/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In the realm of quantum information distribution, sending a signal from point A to point B is like a baseball pitcher relaying a secret pitch call to the catcher. The pitcher has to disguise the signal from the opposing team and coaches, base runners, and even onlookers in the stands so no one else cracks the code. /news/2025-02-qubits-qudits-quantum-mechanics-transmit.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 10 Feb 2025 11:41:06 EST news658410062 Researchers have developed a compact and lightweight single-photon airborne lidar system that can acquire high-resolution 3D images with a low-power laser. This advance could make single-photon lidar practical for air and space applications such as environmental monitoring, 3D terrain mapping and object identification. /news/2024-04-airborne-photon-lidar-high-resolution.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 25 Apr 2024 10:00:01 EDT news633252781 The world of laser scanning microscopy is quickly evolving, thanks to the advent of fast and compact detector arrays. These arrays replace the typical single-element detector of traditional confocal laser scanning microscopes, enabling new and unique capabilities. /news/2024-02-images-photon-content-microscopes.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:14:04 EST news626462042 Researchers at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Â鶹ÒùÔºics with colleagues from Stanford University and Oklahoma State University have introduced a quantum-inspired phase-imaging method based on light intensity correlation measurements that is robust to phase noise. /news/2023-12-images-hidden-noise-revealed-quantum-inspired.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 27 Dec 2023 14:31:12 EST news622909866 Emerging technologies for non-line-of-sight imaging can detect objects even if they are around a corner or behind a wall. In new work, researchers use a new type of detector to extend this method from visible light into near and mid-infrared wavelengths, an advance that could be especially useful for unmanned vehicles, robotic vision, endoscopy, and other applications. /news/2023-11-non-line-of-sight-imaging-longer-wavelengths.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:13:17 EST news620579593 Researchers have reported the first 3D measurements acquired with quantum ghost imaging. The new technique enables 3D imaging on a single photon level, yielding the lowest photon dose possible for any measurement. /news/2023-08-spad-detector-3d-quantum-ghost.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 08 Aug 2023 11:30:56 EDT news610713052 Researchers have developed a quantum key distribution (QKD) system based on integrated photonics that can transmit secure keys at unprecedented speeds. The proof-of-principle experiments represent an important step toward real-world application of this highly secure communication method. /news/2023-05-chip-based-quantum-key-higher-transmission.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 25 May 2023 16:09:55 EDT news604249793 For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a prototype lidar system that uses quantum detection technology to acquire 3D images while submerged underwater. The high sensitivity of this system could allow it to capture detailed information even in extremely low-light conditions found underwater. /news/2023-05-quantum-lidar-prototype-real-time-3d.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 04 May 2023 13:12:23 EDT news602424736 Invented in 1970 by Corning Incorporated, low-loss optical fiber became the best means to efficiently transport information from one place to another over long distances without loss of information. The most common way of data transmission nowadays is through conventional optical fibers—one single core channel transmits the information. However, with the exponential increase of data generation, these systems are reaching information-carrying capacity limits. /news/2022-11-two-photon-quantum-states-phase-separated-anderson.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 23 Nov 2022 12:33:40 EST news588429217 A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances addresses scientific and technical advances in the field of microchip imaging cytometry (MIC) and shows the applications of microchip imaging cytometry that may bring more economical, easy-to-use, and accessible healthcare to the public. /news/2022-08-microchip-imaging-cytometry-laboratory-economical.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 18 Aug 2022 16:30:04 EDT news580059001 A team of INRiM researchers, in collaboration with Oxford University, demonstrated in the study "Emergence of Constructor-Based Irreversibility in Quantum Systems: Theory and Experiment," published in Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters, the compatibility between irreversibility and quantum mechanics time-reversal symmetric laws. /news/2022-03-constructor-based-irreversibility-quantum-mechanics.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 07 Mar 2022 12:16:03 EST news565877758 In high-end 21st century communications, information travels in the form of a stream of light pulses typically traveling through fiber optic cables. Each pulse can be as faint as a single photon, the smallest possible unit (quantum) of light. The speed at which such systems can operate depends critically on how fast and how accurately detectors on the receiving end can discriminate and process those photons. /news/2021-04-photons-unprecedented.