This is the syndication feed for photonics.com: Research & Technology. https://www.photonics.com/Splash.aspx?Tag=Research+%26+Technology Mon, 09 Oct 2023 21:48:29 GMT Mon, 09 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT 1800
Therapy-induced senescent (TIS) cells are cancer cells that become resistant to therapies and enter a dormant stage. These cells can emerge from dormancy and induce tumor resistance and relapse. To provide insight into how TIS cells evolve, it is crucial to develop simple, reproducible methods to study the onset and progression of these cells in human cancer cell cultures.

An international team from Johns Hopkins University and Italy’s Politecnico di Milano, Fondazione Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche developed a noninvasive, multimodal imaging technique to allow early identification of TIS cells. The new technique could improve clinical outcomes by enabling more comprehensive research into...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Microscopy_Methods_Combine_to_Detect/a69380 A69380 Mon, 09 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
The researchers used indirect OLED pumping to power the laser. They built an integrated device structure that efficiently coupled an OLED that had very high light output with a polymer-based, distributed feedback laser.

Most organic semiconductor lasers are optically pumped by another laser — a complicated, expensive process. Electrical pumping, which involves injecting a current to generate a population inversion, is challenging to achieve in organic...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/OLEDs_Could_Be_Solution_to_Electrically_Driven/a69376 A69376 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Terahertz (THz) waves can be used to probe the magnetic properties of new materials. Efficient THz wave generation could advance applications in energy harvesting, ultrafast electronics, and THz spectroscopy.

Bright, coherent THz light sources can be achieved via high-frequency, high-density charge currents. It is possible to produce strong current density that is several orders of magnitude higher than what is typically found in electronic devices, by exciting nanometer-scale, metallic interfaces with femtosecond laser pulses.

To harness the power of high-density charge currents for generating THz waves, researchers at Fudan University, Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, and Beijing Normal University developed an...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/THz_Generation_Technique_Could_Transform_Field_of/a69368 A69368 Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Postpartum hemorrhage, the leading and most preventable cause of maternal mortality, can be hard to detect, because physiological compensation mechanisms can mask excessive bleeding. In the early stages of hemorrhage, the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated to ensure adequate perfusion of vital organs and, in turn, vital signs remain stable.

Worldwide, the most common methods of diagnosing postpartum hemorrhage are visual estimation of blood loss or monitoring of vital signs. Blood loss is routinely underestimated beyond the point of early intervention.

To diagnose postpartum hemorrhage in its early stages, a multidisciplinary research team at Washington University in St. Louis developed a wearable optical device that...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Wearable_Sensor_Could_Lower_Mortality_Due_to/a69365 A69365 Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
A burgeoning growth in machine learning applications is occurring alongside shrinking computing resources. As computers approach the limits of their power according to Moore’s law, the need to design platforms that support the computational demands of machine learning applications intensifies.

Lightning, a hybrid computing platform developed by an MIT research team, is the first photonic computing system to serve machine learning inference requests in real time. Lightning is a reconfigurable, photonic-electronic, smart network interface card (smartNIC) that is both fast and energy-efficient.

Unlike their electronic counterparts, photonic computing devices lack the memory or instructions to control dataflows. Lightning...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Photonic-Electronic_NIC_Serves_Live_Machine/a69364 A69364 Mon, 02 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
With the development of a single-layer, blue-emitting OLED, researchers at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Polymer Research demonstrated that one-layer OLEDs can achieve a performance level comparable to commercial OLEDs with multiple layers, while simplifying OLED design, fabrication, and analysis.

Early OLEDs had a simple device structure. A semiconducting layer was sandwiched between two electrodes. Holes were injected into the organic semiconductor layer via the anode, and electrons via the cathode. Since then, considerable efficiency gains have been made by increasing the number of functional layers in OLEDs.

However, multilayer OLEDs are complex to design and fabricate. The need for additional fabrication steps can...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Single-Layer_OLED_Design_Offers_Efficiency/a69361 A69361 Thu, 28 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Researchers at Chalmers University have developed a method to make microcombs 10 times more efficient, opening pathways to discovery in space and health care, and paving the way for high-performance lasers in a range of technologies. The team has established a company to commercialize the new technology.

