Researchers have demonstrated a new optical wiring technique for carrying out sensitive quantum operations on atoms. In this technique, the control laser light is delivered directly inside a chip. This should make it possible to build large-scale quantum computers based on trapped atoms. Already in current small-scale systems, conventional optics are a significant source of [..]

Current programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are volatile and suffer from high optical signal losses – both of which prevent them from maintaining their programmed state. A team of researchers has now fabricated meter-scale single-mode photonic waveguides that boast only 0.03 dB/cm optical losses. The researchers also used their waveguides to construct optical true delay [..]

AI-driven quality testing can increase productivity by up to 50% and defect detection rates by up to 90% compared to human inspection. Though machines with automated optical inspection (AOI), powered by machine vision, have replaced most of the manual processes in the modern assembly line, quality control remains a huge and costly challenge. AI software [..]

Electronic displays are becoming increasingly important in daily life, from automobiles to smartphones and wearables to digital signage. As demand grows, display manufacturers require optically clear bonding materials to connect glass or plastic screens to various electronic modules. Strong, dependable adhesion is essential, as is support for a fantastic viewing experience. Furthermore, display manufacturers require [..]

Researchers have demonstrated that X-Ray Holographic Nano-Tomography (XNH) could aid in mapping neural circuits and, eventually, the brain. The researchers describe how XNH can image large volumes of mouse brain and fruit fly nervous tissue at high resolution. Using artificial intelligence-driven image analysis, they reconstructed dense neural circuits in 3-D fruit flies. They cataloged neurons [..]

To recent developments in photonic structures, some structural colors can be reversibly changed in response to external stimuli. Based on a lesson from natural photonic structure, specific examples of photonic crystal‐based structural coloring schemes show unprecedented possibilities in colorimetric sensor applications, such as temperature, pH, ion species, solvents, water vapor, humidity, pressure, and biomolecule detection. [..]

Researchers employed Nafion as a solid medium for the fabrication of transparent luminescent materials with tunable emissions. These membranes are quite famous for their ability to conduct protons and exchange cations. Nafion is composed of hydrophobic main chains and pendant hydrophilic side chains. The side chains are especially important. When Nafion is introduced to a [..]

The explosive rise of silicon photonics has led to renewed interest in the electro-optic (EO) or Pockels effect due to its potential uses in many next-generation device applications. To find materials with a strong EO response in thin-film form, which are essential for low power and small footprint devices, one needs to find a general [..]

Over the last decade or so, a group of scientists has begun to transform the field of optics by engineering flat optics metasurfaces, which use an array of millions of tiny, microscopically thin, and transparent quartz pillars to diffract and mold the flow of light in much the same way that a glass lens does, [..]

Unlike conventional solar panels, which convert sunlight into energy by absorption, researchers’ novel radiative cooling technology works in the opposite direction. Even though there isn’t any heat for solar panels to collect at night, heat still leaves the system that can be converted into electricity. This radiating heat spreads outward as infrared light when a [..]

While your skeleton helps your body to move, fine skeleton-like filaments within your cells likewise help cellular structures to move. Now, researchers have developed a new imaging method that lets them monitor a small subset of these filaments, called actin. Actin is the most abundant protein in the cell, so when you image it, it’s [..]

Integrating a light source inside a Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) platform has always been as challenging as much as an appealing task. Besides the manufacturing issues, one of the most limiting aspects is due to the need for an energy source to feed the light emission (battery free). A solution independent of external energy sources can be [..]

Researchers have shown that quantum particles can carry an unlimited amount of information about things they have interacted with. The results could enable far more precise measurements and power new technologies, such as super-precise microscopes and quantum computers. Metrology is the science of estimations and measurements. If you weighed yourself this morning, you’ve done metrology. [..]

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide have implemented a ground-breaking facial recognition system powered by artificial intelligence that can recognize people wearing masks. In addition, the device can identify people in very dim lighting. The biometric system can identify individuals using only 40% of their face compared to a reference image or video, making it [..]

Due to limitations in how it can sense objects using lidar, a self-driving vehicle struggles to distinguish between a toddler and a brown bag that abruptly appears in view. The autonomous vehicle business is looking into “frequency modulated continuous wave” (FMCW) lidar to address this issue. Researchers have developed a method for lidar that uses [..]

Researchers are using cutting-edge microscale accuracy to track the development of coatings as they dry. Thin film coatings accomplish much more than beautifying surfaces. For instance, they can be used as medical equipment in edible films transporting medications to combat the opioid epidemic. For films used in drug delivery technology, it is particularly crucial to [..]

Researchers have shown that a novel near-infrared spectroscopy-based mapping method can differentiate between fat and muscle tissue in the heart. This distinction is crucial when using radiofrequency ablation to address the serious heart rhythm issue known as ventricular tachycardia. The only therapy for ventricular tachycardia is radiofrequency ablation, which involves locating the parts of the [..]

Various 3D sensing, imaging, illumination, and ranging uses, as well as their convergence in new lidar technology, could be made possible by implementing optical phased arrays (OPAs) in integrated photonic circuits. Although large aperture sizes are required to enable medium- to long-range lidar, current integrated OPA approaches must be scaleable regarding control complexity, power consumption, [..]

Researchers have conducted a ground-breaking operation to show “hybrid” quantum networking, which is a first for the world. The method, which combines two ways of encoding information in light particles called photons, may enable more powerful and reliable computing and communications. Quantum networking systems can encode information as discrete variables (DVs) in particles or continuous [..]

Researchers have shown that recyclable, flexible electronics have a high potential for use in the production of cheaper solar cells, touchscreens, wearable ‘e-skins,’ and next-generation responsive windows. These materials, created using a simple, low-cost fabrication process, have the potential to replace traditional transparent conductive oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO), which is a required [..]