Optical techniques articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    An optical cavity can be used to measure fluctuations in the vacuum due to creation and annihilation of virtual particles. Using a nanohole array to control the position of probe atoms, Lee et al.map the vacuum field in two directions and combine this with spontaneous emission spectra to obtain a 3D profile.

    • Moonjoo Lee
    • , Junki Kim
    •  & Kyungwon An

  • Article |

    Using light to manipulate matter on scales smaller than its wavelength presents a major challenge. Here, the authors show that two-photon surface excitation of diamond surfaces etches a variety of nano-scale patterns, comprising evidence for carbon ejection via a highly localized photon interaction with the crystal bonds.

    • A. Lehmann
    • , C. Bradac
    •  & R. P. Mildren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The precision of frequency combs makes them the ideal tool for applications in areas such as optical metrology. Here, Ideguchi et al. demonstrate real-time spectroscopy with frequency combs where laser instabilities are electronically compensated, and which is based on commercially available components.

    • Takuro Ideguchi
    • , Antonin Poisson
    •  & Theodor W. Hänsch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum fluids such as cavity-polaritons show nonlinear optical properties of interest in applications such as quantum optics. Here, Sturm and colleagues demonstrate an optical control of the phase of a polariton flow, and make use of this to realize a compact exciton–polariton interferometer.

    • C. Sturm
    • , D. Tanese
    •  & J. Bloch

  • Article |

    The coherence of light is vital for applications like imaging and sensing, but is hard to measure with normal photodetectors. Stoklasa et al.show that, when combined with methods from quantum information processing, wavefront sensors can measure the complete coherence properties of a signal in a single-shot.

    • B. Stoklasa
    • , L. Motka
    •  & L. L. Sánchez-Soto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bright and tunable single-photon sources are essential for future quantum technologies. Here, the authors deterministically couple a quantum dot to a pillar structure that enables application of electric fields to provide a tunable single-photon source with a demonstrated extraction efficiency of 53%.

    • A. K. Nowak
    • , S. L. Portalupi
    •  & P. Senellart

  • Article |

    Quantum logic spectroscopy gives precise measurements of atoms and molecules with long-lived states by transferring information to a second trapped ion via light pulses. By detecting photon recoil imparted to the trapped ion, Wan et al.extend this method to fast dipole-allowed transitions.

    • Yong Wan
    • , Florian Gebert
    •  & Piet O Schmidt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interferometers play a key role in precision measurements and metrology. Here, the authors demonstrate a new type of interferometer that replaces the standard beam splitter elements with parametric amplifiers, which provides enhanced performance compared with a Mach–Zehnder interferometer.

    • F. Hudelist
    • , Jia Kong
    •  & Weiping Zhang

  • Article |

    One of the key components in stretchable electronics is the electrical conductors, which need to show a low electrical resistance even when strained. Here, by using sacrificial grain boundaries as a fabrication template, Guo and colleagues fabricate highly transparent gold nanomesh electrodes with exceptionally high stretchability.

    • Chuan Fei Guo
    • , Tianyi Sun
    •  & Zhifeng Ren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tomography enables the reconstruction of objects, and its application to moving objects uncovers otherwise hidden phenomena, particularly at light velocity. Li et al.present a tomographic method that can visualize evolving laser-induced structures in a single shot.

    • Zhengyan Li
    • , Rafal Zgadzaj
    •  & Michael C. Downer

  • Article |

    Many biological processes rely on fluctuations in protein structure, but the characterization of extended structural motions is challenging. Here the authors use orientation-sensitive terahertz near-field microscopy to report the optical observation of long-range protein vibrational modes.

    • Gheorghe Acbas
    • , Katherine A. Niessen
    •  & A.G. Markelz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is a trade-off between image contrast and spatial resolution in Fourier transform holography, which limits its application in single-shot X-ray imaging. Here Geilhufe et al. use a Fresnel zone plate to decouple these two factors, which improves the efficiency of high-resolution holography imaging.

    • J. Geilhufe
    • , B. Pfau
    •  & S. Eisebitt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic resonances in nanoparticle helices arranged by the DNA origami method can give rise to strong circular dichroism at visible wavelengths. Schreiber et al. show that aligning and then toggling the orientation of such nanoparticle helices enables reversible switching of the dichroic response.

