Photonics

Researchers have created a device that uses photonic radar to remotely and accurately monitor breathing, even distinguishing between more than one patient. The device might one day be used in hospitals, aged care facilities, prisons, and at home.

Move over, macro: researchers have created the world’s smallest silicon LED and holographic microscope, and among its uses is a hack that'll let you use your smartphone to view objects as tiny as a single human skin cell in brilliant high resolution.

The speed record for data transmission using a single light source and optical chip has been shattered. Engineers have transmitted data at a blistering rate of 1.84 petabits per second (Pbit/s), almost twice the global internet traffic per second.

A powerful new optical chip can process almost two billion images per second. The device is made up of a neural network that processes information as light without needing components that slow down traditional computer chips, like memory.

A new type of radar can measure objects down to centimeters. The new technique uses a photonic system to generate much higher bandwidth signals, enabling radar that can detect smaller objects, and even monitor patient vital signs in hospitals.

Quantum computers are so far held back by their complexity. Engineers at Stanford have now demonstrated a new relatively simple design for a quantum computer where a single atom is entangled with a series of photons to process and store information.

Engineers at Stanford have created a new optical device that can easily manipulate light into basically any color desired. The system uses a series of modulators to fine-tune the frequencies of individual photons to change their color.

Engineers have developed a simple way to make colloidal diamonds that self-assemble. These structures have traditionally been tricky to manufacture in bulk, but with this new method they could be used to help make better photonic devices.

A new record has been achieved for the fastest internet speed from a single light source – an absolutely astounding 44.2 terabits per second, 44,000 times faster than the highest speed connection. It was made possible by a new kind of optical chip.

MIT spin off company Ayar Labs is combining electrons and light in new optoelectronic chips to speed up data transmission and reduce energy consumption in chip-to-chip communications by 95 percent.

There are plenty of strange phenomena in the universe, and fast radio bursts are among the more mysterious. So far, we don't know the source of these high-energy light bursts, but Harvard researchers propose they're caused by planet-sized alien transmitters for powering interstellar spacecraft.

Physicists have created a new set of energy-carrying particles dubbed "topological plexcitons" that show promise in greatly enhancing energy flows for solar cells and nanoscale photonic circuitry.