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The opening of the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics in Glasgow will provide valuable and much-needed support for the photonics industry in the UK.
Confinement and enhancement of light by plasmonics allows a high density of independent subwavelength sensor elements to be constructed in micrometre-sized arrays. It is relatively straightforward to integrate those sensors into microfluidics chips, making plasmonic structures promising for use in next-generation modern biosensors.
The consortium that brought together laser research institutions from across Europe has been extended for three more years. The geographical expansion of the group, particularly in central and Eastern Europe and scientifically less well-developed countries, paints a picture for photonics in Europe.
Plasmonics can be used to enhance mid-infrared sources, sensors and detectors for applications such as chemical sensing, thermal imaging and heat scavenging. The challenge now is to integrate these technologies in cost-effective, compact and reliable platforms.
Ignorance and negligence are frequently causing solar cells to be mischaracterized, and invalid efficiency results have been reported in a number of journals. This problem can be greatly alleviated by employing a few simple precautions and guidelines.
Fractals, shapes comprised of self-similar parts, are not merely prescribed linear structures. A wide class of fractals can also arise from the rich dynamics inherent to nonlinear optics.
Low-cost manufacturing, high yields and seamless on-chip integration with electronics are often touted as the guaranteed benefits of silicon photonics, but is this really the case? Michael Hochberg and colleagues explain that the situation is much more complex in reality.
Plasmons are free-electron oscillations in a conductor that allow light to be manipulated at the nanoscale. The ability of plasmons to guide and confine light on subwavelength scales is opening up new design possibilities for solar cells.
Solar cells based on solution-processed semiconductor nanoparticles — colloidal quantum dots — have seen rapid advances in recent years. By offering full-spectrum solar harvesting, these cells are poised to address the urgent need for low-cost, high-efficiency photovoltaics.
