Articles tagged with Optical Materials
Researchers at MIT have improved the efficiency of scintillators by up to tenfold and potentially even a hundredfold by creating nanoscale configurations. This could lead to better medical diagnostic X-rays, reduced dose exposure, and improved image quality.
Scientists at Linköping University have created optical nanoantennas using conducting polymers that can switch between metallic and dielectric properties. The researchers achieved electrical control of the nanoantennas, enabling gradual tuning by applying external bias potentials.
Rice University scientists discovered that strong magnetic fields can manipulate the material's optical phonon mode, a phenomenon previously unseen. The effects were much stronger than expected by theory, revealing a new way of controlling phonons.
Researchers have achieved triple-wave cloaking for both sound and light using computational inverse design method. This breakthrough expands the functionality of biphysical cloaks, enabling a wider range of materials to be used, including those beyond traditional metals.
Researchers from SUTD and A*STAR IMRE demonstrate the use of chalcogenide nanostructures to reversibly tune Mie resonances in the visible spectrum, paving the way for high resolution colour displays. The technology relies on phase change materials, including antimony trisulphide nanoparticles.
Daniele Cortecchia wins ERC Starting Grant for innovative photoluminescent materials research, focusing on perovskite synthesis and application in photonics. The project aims to develop new methods for creating tunable optical properties.
A magnetic field can be used to switch nanolasers on and off, leading to unprecedented robustness in signal processing. The new control mechanism may prove useful in a range of devices that make use of optical signals, particularly in topological photonics.
Researchers have discovered a new material, α-MoO3, that can be used to create invisibility concentrators with improved performance and lower production costs. The study suggests the use of α-MoO3 to control energy flow and scatter light, enabling the creation of devices with near-perfect invisibility.
A team of researchers from the University of Exeter has made a breakthrough in developing all-optical switching of magnetization using transition metals. The new technology enables energy-efficient nanoscale magnetic storage devices with unprecedented tunability and scalability.
Scientists create a process called 'coherent optical engineering' that can dramatically change the properties of materials without generating heat. The breakthrough uses lasers to alter electron energy levels in a way that is reversible and free from unwanted heating.
Femtosecond laser precision engineering enables micro/nano-structure creation with high resolution and dry processing. Key challenges include achieving small heat affected zones and ensuring sufficient processing speeds for industrial needs.
Researchers from UC Riverside developed a revolutionary imaging technology that compresses light into a nanometer-sized spot, allowing for unprecedented 6-nanometer color imaging of nanomaterials. This advance improves the study of unique properties and potential applications in electronics and other fields.
On-chip frequency shifters in the gigahertz range enable precise color shifting for high-speed optical communication. This innovation has significant implications for the development of quantum computers and future network infrastructure.
Stabilized blue phase crystals could lead to new optical technologies with better response times. By using a core and shell structure, researchers were able to trap chiral liquid crystal in a 'blue phase' state, allowing for perfect, uniform crystals that can be controlled and predicted.
A team of researchers at EPFL and Purdue University has developed a magnetic-free optical isolator using integrated photonics and micro-electromechanical systems. This device can couple to and deflect light propagating in a waveguide, mimicking the effects of magnet-driven isolators without requiring magnetic fields.
A new instrument at the Advanced Light Source enables simultaneous measurement of crystal structure and optical properties during perovskite synthesis. This allows for real-time monitoring of material quality and performance, leading to potentially more efficient solar cells.
Researchers at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a simple spatial light modulator made from gold electrodes covered by a thin film of electro-optical material. This device can control light intensity and pixel by pixel, enabling compact, high-speed, and precise optical devices.
Rice materials scientists develop a method to print arbitrary 3D shapes, creating micro-scale electronic, mechanical and photonic devices. The process involves two-photon polymerization and doping with rare earth salts for photoluminescent properties.
Researchers at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences developed a metasurface using ultra-deep holes to focus light to a single spot, achieving a record-breaking aspect ratio of nearly 30:1. This breakthrough enables the creation of large achromatic metalenses with diverse color control capabilities.
A team at Tampere University has created a metamaterial eENZ mirror that can control the correlation properties of light, switching between high and low correlation states. By manipulating polarization, they achieve near-perfect coherence switching.
