Optics and Photonics News

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Optics on a Chip

In work that could lead to completely new devices, systems and applications in computing and telecommunications, MIT researchers are bringing the long-sought goal of "optics on a chip" one step closer to market.

8 Jul 2007

MIT Scientists Develop Optical System Made of Mesh-Like Webs of Light-Detecting Fibers

In a radical departure from conventional lens-based optics, MIT scientists have developed a sophisticated optical system made of mesh-like webs of light-detecting fibers.

8 Jul 2007

Artificial Star

On 28 January 2006, at 23:07 local time, a laser beam of several watts was launched from Yepun, the fourth 8.2m Unit Telescope of the Very Large Telescope, producing an artificial star, 90 km up in the atmosphere.

5 Jul 2007

Quantum Encryption - Distance Record for Quantum Key Distribution

Particles of light serving as "quantum keys" — the latest in encryption technology — have been sent over a record-setting 200-kilometer fiber-optic link by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NTT Corp. in Japan, and Stanford University.

5 Jul 2007

Photoacoustic Detection Technique Used to Listen to Cancer

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia can now detect the spread of skin cancer cells through the blood by literally listening to their sound.

5 Jul 2007

New Photonic Device for Greater Optical Data Storage

Engineers and applied scientists from Harvard University have demonstrated a new photonic device with a wide range of potential commercial applications, including dramatically higher capacity for optical data storage.

5 Jul 2007

New Laser-Based Technique Provides First Non-Invasive Test to Measure Skin Aging

Physicists and medical researchers for the first time have demonstrated a new technique that non-invasively measures in real time the level of damage to the skin from sun exposure and aging, and initial results suggest that women's skin ages faster than men's.

5 Jul 2007