Every December Optics and Photonics News creates a list of the most exciting optics research published over the past year, based on article summaries submitted by hopeful authors. Some highlights from this year's list:
Silica Fiber Lasers and Amplifiers That Run Cold: Generation of excess heat limits the performance of optically pumped lasers. By detuning the optical pump beam such that its energy is slightly less than that of the laser transition, phonons (heat) are used to cover the energy difference, meaning that the laser cools itself below the ambient temperature while it operates!
The 100-mode Gaussian boson sampling experiment that made headlines earlier this year. This is an important milestone despite recent theoretical advances in the classical simulation of the output photon distributions.
Chaotic dynamics as an alternative to quantum key distribution for encrypted communications. The chaotic approach is based on a pair of near-identical lasers (transmitted and receiver) anti-synchronized using optical feedback. The individual outputs are chaotic and seemingly random, with the message hidden in the sum of the two outputs.
Enhancing mode quality factors using levitating resonators. Edges and surfaces of resonators are messy and lead to unwanted scattering losses. Employing resonators formed by the whispering gallery modes of oil droplets, optical tweezers can be used to levitate droplets and create highly spherical resonators with enhanced quality factors.
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