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

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.

Rocket re-entry pollutes the upper atmosphere

Lidar measurements have detected a plume of lithium created by falling space debris from a rocket stage

Research headlines

Compact optical amplifier is efficient enough for on-chip integration

Stanford researchers measure an optical amplifier chip in the lab

Laser-written glass plates could store data for thousands of years

An optical bench with some equipment on it

Metasurfaces create super-sized neutral atom arrays for quantum computing

Schematic diagram of the beam arrangement, a set of atom traps arranged in a 2D shape resembling the Statue of Liberty, and a 600 × 600 array of optical tweezers

Shining laser light on a material produces subtle changes in its magnetic properties

New use for photolithography could have applications for data storage

Quantum state teleported between quantum dots at telecoms wavelengths

Frequency-converted photons are key to proof-of-principle experiment

Organic LED can electrically switch the handedness of emitted light

A new type of OLED can generate left- or right-handed circularly polarized light from just one form of light-emitting molecule

Quantum photonics network passes a scaling-up milestone

Fibre-based circuit functions as a programmable router for entangled light

Phase-changing material generates vivid tunable colours

A multilayer stack containing a thin film of temperature-sensitive vanadium dioxide creates tunable structural colours on rigid and flexible surfaces

Electrical charge on objects in optical tweezers can be controlled precisely

New technique could shed light on electrification of aerosols

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Features

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

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

Oculomics: a window to the health of the body

Hands holding a small piece of medical equipment in front of a patient's eye

Rethinking physics: Silvia Vignolini on succeeding at the boundary between disciplines

Explore more in optics and photonics

Ask me anything: Giannis Zacharakis – ‘The ability to pursue questions that genuinely interest you is a privilege’

Giannis Zacharakis is a biophotonics and biomedical imaging researcher and CEO of the precision photonics spin-off Kymatonics

Photonics West explores the future of optical technologies

SPIE Photonics West sees the global optics and photonics community come together to present and discuss the latest industry trends and research breakthroughs

San Francisco skyline with Oakland Bay bridge

Ten-ion system brings us a step closer to large-scale qubit registers

Each ion is uniquely entangled with a photon

Fluid-based laser scanning technique could improve brain imaging

Laser scanning microscopy using a fluid-based prism to steer the light could help researchers learn more about neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease

Beam steering using an electrowetting prism

Large-area triple-junction perovskite solar cell achieves record efficiency

Novel design strategies provide a step towards more efficient and stable perovskite–perovskite–silicon solar cells

University of Sydney researchers with their perovskite solar cells

Fabrication and device performance of Ni0/Ga₂O₃ heterojunction power rectifiers

Join the audience for a live webinar at 6 p.m. GMT/1 p.m EST on 19 November 2025

Discover how NiO/Ga₂O₃ heterojunction rectifiers unlock high-performance power electronics with breakthrough thermal, radiation, and structural resilience—driving innovation in EVs, AI data centers, and aerospace systems

Randomly textured lithium niobate gives snapshot spectrometer a boost

Compact system outperforms astronomical spectrometers

Entangled light leads to quantum advantage

Number of measurements required to learn about the behaviour of a complex, noisy quantum system reduced by a factor of 10¹¹

New adaptive optics technology boosts the power of gravitational wave detectors

FROnt Surface Type Irradiator, or FROSTI, will allow future detectors to run at higher laser powers, reducing noise and expanding capabilities

Photo of two researchers in a clean room with the components of the prototype. They're wearing white bunny suits, gloves, and masks over their noses and mouths. The components are shiny and gold and laid out on a bench

Chip-integrated nanoantenna efficiently harvests light from diamond defects

Nearly all light emitted by nitrogen-vacancy centres can be collected, providing a boost for these room-temperature quantum technology platforms

High-speed 3D microscope improves live imaging of fast biological processes

Multifocus microscope uses 25 tiny cameras to image rapid biological processes over the entire volume of small living organisms

New hollow-core fibres break a 40-year limit on light transmission

Researchers at Microsoft and the University of Southampton create fibres that cut signal loss, boost bandwidth and promise faster, greener communications.

Image of the hollow-core fibre, a circle with a black background and five sets of three nested white circles around its inner edge

Broadband wireless gets even broader thanks to integrated transmitter

Device can process signals at frequencies ranging from below 1 GHz to more than 100 GHz

Image showing a model city with various data transmission use cases highlighted. Base stations used to cover rural areas use sub-6G frequencies. Various base stations used in ultra-dense areas use microwave wavelengths. Satellite and vehicle-to-everything communications use millimetre wavelength. Holographic and remote surgery uses sub-THz to THz wavelengths. A set of circuits and signals at the bottom of the diagram shows how signals become noisier with conversion from one band to another.

Crainio’s Panicos Kyriacou explains how their light-based instrument can help diagnose brain injury

Panicos Kyriacou talks about the development and uses of Crainio's non-invasive sensor to measure intracranial pressure

Illustration of Crainio's sensor with a sticker attached to a person's head and a box containing the electronics

Optical imaging tool could help diagnose and treat sudden hearing loss

Optical coherence tomography can detect fluid imbalance in the inner ear, which correlates with the severity of a patient’s hearing loss

Deep-blue LEDs get a super-bright, non-toxic boost

A new hybrid copper iodide semiconductor converts nearly all the photoenergy it receives into blue light

Crystals emitting deep-blue light. A scale bar at the bottom indicates that the crystals are millimetre-scale

Laser-driven implosion could produce megatesla magnetic fields

Simulations of improved technique generate fields as strong as those found near neutron stars

Conceptual illustration of bladed microtube implosion, showing how sawtooth-like blades inside the cylindrical target drive strong loop currents (shown as a pinkish swirl) and generate strong magnetic fields (shown as bright yellow loops around the target)

How hot can you make a solid before it melts?

Superheated gold stays solid at temperatures far beyond the predicted "entropy catastrophe"

A laser superheats a sample of gold. The gold is shown as a gold-coloured lattice while the laser is a bright beam of light. A rainbow coming off the lattice represents light being emitted at different wavelengths

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