New Metamaterial Structures for Studying the Oldest Light in the Universe
The cosmic microwave background, or CMB, is the electromagnetic echo of the Big Bang, radiation that has been traveling through space and time since the…
Lenses
New “Metalens” Shifts Focus Without Moving – Enables Miniature Zoom Lenses for Drones, Cellphones, or Night-Vision Goggles
Polished glass has been at the center of imaging systems for centuries. Their precise curvature enables lenses to focus light and produce sharp images, whether…
Ultrathin Flat Lens Focuses Light without Optical Distortions
By plating a very thin wafer of silicon with a nanometer-thin layer of gold, applied physicists have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light…
High-Energy Radiation is Refracted Setting the Stage for Gamma Optics
New research into gamma rays has led to a discovery that will make many new applications possible in medicine and materials research. Physicists at the…
Ames Laboratory Seeks to Make Science Fiction a Reality
As researchers at Ames Laboratory aim to move innovations from the realm of science fiction closer to reality, they developed a method to evaluate different…
High Quality Microlenses from Calcium Carbonate Structures
By studying the brittlestar Ophiocoma wendtii, whose body is covered with tiny crystalline lenses made of calcium carbonate, scientists were able to create high quality…