Researchers create a novel framework for generating and detecting Lamb waves in transparent materials without damaging the sample. They use laser-induced plasma shock waves and high-speed polarization cameras to spot microscopic scratches, demonstrating potential for non-contact damage detection.
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have developed tiny, color-changing gas sensors using new materials and 3D printing techniques. These sensors can detect solvent vapors in air and have potential applications in wearable devices for health monitoring and low-cost environmental monitoring systems.
The Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand will develop new semiconductor materials and scalable manufacturing processes for applications in displays, sensors, and quantum communication. The center aims to connect academic research with industrial and governmental needs, educating a diverse STEM workforce.
Researchers have discovered a new material that can produce beautiful optical phenomena, including concentric rainbows. The technology has potential applications in aiding autonomous vehicles in recognizing traffic signs, particularly in real-world conditions.
Researchers from University of Technology Sydney have developed new technology that integrates quantum sources and waveguides on chip using hexagonal boron nitride and adhesive tape. This innovation paves the way for future everyday use of quantum communications, improving online security and privacy.
Scientists developed a new method for storing and encrypting data in 3D space using photo-modulated glass with reversible transmittance and photoluminescence manipulation. This technology offers a promising solution for huge storage space and security media in the optoelectronic fields.
Researchers developed a new phosphorescent material inspired by wood's natural ability to faintly glow, using lignin trapped within a 3D polymer network. The material glows visibly for around one second and has potential applications in medical imaging, optical sensing, and textile industry.
Scientists detected electronic and optical interlayer resonances in bilayer graphene by twisting one layer 30 degrees, resulting in increased interlayer spacing that influences electron motion. This understanding could inform the design of future quantum technologies for more powerful computing and secure communication.
A UC Riverside materials scientist has received a $2 million grant to improve the scalability of quantum computers, allowing them to operate at room temperature. The project aims to create design guidelines and manufacturing strategies for hybrid organic-inorganic structures that can produce quantum computers on a larger scale.
Researchers at Harvard SEAS have demonstrated a new way to control polarized light using metasurfaces, enabling holographic images with an unlimited number of polarization states and manipulation in virtually infinite directions. This advancement could lead to applications in imaging, microscopes, displays, and astronomy.
Researchers at Aalto University have discovered that fibrous red phosphorous, when electrons are confined in its one-dimensional sub-units, shows large optical responses. The material demonstrates giant anisotropic linear and non-linear optical responses, as well as emission intensity.
Researchers at Waseda University have developed a novel mechanism for inducing high-speed bending in thick crystals using the photothermal effect, enabling rapid actuation and simulation. This breakthrough has significant implications for flexible robotics, actuators, and soft robotics.
The OSA Advanced Photonics Congress will discuss the latest developments in integrated photonics, including photonic device research and their applications in networks. Renowned speakers will present on topics such as quantum science, free space communications, and artificial intelligence.
Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a new magnet design that changes brightness based on viewing angle, utilizing chiral organic molecules in layered crystal structures. The material exhibits magic mirror characteristics and can be switched by low magnetic fields.
Stephanie Law, associate professor of materials science and engineering, received the Young Investigator Award for advances in growing novel optical materials, including heavily doped semiconductors and topological insulators. The award recognizes her work on improving material quality for infrared and terahertz optics and plasmonics.
Researchers at Far Eastern Federal University develop a new approach to high-speed synthesis of Nd3+:YAG optical ceramics, reducing consolidation time by 10-100 times and improving their transparency. The technique enables the production of diode-pumped microlasers with short lasing pulse duration, high peak power, and beam quality.
Researchers have developed a novel inkjet printing method to fabricate biocompatible polymer microdisk lasers for biosensing. The approach allows for the production of both laser and sensor in an open-air environment, enabling on-site biosensing for health monitoring and disease diagnostics.
Scientists have designed a zero-index material based on a purely dielectric photonic crystal slab that supports low-order mode-based design, reducing radiation loss. This design enables applications such as arbitrarily shaped waveguides, phase-mismatch-free nonlinear propagation, and extended super radiance with low propagation loss.
Researchers developed two analytical models to evaluate retro-reflective materials' reflection directional characteristics, achieving more accurate results than traditional methods. The study aims to mitigate urban heat islands and reduce building energy consumption.
The new method enables precision fabrication of optical components and multimaterial structures, eliminating assembling processes. It allows the production of devices with high precision and low cost, and could aid in the miniaturization of optical devices used for medical treatments and diagnoses.
