QUANTUM OPTICS

A HELICAL LIGHT FIELD CAPTURED WITH THE NANOTIPTOE TECHNOLOGY ON THE TINIEST TEMPORAL AND LENGTH SCALES

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Stanford University have successfully recorded a helical light field on the shortest time and length scales using their newly devised "nanoTIPTOE" method.

Since the turn of the 20th century, scientists have understood that light is an electromagnetic wave whose frequency determines its hue. Light oscillates at a rate of about one quadrillion times per second, making it impossible to directly quantify the temporal evolution of its field until the first decade of the twenty-first century. Since then, a growing number of light's mysteries have come to light. A new method, the so-called "nanoTIPTOE" technique, has been developed by physicists from the Ultrafast Electronics and Nanophotonics group led by Dr. Boris Bergues and Prof. Matthias Kling from the attoworld team at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat (LMU) and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ), allowing for the measurement of the electrical field of ultrashort laser pulses in both time and space. As a result, it is now possible to capture light waves in "photos" with unprecedented levels of spatial and temporal detail.

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HALDANE PHASE DISCOVERED IN UNIQUE ATOMIC SPIN CONFIGURATION

Max Planck researchers have conducted an experiment to measure the characteristics of the so-called Haldane phase in a unique configuration of atomic spins. They did this by employing a quantum mechanical ruse.

There are phases in some materials that cannot transition because they are shielded by a specific type of symmetry. These are known as topological phases in physics. One illustration of this is the Haldane phase, which happens in antiferromagnetic spin-1 chains and is named after Duncan Haldane, the physics laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize. A group of scientists at MPQ have now achieved this unusual state of matter in a straightforward system of ultracold atoms. They achieved the appropriate atomic spin form using a quantum gas microscope, assessed the system's characteristics, and discovered the internal hidden order characteristic of the Haldane phase.

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THE MOST POTENT DUAL-COMB SPECTROMETER FOR BIOMEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE IN THE WORLD

The most potent dual-comb spectrometer yet created by scientists from Hamburg and Munich opens the door for several applications in atmospheric science and biomedical diagnostics, including the early detection of cancer.

The system's central component is a thin-disk, a special kind of laser-gain media, and a laser resonator, a distinctive arrangement of the mirrors around this medium (shown in the illustration). Team leader Oleg Pronin claims that the simplicity of the dual comb laser source is its major feature. "Our two laser outputs originate from the same laser resonator, leading to an exceptional inherent mutual stability," the researchers write. "Instead of requiring two separate lasers, actively stabilising and locking them to each other." The power output of the dual-output laser is an order of magnitude greater than before. This opens the door for numerous uses in atmospheric science and biomedical diagnostics, including the early identification of cancer.

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MID-INFRARED LIGHT PULSES MAY BE CONTROLLED WITH A LEVEL OF PRECISION NEVER BEFORE ACHIEVED

Researchers from the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting, the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, and Ludwig Maximilians University's attoworld team of laser physicists have achieved unprecedented control over light pulses in the mid-infrared wavelength region.

Many different technology applications rely on ultra-short infrared light pulses. The oscillating infrared light field can create ultrafast electric currents in semiconductors or excite molecules in a sample to vibrate at particular frequencies. Now that ultrashort mid-infrared pulses have been created and their electric-field waveforms have been precisely controlled, physicists from the attoworld team at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (LMU), the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), and the Hungarian Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF) have done so. A stabilised laser system that produces light pulses with a carefully specified waveform at near-infrared wavelengths serves as the foundation for the new mid-infrared source.

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