Materials scientists can learn a lot about a sample material by shooting lasers at it. With nonlinear optical microscopy—a ...

Certain materials have desirable properties that are hidden and scientists can use light to uncover these properties. Researchers have used an advanced optical technique, based on terahertz ...

Scientists have used a new method to determine the characteristics of optical, i.e. light-based, quantum states. For the first time, they are using certain photon detectors -- devices that can detect ...

"We can interrogate any system, from hard condensed matter to soft biological tissue." Two of their findings, which explore how structured light can be used to alter and control material properties, ...

Here, a calcite crystal is struck with a laser operating at 445 nanometers, fluorescing and displaying properties of birefringence. Unlike the standard picture of light breaking into individual ...

As fast as modern electronics have become, they could be much faster if their operations were based on light, rather than electricity. Fiber optic cables already transport information at the speed of ...