In research, sometimes the bumpy path proves to be the best one. By creating tiny, periodic bumps in a miniature racetrack for light, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), a research partnership between the University of Maryland and NIST, have converted near-infrared (NIR) laser light into specific desired wavelengths of visible light with high accuracy and efficiency.

The technique has potential applications in precision timekeeping and quantum information science, which require highly specific wavelengths of visible laser light that cannot always be achieved with diode lasers (devices akin to LED lights) to drive atomic or solid-state systems.

In previous experiments, NIST researchers have used ring microresonators to transform near-infrared laser light into a combination of longer and shorter wavelengths. Credit: S. Kelley/NIST

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