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A 256 × 256 pixel scintillator-based X-ray detector that improves resolution by limiting optical cross-talk is made using terbium-doped gadolinium oxysulfide scintillator particles in an organic photodetector matrix.
A round-robin differential phase shift protocol, in which monitoring of the signal disturbance is unnecessary, has been experimentally realized. With 65 pulses in each packet, the system can distribute a secret key over a distance of 90 km.
Techniques for determining Stokes parameters, which fully define the polarization state of a wave, require multiple measurements, thus potentially leading to inaccuracies. Researchers now show how to simultaneously determine the parameters for visible light using periodic metal structures.
Crossing two focused laser beams with opposite circular polarization makes the production and application of circularly polarized light in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray spectral regions considerably easier and more efficient.
Next-generation wireless communication, high-harmonic generation of sub-cycle pulses and ultrafast probing of the excitation dynamics of materials were all topics of discussion at this year's IRMMW-THz conference in Hong Kong.
Integrated nano-optical memories may help overcome the limitations of communication speeds and energy costs in electronic chips. Now, using nanoscale phase-change materials researchers have realized the first multi-bit all-optical non-volatile memories with a very small footprint.
The concept of optical computing is reintroduced with an important new twist — optical computing not as a digital machine, but as an analog engine able to serve as a hardware accelerator for existing electronic computers.