Light Fields Mapped Microscopically

Researchers at Seoul National University said they have, for the first time, mapped the orientation of light fields on a microscopic scale, United Press International (UPI) reported recently.

PhD candidate Kwang Geol Lee's team built a microscope that captures the direction of the electric field on a nanometer scale. They claim that before their mapping, most optical probes measured the strength of the light field but not the direction.

"The research offers a new way of seeing light and how it behaves near miniscule objects. It could be used in designing miniature optical components, or lead to new biosensors," they reported in Nature Photonics.