Two ways to improve optical sensing using different resonator techniques
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

(Phys.org)-Two independent teams working on research aimed at improving optical sensing have used techniques that involve coupling two or more modes of light such that their modes and their corresponding frequencies coalesce, resulting in more sensitivity. In the first effort, a team from Washington University in St. Lois and Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, in Germany, connected three traditional sensors for more precise tuning. In the second effort, a team from the University of Central Florida and Michigan Technological University used just one resonator but coupled light traveling in both directions around it. Both teams have published papers describing their efforts and results in the journal Nature. Mikael Rechtsman with the Pennsylvania State University offers a News & Views piece outlining optical sensing techniques and the work done by the two teams in the same journal issue.