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Laser noise and chaos are unwanted elements in most circumstances. However, scientists have now learnt how to put them to good use to generate high-quality random bit sequences. Atsushi Uchida from Saitama University in Japan tells Nature Photonics how.
Nadya Anscombe talks to Wolfgang Osten, director of the Institute for Applied Optics, about the challenges that optical metrology faces in keeping pace with demands from industry.
The demonstration that Airy beams can transport small particles along curved paths of light may lead to a wealth of new applications in optical micromanipulation. Nature Photonics spoke to Kishan Dholakia from the University of St Andrews in Scotland about the idea.
As the demand for sophisticated imaging systems grows, adaptive lenses with fast-focusing capability become indispensable. Nature Photonics spoke to Amir H. Hirsa from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute about the oscillating liquid lens that he and his co-author have demonstrated.
Attosecond spectroscopy promises real-time observation of the motion of electrons inside atoms. Nadya Anscombe talks to Ferenc Krausz from the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in Germany about the technology.
Particle accelerators are one of the most remarkable pieces of apparatus to come out of twentieth century science. Nature Photonics spoke to Nasr Hafz who, with the help of colleagues, is working towards more compact and thus more affordable accelerators based on lasers.
Liquid-crystal displays are hugely successful in today's world, but their back-light transmission efficiency is relatively small. Nature Photonics spoke to Anna Pyayt, who, with colleagues at Microsoft, has devised a display approach that could offer improved light efficiency at lower cost.
Nadya Anscombe talks to David Bunzel, president of the Optical Storage Technology Association, about the aftermath of the Blu-ray/high-definition-DVD format war and future technologies in the optical data-storage market
Random lasers, as their name implies, are difficult to predict. Nature Photonics spoke to Diederik Wiersma at the European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy in Florence, Italy, about taming their random nature.
Trapping objects using light is a well-known technique. But designing traps that are subwavelength in size is a less well-explored avenue. Nature Photonics spoke to Alexander Grigorenko about the potential benefits.
The photovoltaics industry is growing fast, but it still needs to bring down costs before it can reach its true potential. Nadya Anscombe talks to Winfried Hoffmann, president of the European Photovoltaics Industry Association, to find out more.
Metamaterials have now evolved to a level where their resonant frequency can be optically tuned in the terahertz region. Nature Photonics spoke to Hou-Tong Chen from Los Alamos National Laboratory about the achievement.
Single-photon emission is a well-explored process. But in recent years interest in two-photon emission has grown. Nature Photonics spoke to Meir Orenstein and Alex Hayat in Israel about their latest work, which reports two-photon emission in a semiconductor.
Fibre-optic sensors have been around for many years, but their market penetration has been slow. Nadya Anscombe talks to Brian Culshaw of Strathclyde University in the UK to find out why.
Seeing in colour is something we take for granted. But achieving accurate colour discrimination in practice is not a simple task. Nature Photonics spoke to Thomas Ebbesen about his group's latest work, which makes it possible to sort light into its constituent colours using surface plasmons.
Conventional solar cells lose most of the Sun's energy as heat. Nature Photonics spoke to Tom Gregorkiewicz at the University of Amsterdam about his group's latest work, which may lead to cheap and efficient silicon solar cells by harnessing some of the lost energy.
Many of the advances in fibre-laser technology are thanks to work by Andreas Tünnermann, now head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering in Jena, Germany. Nadya Anscombe spoke to him about developments in the area and his views on its future.
The ability of living organisms to generate light by bioluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon. Nature Photonics spoke to Yoriko Ando from the University of Tokyo about her recent quantitative analysis of the effect in fireflies.
