2000

2000 — Optical Frequency Comb Technique developed

John Hall & Theodor Hansch

Optical Frequency Comb Technique research, which is a precise way to measure frequency. Advances in ultrafast lasers make this technique the most accurate way to measure high frequencies known at this time.

2000 — Nobel prize in physics awarded for developing semiconductor hetereostructures

Zhores I. Alferov and Herbert Kroemer

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for basic work on information and communication technology," that is, "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics."

2001 — Nobel Prize in Physics awarded "for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms

Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, Wolfgang Ketterie

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for the early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates." Bose Einstein condensates were realized in 1995.

2001 — Developed the first pill sized endoscopic capsul with a camera.

Given Imaging

Developed the first pill sized endoscopic capsul with a camera.

2001 — Concept of an optical clock demonstrated

Concept of an optical clock demonstrated, with the use of an optical frequency comb. Optical clocks are expected to be 100 times more accurate than today's atomic clocks.

2002 — Terahertz pioneering contributions to free-space terahertz optics.

Terahertz pioneering contributions to free-space terahertz optics. Terahertz waves are in the far infrared band and have frequencies between 0.3 and 3 trillion Hz.

2002 — Stop and store light in vapor

Researchers at Harvard

Stop and store light in vapor

2002 — Stop and store light in a solid material

Researchers at MIT

Stop and store light in a solid material

2003 — “Slow” and “fast” light created in an'alexandrite crystal at room temperature for the first time.

Team at the University of Rochester

“Slow” and “fast” light created in an'alexandrite crystal at room temperature for the first time. Light travels in vacuum at 300 million meters per second, but in this crystal it was slowed to 91 metres per second, and a laser pulse was sped up to go faster than the speed of light, seeming to leave the crystal before it entered it.

2003 — The highest resolution optical image to date produced.

Lukas Novotny from the University of Rochester and colleagues from Portland State University and the University of Harvard

2003 — Optical camouflage system developed.

Japenese Scientists

2004 — Photocurable nanoimprint lithography can produce features 7 nm wide with a pitch of only 14 nm

Photocurable nanoimprint lithography can produce features 7 nm wide with a pitch of only 14 nm. This can be in the process of creating components on circuit boards.

2005 — Nobel Prize in Physics for Optics

Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall, Theodor W. Hansch

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique developed in 2000.

2005 — Development of a liquid-crystal lens with a focal length that is adjusted by applying voltage.

Optics researchers in Canada

Liquid-crystal lens with a focal length that can be adjusted by applying a voltage. The lens, which is flat, could have applications in mobile phones, laser cavities and surveillance equipment.

2005 — Discovery of a second Wigner Delay.

Albert Le Floch and colleagues at the University of Rennes in France

Measured for the first time the length of time that light spends outside a piece of glass when it undergoes total internal reflection, which is called a Wigner delay.

2005 — Scientists at EPFL in Switzerland devised a clever way to control the speed at which pulses travel along an optical fibre

Scientists at EPFL in Switzerland

Devise a clever way to control the speed at which pulses travel along an optical fibre.

2005 — Fabricates a high-powere laser diode bar that emits a record-breaking 454 W of continuous-wave infrared (940 nm) light.

Jenoptik Laserdiode, Germany

Fabricates a high-powere laser diode bar that emits a record-breaking 454 W of continuous-wave infrared (940 nm) light.

2005 — Development of an optical superlens that has a resolution of 60 nm.

Xiang Zhang, University of California-Berkeley, & group

Developed an optical superlens that has a resolution of 60 nm. The best traditional opticla microscopes can do no better than a resolution of 400 nm. This technology may revolutionize the fields of optical imaging, lithography, as well as high density data storage.

2005 — INTEL develops a chip containing eight continuous Rama lasers using fairly standard silicon processors.

INTEL

Created a chip containing eight continuous Raman lasers by using fairly standard silicon processes rather than the somewhat expensive materials and processes required for making lasers today.

2005 — First adjustable lens realized.

2005 Optics researchers in Canada

First adjustable lens realized. The first such lens was described in Appl Optics in 1984 by Steven Kowel and colleagues.