In this interview, @optica-opn.org spoke with Michael Raymer about his involvement with the field, his efforts on behalf of the National Quantum Initiative and what he thinks everyone should know about quantum.
What's next for quantum? Read more: https://bit.ly/4lgsmEo
#WorldQuantumDay ⚛️💡
Do you research quantum #optics?⚛️
Celebrate #WorldQuantumDay and consider publishing your high-impact results with Optica Quantum, the gold open-access journal dedicated to sharing the latest advances in quantum information #science and technology!
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4cD8vwV
#Publishing
Single-atom imaging at high speed: https://bit.ly/4syvE8o
Based on fluorescence microscopy, the novel approach could improve platforms for the development of quantum technologies, such as #quantum computing and next-generation atomic clocks.
#WorldQuantumDay ⚛️💡🧪
The scalability of quantum #computers has been a lingering issue.
Now, researchers introduced distributed quantum computing by using two smaller modules that were photonically linked, allowing them to work together as if they were a single machine.
https://bit.ly/40m3mC4 💡🧪⚛️ #WorldQuantumDay
Happy #WorldQuantumDay!
Quantum computing for cryptography and drug discovery, deep space communication, #quantum key distribution and more applications can revolutionize technological development.
To celebrate, we put together some of our favorite quantum articles: https://bit.ly/3PceA9T ⚛️💡
In addition to helping scientists study materials that react instantly to laser light, chemical reactions that rearrange atoms at incredible speeds and the dynamic behavior of biomolecules on short timescales, it could also improve clean energy #research, manufacturing and instrumentation. 🧪💡
These images show the spatiotemporal evolution of the intensity (top images) and phase (bottom images). Notably, the phase variations are significantly more pronounced than the intensity fluctuations.
A photograph of the imaging system set-up.
The image shows the phase mask used in the experiments.
This method combines time-spectrum mapping, compressive spectral imaging & coherent modulation imaging to capture information about ultrafast microscopic processes: https://bit.ly/4clhvF3
The process could enable the design of new materials & high-power lasers to explore biological processes.💡 ⚛️ 🧪
Newly published in Optica from Microsoft Research: a first-of-its-kind materials-screening framework for glass-based data storage, identifying which intrinsic material properties actually drive performance in femtosecond laser writing. msft.it/6014QfbFo
"Artemis II Captures the Terminator Line art002e000190 (April 3, 2026) - A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. Credit: NASA"
"Peeking at the Earth art002e009286 (April 6, 2026) – As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth setting on the Moon’s limb. The edge of the visible surface of the Moon is called the “lunar limb.” Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc – except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. In this photo, the dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime, while Australia and Oceania are in the daylight. In the foreground, the Ohm crater is visible, with terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks—formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater. Credit: NASA"
"Artemis II Total Solar Eclipse, Partial Frame art002e009298 (April 6, 2026) – A close-up view from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, captures a total solar eclipse, with only part of the Moon visible in the frame as it fully obscures the Sun. We see a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. The science community is investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two. From this deep-space vantage point, the Moon appeared large enough to sustain nearly 54 minutes of totality, far longer than total solar eclipses typically seen from Earth. The bright silver glint on the left edge of the image is the planet Venus. The round, dark gray feature visible along the Moon’s horizon between the 9 and 10 o’clock positions is Mare Crisium, a feature visible from Earth. We see faint lunar features because light reflected off of Earth provides a source of illumination. Credit: NASA"
"Moon's Farside in the Foreground, Earth Beyond Seen from behind the Moon during Artemis II, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun. The Moon’s surface appears in sharp detail in the foreground, while Earth sits much farther away, smaller and softly lit in the background. A faint reflection in the spacecraft window is also visible, subtly overlaying the scene. Though their phases differ, both are shaped by the same sunlight, revealing the geometry of the Sun–Earth–Moon system from deep space. Credit: NASA"
Four iconic images from the #Artemis II mission.
Official description provided in the ALT text of each image.
➡️ www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2...
🔭 🧪 ⚛️ #Moon #Earth #Space #Astronomy
Researchers squeezed phonons to create a low-noise phonon laser!
The new tool could be used to study the interplay between classical and quantum behavior in small-scale systems.
Read the OPN story: https://bit.ly/3PQP3n0
#Quantum #Technology 💡 ⚛️
A photo of an electric watch that was powered by the new technique.
A diagram that shows the process by which vegetable tanned leather (top left) is turned into a sustainable and wearable energy device (bottom left).
A new eco-friendly method creates flexible microsupercapacitors for wearable electronics: https://bit.ly/48ybPGE
With a laser, researchers directly wrote conductive patterns onto vegetable tanned leather to create microsupercapacitors that can store energy and help smooth electrical signals. 💡 ⚛️ 🧪
QUANTUM DAY IS HERE! ⚛️
📅 April 13 | 14:30
📍 RAU, 7th floor
Radiant Minds: Illuminating Quantum Day 2026 ✨
🔹 “Strange World of Quantum Physics” — Zahra Amini 🔬
Open to all curious minds in quantum physics! 🚀
@optica.org @spie.org @worldquantumday.bsky.social
A diagram displaying the sensor, shown together with the physical map of the bonding of the 3D-printed dog-bone-shaped protective structure.
