01. Light derails electrons through graphene (w/video) 02. Novel quantum sensing possibilities with nonlinear optics of diamonds 03. Photonic encryption platform in the ultraviolet and visible 04. Physicists create compressible optical quantum gas 05. Qubits: Developing long-distance quantum telecommunications networks 06. Researchers develop silicon cuboid nanoantenna 07. Researchers develop the world’s first power-free frequency tuner using nanomaterials 08. Single-photon source paves the way for practical quantum encryption 09. A stretchy display for shapable electronics 10. Ultra-compact integrated photonic device could lead to new optical technologies And others… Blow flies can be used to detect use of chemical weapons, other pollutants […]
A stretchy display for shapable electronics
Nanowerk March 23, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, Berkeley National Laboratory, Southern Mississippi University) has developed a material design strategy and fabrication processes to achieve stretchable all-polymer-based light-emitting diodes with high brightness and stretchability (about 100 per cent strain). The final display contains seven layers. Two outer layers are two substrates that encapsulate the device. There are two electrode layers, each followed by charge transporting layers and the light-emitting layer sits sandwiched in the center. When electricity runs through the display, one electrode injects positive charges into the light-emitting layer while the other injects negatively […]
Blow flies can be used to detect use of chemical weapons, other pollutants
Phys.org March 24, 2022 Blow flies sample the environment as they search for water and food sources and can be trapped from kilometers away using baited traps. Researchers at Purdue University exposed three species of blow flies to the chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants dimethyl methylphosphonate and diethyl phosphoramidate as well as the pesticide dichlorvos, followed by treatment-dependent temperature and humidity conditions. At intervals within a 14-day postexposure period the fly guts were extracted and analyzed. They found that the amount of CWA simulant in fly guts decreased with time following exposure but were detectable 14 days following exposure, giving […]
Direct generation of complex structured light
Phys.org March 18, 2022 An international team of researchers (China, USA – Arizona State University) generated structured transverse mode locking (TML) beams and second harmonic generation (SHG) beams by a sandwich-like microchip laser cavity that was passively Q-switched. They observed many rare SHG far-field beam patterns and their experiments showed good agreement with the simulations. It showed that parametric variation for the TML modes greatly changes the far-field beam patterns of the SHG beam. Generated SHG beam patterns vary with the propagation, and then they remain stable into the far field. The SHG beam patterns were observed to have more […]
Engineering an ‘invisible cloak’ for bacteria to deliver drugs to tumors
Science Daily March 17, 2022 Researchers at Columbia University developed a genetically encoded microbial encapsulation system with tunable and dynamic expression of surface capsular polysaccharides that enhances systemic delivery. Based on a small RNA screen of capsular biosynthesis pathways, they constructed inducible synthetic gene circuits that regulate bacterial encapsulation in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917. These bacteria are capable of temporarily evading immune attack, whereas subsequent loss of encapsulation results in effective clearance in vivo. This dynamic delivery strategy enabled a ten-fold increase in maximum tolerated dose of bacteria and improved anti-tumor efficacy in murine models of cancer. In situ encapsulation […]
Ice Cores Reveal Huge Volcanic Eruptions, Bigger Than Anything in The Last 2,500 Years
Science Alert March 20, 2022 Large volcanic eruptions occurring in the last glacial period can be detected by their accompanying sulfuric acid deposition in continuous ice cores. Using such data an international team of researchers (Demark, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Canada) estimated the emission strength, frequency and the climatic forcing of large volcanic eruptions that occurred during the second half of the last glacial period and the early Holocene epoch. Due to limited data resolution and large variability in the sulfate background signal, they identified 1113 volcanic eruptions in Greenland and 737 eruptions in Antarctica within the 51 kyr period. They found […]
Light derails electrons through graphene (w/video)
Nanowerk March 24, 2022 An international team of researchers (Spain, USA – Columbia University, Japan, Singapore) showed that by applying circular polarized infrared light onto the bilayer graphene device, they could selectively excite one specific valley population of electrons in the material, which generated a photovoltage perpendicular to the usual electron flow. By engineering the device and setup in such a way that current only flows with light illumination, they were able to avoid the background noise that hampers measurements and achieved a sensitivity in the detection several orders of magnitude better than any other 2D material. They could control […]
Novel quantum sensing possibilities with nonlinear optics of diamonds
Phys.org March 22, 2022 Taking advantage of the properties, especially the harmonic generation of nitrogen vacancy in diamond researchers Japan have presented an efficient and viable way for creating diamond-based nonlinear optical temperature sensing. Using infrared ultrashort pulse laser stimulation, the team found that the harmonic generation decreased with temperature over the range of 20–300°C. The temperature-dependent change was explained by mismatch due to the speed of different colors of light in the diamond. As the atomic lattice heats up, the difference in the index of refraction between the original light and the higher energy light created by harmonic generation […]
Photonic encryption platform in the ultraviolet and visible
Science Daily March 17, 2022 Researchers in South Korea have developed an optical encryption platform that works simultaneously in the visible and ultraviolet (UV) regimes. They adjusted the physical properties of silicon nitride to reduce its tendency to absorb ultraviolet light. They fabricated a metahologram in which an image clearly appears when ultraviolet laser is irradiated on it. They combined the two metaholograms that work in the ultraviolet and visible light regions to create an anticounterfeiting device that displays a unique product number. The hologram that appears when a visible light laser is irradiated acts as a key and when […]
Physicists create compressible optical quantum gas
Phys.org March 24, 2022 The compressibility of a medium, quantifying its response to mechanical perturbations is a fundamental property determined by the equation of state. For gases of material particles studies of the mechanical response are well established in fields from classical thermodynamics to cold atomic quantum gases. Researchers in Germany demonstrated the measurement of the compressibility of a two-dimensional quantum gas of light in a box potential and obtained the equation of state for the optical medium. The experiment was carried out in a nanostructured dye-filled optical microcavity. They observed signatures of Bose-Einstein condensation at high phase-space densities in […]