For the first time, researchers have shown that the non-conventional imaging method known as ghost imaging can be performed using a low-cost, chip-based light-illuminating device. This important step toward chip-based ghost imaging could make the imaging method practical for applications such as chip-scale biomedical imaging, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), and internet-of-things sensing devices. There…
A New Device Fills Missing Space in Optics’ Arsenal of Light Measurement
Interferometers have myriad uses, from detecting gravitational waves to teasing apart the interactions of molecules within our bodies. The instruments make such minute measurements by manipulating beams of light using an optical delay—an effect that’s typically achieved by adding length to one of the beam’s path, which slows the signal down. The development opens up…
New Detector Overcomes Challenge in Using Light for Wireless Communications
Today’s high-speed wired communication networks use lasers to carry information through optical fibers, but wireless networks are currently based on radio frequencies or microwaves. In an advance that could one day make light-based wireless communications ubiquitous, researchers from Facebook Inc.’s Connectivity Lab have demonstrated a conceptually new approach for detecting optical communication signals traveling through…
Germanium-Based Photonics Offer Promise for Novel Sensors and Faster Internet
Mid-infrared light, which has a wavelength longer than visible light but shorter than microwaves, has many important applications in remote sensing and communication technologies. Researchers in Japan have demonstrated the successful operation of several new photonic components that can effectively guide the passage of mid-infrared light. The research may lead to a faster internet and…
New Optical Transmitter Enables Better Communication Networks
All the world’s data – pictures, video, sounds, and text – has to traverse complex networks of optical fibers that crisscross cities, regions, and countries. To better handle the glut of information, a research team from NOKIA Bell Labs, have developed a new device that could become a crucial component of new flexible and optimized…