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group posing for a photo
University News
September 14, 2015 | 04:54 pm

Nicholas George’s role as mentor celebrated in endowed optics professorship

The Nicholas George Endowed Professorship in Optics will honor the professor emeritus and former director of the Institute of Optics. The professorship was established by a gift from George’s former student Milton Chang, with an additional commitment from Joseph W. Goodman, the William Ayer Professor Emeritus at Stanford University

topics: announcements, Institute of Optics, professorships,
a nanodiamond levitating between two lasers
Science & Technology
September 4, 2015 | 10:30 am

Researchers use laser to levitate glowing nanodiamonds in vacuum

Nick Vamivakas, assistant professor of optics, thinks his team’s work will make extremely sensitive instruments for sensing tiny forces and torques possible, and could also lead to a way to physically create larger-scale quantum systems known as macroscopic Schrödinger Cat states.

topics: Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, Materials Science Program, nanoparticles, Nick Vamivakas, research finding, URnano,
David Williams in a classroom.
Science & Technology
August 11, 2015 | 03:26 pm

Vision expert David Williams receives Beckman-Argyros Award

David Williams, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on human vision, received the $500,000 prize for his transformative breakthroughs in vision research and adaptive optics.

topics: awards, Center for Visual Science, David Williams, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, research funding, School of Arts and Sciences,
illustration of a single photon in a single layer
Science & Technology
May 4, 2015 | 11:22 am

Defects in atomically thin semiconductor emit single photons

Until now, optically active quantum dots have not been observed in materials consisting of a single layer of atom, also known as 2D materials. Rochester researchers have shown how the 2D material tungsten diselenide can be fashioned into an atomically thin semiconductor that serves as a platform for solid-state quantum dots.

topics: Chitraleema Chakraborty, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, Nick Vamivakas, photonics, research finding, URnano,
Microplasma created by focusing a laser emits visible light and terahertz radiation.
Science & Technology
April 24, 2015 | 01:49 pm

Generating broadband terahertz radiation from a microplasma in air

Researchers in the Institute of Optics have shown that a microplasma created by focusing intense laser pulses in air emits not only visible light, but also electromagnetic pulses at terahertz frequencies that can be used to detect complex molecules, such as explosives and drugs.

topics: featured-post, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, lasers, radiation, research finding,
images of galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
Featured
April 24, 2015 | 11:06 am

25 years later: Fixing the Hubble Space Telescope

Twenty-five years ago today, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. The images it has been sending back to Earth for all these years have become iconic, and yet it came very close to being a billion dollar failure. One of the heroes who rescued Hubble from ruin and made it a great science success story is Rochester optics professor Duncan Moore.

topics: Adam Frank, anniversary, Duncan Moore, Institute of Optics, space,
graphic showing color spectrum and coiled light
Science & Technology
March 20, 2015 | 10:54 am

New approach uses “twisted light” to increase the efficiency of quantum cryptography systems

Rochester researchers and their collaborators have developed a way to transfer 2.05 bits per photon by using “twisted light.” The new approach doubles the 1 bit per photon that is possible with current systems that rely on light polarization and could help increase the efficiency of quantum cryptography systems.

topics: Institute of Optics, Materials Science Program, photonics, research finding, Robert Boyd, School of Arts and Sciences,
example of mobius strip
Science & Technology
January 29, 2015 | 02:33 pm

Generating Möbius strips of light

A collaboration between researchers from Canada, Europe, and Rochester has experimentally produced Möbius strips from the polarization of light, confirming a theoretical prediction that it is possible for light’s electromagnetic field to assume this peculiar shape.

topics: Institute of Optics, nanoparticles, research finding, Robert Boyd, School of Arts and Sciences, URnano,
Professor Chunlei Guo has developed a technique that uses lasers to render materials hydrophobic, illustrated in this image of a water droplet bouncing off a treated sample.
Science & Technology
January 20, 2015 | 07:04 am

Laser-generated surface structures create extremely water-repellent metals

Scientists at the Institute of Optics have used lasers to transform metals into extremely water repellent, or super-hydrophobic, materials without the need for temporary coatings.

topics: Chunlei Guo, featured-post-side, Institute of Optics, lasers, Materials Science Program, research finding,
Qjang Lin
University News
December 5, 2014 | 12:00 am

Qiang Lin receives inaugural Leonard Mandel Faculty Fellow Award

Qiang Lin, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and of optics, has been named the first Leonard Mandel Faculty Fellow. The award, which includes a two-year, $25,000 stipend, recognizes exceptional achievement by a junior faculty member in coherence and quantum optics.

topics: awards, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, Qiang Lin,