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New type of metasurface allows unprecedented laser control

Researchers at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences developed a single metasurface that can tune different properties of laser light, including wavelength, without additional optical components. This opens the door for lightweight and efficient optical systems for various applications.

GoPro HERO13 Black

GoPro HERO13 Black records stabilized 5.3K video for instrument deployments, field notes, and outreach, even in harsh weather and underwater conditions.

Infrared imaging by ultrathin nanocrystal layers

Researchers demonstrate conversion of infrared images to visible using ultrathin and transparent semiconductor nanocrystals. The proposed metasurface-based IR imaging approach offers novel opportunities for compact night vision instruments and sensor devices.

Suppressing meta-holographic artifacts by laser coherence tuning

A team of scientists has developed an efficient method to suppress meta-holographic artifacts while maintaining image quality. By fine-tuning the coherence of illumination using a degenerate cavity laser, they can reduce coherent artifacts and improve the spatial resolution of holographic images.

A new way to make AR/VR glasses

University of Rochester researchers developed a novel technology using freeform optics and metasurfaces to deliver high-quality images with socially acceptable optics. The metaform component gathers visible light rays from all directions and redirects them directly into the human eye, achieving a significant improvement in image quality.

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB transfers large imagery and model outputs quickly between field laptops, lab workstations, and secure archives.

Single metasurface for simultaneous detection of SAM and OAM

A team of scientists has developed a single spin-decoupled metasurface that can distinguish between spatial angular moment (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. The device exploits the geometric phase and dynamic phase to transform vortex beams into focusing patterns, enabling simultaneous detection of SAM and OAM.

Wearable sensors that detect gas leaks

Researchers at POSTECH developed an ultra-compact wearable gas sensor that detects toxic gases and displays a holographic alarm. The sensor uses metasurface technology to provide immediate visual notification without relying on external mechanical or electronic devices.

Efficient generations of complex vectorial optical fields with metasurfaces

Scientists develop a generic approach to generate arbitrary vectorial optical fields (VOFs) using metasurfaces, offering improved efficiency and control over polarization. They experimentally demonstrate the generation of VOFs in both far-field and near-field regimes with tailored wave fronts and inhomogeneous polarization distributions.

Silencing vibrations in the ground and sounds underwater

Researchers at POSTECH have designed a metasurface that can control acoustic and elastic waves, achieving underwater stealth capability untraceable by SONAR. The technology also enables drastic alteration of wave propagation through curved plates, such as vibrations.

Metasurfaces for manipulating terahertz waves

Recent advancements in metasurfaces for manipulating terahertz waves enable ultra-compact devices with unusual functionalities for applications such as imaging, encryption, and communications. Metasurfaces can locally control wavefronts at subwavelength resolution, making them ideal candidates for THz device miniaturization.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.

Looking at optical Fano resonances under a new light

Researchers Adam Overvig and Andrea Alù show that strict periodicity is not required for Fano resonances, enabling novel properties in metasurfaces. They demonstrate a nonperiodic metasurface with perfect reflection and phase conjugation, opening up new applications in optics and beyond.

Light it up: uOttawa researchers demonstrate practical metal nanostructures

Researchers at the University of Ottawa have debunked the myth that metals are useless in photonics with their findings, recently published in Nature Communications. They demonstrated ultra-high-Q resonances in a metasurface comprised of metal nanoparticles embedded inside a flat glass substrate, showing metals can be useful in photonics.

Lithium niobate crystal film for integrated photonic applications

The article reviews progress in microstructure engineering and domain engineering of lithium niobate photonics, including photonic modulation and nonlinear photonics. High-efficiency wavelength converters using optical waveguides involve nonlinear integrated photonics.

Information transition mechanisms of spatiotemporal metasurfaces

Researchers propose two information transition mechanisms for spatiotemporal metasurfaces: group extension and independent control of multiple harmonics. These mechanisms enable accurate manipulations of electromagnetic information and open up new possibilities for multitasking and wireless communications.

Fluke 87V Industrial Digital Multimeter

Fluke 87V Industrial Digital Multimeter is a trusted meter for precise measurements during instrument integration, repairs, and field diagnostics.

Super surfaces

The development of programmable metasurfaces at Princeton University has the potential to significantly increase data transmission rates in wireless systems. The technology uses terahertz waves to focus transmissions in specific directions, overcoming challenges such as obstacles and distance limitations. This breakthrough could enable...

AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope

AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope supports teaching labs and QA checks with LED illumination, mechanical stage, and included 5MP camera.