In new #OPG_OpEx research, a Shanxi University team developed an intelligent monitoring pipe that combines optical sensing with machine learning algorithms to monitor and predict 3D soil settlement: https://bit.ly/4sTLxa4
#MachineLearning 💡 ⚛️ 🧪
As part of #WorldHealthDay's campaign to #StandWithScience, Optica believes accurate data is critical to improving global health.
This open-source software tool enables interactive, adjustable and non-planar cutaways into volumes generated from optical imaging data.
https://bit.ly/4mdEgQ5 💡 🧪
An image of a man undergoing photodynamic therapy, lying under a red light and wearing protective eyewear.
A new type of light-sensitive molecule could improve the treatment of aggressive cancers using photodynamic therapy: https://bit.ly/4t6Sx3x
Right on target, the treatment eliminated primary breast tumors without any apparent side effects.
#WorldHealthDay #CancerResearch 💡 🧪 #MedSky
![Ciceron Ayala-Orozco, lead author of the study showing how molecular “jackhammers,” plasmonically activated by near-infrared light, can tear apart and kill cancerous cells. [Image: Jeff Fitlow / Rice University]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4rwlszmxz7s3ixyvpovrjsu/bafkreidrqyqoe22l3cljnkinn3hszvta7chicr4nrweulspte4xats3uku)
Ciceron Ayala-Orozco, lead author of the study showing how molecular “jackhammers,” plasmonically activated by near-infrared light, can tear apart and kill cancerous cells. [Image: Jeff Fitlow / Rice University]
Molecular “jackhammers” destroy cancer cells: https://bit.ly/4sbsLK0
Using light to simulate vibrations, the #technology ruptures the membrane of cancer cells and was shown to destroy 99% of human melanoma cells grown on lab cultures.
#StandWithScience #WorldHealthDay 💡 🧪 ⚛️
Together for health. #StandWithScience.
For #WorldHealthDay, Optica is drawing attention to how optics research enhances drug delivery, improves surgical techniques and patient care, and more.
Learn more about the intersection of #Physics and health: https://bit.ly/4v9AVW4
@who.int 🧪 💡
Had a great time at the Winter School on Nonlinear Photonics in Andalo 🏔️
Presented our work on THz spintronics [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-42758-8] and multimode fiber cavities.
Next stop: #CLEO US 🇺🇸 — presenting with Prof. Stefan Wabnitz
See you there!
#Photonics @optica.org
A diagram of the experimental setup researchers used for phase stabilization and noise measurement for a 2.1 km fiber link.
A single photon carrying #quantum information can travel through noisy real-world fiber and arrive at the end carrying the same amount of information: https://bit.ly/4djrugy
The advance is a key step toward moving photonic quantum networking from laboratory experiments toward practical systems.
💡 ⚛️
(a) System schematic diagram, (b) The complex plane for double-phase decomposition of complex amplitude (c) An example of a checkerboard pattern for two phase values m and n. (d) An example of the intensity distribution at the image plane (e) An example of phase distribution at the image plane. In (f), the first (I) and second (II) records are shown, with the readout shown in (g).
Experimental intensity variation without the polarizer. The image resembles a collection of gray, black and white squares clustered together.
The model learns the amplitude, phase and polarization features of the optical field from two complementary diffraction images.
Using these intensity images as inputs, the neural network reconstructs 3D data from the intensity-only measurements to improve storage density and transmission speed.💡⚛️
Congrats! 🙌
New holographic #data storage approach packs more data into the same space: https://bit.ly/3NLXOhq
Using a deep learning architecture known as a convolutional neural network, the team enabled the use of polarization as an independent information dimension.
#OPG_Optica 💡 ⚛️ 🧪
📣 OPN's April issue is now live 📣
Check it out for stories about a new material called lithium tantalate, a 'hidden' waveform structure that governs resonant scattering and coupling, the history of laser-atmosphere modeling development and funding, and so much more! https://bit.ly/3Nqfj74 💡 ⚛️ 🧪
A cylindrical oatmeal box stands next to a stack of magazines. A piece of a soda can is taped to the front with pieces of black electrical tape. Another piece of tape hangs in front of the metal, providing a shutter for the pinhole camera.
Wildly distorted black and white photo of a classroom taken with an oatmeal box pinhole camera. The walls and desks are curved as are the ceiling, light fixtures, and the long bulletin board on one wall.
Pinhole photography is next to magic. It was always a big hit at our laser camp for high school kids. This is a camera and photo of the optics classroom, taken in 2014.
We can't wait! 🙌
Save the date!!! @optica-fvm.bsky.social
@cvsuor.bsky.social @urochester.bsky.social @optica.org
The Optica Biophotonics Congress, from 26 - 29 April 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will feature Park's upcoming talk on 3D #biology.
At the plenary, hear from Park how 3D biology and advanced optical imaging can open the door to regenerative #medicine!
Register: bit.ly/4tSl916%F0%9...
An image for the Optica Biophotonics Congress, featuring YongKeun Park in a circular frame on a blue background.
YongKeun Park, plenary speaker for #OpticaBiophotonics26, says the true power of biophotonics lies in its ability to "transform complex biological and physical phenomena into intuitive, accessible tools that directly impact patient care."
Learn about the program: bit.ly/3NCru0E
#MedSky 💡
Via #OPG_OMEx: Cycle-dependent degradation of second-harmonic generation characteristics in CsLiB6O10 associated with the reabsorption of water impurities https://bit.ly/3PIOqvA #NonlinearOpticalCrystals #LaserSources💡⚛️
