscopy; metal nanoparticles can provide drift information but diffraction remains a challenge. Here, Bonet al. combine intensity and phase information to reach three-dimensional subnanometre accuracies.

    • Pierre Bon
    • , Nicolas Bourg
    •  & Sandrine Lévêque-Fort

  • Article |

    While desirable for compact solutions, the miniaturization of spectrometers comes at the cost of spectral resolution and operating range. Here, Wanet al. propose a tapered fibre multimode interference spectrometer exhibiting high spectral resolution from the visible to the near infrared in a compact configuration.

    • Noel H. Wan
    • , Fan Meng
    •  & Dirk Englund

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single indistinguishable photon sources with high flux rates and purity are needed in quantum communications. Here, Gschreyet al. use three-dimensional electron-beam lithography to pattern deterministic quantum-dot microlenses and demonstrate enhanced photon-extraction efficiency and photon indistinguishability.

    • M. Gschrey
    • , A. Thoma
    •  & S. Reitzenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laser-induced electron diffraction can provide structural information on gas-phase molecules with high spatial and temporal resolution. Going beyond previous diatomic cases, Pullen et al.apply this approach to acetylene and show that it can be used to measure bond lengths for polyatomic molecules.

    • Michael G. Pullen
    • , Benjamin Wolter
    •  & Jens Biegert

  • Article |

    Optical tweezing typically refers to the trapping and manipulation of particles using lasers. Here, Jang et al. demonstrate analogous manipulation of ultrashort cavity soliton-pulses in the time domain, trapped by the phase modulation of a continuous wave laser beam, and moved by modifying the phase profile.

    • Jae K. Jang
    • , Miro Erkintalo
    •  & Stuart G. Murdoch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural dispersion forces acting between molecules and particles arise from electromagnetic fields generated by quantum and thermal fluctuations. Here, Brügger et al.show that isotropic dispersion forces between colloidal particles can be induced, controlled and tuned with artificial, fluctuating laser light fields.

    • Georges Brügger
    • , Luis S. Froufe-Pérez
    •  & Juan José Sáenz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    STED nanoscopy enables sub-diffraction imaging with a wide range of fluorescent probes. Here, the authors show that a bright and very photostable class of fluorescent quantum dots can be super-resolved with STED as biolabels in cellular contexts.

    • Janina Hanne
    • , Henning J. Falk
    •  & Stefan W. Hell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional sheets of zeolites can function as molecular sieves for applications such as membranes or as catalysts. Here, the authors demonstrate a method using electron diffraction patterns to accurately measure the thickness and wrinkles of thin zeolite nanosheets.

    • Prashant Kumar
    • , Kumar Varoon Agrawal
    •  & K. Andre Mkhoyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In astronomy, interferometry between telescopes enables high-resolution imaging but optical links are limited by atmospheric turbulence. Here, the authors show how this can be circumvented, producing diffraction-limited images using an array of electronically connected optical telescopes.

    • Dainis Dravins
    • , Tiphaine Lagadec
    •  & Paul D. Nuñez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whispering-gallery mode microresonators are powerful sensing tools, but spectrum acquisition has taken milliseconds or longer. Here, Rosenblum et al.introduce cavity ring-up spectroscopy, in which sharply rising detuned probe pulses capture spectra of microresonators on nanosecond timescales.

    • Serge Rosenblum
    • , Yulia Lovsky
    •  & Barak Dayan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photothermal interferometry systems using free-space optics have limits in terms of light–matter interaction efficiency, size, optical alignment and integration. Here, Jin et al. use a gas-filled hollow-core photonic bandgap fibre to demonstrate an all-fibre gas sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity and dynamic range.

    • Wei Jin
    • , Yingchun Cao
    •  & Hoi Lut Ho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Increasing the resolution of fluorescence microscopy is a fundamental need for modern cell biology. Lanzanò et al.demonstrate that arbitrary spatial resolution is, in principle, possible by encoding the fluorophore's spatial distribution information in the temporal dynamics of the fluorophore's transition.

    • Luca Lanzanò
    • , Iván Coto Hernández
    •  & Giuseppe Vicidomini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An emitter near a surface induces an image dipole that alters the emission pattern and creates errors in single-particle imaging applications. Here, Ropp et al.show that an image dipole can distort the polarization and measured position of an emitter, and that these distortions can be corrected.