    • Robert Schreiber
    • , Ngoc Luong
    •  & Tim Liedl

  • Article |

    Fluorescence enhancement utilizing surface plasmon excitation is widely used for biomolecular recognition. Here the authors employ a V-shaped trench, incorporating some typical functionalities of a detection system—prism, sensing plate and flow channel—into a single feature.

    • Ken-ichi Nomura
    • , Subash C.B. Gopinath
    •  & Makoto Fujimaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Focused light beams can be used as optical tweezers for manipulating small dielectric particles, but they normally repel metallic ones. By exploiting surface plasmons excited by a radially polarized beam, Min et al.show that it is possible to trap metallic particles with diameters up to 2.2 μm.

    • Changjun Min
    • , Zhe Shen
    •  & Xiaocong Yuan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mid-infrared spectroscopy offers important chemical and structural information about biological samples but diffraction prevents nanoscale studies. Amenabar et al.demonstrate Fourier transform infrared nanospectroscopy for analysing the secondary structure of protein complexes with 30 nm spatial resolution.

    • Iban Amenabar
    • , Simon Poly
    •  & Rainer Hillenbrand

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Holographic techniques allow for the construction of 3D images by controlling the wave front of light beams. Huang et al.develop ultrathin plasmonic metasurfaces to provide 3D optical holographic image reconstruction in the visible and near-infrared regions for circularly polarized light.

    • Lingling Huang
    • , Xianzhong Chen
    •  & Shuang Zhang

  • Article |

    Holographic techniques provide phase and amplitude information for images of objects, but normally the hologram thickness is comparable to the light wavelength used. Ni et al.present ultra-thin plasmonic holograms that control amplitude and phase in the visible region and are just 30 nm thick.

    • Xingjie Ni
    • , Alexander V. Kildishev
    •  & Vladimir M. Shalaev

  • Article |

    In microscopy, the standard quantum limit represents the best achievable signal-to-noise ratio for a given light intensity. Here, the authors build an optical microscope that uses entanglement between photon pairs to overcome this barrier.

    • Takafumi Ono
    • , Ryo Okamoto
    •  & Shigeki Takeuchi

  • Article |

    Future quantum communication technologies require entanglement between stationary and flying qubits, in systems that are inherently scalable. To this end, De Greveet al.present full state tomography of a qubit pair formed by entangling a quantum dot spin and a photon, with a fidelity of over 90%.

    • Kristiaan De Greve
    • , Peter L. McMahon
    •  & Yoshihisa Yamamoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atom interferometers exploit wave-particle duality and can be used as sensitive measurement devices. Berrada et al.present a Mach–Zehnder interferometer for Bose–Einstein condensates trapped on an atom chip and demonstrate enhanced performance using non-classical states.

    • T. Berrada
    • , S. van Frank
    •  & J Schmiedmayer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The fabrication of three-dimensional nanoscale structures is important to nanophotonic applications where light is guided and controlled. The optical beam lithography scheme developed by Gan and colleagues enables the fabrication of three-dimensional structures with feature sizes down to 9 nm.

    • Zongsong Gan
    • , Yaoyu Cao
    •  & Min Gu

  • Article |

    The high-speed, large-area printing of aligned semiconducting nanowires is vital for practical device applications. Here, the authors use a high-speed printing technique to print semiconducting nanowire arrays onto device substrates with precise nanowire control, and high field-effect mobilities are observed.

    • Sung-Yong Min
    • , Tae-Sik Kim
    •  & Tae-Woo Lee

  • Article |

    Free-electron lasers offer exciting new possibilities for X-ray studies on ultrafast timescales, but their shot-to-shot variability requires new diagnostic tools. Using a plasma switch cross-correlator, Riedel et al. present a single-shot online diagnostic to retrieve the duration of extreme ultraviolet pulses.

    • R. Riedel
    • , A. Al-Shemmary
    •  & F. Tavella

  • Article |

    Ptychographic methods can retrieve the complex sample transmittance from diffraction patterns that may have a large dynamic range. For soft X-ray spectromicroscopy, Maiden et al. use a diffuser to randomize the probe phase, reducing the dynamic range of the diffraction data by an order of magnitude.

