The Harvard Gazette

nanophotonics

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Behind the scenes in the Center for Nanoscale Systems, Mikhail Kats, Ph.D. ’14, demonstrated the fabrication process for ultrathin coatings that shine in vivid colors. Kats and Professor Federico Capasso have shown that these interference effects work on rough materials like paper.

Crafting ultrathin color coatings

In Harvard’s high-tech cleanroom, applied physicists produce vivid optical effects on paper

Science|

DateJanuary 13, 2015

Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin (from left) led a team consisting of postdoctoral fellow Tobias Tiecke and graduate student Jeff Thompson that has created quantum switches that could one day be networked via fiber-optic cables to form the backbone of a “quantum Internet” that allows for perfectly secure communications, said Lukin.

Flipping the switch

Physicists design quantum triggers that can be activated by a photon

Science|

DateApril 22, 2014

The cuttlefish, known as the "chameleon of the sea," can rapidly alter both the color and pattern of its skin. Researchers at Harvard and MBL now understand the biology and physics behind this process.

In search of nature’s camouflage

Cuttlefish, ‘chameleon of the sea,’ holds clues for products that allow humans to blend in

Health|

DateJanuary 28, 2014April 8, 2019

The different colors in this photograph are a result of tiny variations in thickness: just 10-15 atoms of germanium separate the pink color from the violet, and another 10-15 atoms change the color from violet to dark blue. A penny is shown for size comparison.

Applied physics as art

Change thickness by 15 atoms and you can change the color

Science|

DateOctober 16, 2012

Federico Capasso (left), Patrice Genevet (right), and an international team of colleagues have demonstrated a new type of tightly controlled light wave that could eliminate signal loss in on-chip optical devices.

Needle beam stays on point

Harvard researchers create a light wave that propagates without spreading

Science|

DateSeptember 11, 2012June 19, 2019