New research shows that metasurfaces could be used as strong linear quantum optical networks. The approach could eliminate ...

For optical computing to happen, though, the well-established architecture of digital electronic processing would have to be replaced by equivalent optical components. Or maybe not.

Dec 09, 2023: Conjoined 'racetracks' make new optical device possible (Nanowerk News) When we last checked in with Caltech's Kerry Vahala three years ago, his lab had recently reported the development ...

Vaidya said, “Our optical device can be employed as an analog to study and explore the physics of these far away celestial phenomena; or indeed to provide a practical framework for several potential ...

Optical devices like the one developed by Nina Vaidya's team offer a way to study these phenomena in the laboratory by reproducing their effects on light. Source: Advanced Photonics.

The device, reported in Advanced Photonics, functions as an optical black hole or optical white hole, and rests on a principle known as “coherent perfect absorption” of light waves.

The study introduces a planar photonic device that integrates a scattering layer, a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC), and a metallic film to generate dark-field speckle patterns.

A device called an all-optical switch could instead use light to control other light signals without the need for electrical conversion, saving both time and energy in fiber-optic communication.