11-08 :: August 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

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University of Southampton, U.K., researchers have developed new nano-structured glass opti- cal elements, which have applications in optical manipulation and will significantly reduce the cost of medical imaging. A team led by Professor Peter Kazansky at the University‘s Optoelectronics Re- search Centre, have used nano-structures to deve- lop new monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters. These millimetre-sized devices generate ‘whirlpools’ of light enabling: precise laser materi- al processing, optical manipulation of atom-sized objects, ultra-high resolution imaging and potential- ly, table-top particle accelerators. They have since found that the technology can be developed further for optical recording.

© AMNH

Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/21/13-year-old-desi- gns-efficient-solar-array-inspired-by-oak-trees/

http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalista- wards/2011/aidan.html

According to the researchers, at sufficient intensi- ties, ultra-short laser pulses can be used to imprint tiny dots (like 3D pixels) called voxels in glass. Their previous research showed that lasers with fixed polarization produce voxels consisting of a perio- dic arrangement of ultra-thin (tens of nanometers) planes. By passing polarized light through such a voxel imprinted in silica glass, the researchers observed that it travels differently depending on the polarization orientation of the light. This ‘form birefringence’ phenomenon is the basis of their new polarization converter.

Martynas Beresna, Mindaugas Gecevičius, Peter G. Ka- zansky, and Titas Gertus: Radially polarized optical vortex converter created by femtosecond laser nanostructuring of glass, In: Applied Physics Letters, Volume 98(2011), Issue 20, Article 201101 [3 pages], DOI:10.1063/1.3590716: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3590716