Browse Technologies

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Vanderbilt University researchers have developed groundbreaking photonic technology that can manipulate light in unprecedented ways, opening up new opportunities for high-speed, high-capacity data transmission. By rotating a dielectric bar within a photonic crystal unit cell, and arraying these unit cells along one direction to form an optical waveguide, the researchers create a new hybrid longitudinally and transverse polarized guided mode in which, for the first time, a longitudinally polarized field component in an optical waveguide supports net energy transport. The new hybrid guided mode leads to the formation of a new type of photonic bandgap and topological protection that can enable highly directional propagation with minimal back reflection.

Liver transplantation is the only cure for end-stage liver disease, but donor organ scarcity limits access for millions. Split liver transplantation could help bridge this gap, but the regeneration of partial organs is critical to broadlyimplementing this approach. Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a growth factor that promotes liver growth that could be used to improve patient outcomes and increase accessibility to liver transplantation.

Optical tweezers have been used to study microscopic biological materials, but their application on the nanoscale has thus far been limited by technical constraints. To enable their use on the nanoscale, researchers at Vanderbilt have developed an optical trapping platform for targeting these nanoscale materials without destroying the sample.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed an eyeglass-compatible liquid lens that changes shape and focal depth on-demand. The wearer can adjust it to rapidly match 99% of focus corrections (-6D to +10D) by modulating a minute voltage provided by the small, built-in battery. The user can also adjust the lens' neutral, zero-voltage shape/focus in a matter of minutes. By tracking eye vergence, these lenses can even automatically change focus based on the distance of the wearer's viewing target.