Early-stage research by a university team suggests that a new laser setup will double the energy of a proton beam – potentially offering a route to much wider access for high-precision cancer therapy. While proton beam treatment is already used on some patients, in particular children with deep-seated brain and spinal tumors that are difficult [..]

Researchers have developed a unique high-resolution imaging method that can capture mid-infrared spectral images of fast events or dynamic processes that take place on the order of milliseconds. This spectral range is used for many applications because it can reveal the detailed chemical composition of a sample. This novel approach could one day be used [..]

Researchers have developed a new mathematical technique that quickly determines the ideal makeup and arrangement of millions of individual, microscopic features on a metasurface, to generate a flat lens that manipulates light in a specified way. Previous work attacked the problem by limiting the possible patterns to combinations of predetermined shapes, such as circular holes [..]

Researchers have developed a low-cost, easy way to make custom lenses that could help manufacturers avoid the expensive molds required for optical manufacturing. The researchers developed a liquid mold from droplets that they can manipulate with magnets to create lenses in a variety of shapes and sizes. High-quality lenses are increasingly used in everything from [..]

Researchers conducted extensive literature research, and systematically summarized and compared the sensing abilities of optical refractive index sensors according to their sensitivities and figure of merits. A 3-D technology map was then established to define the standard and development trend for optical refractive index sensors using plasmonic and photonic structures. The technology map, just like [..]

Researchers have developed a new biopsy technique that uses pulses from two kinds of lasers to take pictures of microscopic biological structures. The new biopsy technique, called ultraviolet-localized mid-infrared photoacoustic microscopy, or ULM-PAM, develops images of the microscopic structures found in a piece of tissue by bombarding the sample with both infrared and ultraviolet laser [..]

Physicists and engineers propose a new type of sensor. They are based on the new notion of exceptional surfaces: surfaces that consist of exceptional points. In order to understand the meaning of exceptional points, consider an imaginary violin with only two strings. In general, such a violin can produce just two different tones — a [..]

Auto lidar (for the autonomous-vehicle revolution), is one of the hottest hot topics today in optics and photonics. But what kind of lidar? The technology’s deceptively simple five-letter name packs in a complex array of choices, from spinning car-top sensors to tiny solid-state lidar scanners largely still on the drawing boards. Angular resolution is the [..]

Researchers have demonstrated a method for measuring visible light particles nondestructively. The method could be used to investigate the quantum properties of light. The researchers coupled a single trapped ion to an optical cavity dispersively to extract information about the cavity photon-number distribution in a non-destructive way. The team placed an ionized calcium atom between [..]

After decades of patient quantum computer science groundwork, the notion of “quantum computing” has, in the past several years, seen a surge in new activity and interest—not only in the lab, but at commercial firms, and even among the public at large. Spurring that new interest has been successful lab demonstrations of systems and simulations [..]

A team of scientists has developed a microarray detector that uses a tiny blood sample to produce results in less than 30 minutes. Current sepsis diagnosis techniques can take hours or even days to produce the results and diagnosis. Programmed to detect proteins and E. coli, one of the deadly bacteria that can cause the [..]

A team of researchers has determined the optical parameters of cellulose molecules with exceptional precision. They found that cellulose’s intrinsic optical birefringence is high enough to be used in optical displays, such as flexible liquid crystal display (LCD) screens or electronic paper. Cellulose, a naturally occurring polymer, consists of many long molecular chains. Because of [..]

Researchers have made an inexpensive and portable high-resolution 3D printed microscope that is small and robust enough to use in the field or at the bedside. The high-resolution 3D images provided by the instrument could potentially be used to detect diabetes, sickle cell disease, malaria, and other diseases. The new microscope doesn’t require any special [..]

Researchers have shown that existing light field technology could be used to produce microscopic 3-D images of tissue inside the body, paving the way toward 3-D optical biopsies. Unlike normal biopsies where tissue is harvested and sent off to a lab for analysis, optical biopsies enable clinicians to examine living tissue within the body in [..]

Researchers have developed a way to improve the accuracy of ovarian cancer surgery, called debulking. Using a novel fluorescence imaging system, they were able to find and remove tumors as small as 0.3 millimeters — smaller than a poppy seed — during surgery in mice. The system allows for real-time information about the size, depth, [..]

Researchers have developed a technique for in vivo super-resolution photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) that breaks the acoustic diffraction limit by localizing the centers of single dyed droplets flowing in blood vessels. This technique has been shown to resolve brain blood vessels at a sixfold finer resolution. Photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) is a noninvasive hybrid imaging [..]

Lensless microscopy with X-rays, or coherent diffractive imaging, is a promising approach. It allows researchers to analyze complex three-dimensional structures, which frequently exist in nature, from a dynamic perspective. Researchers have developed a method in which two images of an object can be taken from two different directions using a single laser pulse. The images [..]

Researchers have developed technology for microscopic imaging in living organisms. A miniaturized multiphoton microscopy device, which could be used in an endoscope in the future, excites the body’s own molecules to illuminate and enables cells and tissue structures to be imaged without the use of synthetic contrast agents. It is often necessary to examine tissue [..]

Scientists have discovered a new laser processing method to passivate defects in next-generation optical materials to improve optical quality and enable the miniaturization of light-emitting diodes and other optical elements. From a chemistry standpoint, they have discovered a new photocatalytic reaction using laser light and water molecules. The research enables the integration of high-quality, optically [..]

Engineers have developed a compact, single-shot, free-space-coupled spectrometer with hyperspectral imaging capabilities. The miniaturized spectrometer is fabricated on top of and integrated with a CMOS chip. The device measures 200 microns on each side. It can lie directly on a sensor from a typical digital camera. The miniaturized spectrometer and hyperspectral imager are based on [..]