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Why do people see colours differently? Sometimes, it’s the display’s fault

A grid of coloured squares, each of which is split into four quadrants. In all squares, the four quadrants are in the same general region of the colour spectrum (e.g. all are variants of "green"), but the shades are recognizably different to someone with "normal" colour sensitivity

SNAP optics could speed up optical communications

Microscopic structures created on the surface of optical fibres could ease light transmission through fibre-optic networks

To detect deepfake videos, researchers turn to the physics of light

New technique claims 97.8% accuracy and uses less energy than digital neural networks with similar performance

Research headlines

Polymer-tuned perovskite creates high-efficiency underwater solar cells

Diagram of submerged perovskite solar cells

Metasurface optical device boosts nonlinear frequency conversion

Skyrmion topology makes long-distance optical communications more robust

Bilayer approach ramps performance of all-perovskite triple-junction solar cells

A novel graphene oxide bilayer pushes triple-junction perovskite solar cells to a milestone 27.3% efficiency with unprecedented operational longevity

Plasmonic metamaterial makes a photonic time crystal

New nanostructure could be used to make lasers that work in the terahertz frequency range

Researchers harness sunlight to generate quantum entanglement

Sunlight may provide an energy-efficient alternative to lasers used in quantum computing

Upconverting colloidal quantum dots bring ‘colour vision’ to the infrared

The nanostructures can be incorporated into wearable eyeglasses

Semiconducting nanorods help laser-powered drones keep cool

Researchers incorporate a heat blocking technology into the solar cells onboard remote uncrewed aerial vehicles

Artificially rotating system reflects radiation like a black hole

Rotational super-radiance observed for twisted radio waves

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Features

C V Raman: the physicist with a ‘Himalayan ego’ who went to Stockholm convinced he’d win a Nobel prize

From ideas to industry: a theoretical physicist’s journey into Silicon Valley

China’s High Energy Photon Source prepares to light up the world

3D model of the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) synchrotron building

Explore more in optics and photonics

Custom spectrometers rise to the analytical challenge

By combining in-house manufacturing with engineering expertise, Torrent Photonics works with systems developers to create spectrometry solutions that meet the needs of demanding ap...

Debating the future of photonics: experts assess the challenges and opportunities ahead

The key themes facing photonics industry and research in the UK were discussed at the recent Photon2026 conference at Newcastle University

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Above-average correlative materials characterization

Bringing measurements across time, space and spectrum together is revealing the hidden dynamics of innovative optoelectronic devices and novel semiconductor materials

The Bayeux Tapestry: how optical techniques have let this artwork come home

Honor Powrie celebrates the optical techniques that have digitized, restored and protected the Bayeux Tapestry

‘Photonic multi-lane highway’ enjoys insulator-free topological protection

New technology uses a photonic valley half-semimetal

Nanopositioning, customization and control: opening new frontiers in optical computing

SmarAct and Akhetonics have developed a test platform for next-generation optical processors

Metasurface grating gives solar telescopes a boost

New optical device could fly on future space missions that study solar magnetic fields and space weather

Photo of a person's gloved hand using tweezers to hold a transparent disk that contains a greyish circle 6 mm across, as shown by a 25 mm scale bar superimposed on the photo

Machine vision begins to work like the human eye

New artificial vision system adapts faster to changing light conditions

Sunlight can produce correlated pairs of photons

Novel source for quantum optics experiments could enable experiments in space or other locations with limited electricity

Illustration showing sunlight streaming into a blueish block (representing a nonlinear crystal). Two beams of purple light (representing the two photons) emerge and produce a pixelated image.

Photonic glasses deliver angle-independent structural colour, including reds

Gold nanoparticles absorb blue light

Bird motifs coloured using the new photonic glass

Building a better laser on the Moon

Ultrastable devices could be housed in dark lunar craters

‘Einstein’s flying mirror’ technique opens a path towards extreme light intensities

New strategy could allow physicists to conduct previously impossible experiments in which light interacts directly with the quantum vacuum

Photo of several researchers in a laboratory. They're all wearing identical dark blue shirts and have laser safety goggles on their heads

Researchers print structural colour with an inkjet printer

A nanoparticle ink that can print structural colour onto flat or 3D surfaces could be used to create anti-counterfeit images, smart windows and displays, and vibrant artworks

Image printed with structural colour ink

Darkness can travel faster than light

Discovery of superluminal correlations within 2D hexagonal boron nitride could advance super-resolution electron microscopy

Conceptual illustration showing a glowing pool dotted with blue and orange vortices

Ask me anything: Gwenaëlle Lefeuvre ‘Not everyone is built to be a specialist and there is nothing wrong with that’

Gwenaëlle Lefeuvre is the network coordinator for Photonics Bretagne, an innovation hub supporting the photonics ecosystem in Brittany, France

Tantala 3D integrated circuits deliver a rainbow of laser light

Devices could help miniaturize laser-based technologies

Laser-driven free electron laser runs for more than eight hours

Laser stabilization system boosts quality of electron bunches

Two researchers working at the BELLA Center

Trapped ion quantum technology gets smaller

Portable device could find applications in quantum computing and optical clocks

Two scientists standing at an optical bench in a semi-darkened laboratory. They're both wearing laser safety goggles and there is equipment on the bench, but not an entire bench's worth as is the case in some experiments.

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Materials | Symposium AVS 72nd International Symposium & Exhibition 8—13 November 2026 | Pittsburgh, US
Condensed matter | Workshop Hydrodynamic Approaches to Active Matter: Successes and Future Challenges (haam26) 9—13 November 2026 | Dresden, Germany
Materials | Conference SEMICON Europa 2026 10—13 November 2026 | Munich, Germany

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