Optics and AI
TRUMPF@TRUMPF_NewsOptics industryPicksAI score5959
Why we recommend it: Order growth coincided with higher margins. Combined with the semiconductor and data center demand cited in the press release headline, this offers a read on the changing fortunes of laser equipment makers.
XREAL 👓@XREAL_GlobalOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6363
Why we recommend it: The post lists upgrades including brightness, 3D frame rate and the X1 chip, making it useful to compare this iteration with the previous-generation XREAL One Pro.
Researchers integrated gallium phosphide (GaP) nanophotonic cavities onto a diamond substrate using a stamp transfer process, enhancing quantum optical interaction with diamond color centers. The devices are first fabricated by electron-beam lithography in a GaP thin film on a carrier, screened by spectroscopic testing, and then transferred. Experiments achieved cooperativity above 1. The platform can serve as a light-matter interface in quantum networks.
Why we recommend it: The source details the heterogeneous integration process and the screening-and-transfer workflow, offering useful reference for fabrication routes for diamond color center quantum photonic devices.
A team from UC Santa Barbara and Caltech published in Optics Letters a chip-scale optical ring laser gyroscope capable of measuring rotations as slow as 37 degrees per hour, approaching Earth's rotation rate of 15 degrees per hour. The device is based on a low-noise Brillouin laser in a silicon nitride waveguide photonic integrated circuit, can be fabricated with standard CMOS processes, requires only milliwatt-level optical power, and offers nearly 2,000-fold higher sensitivity than the team's earlier device.
Why we recommend it: Compared with the team's earlier silicon nitride Brillouin gyroscope rated at 72,000 degrees per hour, this is nearly a 2,000-fold improvement, helping gauge how far on-chip optical gyroscopes are from navigation applications.
Researchers have developed a model that accounts for age-related changes in color vision and simulated different lighting configurations to improve color perception for older adults. The findings were published by Optica on October 13, 2026.
Why we recommend it: The source article explains the relationship between lighting spectra and age-related color vision, helping understand the role of spectral design in healthy lighting
A team led by researcher Wang Quan at the Biomedical Spectroscopy Laboratory of the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics used upconversion nanoparticles to achieve wireless near-infrared optogenetic pain relief. The research was recently highlighted in a special commentary in Nature Photonics. Optogenetics received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on October 5, 2026.
Why we recommend it: The article applies upconversion nanoparticles to near-infrared wireless optogenetics, offering reference value for biophotonics applications
The spaceborne High-precision Main Greenhouse gas Imaging instrument (HMI) aboard the Pujiang-4 satellite began imaging on September 27 and downlinked its first data. The developer team led by Xiong Wei at the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (AIOFM) performed a preliminary assessment and found that the payload's functions and performance met design requirements. HMI uses an information modulation technique combining spatial imaging and spectral interferometry, acquiring hyperspectral data in a 520 km orbit with a 30 km swath, spatial resolution better than 400 m, and spectral resolution better than 0.125 nm. From the first data, the team preliminarily estimated the methane emission rate of the Bogatyr open-pit mine in Kazakhstan at about 27.52±1.70 tons per hour.
Why we recommend it: The original article gives HMI's swath, spatial resolution and spectral resolution, and uses first data to estimate methane emissions from a mining area, showing the on-orbit performance of the combined spatial imaging and spectral interferometry approach
On October 5, Optica congratulated Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel on receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering contributions to optogenetics.
Why we recommend it: The original article is the optical society's official response to the Nobel Prize, a landmark event for optical technology entering the mainstream of life sciences
Smart contact lens company XPANCEO has partnered with Contamac to advance the development of AR contact lenses using materials already used in FDA-cleared ophthalmic devices.
Optica published the study on October 1. The model accounts for individual differences in color vision and explains why colors on modern displays appear different to different people, potentially helping to develop more consistent displays.
The Joint Laboratory for High Power Laser and Physics at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) has proposed a laser spot analysis system based on an improved YOLOv8-seg to meet the need for rapid, precise alignment of optics along the full chain of high-power laser facilities, and has completed experimental validation.
Why we recommend it: The original paper demonstrates a deep learning segmentation model for laser facility alignment, a case of AI entering optical assembly and adjustment
Researcher Tian Ye and Academician Li Ruxin at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), together with Researcher Pan Yiming at ShanghaiTech University and colleagues, have proposed a new mechanism that uses the quadratic phase accumulated during the propagation of free-electron quantum wave packets to simultaneously achieve selectable high-harmonic bunching and synthesis of nonclassical quantum light, linking quantum state control, high-harmonic radiation and quantum light synthesis.
Why we recommend it: The original paper proposes a unified framework for free-electron lasers and quantum light sources, relevant to novel light source research
A team from the Department of High-Power Laser Component Technology and Engineering at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) used nanoimprint lithography to fabricate large-area, double-sided fused-silica nanopillar metasurfaces, achieving broadband, wide-angle antireflection from the visible to near-infrared, along with good high-temperature stability and laser damage tolerance.
Why we recommend it: The original article provides a scalable nanoimprint process and laser damage tolerance, offering practical value for high-power laser optics
A team at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) proposed and validated a lithography-free Cr/a-GST/Bi planar metal-insulator-metal absorber based on an ultrahigh-refractive-index material. With a total thickness of only 550nm, it achieves high absorption and thermal emission control across the 8-14μm long-wave infrared band.
Why we recommend it: The original article presents a lithography-free, ultra-thin long-wave infrared absorber, relevant to infrared stealth and thermal management devices
A team from the State Key Laboratory of Ultra-Intense Laser Science and Technology at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) achieved few-cycle nonlinear pulse compression in a dispersion-engineered folded multi-pass cell, producing high-power few-cycle ultrafast laser pulses. The results were published in Optics Letters.
Why we recommend it: The original article presents a multi-pass cell compression scheme for few-cycle pulses, relevant to high-power ultrafast lasers
A team from the State Key Laboratory of Ultra-Intense Laser Science and Technology at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) achieved, for the first time, all-optical arbitrary control of chirality and ellipticity in solid-state high harmonics through dynamical symmetry engineering and quantum geometric phase manipulation.
Why we recommend it: The original article presents an all-optical means of controlling solid-state high-harmonic polarization, relevant to circularly polarized attosecond light sources
A team led by Yang Shanglu at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has suppressed brittle intermetallic compounds in laser joining of dissimilar Ti/Ni materials, improving joint reliability.
The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and Harbin Institute of Technology have used a photon sieve to achieve the first absolute wavefront measurement of an EUV light source, solving the challenge of absolute wavefront measurement for extreme-ultraviolet and soft X-ray sources.
A team led by Jun Wang has revealed the multi-stage process of a VO2/SiO2 heterostructure under continuous mid-infrared laser driving, from thermal accumulation and phase-transition acceleration to thermal saturation.
A team led by Jianda Shao and Meiping Zhu used an Al2O3/HfO2 nanolaminate gradient-index structure to improve the damage resistance of picosecond laser reflection thin films.