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 13 Apr 2021 08:33:47 EDT news537521619 A research team led by Professor Pan Jianwei and Professor Xu Feihu from University of Science and Technology of China achieved single-photon 3D imaging over 200 km using high-efficiency optical devices and a new noise-suppression technique, which was commented on by the reviewer as an almost "heroic" attempt at single photon lidar imaging at very long distances. /news/2021-04-scientists-single-photon-imaging-kilomters.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 05 Apr 2021 12:01:35 EDT news536842893 Researchers at the Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, in cooperation with CEA LETI and STMicroelectronics, have demonstrated a power-efficient and high-speed silicon-germanium avalanche photo receiver. The device is fully compatible with accessible semiconductor technology and fiber-optic links operated at telecom waveband standard. /news/2020-07-high-speed-low-power-silicon-germanium-chips-cloud.html Nanomaterials Thu, 09 Jul 2020 08:22:18 EDT news513501736 For half a millennium, people have tried to enhance human vision by technical means. While the human eye is capable of recognizing features over a wide range of size, it reaches its limits when peering at objects over giant distances or in the micro- and nanoworld. Researchers of the EU funded project ChipScope are now developing a completely new strategy towards optical microscopy. /news/2020-06-chipscope-approach-optical-microscopy.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:28:42 EDT news512382519 In a new report on Science Advances, Hsinhan Tsai and a research team in materials, nanotechnology, nuclear engineering and X-ray science at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. demonstrated a new thin film X-ray detector prototype. The set up contained highly crystalline two-dimensional (2-D) Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) phase layered perovskites and maintained a high diode resistivity of 1012 Ohm.cm, leading to a high X-ray detecting sensitivity of up to 0.276 C Gyair−1 cm−3. To promise revolutionary medical imaging with minimal health risks. The team collected the signals using the built-in potential and the results underpin the operation of existing robust primary photocurrent devices. The detectors generated substantial X-ray photon-induced open-circuit voltages as an alternate detecting mechanism. The work suggests a new generation of X-ray detectors based on low-cost, layered perovskite thin films for future X-ray imaging technologies. /news/2020-04-robust-sensitive-thin-film-x-ray-detector.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 17 Apr 2020 10:20:02 EDT news506337177 Researchers have developed the first megapixel photon-counting camera based on new-generation image sensor technology that uses single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The new camera can detect single photons of light at unprecedented speeds, a capability that could advance applications that require fast acquisition of 3-D images such as augmented reality and LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles. /news/2020-04-photon-counting-camera-captures-d-images.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 16 Apr 2020 10:00:01 EDT news506240832 Imagine shrinking a microscope, integrating it with a chip and using it to observe inside living cells in real time. Wouldn't it be great if this tiny microscope could also be incorporated into electronic gadgets, in the same way that smartphone cameras are today? What if doctors manage to use such a tool for diagnosis in remote areas without the need for large, heavy and sensitive analysis devices? The EU-funded ChipScope project has made significant progress towards achieving these objectives. /news/2020-03-lab-chip-tiny-super-resolution-optical.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:25:01 EDT news504350698 For the first time, researchers of the University of Twente succeeded in connecting two parts of an electronics chip using an on-chip optical link. A light connection could be a safe way of connecting a high-power component and digital control circuitry on one chip without a direct electrical link. Until now, however, an optical link was not possible using standard silicon chip technology. Vishal Agarwal, a UT Ph.D. student, managed to do so. He realized a very small optocoupler circuit that delivers a data rate of Megabits per second in an energy-efficient way. /news/2019-01-worlds-chip.html Hardware Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 18 Jan 2019 10:52:55 EST news467031171 Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are promising detector technologies that may be used to achieve active 3D imaging systems with fast acquisition, high timing accuracy and high detection sensitivity. Such systems have broad applications in the domains of biological imaging, remote sensing and robotics. However, the detectors face technical impairments known as pileup that cause measurement distortions to limit their precision. In a recent study, conducted at the Stanford University Department of Electrical Engineering, scientists Felix Heide and co-workers developed a probabilistic image formation model that could accurately model pileup. Using the proposed model, the scientists devised inverse methods to efficiently and robustly estimate the scene depth and reflectance from recorded photon counts. With the algorithm, they were able to demonstrate improvements to the accuracy of timing, compared to existing techniques. More importantly, the model allowed accuracy at the sub-picosecond in photon-efficient 3D imaging for the first time in practical scenarios, whereas previously only widely-varying photon counts were observed. The results are now published in Scientific Reports. /news/2018-12-sub-picosecond-photon-efficient-imaging-single-photon-sensors.