    • A.M. Maiden
    • , G.R. Morrison
    •  & J.M. Rodenburg

  • Article |

    The spin states associated with nitrogen vacancies in diamond could be useful in the development of solid-state quantum information processing. Laraoui et al. resolve the temporal dynamics of spins associated with C-13 atoms near such vacancies to better understand and perhaps better exploit their behaviour.

    • Abdelghani Laraoui
    • , Florian Dolde
    •  & Carlos A. Meriles

  • Article |

    Plasmons excited in gratings create strong resonant absorptions that depend on the nanostructure period. By patterning a gold grating on a silicon substrate, Sobhani et al. exploit plasmon-induced hot electron photocurrent generation to create a narrowband infrared photodetector with greatly enhanced absorption efficiency.

    • Ali Sobhani
    • , Mark W. Knight
    •  & Naomi J. Halas

  • Article |

    For quantum technologies to become widespread and scalable, bright sources of indistinguishable single photons are essential. Through deterministic positioning of quantum dots in pillar cavities, Gazzano et al.present a solid-state single-photon source with brightness as large as 0.65 photons per pulse.

    • O. Gazzano
    • , S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos
    •  & P. Senellart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowledge of the Hamiltonian of a quantum system is essential for predicting and controlling its behaviour. Li et al.use optical three-dimensional Fourier-transform spectroscopy to separate and study each pathway, gaining quantitative insight into the quantum pathways of an atomic vapour Hamiltonian.

    • Hebin Li
    • , Alan D. Bristow
    •  & Steven T. Cundiff

  • Review Article |

    The diffraction limit of light constrains the achievable resolution of conventional optical systems, but metamaterials provide numerous avenues to beat it. Lu and Liu review recent advances in super-resolution imaging with hyperlenses and metalenses, and discuss future directions and hurdles for the field.

    • Dylan Lu
    •  & Zhaowei Liu

  • Article |

    Computed tomography relies on scanning to measure an object from many angles, which fails for shot-to-shot changes and ultrafast phenomena. Matliset al. demonstrate an approach based on spectral multiplexing for single-shot tomographic imaging and use it to measure femtosecond plasma filaments.

    • N.H. Matlis
    • , A. Axley
    •  & W.P. Leemans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fibre-based technologies provide miniaturization, flexibility and the capability to access hard to reach areas. Čižmár and Dholakia exploit disorder in multimode fibres to enable a variety of imaging modalities, including bright- and dark-field microscopy and fluorescent imaging, using a single waveguide.

    • Tomáš Čižmár
    •  & Kishan Dholakia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The optical transitions that occur in rare-earth-doped crystals offer promise for quantum information storage and processing. Kolesovet al.report the optical detection of a single praseodymium ion residing in a crystal host by using an excited-state absorption process to enhance its fluorescence yield.

    • R. Kolesov
    • , K. Xia
    •  & J. Wrachtrup

  • Article |

    The spectral position of Raman peaks is a useful diagnostic for determining the degree of strain and excess electronic charges present in graphene. This study demonstrates that these two contributions can be separated from each other and therefore be obtained at the same time.

    • Ji Eun Lee
    • , Gwanghyun Ahn
    •  & Sunmin Ryu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measuring the entanglement between down-converted photons is central to many quantum optical experiments, and is normally performed by scanning detectors stepwise across a plane. Edgaret al. use a CCD camera to measure the entire entangled light field, finding strong correlations in position and momentum.

    • M.P. Edgar
    • , D.S. Tasca
    •  & M.J. Padgett

  • Article |

    Coherent diffractive imaging exploits coherent X-ray sources to image objects from their diffraction patterns, but fails for decreasing coherence. Using partially coherent diffraction patterns, Clarket al. obtain three dimensional reconstructions of nanocrystals and determine the wavefield coherence.

    • J.N. Clark
    • , X. Huang
    •  & I.K. Robinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-uniform light beams can create patterns in azo-polymer films by inducing mass transport, yet the process is not well understood. Using optical vortex beams, Ambrosioet al. observe the formation of spiral patterns that are surprisingly sensitive to the optical phase, which they explain with a new model.

    • Antonio Ambrosio
    • , Lorenzo Marrucci
    •  & Pasqualino Maddalena

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