NASA’s High Bandwidth Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Gears Up for Launch
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) is gearing up for launch this fall, no earlier than November 22. The payload arrived in Florida in May,…
Lasers
A Highly Effective Laser Network the Size of a Grain of Sand
Tiny lasers acting together as one: Topological vertical cavity laser arrays Israeli and German researchers have developed a way to force an array of vertical…
Hot Electron Production Using a Short-Pulse, High-Contrast Laser on Cone and Planar Targets
Scientists focus on cone targets to enhance temperature of electron beams. Intense short-pulse laser-driven production of bright high-energy sources, such as X-rays, neutrons and protons,…
Bessel Beams: Laser Beam Shaping To Improve Metal 3D Printing
While laser-based 3D printing techniques have revolutionized the production of metal parts by greatly expanding design complexity, the laser beams traditionally used in metal printing…
The Nanophotonics Orchestra Presents: Twisting to the Light of Nanoparticles To Reveal “Forbidden” Colors
Physicists at the University of Bath in the UK observe a new physical effect in chiral (twisted) nanoparticles. Physics researchers at the University of Bath…
National Ignition Facility Examines the Performance of Various Materials As Fusion Fuel Ablators
Scientists have examined the performance of pure boron, boron carbide, high-density carbon, and boron nitride ablators — the material that surrounds a fusion fuel and…
Free Electron Laser Insight: Fundamental Process of Free Electron Lasing Revealed
Recent research reveals a fundamental process of free electron lasing, opening new directions for the study and exploitation of laser–beam interactions. Free electron lasers (FELs)…
Optical Innovation Key to Unprecedented Accuracy in Beam Control of High-Power Lasers
Berkeley Lab Optical Innovation Could Calm the Jitters of High-Power Lasers The Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley…
Nanostructures Enable Record High-Harmonic Generation From Ultra-Intense Laser Pulses
Cornell researchers have developed nanostructures that enable record-breaking conversion of laser pulses into high-harmonic generation, paving the way for new scientific tools for high-resolution imaging…
The Paradox of a Free-Electron Laser Without the Laser: A New Source of Coherent Radiation
A new way of producing coherent light in the ultra-violet spectral region, which points the way to developing brilliant table-top x-ray sources, has been produced…
Recycling Lost Energy: Quantum Laser Turns Energy Loss Into Gain?
A new laser that generates quantum particles can recycle lost energy for highly efficient, low threshold laser applications. Scientists at KAIST have fabricated a laser…
A Laser Breakthrough: First Commercially Scalable Integrated Laser and Microcomb on a Single Chip
Fifteen years ago, UC Santa Barbara electrical and materials professor John Bowers pioneered a method for integrating a laser onto a silicon wafer. The technology…
Antimatter: Scientists Trap Elusive Material by Blasting It With Lasers
Antimatter is believed to play a huge part in the story of our universe. It’s the counterpart to matter: identical in every way – with…
NASA Laser Communications: Empowering More Data Than Ever Before
Launching this summer, NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will showcase the dynamic powers of laser communications technologies. With NASA’s ever-increasing human and robotic presence…
Record-Breaking Laser Pulses Allow Astrophysical Phenomena to Be Studied in the Lab
Researchers have demonstrated a record-high laser pulse intensity of over 1023 W/cm2 using the petawatt laser at the Center for Relativistic Laser Science (CoReLS), Institute…
Laser Light Makes a Comeback (Literally): New Phenomenon Discovered
Researchers from Osaka University discover phenomenon of reciprocating propagation of laser pulse intensity in free space. Straight-line constant-speed propagation in free space is a basic…
CERN Scientists Successfully Laser-Cool Antimatter for the First Time
The result opens the door to considerably more precise studies of the response of antimatter to light and of how it behaves under the influence…
World’s First Laser-Based Manipulation of Antimatter (The Otherworldly Counterpart to Matter)
Researchers with the CERN-based ALPHA collaboration have announced the world’s first laser-based manipulation of antimatter, leveraging a made-in-Canada laser system to cool a sample of…