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Nanotechnology

Nanophotonics

News and Updates

Illustration shows tiny columns of light in different colors standing vertically along circuits on a chip.

Spotlight: Chip-Scale Frequency Combs Can Be Integrated With Other Sensors

April 2, 2024

Frequency combs — specialized lasers that act like rulers to measure light — are now being brought down to a low-power, chip-scale form. NIST researchers David

Bullseye! NIST Devises a Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

March 18, 2024

Devices that capture the brilliant light from millions of quantum dots, including chip-scale lasers and optical amplifiers, have made the transition from

Researchers develop a new type of frequency comb that promises to further boost the accuracy of time keeping

March 14, 2024

Chip-based devices known as frequency combs, which measure the frequency of light waves with unparalleled precision, have revolutionized time keeping, the

Projects and Programs

PTIR combines the spatial resolution of AFM with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

Nano-Chemical Imaging and -Spectroscopy (IR, nIR, VIS)

Ongoing

Conventional techniques for analyzing chemical composition, such as infrared (IR) microscopy often miss critically important nanoscale details. To overcome this

Light-matter interactions in Semiconductor Nanostructures

Ongoing

The quantum optics of light interacting with semiconductor-based nanostructures is being studied to extend concepts of entanglement and coherence in atomic

Integrated Photonics

Ongoing

Integrated photonics uses micro-and nano-fabrication techniques to develop compact devices that can replace bulk optics. Low size, weight, and power (SWAP)

Micro- and nano-optomechanical systems

Ongoing

Light can interact with mechanical systems in interesting and useful ways, not only probing the mechanical motion with spectacular sensitivity, but also driving

Publications

Parametrically driven pure-Kerr dissipative solitons in a chip-integrated microcavity

March 14, 2024

Author(s)

Gregory Moille, Miriam Leonhardt, David Paligora, Nicolas Englebert, Francois Leo, Julien Fatome, Kartik Srinivasan, Miro Erkintalo

The discovery that externally-driven nonlinear optical resonators can sustain ultrashort pulses cor- responding to coherent optical frequency combs has enabled

A 64-pixel mid-infrared single-photon imager based on superconducting nanowire detectors

January 25, 2024

Author(s)

Benedikt Hampel, Richard Mirin, Sae Woo Nam, Varun Verma

A large-format mid-infrared single-photon imager with very low dark count rates would enable a broad range of applications in fields like astronomy and

Threshold and Laser Conversion in Nanostructured-Resonator Parametric Oscillators

January 10, 2024

Author(s)

Haixin Liu, Grant Brodnik, Jizhao Zang, David Carlson, Jennifer Black, Scott Papp

We explore optical parametric oscillation (OPO) in nanophotonic resonators, enabling arbitrary, nonlinear phase matching and nearly lossless control of energy

Kerr-induced synchronization of a cavity soliton to an optical reference

December 13, 2023

Author(s)

Gregory Moille, Jordan Stone, Michal J. Chojnacky, Curtis Menyuk, Kartik Srinivasan

The phase-coherent frequency division of a stabilized optical reference laser to the microwave domain is made possible by optical-frequency combs (OFCs). OFC

Tools and Instruments

Sample Preparation and Metrology Tools

Read about our sample preparation and metrology tools.

Awards

Kartik Srinivasan Elected OSA Fellow

Kartik Srinivasan of NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) was elected Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA). Dr