Laser frequency combs can measure frequency with extreme levels of precision, analogous to a ruler made of light. The principle is based on a laser sending photons that circulate within a small cavity — a so-called microresonator — where the light is divided into a wide range of frequencies. These frequencies are precisely positioned in relation to each other, like the markings on a ruler. Therefore, a new kind of light...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/More_Efficient_Microcombs_on_Road_to/a69347 A69347 Mon, 25 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
An on-demand optical system for exporting target droplets from a static droplet array (SDA) provides a simple way to export specific cells or analytes for analysis without compromising efficiency or accuracy. Researchers at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed the system, called optical on-demand droplet release (OODR). The developers and their collaborators believe that OODR could promote SDAs as a valuable tool for use with high-capacity screening assays with applications in diverse fields. They said that the technique in its current stage of development has the potential to be used in single-molecule/cell analysis, drug screening, and phenotype-based cell sorting.

...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Single-Cell_Analysis_Fluidics_Tool_Delivers_on/a69339 A69339 Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
The ability to measure the size and color of the light at the same time could improve a crucial step in chipmaking — lithography — by enabling lithography machines to make smaller, faster chips. To produce the microsize chips used in most electronic devices, lithography machines need precision-engineered lenses, mirrors, and light sources.

“Traditionally, we could only look...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Precise_Measuring_Tool_for_Light_Source_Could/a69335 A69335 Tue, 19 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
A multispectral, super-low-dose photoacoustic microscopy (SLD-PAM) system developed by City University of Hong Kong (CUHK) achieves significantly higher sensitivity than traditional optical resolution photoacoustic imaging.

By providing an exceptionally high level of sensitivity, SLD-PAM could help broaden the use of photoacoustic microscopy in biomedical applications. In the future, it could translate to clinical settings; for example, it could be used for ophthalmic exams where a low-power laser is preferred for the patient’s safety and comfort. Long-term monitoring of pharmacokinetics or blood flow also requires low-dose imaging to alleviate perturbation to tissue function.
(a) SLD-PAM system and (b) sensitivity...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Super-Sensitive_PAM_Ensures_Image_Quality_with/a69327 A69327 Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
High resolution and high definition are key to delivering a realistic visual experience in augmented reality (AR) and other immersive technologies. Inexpensive micro-LEDs that enable full-color imaging at high resolution could help immersive displays reach their full potential.

A design for gallium indium nitride (GaInN)-based micro-LEDs, developed by researchers at Meijo University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), could play a role in advancing metaverse applications to the next level by improving the definition, resolution, and saturation of their colors.
Display trends and targets of the micro-LED array technology. Courtesy of Motoaki Iwaya/Meijo University.
GaInN semiconductors are used to...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Micro-LEDs_Heighten_Color_and_Definition_for/a69324 A69324 Thu, 14 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Optical resonators are used to control light in a range of photonic applications, from pocket-size laser pointers to quantum computers. When a resonator experiences optical loss, its ability to trap and concentrate photons deteriorates, reducing its ability to control the photons’ behavior.

Researchers at Aalto University devised a way to eliminate both the radiation and the absorption losses in optical resonators. The new loss-mitigation technique could considerably boost the performance of photonic applications and devices that depend on resonant enhancement of light-matter interaction.

In resonant optical systems, the average amount of time each photon spends trapped inside the resonator, before it either escapes or is...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Optical_Resonator_Design_Eliminates_Loss/a69317 A69317 Wed, 13 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
A team at Harbin Institute of Technology led by professor Yufei Ma introduced an approach to phase demodulation of heterodyne light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (H-LITES) that uses a Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI). Compared with traditional intensity demodulation systems, the new phase demodulation method is structurally simple and is resistant to interference from light sources and the surrounding environment when the LITES technique is used.
Diagram of the experimental setup. Pictured: continuous-wave distributed feedback (CW-DFB), fiber collimator (FC), photodetector (PD), quartz tuning fork (QTF), and single-mode fiber (SMF). Courtesy of Z. Lang et al.
LITES provides extremely high-sensitivity and noncontact...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/LITE_Spectroscopy_Resists_Light_Sources_with/a69315 A69315 Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have created a detection system that allows home energy auditors to see air leaking from a building in real time with the help of a camera. This could provide more accurate readings far more quickly than current diagnostic tools allow.