    • Chad Ropp
    • , Zachary Cummins
    •  & Edo Waks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrafast metrology typically relies on pulse coherence, but full coherence is not always possible in emerging attosecond and ultrashort X-ray technologies. Here, Bourassin-Bouchet and Couprie adapt frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) to measure partially coherent optical pulses in the attosecond scale.

    • C. Bourassin-Bouchet
    •  & M.-E. Couprie

  • Article |

    Single-pixel imaging can capture a scene without a direct line of sight to the object but high-quality imaging has proven challenging. Here, by acquiring their Fourier spectrum, Zhang et al. demonstrate indirect, high-quality single-pixel imaging in the presence of noisy environmental illumination.

    • Zibang Zhang
    • , Xiao Ma
    •  & Jingang Zhong

  • Article |

    Although synthesis of high-quality MoS2 has been demonstrated, growth of monolayer MoS2at controlled locations is highly desirable for applications. Here, the authors introduce a method where patterned seeds of molybdenum source material are used to grow isolated flakes at predetermined locations.

    • Gang Hee Han
    • , Nicholas J. Kybert
    •  & A. T. Charlie Johnson

  • Article |

    Atomic spectroscopy is typically based on multipole atom-field interactions that obey established selection rules. Using Rydberg atoms as an example, Moore et al. show that the quadratic (ponderomotive) interaction can provide both more flexible selection rules and greater spatial addressability.

    • Kaitlin R. Moore
    • , Sarah E. Anderson
    •  & Georg Raithel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The optoelectronic properties of semiconducting polymers are controlled by altering chemical structure and/or inter-chain order. Perevedentsev et al. propose a nanopatterning approach whereby the geometry of polymer chain segments is modified to engineer metamaterial structures for visible light.

    • Aleksandr Perevedentsev
    • , Yannick Sonnefraud
    •  & Donal D. C. Bradley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advances in low-light-level imaging techniques have shown that imaging in the one photon per pixel regime is possible. Here, Morris et al. demonstrate high-quality image reconstruction using ghost and heralded imaging with less than one photon per image pixel with a time-gated intensified camera.

    • Peter A. Morris
    • , Reuben S. Aspden
    •  & Miles J. Padgett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA is a useful molecule with which to construct nanomaterials with controllable functionalities. Here, the authors fabricate photonic wires by appending dye molecules at set positions along DNA structures, and show how FRET performance can be tuned by modifying dye separation.

    • Susan Buckhout-White
    • , Christopher M Spillmann
    •  & Igor L. Medintz

  • Article |

    Trapped ions are promising for studies of atomic and quantum physics, but their need for radiofrequency fields poses numerous technical limitations. Huber et al.present an approach using far-off-resonance optical traps, circumventing radiofrequency fields to improve on photon scattering and recoil heating.

    • Thomas Huber
    • , Alexander Lambrecht
    •  & Tobias Schaetz

  • Article |

    Imaging through a single optical fibre offers attractive possibilities in applications such as micro-endoscopy or remote sensing. Using spread-spectrum encoding, Barankov and Mertz demonstrate two-dimensional imaging of self-luminous objects with high throughput, in theory independent of pixel number.

    • Roman Barankov
    •  & Jerome Mertz

  • Article |

    Short pulses of atoms or molecules can act as sensitive probes for numerous physical and chemical systems, but they are typically limited to the microsecond scale. By exploiting short pulse laser photolysis, Kaufmann et al. present a method that can produce pulses of hydrogen atoms on sub-nanosecond scales.

    • Sven Kaufmann
    • , Dirk Schwarzer
    •  & Oliver Bünermann

  • Article |

    Plasmonic nanostructures enable control over the spatial and spectral dependence of scattered light. Here, the authors use pixels formed of nanoellipse or nanosquare dimers to show polarization-dependent full-colour scattering in reflection, and build 3D stereoscopic colour microprints from them.

    • Xiao Ming Goh
    • , Yihan Zheng
    •  & Joel K. W. Yang

  • Article |

    The fundamental vibrational bands of many molecules lie on the mid-infrared, so generating all solid-state, compact frequency combs in that region is important for molecular spectroscopy. Here, Villares et al.use quantum-cascade-laser frequency combs to demonstrate a high resolution, broadband dual-comb spectrometer.

