Nanooptics and Nanophotonics News

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Laser Technique Used to Change Colors of Metals Could Have Important Implications for Medicine

University of Rochester optics professor Chunlei Guo made headlines in the past couple of years when he changed the color of everyday metals by scouring their surfaces with precise, high-intensity laser bursts. Sudde...

8 Dec 2009

Result an Important Step Toward Airport Scanners that Can Identify Explosives

MIT researchers have developed a new way to tune the frequency of lasers that operate in the terahertz spectrum. The result is an important step toward airport scanners that could tell whether a vial in a closed suitcase contains aspirin, methamphetamines or an explosive.

7 Dec 2009

Scientist Demonstrates World's Smallest Semiconductor Laser

Air Force Office of Scientific Research and National Science Foundation-funded professor, Dr. Xiang Zhang has demonstrated at the University of California, Berkeley the world's smallest semiconductor laser, which may have applications to the Air Force in communications, computing and bio-hazard detection.

7 Dec 2009

Rice Lab Makes Solid Material Transparent to Terahertz Waves

Very often in science, the unexpected discovery turns out to be the most significant. Rice University Professor Junichiro Kono and his team weren't looking for a breakthrough in the transmission of terahertz signals,...

7 Dec 2009

Nanomachines May Someday Operate Far More Efficiently Thanks to Important Theoretical Discoveries

Nanoscale machines expected to have wide application in industry, energy, medicine and other fields may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to important theoretical discoveries concerning the manipulation of famo...

7 Dec 2009

New Generation of Optical Sensors Enables Development of Lighting-Fast Trace Gas Detectors

A new generation of optical sensors is enabling the development of robust, long-lasting, lighting-fast trace gas detectors for use in a wide range of industrial, security and domestic applications. It was not so long...

6 Dec 2009

New Approach A Step Closer to Airport Scanners that can Distinguish Aspirin from Explosives

For more than 30 years, scientists have been trying to harness the power of terahertz radiation. Tucked between microwaves and infrared rays on the electromagnetic spectrum, terahertz rays can penetrate clothing, plastic, and human tissue, but they're thought to be safer than x-rays.

4 Dec 2009

Physicists Use Laser Light to Create "Synthetic Magnetism"

For the first time, physicists have used laser light to create "synthetic magnetism," an exotic condition in which neutral atoms suddenly begin to behave as if they were charged particles interacting with a magnetic field -- even though no such field is present and the atoms have no charge.

2 Dec 2009

Researchers Use Lasers to Create First Practical Macroscopic Yarns from Boron Nitride Fibers

Researchers have used lasers to create the first practical macroscopic yarns from boron nitride fibers, opening the door for an array of applications, from radiation-shielded spacecraft to stronger body armor, according to a just-published study.

2 Dec 2009

Researchers Achieve Breakthrough in Quantum Cascade Laser Output Power

Northwestern University researchers have achieved a breakthrough in quantum cascade laser output power, delivering 120 watts from a single device at room temperature. The results are particularly attractive for infrar...

1 Dec 2009