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Conventional photonic devices exhibit static optical properties that are design-dependent, including the material’s refractive index and geometrical parameters. However, they still possess attractive optical responses for applications and are already exploited in devices across various fields. Hydrogel photonics has emerged as a promising solution in the field of active photonics by providing primarily deformable geometric parameters in response to external stimuli. Over the past few years, various studies have been undertaken to attain stimuli-responsive photonic devices with tunable optical properties. Herein, we focus on the recent advancements in hydrogel-based photonics and micro/nanofabrication techniques for hydrogels. In particular, fabrication techniques for hydrogel photonic devices are categorized into film growth, photolithography (PL), electron-beam lithography (EBL), and nanoimprint lithography (NIL). Furthermore, we provide insights into future directions and prospects for deformable hydrogel photonics, along with their potential practical applications.

Microsystems & Nanoengineering volume 10, Article number: 1 (2024) Cite this article.

Oregon State University researchers have found luminescent nanocrystals with fast light-dark switching capabilities.

“The extraordinary switching and memory capabilities of these nanocrystals may one day become integral to optical computing – a way to rapidly process and store information using light particles, which travel faster than anything in the universe,” said Artiom Skripka, assistant professor in the OSU College of Science.

The race for faster, more efficient computing is on. And now, scientists have taken a significant leap forward with the discovery of a unique type of nanocrystal.

Continue reading “Achieving bone regeneration and adhesion with harmless visible light” »

The University of Science and Technology of China has achieved a significant milestone in quantum memory research, addressing a long-standing challenge in integrated solid-state devices. The team, led by Chuan-Feng Li and Zong-Quan Zhou, has demonstrated an integrated spin-wave quantum memory capable of extended storage times and on-demand retrieval. This development marks a critical step toward scalable quantum networks.

Quantum memories play a pivotal role in enabling long-distance entanglement by linking short-distance connections, overcoming photon transmission losses. Rare-earth ions doped crystals have emerged as promising systems for quantum memory, with integrated solid-state devices showing particular potential. However, prior implementations were limited to optically excited states, which inherently restrict storage time and retrieval flexibility due to the short lifetime of these states.

The breakthrough lies in the implementation of spin-wave storage. This approach encodes photons into spin-wave excitations in ground states, vastly extending storage times to the spin coherence lifetime and enabling on-demand retrieval. Nevertheless, the challenge of separating single-photon signals from noise caused by strong control pulses has hindered progress in integrated structures — until now.

Create a prototype of an efficient aircraft capable of flying with ion propulsion. This is the aim of the IPROP project, led by Politecnico di Milano, and funded by the EU with an EIC pathfinder worth €3 million and lasting four years.

We investigate the properties of a quantum walk which can simulate the behavior of a spin 1/2 particle in a model with an ordinary spatial dimension, and one extra dimension with warped geometry between two branes. Such a setup constitutes a \(1+1\) dimensional version of the Randall–Sundrum model, which plays an important role in high energy physics. In the continuum spacetime limit, the quantum walk reproduces the Dirac equation corresponding to the model, which allows to anticipate some of the properties that can be reproduced by the quantum walk. In particular, we observe that the probability distribution becomes, at large time steps, concentrated near the “low energy” brane, and can be approximated as the lowest eigenstate of the continuum Hamiltonian that is compatible with the symmetries of the model. In this way, we obtain a localization effect whose strength is controlled by a warp coefficient. In other words, here localization arises from the geometry of the model, at variance with the usual effect that is originated from random irregularities, as in Anderson localization. In summary, we establish an interesting correspondence between a high energy physics model and localization in quantum walks.

Anglés-Castillo, A., Pérez, A. A quantum walk simulation of extra dimensions with warped geometry. Sci Rep 12, 1926 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05673-2

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DARPA seeks to revolutionize the practice of anti-money laundering through its A3ML program. A3ML aims to develop algorithms to sift through financial transactions graphs for suspicious patterns, learn new patterns to anticipate future activities, and develop techniques to represent patterns of illicit financial behavior in a concise, machine-readable format that is also easily understood by human analysts. The program’s success hinges on algorithms’ ability to learn a precise representation of how bad actors move money around the world without sharing sensitive data.

DARPA wants to eliminate global money laundering by replacing the current manual, reactive, and expensive analytic practices with agile, algorithmic methods.

Money laundering directly harms American citizens and global interests. Half of North Korea’s nuclear program is funded by laundered funds, according to statements by the White House¹, while a federal indictment alleges that money launderers tied to Chinese underground banking are a primary source of financial services for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel ².

Despite recent anti-money laundering efforts, the United States (U.S.) still faces challenges in countering money laundering effectively for several reasons. According to Congressional research, money laundering schemes often evade detection and disruption, as anti-money laundering (AML) efforts today rely on manual analysis of large amounts of data and are limited by finite resources and human cognitive processing speed³.

A balance of infection and harmony called endosymbiosis helps shape evolution. For the first time, biologists have reproduced this arrangement between microbes in a lab.

So much of life relies on endosymbiotic relationships, but scientists have struggled to understand how they happen. How does an internalized cell evade digestion? How does it learn to reproduce inside its host? What makes a random merger of two independent organisms into a stable, lasting partnership?

Now, for the first time, researchers have watched the opening choreography of this microscopic dance by inducing endosymbiosis in the lab(opens a new tab). After injecting bacteria into a fungus — a process that required creative problem-solving (and a bicycle pump) — the researchers managed to spark cooperation without killing the bacteria or the host. Their observations offer a glimpse into the conditions that make it possible for the same thing to happen in the microbial wild.

Continue reading “Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life” »

Today the World Health Organization (WHO) says no region in the world has successfully eliminated measles, and cases have surged in the past year, with 10.3 million people infected in 2023.

The WHO published its findings in a report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Over a decade after its discovery, the Higgs boson, often referred to as the “God particle,” continues to captivate physicists and deepen our understanding of the universe. Recent findings from the Max Planck Institute promise to unravel even more about this enigmatic particle, potentially opening doors to uncharted realms of particle physics.

The Higgs boson is a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics, responsible for answering one of the universe’s most fundamental questions: how do particles gain mass? This phenomenon hinges on the Higgs field, an invisible energy field that permeates the cosmos. To visualize this, imagine wading through a pool filled with water versus thick foam. While water might let you glide, the foam slows you down—this interaction mirrors how particles gain mass as they traverse the Higgs field. Without it, the building blocks of matter as we know them couldn’t exist.

Why Understanding Higgs Interactions Matters?