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 17 Dec 2018 09:30:03 EST news464253923 Robotic lawn mowers are great for cutting the grass, but they do pose a risk of injury to children playing nearby. Highly advanced sensors developed by Fraunhofer researchers ensure that the lawn mower shuts down when children are in close proximity. The system, which is based on LiDAR technology, uses a single pulse of light to capture the entire surroundings, covering a range of up to 200 meters. /news/2018-08-safety-children-lawn-mowers.html Engineering Wed, 01 Aug 2018 10:30:01 EDT news452334779 Compressed sensing is an exciting new computational technique for extracting large amounts of information from a signal. In one high-profile demonstration, for instance, researchers at Rice University built a camera that could produce 2-D images using only a single light sensor rather than the millions of light sensors found in a commodity camera. /news/2017-03-faster-single-pixel-camera-technique-greatly.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 30 Mar 2017 02:59:42 EDT news410061571 News of the first serious accident involving an automated electric vehicle made one of the headlines this summer. The vehicle in question collided with a truck while in autopilot mode. According to the manufacturer, the front cameras could not perceive the oncoming semitrailer properly. Additionally, an incorrect radar measurement prevented the activation of the emergency brakes. /news/2016-10-ultrasensitive-sensors-optimum-sight-conditions.html Engineering Tue, 04 Oct 2016 08:30:01 EDT news394786040 (Â鶹ÒùÔº)—Every time you take a photograph, your camera detects more than a billion photons. For a basic one-megapixel camera, that's more than 1,000 photons per pixel. Now in a new study, researchers have developed an algorithm that is so efficient that it can generate high-quality 3D images using a single-photon camera that detects just one signal photon per pixel. /news/2016-07-3d-images-photon-pixel-video.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 13 Jul 2016 09:30:01 EDT news387604831 Bathing a patient in LED light may someday offer a new way to locate tumors, according to Rice University researchers. /news/2016-05-nanotubes-beacons-cancer-imaging-technique.html Nanomaterials Fri, 20 May 2016 18:12:45 EDT news382986756 How can a person see around a blind corner? One answer is to develop X-ray vision. A more mundane approach is to use a mirror. But if neither are an option, a group of scientists led by Genevieve Gariepy have developed a state-of-the-art detector which, with some clever data processing techniques, can turn walls and floors into a "virtual mirror", giving the power to locate and track moving objects out of direct line of sight. /news/2015-12-amazing-camera-corners-video.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 08 Dec 2015 05:24:30 EST news368774655 (Â鶹ÒùÔº)—A team of researchers working at the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, in Scotland has developed a method for filming a laser beam as it bounces back and forth between mirrors—in normal air. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the team describes how they did it and share the video they created. /news/2015-01-group-figures-laser-air-mirrors.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 29 Jan 2015 10:38:54 EST news341750320 Miniature light detectors in frog eyes known as retinal rod cells are directly and unambiguously shown to detect single photons of light—an astounding sensitivity considering that a humble 60 watt light bulb spews out a staggering 1020 photons per second. Using a specially developed light source that generates single photons, a new A*STAR study finds that a rod cell has an almost one-in-three chance of detecting an incoming photon. /news/2015-01-light-sensitive-cells-frog-eyes-photons.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 14 Jan 2015 07:50:04 EST news340443180 By employing a technique analogous to the operation of noise-canceling headphones, PML researchers have created an exquisitely sensitive, semiconductor-based, single-photon detection system that has the highest reported detection efficiency of any device of its type and is capable of operating at gigahertz frequencies with very low noise. /news/2014-05-spad-features-high-efficiency-error.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 20 May 2014 08:50:29 EDT news319794614 When it comes to imaging, every single photon counts if there is barely any available light. This is the point where the latest technologies often reach their limits. Researchers have now developed a diode that can read photons faster than ever before. /news/2012-11-ultrasensitive-photon-hunter.html Engineering Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:07:07 EST news271505220