True holographic movie is within grasp

A team at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology has developed a system to produce true holographic three-dimensional images appearing mid-air, viewable from most angles in the room. The proof of concept uses metasurface materials that can manipulate light, allowing for a genuine holographic movie.

Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply

Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply powers sensors, microcontrollers, and test circuits with programmable rails and stable outputs.

Seeing the light: Researchers combine technologies for better light control

A new technology has been developed by Penn State researchers that enables better light control without requiring large materials and structures. This hybrid photonic architecture combines the best qualities of photonic integrated circuits and metasurfaces, paving the way for multifunctional devices with flexible access to free space.

Liquid crystal integrated metalens for versatile color focus

Researchers developed a liquid crystal integrated metalens that can achieve both achromatic and chromatic focusing with a single device. The design overcomes the challenge of chromatic aberration, allowing for improved resolution in full-color and hyperspectral imaging.

Ultra-thin camera lenses of the future could see the light of day

Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology have developed a new method for making metasurfaces, which can control light and create ultra-thin camera lenses. This breakthrough could lead to significant improvements in optical technology, including portable electronics, sensors, and space satellites.

Metasurface opens world of polarization

Researchers from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences designed a metasurface that can continuously tune from linear to elliptical birefringence, opening up the entire space of polarization control with just one device.

Controlling angular dispersions in optical metasurfaces

Researchers from China established a general strategy to guide design of optical metasurfaces with fully controlled angular dispersions. They demonstrated the importance of near-field couplings and radiation patterns in determining these dispersions.

Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only)

Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only) delivers reliable low-light performance and rugged build for astrophotography, lab documentation, and field expeditions.

Saturable plasmonic metasurfaces for laser mode locking

Researchers developed plasmonic metasurfaces that can be tuned with polarization light, providing efficient saturable absorption for ultrafast lasers. The metasurfaces achieved stable self-starting ultrashort laser pulse generation with a modulation depth of up to 60%, outperforming previous studies.

Performing optical logic operations by a diffractive neural network

A diffractive neural network, implemented by a compound Huygens' metasurface, realizes all seven basic optical logic operations in a compact system using a plane wave as input signal. The design strategy features flexible modification and eliminates the need for precise control of input light.

Meta Quest 3 512GB

Meta Quest 3 512GB enables immersive mission planning, terrain rehearsal, and interactive STEM demos with high-resolution mixed-reality experiences.

New metasurface laser produces world's first super-chiral light

Researchers have demonstrated a new metasurface laser that produces 'super-chiral light' with ultra-high angular momentum, enabling control over optical communications and applications in industries like food, computer, and biomedical. The laser design allows for high power operation in a compact design.

High-tech contact lenses correct color blindness

Scientists have created ultra-thin optical devices known as metasurfaces integrated into off-the-shelf contact lenses to correct deuteranomaly, a form of red-green color blindness. The new customizable contact lens can restore lost color contrast and improve color perception up to a factor of 10.

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm)

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) tracks health metrics and safety alerts during long observing sessions, fieldwork, and remote expeditions.

Setting up fundamental bases for information metasurface

A general information theory of metasurface has been proposed to analyze the relation between the information of metasurface and its far-field radiation pattern. The scientists found an upper bound of information contained in the radiation pattern of a metasurface, revealing theoretical upper limit of orthogonal radiation states.

Space-time metasurface makes light reflect only in one direction

Researchers create a new type of optical metasurface that imposes phase modulation on reflected light, leading to unidirectional light propagation. The metasurface enables nonreciprocal light propagation in free space with unprecedented large temporal modulation frequency.

Intelligent metasurface imager and recognizer

Researchers developed an AI-driven smart metasurface for joint control of EM waves on the physical level and digital pipeline, enabling real-time imaging and recognition of multiple non-cooperative people. The intelligent EM camera can be powered by Wi-Fi signals, allowing for hands-free monitoring without visible sensors.

Compute at the speed of light

A research team at the University of Delaware has designed an integrated photonics platform with a one-dimensional metalens and metasurfaces, limiting information loss and enabling high signal transmission. The device demonstrates functionalities of Fourier transformation and differentiation, critical techniques in physical sciences.

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) runs demanding GIS, imaging, and annotation workflows on the go for surveys, briefings, and lab notebooks.

Ultra-thin optical elements directly measure polarization

Scientists have developed a new method to measure polarization using ultra-thin metasurface holograms. The technique uses overlapping holographic images to determine the amplitude contrast and phase difference between polarized light waves, enabling fast and compact devices for spectroscopy, sensing, and communications applications.

Harnessing photonics for at-home disease detection

Researchers developed an ultra-thin optical chip that detects biomolecules in a sample and determines their location using metasurfaces. The technology uses image analysis to count biomolecules one by one and identify trends, demonstrating its potential for personalized medicine.

