January 2021

Artist’s impression of a soliton microcomb device. [Image: Brian Long, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA]

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Combs of Light on a Chip

Edwin Cartlidge

Frequency combs may soon leave the metrology lab and enter the mainstream.

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Photonic Nanojets

Alexander J. Littlefield, Jinlong Zhu, Jonah F. Messinger and Lynford L. Goddard

Microspheres, microcylinders and more complex dielectric structures can create nanoscale concentrations of directed energy. Thanks to advances in fabrication techniques, these optical jets could soon find their way into applications.

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Polaroid’s Experiment in South Africa

Joseph N. Mait

Fifty years ago this month, the high-profile U.S. photography and optics firm attempted to take action against apartheid. The project’s mixed results—and some details behind the story—remain relevant a half-century later.