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A Twin Photon Source Based on All-Optical Fiber

Jingyun Fan, Alan Migdall and Lijun Wang

The most important question in cryptography is how to ensure the security of a message between its sender and receiver. A quantum approach is desirable because detecting and duplicating a photon’s quantum state—that is, sending a message and keeping a copy— is prohibited by the laws of quantum mechanics. A new light source brings quantum cryptography closer to reality. more>>

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All-Optical Signal Processing by Fiber-Based Parametric Devices

Colin J. McKinstrie, Stojan Radic and Alan H. Gnauck

Parametric devices based on four-wave mixing in fibers enable the amplification, frequency conversion and phase conjugation of optical signals. They can also be used to monitor, regenerate, switch and buffer signals. more>>

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Dynamic Photonic Crystals

Shanhui Fan, Mehmet F. Yanik, Michelle L. Povinelli and Sunil Sandhu

When dynamic behaviors are introduced into photonic crystal systems, fascinating new possibilities emerge. For example, the bandwidth of a pulse can be completely compressed to zero, resulting in on-chip all-optical stopping and storage of light pulses. more>>

Blue-Light Special for Atomic Clocks

Yvonne Carts-Powell

Researchers at JILA at the University of Colorado managed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in a new clock based on a strontium transition. more>>

Did You Know?

Yvonne Carts-Powell

Researchers described an optical system that provides wide-angle images with very little distortion, using both a mirror and lens. more>>

Drilling Opals to Create Optical Cavities

Yvonne Carts-Powell

Researchers demonstrated a way to modify the shape of particles on the surface of the opal structure—specifically, to drill a very fine hole into a single nanosized particle. more>>

Global Optics

Optics in Armenia

Konstantin Vodopyanov

The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked mountainous country in the Southern Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It shares borders with Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Despite a population of only 3 million people and a tenuous economy, scientists in this former Soviet republic are conducting world-class optical research on a broad scale. more>>

Light Touch

Photonic Crystals: What’s in a Name?

Eli Yablonovitch

The progenitor of the term “photonic crystals” discusses its history and reflects on its use—and occasional misuse—within the optical community. more>>

Optics Innovations

Breathing New Life into Biomedical Markets: The Story of Arcturus Bioscience

Giacomo Vacca

How Arcturus Bioscience went from one-man show to a diverse, market-leading business worth tens of millions of dollars in fewer than 10 years. more>>

The History of OSA

Honorary OSA Members of the 1920s and 1930s

John N. Howard

Profiles of four optical pioneers. more>>