The Adventure of Cold Atoms. From Optical Pumping to Quantum Gases
Conservation laws are very important in quantum physics. Two examples of applications will be given. First, optical pumping which uses transfer of angular momentum from polarized photons to atoms to produce highly polarized atomic gases. Then, laser ....
More details | Watch nowScience with Combs of Light
The spectrum of a frequency comb, commonly generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser, consists of several hundred thousand precisely evenly spaced spectral lines. Such laser frequency combs have revolutionized the art of measuring the frequency of....
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Eric Betzig shared the 2014 Chemistry Nobel prize with fellow American William E. Moerner and Romanian-German Stefan W. Hell for revolutionising science through the development of super-resolved fluorescence to exceed the accepted limits of tradition....
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More than 25 years ago, single molecules were first detected optically, but how do we really detect a single molecule today, and what good is it? It is an amazing fact that you can even detect single molecules with your own eyes. When a new regime of....
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The discovery and synthetic applications of a widely applicable and highly enantioselective (>99% ee) protocol consisting of the 'ZACA reaction' (Zr-catalyzed asymmetric carboalumination of alkenes), purification of the ZACA-products by lipase-cat....
More details | Watch nowOptical Microscopy – the Resolution Revolution
Throughout the 20th century it was widely accepted that a light microscope relying on conventional optical lenses cannot discern details that are much finer than about half the wavelength of light (200-400 nm), due to diffraction. However, in the 199....
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Fossil resources are limited and their CO2 emission strongly contributes to the global warming which is mainly responsible for the increasing appearance of natural catastrophes. Renewable biomass which can be converted into various forms of usable en....
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Most of the data we generate and receive (whether emails, tweets, videos or mobile calls) are now carried by optical fibres, which use light to transmit vast quantities of information over trans-oceanic distances. The use of hundreds of wavelengths ....
More details | Watch nowThe Optical Frequency Comb – a Really Versatile Tool
The Optical Frequency Comb concept and technology exploded in 1999-2000 from the synthesis of advances in independent fields of Laser Stabilization, UltraFast Lasers, and NonLinear Optical Fibers. The Comb was developed first as a method for optical....
More details | Watch nowCold Atomic Gases: the Intersection of Condensed Matter and Atomic Physics
During the past decade laser cooling and evaporative cooling of atoms have produced quantum degenerate gases both of bosons (Bose-Einstein condensates) and of fermions (gases with temperatures below the Fermi temperature). Such gases can provide ana....
More details | Watch nowYou can see a lot by observing: Optical Microscopy 2.0
Biological research and medicine were transformed by the invention and improvement of the optical microscope. Since the early 1990s, there has been another revolution in optical imaging, and manipulation of individual biological molecules and bio-mo....
More details | Watch nowWhat Can We Do with Laser Frequency Combs?
The spectrum of a frequency comb, commonly generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser consists of several hundred thousand precisely evenly spaced spectral lines. Such laser frequency combs have revolutionized the art measuring the frequency of l....
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