Physicists at the University of Bath have accurately measured and characterised a single, twisted nanoparticle using a new method, taking them closer to producing medicines on demand. The discovery could lead to mini-labs that can mix substances in a completely new way, producing pharmaceuticals from minute droplets of active ingredients.
Researchers developed a new precision spray-coating method to create multilayer perovskite solar cells with better performance and stability. The technique allows for customizable device designs, enabling specific performance and stability requirements.
Researchers from USTC applied moiré engineering to correlated transition metal oxides (CTMOs), realizing electronic modulations with mesoscale patterns. This breakthrough enables spatially patterned electronic textures on demand in strained epitaxial materials, providing a new route for achieving novel properties.
Researchers developed a templating technique to instill order in self-assembling inorganic materials, forming new eutectic materials. The results show that these composites can have unique microstructures such as square, triangular and honeycomb-shaped structures with specific properties.
Researchers developed a platform to organize nanomaterials of different types into desired 3-D structures using DNA-programmable nanofabrication. The platform can create materials with unique optical, chemical, and other properties at the nanoscale, enabling new applications in fields like display technology and nanomanufacturing.
Researchers created excited electrons that briefly doubled the frequency of a beam as it bounced off an amorphous TiO2 slab. This breakthrough widens the range of optical materials useful for micro- and nanoscale optoelectronic applications, enabling new options for creating second-order nonlinear effects.
Scientists at the University of Washington create a method to assemble nanoscale semiconductor materials into larger structures using optical tweezers. The technique allows for precise control over material size and shape, with potential applications in quantum computing.
Researchers developed a simple and low-cost method to create meter-scale transparent conductive circuits based on silver nanowires, enabling rigid and flexible transparent LED screens with improved transparency and conductivity. The new technology could expand the applications of transparent LED screens to large-angle curved areas.
Researchers create biofuel precursors from municipal waste and discover unique optical phenomena in moire superlattices. A new model uses cellphone data to improve urban building occupancy estimates, aiming to enhance energy efficiency.
Physicists have accidentally discovered a material that can change shape without breaking, a property that could lead to new applications in fields like artificial muscles and pumps. The material, called 4-DBpFO, changes shape at temperatures around 180 degrees Celsius due to molecular movement.
Researchers at MIT developed a material that is 10 times blacker than anything reported previously, using vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. The new coating absorbs greater than 99.995% of incoming light from any angle, making it the blackest material on record.
Researchers at Ehime University discovered a molecular insulating crystal that reversibly exhibits metal-like conducting behavior under UV-irradiation. This unique property indicates the existence of other photoexcited states of matter with novel properties.
The study reveals that the green photoluminescence in CsPB2Br5 is caused by a small overgrowth of nanocrystals composed of CsPbBr3 along its edges. This understanding paves the way for designing and fabricating novel optoelectronic devices.
A new laser fabrication method called laser catapulting enables the creation of customized microlenses with varying shapes and optical properties. This technology has the potential to improve the performance of cameras, solar cells, and microscopes in various applications.
University of Rochester researchers create a transistor-scale device platform that combines 2D materials with oxide materials, enabling phase changes in response to applied strain. This technology has the potential to transform electronics, optics, computing, and other technologies by controlling previously uncontrollable properties.
Scientists have successfully synthesized helical ladder polymers using a novel electrophilic aromatic substitution method. The resulting molecules exhibit well-defined right-handed helical geometry and can be modified to create nanoscale architectures for various applications.
Scientists at NRL discovered a new method to passivate defects in next generation optical materials, improving optical quality and enabling miniaturization of light emitting diodes. The technique produces a 100-fold increase in material's optical emission efficiency, paving the way for high-efficiency optoelectronic devices.
Engineers at Tufts University have created novel optical devices using 3D printed metamaterials with unique microwave or optical properties. The researchers developed a hybrid fabrication approach to create complex geometries and novel functionalities for wavelengths in the microwave range.
Researchers developed new plastic films that deflect or trap heat with zero energy required. The versatile materials can be used to regulate the temperature of buildings and people, and have potential applications in wearable technologies and solar cells.
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory create a new technique called ultrafast surface X-ray scattering to study the motion of atoms in single atomic crystals. The method reveals counterintuitive effects on atomic behavior, shedding light on the properties of two-dimensional materials.