As leaky buildings signal dwindling energy efficiency and higher utility bills to homeowners, auditors must be called in to figure out where those leaks are. Solving the problem means pinpointing exactly where air is escaping so that cracks can be sealed, but this process can be expensive, time-consuming, and cumbersome.

Traditionally, blower-door testing would be used to detect leaks in conjunction with smoke....]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Oak_Ridge_Researchers_Use_Air-Leak_Detection/a69313 A69313 Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Superlenses made of plasmonic materials and metamaterials can image features at the subdiffraction scale. However, intrinsic losses restrict the image resolution of superlenses, hindering their widespread use.

To compensate for optical loss in superimaging systems, researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) devised a way to provide virtual gain. To do so, they synthesized excitation waves of complex frequency, based on measurements at real frequencies. By illuminating materials with synthetic frequency waves, the researchers were able to implement virtual gain experimentally and retrieve subwavelength features. The multifrequency approach from HKU could provide a practical solution to overcoming the intrinsic losses of...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Complex_Frequency_Waves_Compensate_for_Optical/a69311 A69311 Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
The need for modern technologies to dismantle existing underwater infrastructure is growing due to increasing demand for renewable energy sources. For example, to bring a wind power plant in the sea up to higher powers, the existing old steel frames, which may be below sea level, must first be dismantled so that engineers can rebuild them to obtain these higher powers.

In laboratory tests, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS (Fraunhofer IWS) have developed a shortwave green laser method for beneath-sea cutting that offers multiple advantages over commonly used techniques that use saws, automatic saw wires, and plasma cutters, for example.

According to the researchers, the technique is...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Underwater_Laser_Cutting_Method_Saves_Energy/a69294 A69294 Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
The ability to image complex biological tissues is essential for many biological studies and clinical diagnostic applications. However, capturing detailed 3D images of thick biological samples is difficult, due to multiple light-scattering in the samples.

Optical diffraction tomography is still largely restricted to imaging thin objects such as cells and thin tissue slices. To allow for in vivo imaging with extended imaging depth, a full-field, reflection-mode measurement geometry needs to be implemented. Also, a comprehensive inverse-scattering model that accounts for the temporal dispersion and spatial aberration of the back-scattered field from thick, inhomogeneous media needs to be developed. In addition, the multiple-scattering...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Tomography_Technique_Images_Thick_Bio_Samples_at/a69307 A69307 Fri, 08 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) have developed optical sensor technology to aid patients with limited mobility during their rehabilitation. The sensor integrates computer vision technology to help track muscle movements.

Wearable devices such as smartwatches, smart eyewear, and, to an extent, smartphones can be vital for tracking health. Many have built-in functions like step counters and heart-rate monitors.

Other devices, like wearable robots, use strain sensors to analyze data by translating specific physical changes in specific regions into electric signals. These sensors are flexible, lightweight, and adept at gauging subtle bodily changes. Still, conventional soft strain sensors...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Computer_Vision_Enhanced_Sensors_Aid/a69292 A69292 Tue, 05 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Photocatalysts show the potential to be used in energy generation and environmental detoxification applications. This is an intriguing quality, since reducing energy use in bulk industrial processes can create a trade-off between efficiency and environmental harm. Fossil fuels, for example, have helped humanity expand and innovate for hundreds of years. But their environmental toll and inevitable depletion create a need for a safer and more abundant resource, like solar power.

Highly effective photocatalysts, however, tend to be very expensive, as well as difficult and dangerous to develop. Many contain precious metals such as platinum and gold, which also have a negative environmental impact.

Researchers at the University of...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Industrial_Photocatalyst_Harnesses_the_Visible/a69290 A69290 Mon, 04 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
According to the World Health Organization, 17.9 million people die annually due to cardiovascular diseases. Soft wearable devices are well suited for monitoring physiological signals from electrocardiogram, phonocardiogram, and pulse wave. Advantages of these types of devices include real-time operation capability, skin-like mechanical properties, and high signal-to-noise sensing capability.

However, monolithic hemodynamic parameters achieved by current wearable devices cannot adequately and precisely reflect the health status of regional vasculature. Spatiotemporal hemodynamic monitoring techniques are needed to satisfy growing demand for clinical treatment and daily health management of the cardiovascular system.

Researchers...]]> https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Skin-Like_Microfiber_Grating_Gauges/a69288 A69288 Thu, 31 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT