UCF Scientists Develop the First Ever Optical Oscilloscope that Measures the Electric Field of Light

A team of scientists from the University of Central Florida has developed the first-ever optical oscilloscope, a unique instrument that will allow researchers to measure light's electric field. The instrument converts the oscillations of light into electrical signals, similar to how hospital monitors convert a person's heartbeat into electrical oscillation.

Dual Nature of Light

Is light, matter, or a wave? This question has puzzled renowned scientists for generations. Now, we know that the answer is both. Light, unlike most objects, are both wave and particle. The duality of light has been the central concept of quantum mechanics since it exhibits both particulate and wave-like characteristics that go against what we know of Newtonian physics.

Because of groundbreaking work by Albert Einstein, Louis de Broglie, and many more, we have established that light exhibits frequency, wavelength, amplitude, and properties of matter, although it can only be observable in micro levels such as atoms, according to ScienceDaily.

First-Ever Optical Oscilloscope

Until now, measuring and reading the electric field of light has challenged scientists because of the high speeds at which light waves seem to oscillate. The most advanced technique used by researchers, which also powers mobile phones and internet communications, can only clock electrical fields up to gigahertz frequencies. Light waves, on the other hand, oscillate at a significantly higher rate which allows a higher density of information to be transmitted.

The current tools for measuring light fields could resolve only an average signal linked with 'puls' of light and not its peaks and valleys. Measuring the peaks and valleys within a single pulse is vital because information can be packed and delivered.

Michael Chini, a Physics Associate Professor who worked on the research of the University of Central Florida, explains that fiber optics communications have taken advantage of the light to make data transfers significantly faster; however, we have still been unable to garner its full potential since the oscilloscope's speed limits us. He adds that the optical oscilloscope developed by the team of UCF increases the speed by a factor of roughly 10,000, reports PhysOrg.

The findings published in the journal Nature Photonics, titled "Single-shot measurement of few-cycle optical waveforms on a chip," demonstrate how the device developed by the team is capable of real-time measurements of electric fields of individual pulses of light in Chini's lab at the university. The next step is to see how far the team can push the speed limits of the optical oscilloscope.

The authors of the study wrote that the measurement of the transient optical fields has been critical in understanding the dynamical mechanism of ultrafast physical and chemical phenomena and is vital in realizing the higher speeds in telecommunications and electronics.

Chini concocted the idea for a single-shot waveform measurement technique and oversaw the team's progress. YangYang Liu, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar, led the experiment efforts and performed most simulations and measurements. Jahn Beetar assisted the measurements of the carrier-envelope phase.