Engineered metasurfaces reflect waves in unusual directions

Scientists have developed new metasurfaces that can manipulate reflected light and sound waves with high efficiency. These artificial structures use periodic arrangements of meta-atoms to engineer the direction of reflected waves, breaking classical laws of reflection.

Next-generation optics in just two minutes of cooking time

Researchers at EPFL have developed a method to create dielectric glass metasurfaces in just a few minutes, using dewetting to produce flexible and ultra-thin photonic circuits. This breakthrough enables the creation of highly sensitive sensors and flexible optics for various applications.

What do we see in a mirror?

Aalto University scientists develop gradient metasurfaces that can appear 'bright' at one direction and 'dark' for the opposite direction, breaking conventional symmetric responses of mirrors. This innovation uses evanescent fields engineering to engineer contrast ratios in angle spectrum.

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Equatorial Mount

Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro Equatorial Mount provides precise tracking capacity for deep-sky imaging rigs during long astrophotography sessions.

New concept for tractor beam from Star Wars developed

Researchers at ITMO University propose a new approach to creating tractor beams using hyperbolic metasurfaces, which can capture particles and cells. The study shows that these materials have the potential for practical applications in experiments and traps.

Physicists discover new way of resonance tuning for nonlinear optics

Researchers from ITMO University and the Australian National University have discovered a new physics of high-Q resonances in asymmetric metasurfaces, governed by bound states in the continuum. This breakthrough enables the creation of thin, highly efficient sensors, lasers, and nonlinear radiation sources.

Low bandwidth? Use more colors at once

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a method to produce multiple colors simultaneously on an electronic chip, enabling broader bandwidth for sensing and processing information. This breakthrough could lead to advancements in nanophotonics, bio-sensing, and imaging applications.

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor tracks ventilation quality in labs, classrooms, and conference rooms with long battery life and clear e-ink readouts.

A New Metasurface Model Shows Potential to Control Acoustic Wave Reflection

Researchers developed a nonlinear elastic metasurface that can convert a soundwave's fundamental frequency to its second harmonic, advancing noise control technologies. This concept could isolate low frequencies, making it easier to absorb them, and potentially lead to new acoustic devices like diodes and transistors.

Multifunctional metalens unlocks with light

Researchers at Harvard SEAS developed a flat metalens that can resolve details smaller than a wavelength of light, generate optical vortices and holograms, and exhibit achromatic behavior in multiple colors.

Basque researchers turn light upside down

Researchers created a hyperbolic metasurface using boron nitride that produces concave wavefronts with infrared light, revolutionizing the miniaturization of sensing and signal processing devices. The team overcame fabrication challenges to achieve precision structuring on the nanometer scale.

DJI Air 3 (RC-N2)

DJI Air 3 (RC-N2) captures 4K mapping passes and environmental surveys with dual cameras, long flight time, and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.

MEMS chips get metalenses

Researchers developed a device that combines metasurface lenses with MEMS technology, enabling fast scanning and beam steering. The integrated device can control the angular rotation of a flat lens and scan the focal spot by several degrees.

Metasurfaces enable improved optical lens performance

Researchers at Penn State have developed a new theory that uses gradient index materials and metasurface layers to improve optical lens performance. The new design reduces the need for multiple lenses, resulting in lighter and thinner optical systems.

New metamaterial-enhanced MRI technique tested on humans

A new metasurface-based technology has been tested on humans, providing higher signals from local brain regions and potentially reducing image acquisition time or acquiring higher resolution images. The use of metasurfaces could improve MRI comfort for patients and disease diagnosis.

Technique makes more efficient, independent holograms

A team of researchers from Harvard SEAS encoded multiple holographic images in a metasurface that can be unlocked separately with differently polarized light. This advancement offers more control over polarization manipulation and measurement, enabling applications such as anti-fraud protection and entertainment.

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach provides rugged GNSS navigation, satellite messaging, and SOS for backcountry geology and climate field teams.

New generation of high-efficiency solar thermal absorbers developed

Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a new generation of high-efficiency solar thermal absorbers using a tri-layer metasurface absorber. The system uses amorphous carbon as an interlayer between thin gold films, strongly absorbing light across the solar spectrum while minimizing emission of thermal radiation.

Absorbing acoustics with soundless spirals

Researchers at CNRS and University of Lorraine develop a coiled-up acoustic metasurface that achieves total acoustic absorption in very low-frequency ranges. The absorber's deep-subwavelength thickness enables it to handle large wavelengths with reduced size structure, making it physically practical for most applications.