Browse Physics

Published November 2, 2009

Optics

An advance in attosecond pulse generation will make it easier to produce a single pulse.

Published September 21, 2009

Optics

The demonstration of photon emission as free-electrons pass through a nanoscale grating could pave the way for a new generation of on-chip tunable light sources.

Published September 21, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics Optics

Ultrafast optical probing of an ionized molecule with different pulse durations reveals details of the dynamics of vibrational excitations.

Published September 14, 2009

Optics

A full quantum mechanical description of how light interacts with matter in higher-harmonic generation may lead to better control over the production of isolated and sequential attosecond ultraviolet pulses.

Published July 13, 2009

Nonlinear Dynamics Optics

The fastest known random number generator based on a physical process comes from intensity fluctuations in the light from a chaotic laser.

Published June 22, 2009

Metamaterials Optics

Bent light can do more than render objects invisible—it can make them appear as something else.

Published June 8, 2009

Optics

Is the intracavity field of a laser necessarily a coherent state?

Published May 11, 2009

Optics

A unified framework can describe light-matter interactions in a broad range of optomechanical systems, from single laser-cooled atoms to micromechanical mirrors.

Published April 20, 2009

Optics

Simulations of optical speckle reveal topological scaling laws that apply to a wide range of physical systems.

Published February 2, 2009

Optics

A laser beam in a squeezed state may be an effective source for cooling a macroscopic resonator.

Published December 15, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics Optics

Lasers can make an opaque material transparent, but to determine how long this state survives, you have to shut off the lights.

Published November 6, 2008

Optics Quantum Mechanics

The optical equivalent of electron oscillations in periodic lattices has now been described by a fully quantum mechanical theory.

Published October 30, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics Optics

Successive and rapid measurements of a quantum system can prevent it from evolving in time. This quantum Zeno effect has now been demonstrated for light inside a cavity.

Published October 6, 2008

Optics

Spatial maps of the photon energy emitted by plasmons on a metal surface reveal standing wave patterns caused by electron confinement.

Published September 29, 2008

Optics

Coupled semiconductor lasers can be used to generate controllable soliton emission patterns.

Published September 22, 2008

Magnetism Optics

Researchers in Japan have identified spin excitations in multiferroics that can be driven by electric fields.

Published August 25, 2008

Optics Quantum Information

Squeezed states can enhance the sensitivity of a detector and the storage capability of quantum memory devices. Because these features improve with an increase in system size, researchers are exploring ways to produce squeezed states in large ensembles of atoms.

Published August 18, 2008

Nanophysics Optics

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.

Published July 14, 2008

Nanophysics Optics

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.