Browse Physics

Plasmonic nanostructures can be used to generate optical vortices with varying amounts of angular momentum.

Theorists explain how a new generation of laser tractor beams can manipulate nanoparticles with unprecedented dexterity and precision.

Experiment and theory combine to give a more complete picture of a fundamental problem in diffraction optics.

By tracking the tiny displacements of a nanoparticle trapped in an optical tweezer, scientists are able to detect the faintest of acoustic waves.

Trions—one electron bound to two holes via Coulomb forces—can be observed in the optical spectra of doped carbon nanotubes.

Observations in nanostructured gold films, impossible until now, confirm theoretical predictions about how optical energy is localized in strongly scattering disordered materials.

A device based on photonic crystals exhibits strong optomechanical coupling.

A new approach to reduce spherical and chromatic aberration in electron microscopy allows for low-energy imaging of single-layer boron nitride, a novel 2D nanostructure that is analogous to graphene.

The response of nanostructured metal strips to an electromagnetic field may turn out to be similar to that of atomic gases. Periodic arrays of these artificial metal “molecules” could in principle form a metamaterial that slows light pulses and is easily integrated into optical circuits.

Two research groups show how to detect sound waves that have wavelengths as short as the spacing between atoms in a solid and frequencies in the terahertz range.

Single photon emission is normally only observed in systems, such as atoms, that are quantum confined in all directions. Now, scientists have shown that carbon nanotubes, which are quasi-one-dimensional materials, can also act as single photon emitters.

Zinc oxide nano-needles form the smallest “whispering galleries” for visible light ever created.

A theory proposes that three tiny spheres can concentrate light into a small space and intensify it by a million times.

Laser light tuned to resonate with the internal energy levels of particles may point the way to size- and shape-selective sorting at the nanoscale.

A new x-ray imaging technique has made its first foray into the third dimension.

Pairs of atomic-scale images made from photoelectron diffraction with circularly polarized light can be merged into a stereoscopic, 3D view.