Category Technology/Electronics

Example of a hologram made using a new method based on optical forces. Credit: Montelongo et al. Nature Communications

Researchers have used the pressure of light, aka optical forces or “tractor beams”, to create a new type of rewritable, dynamic 3D holographic material. Unlike other 3D holographic materials, the new material can be rapidly written and erased many times, and can also store information without using any external energy. The new material has potential applications in 3D holographic displays, large-scale volumetric data storage devices, biosensors, tunable lasers, optical lenses, and metamaterials.

Recently the researchers demonstrated the reversible optical manipulation of nanostructured materials, which they used to fabricate active 3D holograms, lenses, and memory devices...

Schematic illustration and chemical structure of semi-printed plastic solar cells in air, using food additive o-MA as solvent. Credit: Long Ye, NC State

Researchers have created an efficient, semi-printed plastic solar cell without environmentally hazardous halogen solvents. These solar cells can be manufactured at room temperature, which has implications for large-scale commercial production. Plastic solar cells, or organic photovoltaics, are popular because they are lightweight, flexible, transparent and inexpensive to manufacture, making them useful in multiple applications. Unfortunately, the halogen-containing solvents used in their manufacture are an obstacle to large-scale commercialization...

TUM researchers (l-r) Fabian Steiner, Georg Böcherer, and Patrick Schulte with the statue of Claude Shannon, father of information theory. Credit: Denise Panyik-Dale/Alcatel-Lucent

Researchers have achieved unprecedented transmission capacity and spectral efficiency in an optical communications field trial with a new modulation technique. The breakthrough research could extend the capability of optical networks to meet surging data traffic demands.

In an optical communications field trial, Nokia Bell Labs, Deutsche Telekom T-Labs and the TU Munich showed that the flexibility and performance of optical networks can be maximized when adjustable transmission rates are dynamically adapted to channel conditions and traffic demands...