    • Gustavo Villares
    • , Andreas Hugi
    •  & Jérôme Faist

  • Article |

    Miniaturization of devices and machines requires advanced lithographic techniques, whilst the high cost and complexity are the bottlenecks. Li et al.now show an approach for direct, arbitrary nano-patterning using self-propelled nanomotors acting as mobile nanomasks and near-field lenses.

    • Jinxing Li
    • , Wei Gao
    •  & Joseph Wang

  • Article |

    Despite many recent advances in silicon photonics for optical telecommunications and on-chip optical interconnects, the issue of power consumption has not been fully addressed. Here, Virot et al. propose a waveguide avalanche germanium photodiode suitable for low power consumption interconnects.

    • Léopold Virot
    • , Paul Crozat
    •  & Laurent Vivien

  • Article |

    The differential absorption of left and right handed light, circular dichroism, is typically observed only in chiral objects. Here, the authors demonstrate that giant circular dichroism can be induced in non-chiral objects when the left and right handed circularly polarized modes used are vortex beams.

    • Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto
    • , Xavier Vidal
    •  & Gabriel Molina-Terriza

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Landau states are associated with the quantised orbits of charged particles in magnetic fields. By manipulating electron vortex beams in a magnetic field, this study reconstructs the internal quantum dynamics of free-electron Landau states, which differs strongly from the classical cyclotron rotation.

    • P. Schattschneider
    • , Th. Schachinger
    •  & Franco Nori

  • Article |

    It is known that light can be used for the optical trapping of microparticles. Here, the authors demonstrate that the interplay between helicity of the light and chirality of the matter can be applied for using the photon spin angular momentum as a tool for selective trapping of chiral particles.

    • Georgiy Tkachenko
    •  & Etienne Brasselet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One of the paradoxical phenomena of quantum mechanics is the quantum Cheshire Cat, consisting of the apparent spatial separation of a particle and one of its properties. Denkmayr et al.use neutron interferometry to prepare and evaluate the Cheshire Cat state of a neutron and its magnetic moment.

    • Tobias Denkmayr
    • , Hermann Geppert
    •  & Yuji Hasegawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Like conventional antennas, optical nanoantennas can transmit and receive signals but on much smaller length scales. Dregely et al.measure the optical power transmitted and received in the far-field by plasmonic nanoantennas and show that they can control the direction of transmission over a broad range.

    • Daniel Dregely
    • , Klas Lindfors
    •  & Harald Giessen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inelastic X-ray scattering suffers from not being able to access high-frequency collective excitations in condensed matter on the nano- to mesoscales. Here, the authors report a new spectrometer that allows these regimes to be accessed, and demonstrate its advances by studying an organic glass-forming liquid.

    • Yuri Shvyd’ko
    • , Stanislav Stoupin
    •  & Martin Tolkiehn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atoms lose coherence via interactions with each other and the walls of their environment, which degrades the performance of atomic systems. As a route to minimize such effects, Okaba et al.use kagome-lattice hollow-core photonic crystal fibres to confine atoms, preventing them interacting with the wall.

    • Shoichi Okaba
    • , Tetsushi Takano
    •  & Hidetoshi Katori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanowire photodetectors offer a high sensitivity arising from their geometry that makes them of interest for optoelectronic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate the printable fabrication of ZnO nanowires with high detectivity, making them suitable for high-performance flexible electronics applications.

    • Xi Liu
    • , Leilei Gu
    •  & Zhiyong Fan

  • Article |

    The nanometre length scale of plasmonic structures leads to vibrational dynamics at high frequencies, which could be exploited for sensitive optical detectors. O'Brien et al. show that they can detect spatial properties of phonon modes in multimodal plasmonic structures, revealing complex nanomechanical dynamics.

    • Kevin O’Brien
    • , N. D. Lanzillotti-Kimura
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ramsey interferometers are used to measure minute energy shifts, but they are usually only applied to simple, non-interacting ensembles. Here, the authors demonstrate a two-pulse Ramsey-type interferometer built on the motional states of an interacting Bose–Einstein condensate using optimal control.

    • S. van Frank
    • , A. Negretti
    •  & J. Schmiedmayer

  • Article |

    The ability to image the action of drugs in cells in real time could yield valuable information on their efficacy and mode of action. Here, the authors use multiphoton fluorescence anisotropy microscopy to image drug distribution and target engagement in real time at the cellular level in vivo.

    • J. M. Dubach
    • , C. Vinegoni
    •  & R. Weissleder

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Optical techniques across other nature.com journals