A new optical device might allow astronomers to view extrasolar planets directly without the annoying glare of the parent star.
In an effort to provide safer and more reliable components for aircraft, researchers have invented an optical on-off switch that can replace electrical wiring on airplanes with fiber optics for controlling elevators, rudders, and other flight-critical elements.
South Korean researchers have designed and built an inexpensive optical lens that collects light from a large area and produces a virtually distortion-free wide-angle image.
Researchers from around the world will present new breakthroughs in optics, photonics and their applications at the 2007 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Quantum Electronics Laser Science Conference (CLEO/QELS) from May 6-11 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Md.
A new technique for creating films of barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles in a polymer matrix could allow fabrication of improved capacitors able to store twice as much energy as existing devices.
New data on the properties of potential "liquid lenses" compiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could help the semiconductor industry continue to shrink feature sizes on computer chips.
On the evening of 25 March 2007, the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) achieved First Light at the Visitor Focus of Melipal, the third Unit Telescope of the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
MIT researchers are trying to unleash the promise of an old idea by converting light into electricity more efficiently than ever before.
In work that could lead to completely new devices, systems and applications in computing and telecommunications, MIT researchers are bringing the long-sought goal of "optics on a chip" one step closer to market.
In a radical departure from conventional lens-based optics, MIT scientists have developed a sophisticated optical system made of mesh-like webs of light-detecting fibers.