Laser & Photonics Reviews

Researchers break a fundamental rule to create a new concept: heat that can be directed and “programmed”. In most materials, heat absorption and heat emission are linked, meaning a surface that absorbs thermal radiation well from a particular direction will also emit it in the same way. A team from OMU in Japan has designed a reconfigurable device that breaks this symmetry, enabling heat to be absorbed and emitted differently depending on the direction of absorption. This technology could eventually lead to smarter thermal-management systems and infrared sensors.

Researchers from Osaka University, The University of Adelaide, and the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology have invented a compact, ultra-broadband (de)multiplexer that efficiently separates and combines terahertz waves around 300 GHz with orthogonal polarizations, similar to polarized sunglasses. This breakthrough can double the data transmission rate, advancing 6G communications toward 1 Terabit/s.