Effective vein visualization is vital for several clinical procedures, such as venous blood sampling and intravenous injection. Existing technologies using infrared devices or ultrasound technology are unsuitable for daily medical care due to their equipment. Now, researchers have devised a new regression-based vein visualization method. It uses conventional RGB images to diagnose venipuncture procedures and [..]

Scientists have created an IR detector with two separate IR bands and a bias-switchable spectral response. The gadget changes from the near-infrared (NIR) to the shortwave infrared (SWIR) band to reverse the detector’s bias voltage. Integrating the silicon-based dual-band photodetector into existing camera circuits and cellphones is possible. A thin layer of Si acts as [..]

In the mid-2020s, NASA will launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It will provide a panoramic field of view at least a hundred times larger than Hubble’s, at a similar resolution. It will survey the sky up to thousands of times faster than can be done with Hubble. This wide-field, high-resolution, and efficient survey [..]

A new family of 2D semiconductors could pave the way for high-performance and energy-efficient electronics. The findings may lead to the fabrication of semiconductor devices applicable in mainstream electronics and optoelectronics – and even potentially replace silicon-based device technology altogether. 2D semiconductors are materials with a thickness of a few atoms. Due to their nanoscale [..]

Researchers have paired microscopy with artificial intelligence to develop a fast, accurate, cost-effective COVID test. While many methods currently exist to test for SARS-CoV-2, none use a label-free optical approach. So, the research team turned to a technique typically reserved for visualizing cells: spatial light image microscopy (SLIM), which facilitates chemical-free (or label-free) imaging. SLIM [..]

DNA computing uses the individual units of DNA’s two strands (selectively bound to each other in a complementary manner) to do complicated mathematical calculations. However, most DNA computing processes are still manual – one needs to add reactants step-by-step to the reaction. Finally, scientists have developed a programmable DNA-based microfluidic device that a personal computer [..]

Due to light dispersion and absorption, imaging deep into tissues is challenging. The wavelength windows for high-resolution deep mouse brain imaging are around 1300 nm and 1700 nm. However, due to the low detection efficiency of currently available detectors, one-photon fluorescence imaging in the wavelength region has proved extremely difficult. Researchers have created one-photon confocal [..]

Active display illumination technology generates a surplus of energy demand. Reflective displays (using thin films) that do not require active illumination can stifle this demand. However, these display technologies are challenging to employ in low-light conditions due to a lack of active light sources. The reflection of optical rays within a polymer-embedded microsphere introduces reflective [..]

Photopyroelectric detectors can absorb electromagnetic radiation, convert the absorbed energy into thermal energy, and generate a pyroelectric voltage (PEV) across a pyroelectric material. Their applications include energy harvesting, infrared sensing, and thermal imaging. Conventional narrowband photopyroelectric detectors require a bulky bandpass filter. Alternatively, a narrowband filter, such as a photonic crystal, can be directly integrated [..]

Researchers have developed a new imaging strategy to see the small, ultrastructural changes in dendritic spines during structural plasticity. They have captured the best of both imaging modalities by refining and elaborating on an established imaging technique called correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM). Using 2-photon optical microscopy and glutamate uncaging, the research team first [..]

Astronomers have recorded an unparalleled look at X-rays from a black hole system in the early cosmos using gravitational lensing, a natural lens in space. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory employed this magnifying glass to sharpen X-ray images for the first time. It acquired details about black holes that would otherwise be too far away to [..]

Researchers have significantly improved the response time of a four mm-aperture hole-patterned liquid crystal (HLC) lens with doping of N-benzyl-2-methyl-4-nitroaniline (BNA) and rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticle (TiO2 NP) nanocomposite. The proposed HLC lens provides focus and defocus times (related to the wavefront bending speed) that are 8.5× and 14× faster than the new HLC lens, [..]

Due to their lower toxicity than cadmium-based semiconductor quantum dots, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are attractive luminous materials for numerous light-emitting, biological, and energy applications. The luminous properties of GQDs drive their practical applications and use. As a result, controlling and tailoring the emission properties of these materials to suit the specified optoelectronic applications is [..]

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a CMOS-compatible semiconductor material that promises to realize the monolithic integration of electronics and photonics with low fabrication costs via CMOS foundry. The non-centrosymmetric crystal structures of SiC grant both second-order and third-order nonlinear effects, enabling an efficient light frequency conversion and on-chip generation of nonclassical light states. SiC exhibits the [..]

Cavity optomechanics has recently gained a lot of interest from the quantum physics, quantum optics, and quantum information sciences sectors. It is due to the importance of cavity optomechanics in studying fundamental quantum mechanics problems and quantum precision measurements. Quantum simulation, as a cutting-edge approach, could be a valuable tool for investigating optomechanical interactions in [..]

Using ‘core@shell’ nanocrystals with atomically conformal metal laminations, researchers have created a method that greatly increases the performance of plasmonic photocatalysts. Core@shells Nanocrystals with a core surrounded by a shell can use the interfacial synergy between the core and shell equivalents, making them useful in catalysis, electronics, and displays. The core plasmonic nanoparticles (gold) surface [..]

Outliers of a population, e.g., cells with a rare function that arise in fewer than one in a million individuals, are of great interest to biologists. The inherent balance with microscopes between viewing cells at a sufficient spatial resolution while still keeping a large field of view to capture unique specimens has impeded these investigations. [..]

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) often makes patients experience anxiety and sometimes distress before and during scanning. Researchers have developed an MRI-compatible virtual reality (VR) system to create a different experience. The strong sense of immersion with VR could create sensory experiences designed to avoid the perception of being enclosed and provide new modes of diversion [..]

Researchers have developed inexpensive breathalyzers integrated into the screens of smartphones or wearables. The new technology uses the evaporation rate of the fog produced by the breath on the phone screen, which increases with increasing breath alcohol content. The breathalyzers use a photodiode placed on the side of the screen to measure the signature of [..]

Scientists have developed an innovative optical system to precisely measure and control high-power laser beams’ position and pointing angle with unprecedented accuracy – without interrupting or disturbing the beams. Even in the most regulated lab setting, laser beams wander around on a microscopic scale due to vibrations and variability. The difference between excellent science and [..]