metasurfaces tagged posts

In a major breakthrough in the fields of nanophotonics and ultrafast optics, a Sandia National Laboratories research team has demonstrated the ability to dynamically steer light pulses from conventional, so-called incoherent light sources.

This ability to control light using a semiconductor device could allow low-power, relatively inexpensive sources like LEDs or flashlight bulbs to replace more powerful laser beams in new technologies such as holograms, remote sensing, self-driving cars an...

Scientists have discovered an elegant way of manipulating light using a “synthetic” Lorentz force — which in nature is responsible for many fascinating phenomena including the Aurora Borealis.

A team of theoretical physicists from the University of Exeter has pioneered a new technique to create tuneable artificial magnetic fields, which enable photons to mimic the dynamics of charged particles in real magnetic fields.

The team believe the new research, published in leading journal Nature Photonics, could have important implications for future photonic devices as it provides a novel way of manipulating light below the diffraction limit.

When charged particles, like electrons, pass through a magnetic field they feel a Lorentz force due to their electric charge, which curves the...

Complete control of light waves would allow the miniaturization of traditional optical components, such as lenses, polarizers or beam-splitters, to nanoscale sizes while dramatically increasing their performance and resolution. Credit: Copyright Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

This may lead to new light-based technologies. Complete control of some of the key properties of light waves – polarisation and phase – at the nanoscale is of major interest for light-based technologies such as display screens, and in energy harvesting and data transmission. It would allow, for example, the miniaturization of traditional optical components, such as lenses, polarizers or beam-splitters, to nanoscale sizes...