Polarization-independent liquid-crystal phase modulators

Jan 05, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Liquid-crystal (LC) phase modulators are widely used in optical systems because of their advantages of low power consumption, light weight, flexible bandwidth adjustment, and non-mechanical movements. However, most LC phase modulators are polarization-sensitive, meaning that they affect the phase of light differently depending on its...

Low-cost microscope projection photolithography system for below 100 nm high-resolution fabrication

Jan 05, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Integrated optical signal distributing, processing, and sensing networks require the miniaturization of basic optical elements, such as waveguides, splitters, gratings, and optical switches. To achieve this, fabrication approaches that allow for high-resolution manufacturing are required. Curved elements like bends and ring resonators are especially challenging...

How to capture water from air with metal-organic frameworks

Jan 05, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and Dresden University of Technology (TUD) have unraveled the water adsorption mechanism in certain microporous materials – so-called hierarchical metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – while probing them on the atomic scale. Discovered only about 25 years ago, their special properties...