PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

A multimodal light manipulator

New interferometer could replace beam-splitting waveguides for fiber optics

A multimodal light manipulator
2025-03-25
(Press-News.org) Interferometers, devices that can modulate aspects of light, play the important role of modulating and switching light signals in fiber-optic communications networks and are frequently used for gas sensing and optical computing.

Now, applied physicists at the Harvard  John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have invented a new type of interferometer that allows precise control of light’s frequency, intensity and mode in one compact package.  

Called a cascaded-mode interferometer, it is a single waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator platform that can create multiple signal paths to control the amplitude and phase of light simultaneously, a process known as optical spectral shaping. By combining mechanisms to manipulate different aspects of light into a single waveguide, the device could be used in advanced nanophotonic sensors or on-chip quantum computing.

Published in Science Advances, the research was led by postdoctoral fellow Jinsheng Lu, who works in the lab of Federico Capasso, the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering. Federal support for the work included award No. FA9550-23-1-0699 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under. Devices were made at Harvard’s Center for Nanoscale Systems, supported by the National Science Foundation under award No. ECCS-2025158.

“Conceptually, this is a very big step forward compared to the state of the art for commercial high-speed modulators that are particularly used for communications,” Capasso said.

The most widely used such devices, known as Mach-Zehnder interferometers, work by splitting a beam of light down two paths to toggle its output. Despite their widespread use, Mach-Zehnder interferometers have their limitations – they are not very good at simultaneously controlling different aspects of light. Today, multiple interferometers are needed in succession to make up for these limitations, taking up space and restricting the amount of signal that can travel through. 

The new cascaded-mode interferometer is a reimagining of a Mach-Zehnder device integrated into a single-chip waveguide. Rather than the traditional split beam, the new interferometer has a unique, nanoscale pattern of gratings etched into the waveguide that control the energy exchange between different modes of light.

This makes the new interferometer able to control the spectrum of light passing through by finely adjusting the intensity and characteristics of different colors. Light can move through in different patterns, or transverse modes. And the device allows for precise, sharp lines of color, or light waves with distinct features.

In the paper, the team not only demonstrates the capabilities of their new interferometer but also lays out the theoretical framework for extending the physics of the device to many different modes of light.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
A multimodal light manipulator

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

OU researcher leverages technology for alcohol disorder interventions in primary care

OU researcher leverages technology for alcohol disorder interventions in primary care
2025-03-25
OKLAHOMA CITY – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 7 adults in the United States will experience a substance use disorder during their lifetime. University of Oklahoma College of Medicine faculty member Brandi Fink, Ph.D., is working with primary care clinics and health care systems to identify people with an alcohol use disorder and intervene early before the problem worsens. Fink, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, created an assessment for patients to fill out on an iPad while waiting for an appointment ...

Automated lead nurturing boosts sales—but only under the right conditions

2025-03-25
Businesses invest billions in marketing automation, and many assume that Automated Lead Nurturing (ALN) is a proven driver of sales. However, a new Journal of Marketing study reveals that ALN is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The research finds that while ALN improves engagement and enhances salesperson–lead interactions, its impact on sales conversions varies significantly across industries and customer segments. Authored by Johannes Habel (University of Houston), Nathaniel Hartmann (University of South Florida), Phillip Wiseman (Texas Tech University), Michael Ahearne (University of ...

Lessons from Venezuela’s democratic collapse: How opposition movements can defy autocratic leaders

Lessons from Venezuela’s democratic collapse: How opposition movements can defy autocratic leaders
2025-03-25
Until the 1990s, Venezuela was home to one of the most established democracies in Latin America. Today, however, it stands as one of the region’s most firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes. How did this shift occur, and what can other countries learn from Venezuela’s transformation? A new paper from political scientist Laura Gamboa at the University of Notre Dame chronicles the country’s 25-year evolution, during which Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, destroyed ...

