Quantum Optics: Crystal-Clear Images

by Claude Fabre Nature, 28 Jul 2005 Randomness lies at the root of many quantum effects: in the arrival times of the photons on a detector, for example; or, if the intensity is such that the photons cannot be distinguished individually, in the temporal fluctuations of the current generated in the detector by those photons. In the past two decades, physicists have found ways to tame this 'quantum noise', and to master, at least in some instances, the temporal distribution of photons. Two papers now show that it is also pos-sible to control photons' spatial distribution. Read more