Diffractive deep neural network (DDNN) is an optical machine learning framework that combines deep learning with optical diffraction and light-matter interaction to create diffractive surfaces that perform optical computation at the speed of light. A diffractive neural network is first designed in a computer using deep learning techniques, then physically fabricated using 3-D printing or [..]

Engineers have created a microscope that adapts its lighting angles, colors, and patterns while teaching itself the best settings for a given diagnostic task. The microscope developed a lighting pattern and classification system simultaneously in the engineering team’s study, allowing it to quickly identify red blood cells infected by the malaria parasite more accurately than [..]

Better biosensor technology, as described by the study team, “may help lead to safe stem cell therapies for treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other neurological disorders,” they claim. The research, which uses a graphene and gold-based platform and sophisticated imaging equipment, tracks the growth of stem cells by spotting the genetic material (RNA) necessary [..]

Scientists have created rewritable optical components for 2D light waves (surface light waves). A polariton is a particle that blurs the line between light and matter when certain materials confine a wave of light on a 2D plane. Polaritons allow light to be tightly confined to the nanoscale, potentially to a few atoms in thickness. [..]

Most leading security standards (for example, Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES, and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman, or RSA, which are used to secure online communications such as payments on shopping websites) used in secure communication methods do not make use of quantum technology. As a result, electronic transmission of PINs or passwords can be intercepted, posing a security [..]

Engineers have created a computer vision system that can detect minute changes in ground shadows to determine if a moving object is around the bend to increase the safety of autonomous systems. One day, autonomous vehicles may use the system to swiftly avoid collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians approaching from behind a building’s corner [..]

The microlens array has attracted significant attention with the increasing demand for optoelectronic miniaturization. It has become an important micro-optic device widely used in compact imaging, sensing, optical communication, and other applications. Microlens arrays are typically made up of multiple micron-sized lenses with optical surface smoothness and superior uniformity, which increases the need for machining [..]

By measuring the activity of a large number of individual neurons simultaneously, a new ultrasensitive optical nanoprobe that can monitor the bioelectric activity of neurons (and other cells that generate electrical impulses) could help researchers better understand how neural circuits function at previously unexplored scales. In the future, the device could aid in developing high-bandwidth [..]

An experiment that could result in more precise sensors and clocks will test Einstein’s twin paradox using quantum particles in a superposition state. According to the twin paradox, time can move at different rates for individuals depending on how close they are to a large mass or how quickly they are moving. For instance, a [..]

A novel method for adjusting and engineering the mirror symmetry of polarization in structured optical fields has been created by a research team. The team has named these polarization states kaleidoscope-structured vector optical fields (KS-VOFs) and claims that their adjustable symmetries and geometries provide an “additional degree of freedom” that may be useful in optical [..]

Researchers have demonstrated that they can picture the simultaneous electrical activity of many neurons in the brains of mice using a fluorescent probe that illuminates when brain cells are electrically active. Neuroscientists may be able to see the activity of brain circuits using this method, which can be carried out using a basic light microscope, [..]

To help clinicians better detect and track eye diseases like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, researchers have applied artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning techniques to develop a more precise and in-depth method for analyzing optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the back of the eye. OCT imaging, frequently used in ophthalmology and optometry, captures high-resolution [..]

A novel microwave imager chip created by researchers may one day be used in low-cost handheld imagers or cameras. The new imager might help image through walls or find tumors through body tissue because microwaves can pass through some opaque items. The researchers explain how they created an imager chip with more than 1,000 photonic [..]

A new stretchable optical lace may make soft robots even softer to the touch. The synthetic material forms a linked sensory network, similar to a biological nervous system, allowing robots to sense how they interact with their surroundings and adjust their actions accordingly. Researchers want to measure stresses and strains in highly deformable objects using [..]

Researchers working to improve infrared sensors say their gold nano-antenna technology is prepared to move from the lab to market development. The team asserts that the novel detectors reduce dark current by as much as two orders of magnitude while increasing sensitivity by a factor of three. The tiny antennas concentrate light onto a much [..]

A system that measures a patient’s degree of pain by examining brain activity from a portable neuroimaging device has been created by researchers. The method may assist medical professionals in identifying and managing pain in unconscious and nonverbal patients, potentially lowering the risk of postoperative chronic pain.The researchers outline a technique to measure patient discomfort [..]

Tip-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (TERRS) has been demonstrated by research. The results suggest that TERRS could offer a new approach for the atomic-scale optical characterization of local electronic states. On extremely thin zinc oxide layers that were epitaxially grown on an Ag(111) surface and in which both physical and chemical enhancement mechanisms were in operation, [..]

Since the advent of digital computing, scientists have imagined creating artificial neural networks that would handle challenging issues by functioning like biological brains. Researchers have attempted to build neural networks that would operate at the speed of light as nanophotonic circuits became a reality. However, translating the nonlinear activation function, a crucial mathematical element of [..]

Due to its capacity to recover oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations, functional near-IR imaging is a promising method for neuroimaging and brain mapping. However, because tissues naturally scatter much NIR light, strategies to improve image clarity and quantitative accuracy must be considered. The functional near-IR spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based optical imaging of the brain has recently undergone what [..]

Using machine learning, biomedical engineers have developed a technique to improve optical coherence tomography (OCT) resolution to a single micrometer in all dimensions, even in a living patient. The multibillion-dollar optical coherence tomography (OCT) market could benefit from the new optical coherence refraction tomography (OCRT) method by getting better medical images for fields like oncology [..]