USU ecologists document Utah's bee species and say beehive state is rich in bee diversity

USU ecologists document Utahs bee species and say beehive state is rich in bee diversity
2025-03-25
TOOELE, UTAH, USA -- Wildlife conservation is critical to sustaining the planet’s biodiversity and health. But putting together a conservation plan is a tall order. First of all, you need to determine what species you’re conserving, along with their numbers, habitat needs, threats and how they fit into a complex ecosystem. As pollinators for native plants and food crops, bees play a pivotal role in our ecosystem, according to Utah State University ecologist Joseph Wilson. He and undergraduate researcher Anthony Hunsaker took on the herculean task of documenting Utah’s bee species using online occurrence records from the Symbiota Collection of Arthropods ...

A hit of dopamine tells baby birds when their song practice is paying off

2025-03-25
DURHAM, N.C. -- In his home office in Durham, Duke neuroscientist Richard Mooney shows a series of images of a bird’s brain on song. In one, what looks like a pointillist painting illustrates a young zebra finch’s myriad attempts to sound more like an adult, capable of wooing a mate. In another, squiggly lines trace the ebb and flow of chemical signals in the reward circuit of the bird’s brain. “Their songs don’t sound like much at first,” said Mooney, who has studied birdsong for four decades. That’s because some things take considerable practice to master. Nobody walks onto a tennis court for the first time and plays ...

Basketball analytics investment is key to NBA wins and other successes

Basketball analytics investment is key to NBA wins and other successes
2025-03-25
If you filled out a March Madness bracket this month, you probably faced the same question with each college match-up: What gives one team an edge over another? Is it a team’s record through the regular season? Or the chemistry among its players? Maybe it’s the experience of its coaching staff or the buzz around a top scorer.  All of these factors play some role in a team’s chance to advance. But according to a new study by MIT researchers, there’s one member who consistently ...

Scientific cooperation is strategic for Brazil to strengthen relations with Europe

Scientific cooperation is strategic for Brazil to strengthen relations with Europe
2025-03-25
Relations between Europe and South America – and especially with Brazil - are at a favorable moment, due to factors such as the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, signed in December 2024 and currently being approved. However, in order to take advantage of this window of opportunity and be competitive, Brazil must continue to expand scientific and technological cooperation with European partners.   This assessment was made by the Brazilian Ambassador to Germany, Roberto Jaguaribe, ...

Engineering antibodies with a novel fusion protein

Engineering antibodies with a novel fusion protein
2025-03-25
The Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 100 monoclonal antibodies to treat a range of diseases. Other antibodies are used by physicians to diagnose conditions or by scientists to advance research projects. Even with significant expansion in the global market for antibodies used in clinical care and research, scientists recognize that there is still untapped potential for finding new antibodies. Many proteins group together in what are called protein complexes to carry out biological functions. The traditional method of generating antibodies by immunizing animals struggles to make antibodies related to these protein complexes. The conventional ...

Transforming cardiovascular care through upfront combination therapy

2025-03-25
NEW ORLEANS - Ochsner Health Medical Director for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Cardiology, Carl J. “Chip” Lavie, Jr., MD, recently co-authored a groundbreaking research study featured in the prestigious Mayo Clinic Proceedings highlighting the comparative efficacy of lipid-lowering therapies for reducing cardiovascular risks and led by Maciej Banach, MD,PhD from Poland and leader of the International Lipid Expert Panel ( ILEP). Impact of Lipid-Lowering Combination Therapy With Statins ...

URI to host international XV Progress in Motor Control Conference

URI to host international XV Progress in Motor Control Conference
2025-03-25
Scientists from around the world specializing in motor control and neuroscience will travel to the University of Rhode Island this summer as the university hosts the international XV Progress in Motor Control Conference. The university’s Department of Physical Therapy, its George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at URI, will host the biennial meeting of the International Society of Motor Control (ISMC) June 30 to July 2. This year’s conference will be held in the Center for ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Public take the lead in discovery of new exploding star

What are they vaping? Study reveals alarming surge in adolescent vaping of THC, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids

ECMWF - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

Brazilian neuroscientist reveals how viral infections transform the brain through microscopic detective work

Turning social fragmentation into action through discovering relatedness

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Study reveals most common medical emergencies in schools

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

[Press-News.org] A multimodal light manipulator
New interferometer could replace beam-splitting waveguides for fiber optics