Ghost imaging, based on single-pixel detection and multiple pattern illumination, is a crucial investigative tool in difficult-to-access wavelength regions. In the terahertz domain, where high-resolution imagers are mostly unavailable, ghost imaging is an optimal approach to embed the temporal dimension, creating a “hyperspectral” imager. In this framework, high resolution is mostly out of reach. Hence, it is particularly critical to developing practical approaches for microscopy. Here we experimentally demonstrate time-resolved nonlinear ghost imaging, a technique based on near-field, optical-to-terahertz nonlinear conversion and detection of illumination patterns. We show how space–time coupling affects near-field time-domain imaging, and we develop a complete methodology that overcomes fundamental systematic reconstruction issues. Our theoretical-experimental platform enables high-fidelity subwavelength imaging and carries relaxed constraints on the nonlinear generation crystal thickness. Our work establishes a rigorous framework to reconstruct hyperspectral images of complex samples inaccessible through standard fixed-time methods.

We present a new framework to study the time variation of fundamental constants in a model-independent way. Model independence implies more free parameters than assumed in previous studies. Using data from atomic clocks based on⁸⁷Sr,¹⁷¹Yb⁺and¹³³Cs, we set bounds on parameters controlling the variation of the fine-structure constant,α, and the electron-to-proton mass ratio,µ. We consider variations on timescales ranging from a minute to almost a day. In addition, we use our results to derive some of the tightest limits to date on the parameter space of models of ultralight dark matter and axion-like particles.

Terahertz (THz) imaging is a rapidly emerging field, thanks to many potential applications in diagnostics, manufacturing, medicine and material characterisation. However, the relatively coarse resolution stemming from the large wavelength limits the deployment of THz imaging in micro- and nano-technologies, keeping its potential benefits out-of-reach in many practical scenarios and devices. In this context, single-pixel techniques are a promising alternative to imaging arrays, in particular when targeting subwavelength resolutions. In this work, we discuss the key advantages and practical challenges in the implementation of time-resolved nonlinear ghost imaging (TIMING), an imaging technique combining nonlinear THz generation with time-resolved time-domain spectroscopy detection. We numerically demonstrate the high-resolution reconstruction of semi-transparent samples, and we show how the Walsh–Hadamard reconstruction scheme can be optimised to significantly reduce the reconstruction time. We also discuss how, in sharp contrast with traditional intensity-based ghost imaging, the field detection at the heart of TIMING enables high-fidelity image reconstruction via low numerical-aperture detection. Even more striking—and to the best of our knowledge, an issue never tackled before—the general concept of “resolution” of the imaging system as the “smallest feature discernible” appears to be not well suited to describing the fidelity limits of nonlinear ghost-imaging systems. Our results suggest that the drop in reconstruction accuracy stemming from non-ideal detection conditions is complex and not driven by the attenuation of high-frequency spatial components (i.e., blurring) as in standard imaging. On the technological side, we further show how achieving efficient optical-to-terahertz conversion in extremely short propagation lengths is crucial regarding imaging performance, and we propose low-bandgap semiconductors as a practical framework to obtain THz emission from quasi-2D structures, i.e., structure in which the interaction occurs on a deeply subwavelength scale. Our results establish a comprehensive theoretical and experimental framework for the development of a new generation of terahertz hyperspectral imaging devices.

A full evaluation of the uncertainty budget for the ytterbium ion optical clock at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) was performed on the electric octupole (E3) 2 S 1 / 2 → 2 F 7 / 2 transition. The total systematic frequency shift was measured with a fractional standard systematic uncertainty of 2.2 × 10 − 18 . Furthermore, the absolute frequency of the E3 transition of the ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ion was measured between 2019 and 2023 via a link to International Atomic Time (TAI) and against the local caesium fountain NPL-CsF2. The absolute frequencies were measured with fractional standard uncertainties between 3.7 × 10 − 16 and 1.1 × 10 − 15 , and all were in agreement with the 2021 BIPM recommended frequency.

The interest in surface terahertz emitters lies in their extremely thin active region, typically hundreds of atomic layers, and the agile surface scalability. The ultimate limit in the achievable emission is determined by the saturation of the several different mechanisms concurring to the THz frequency conversion. Although there is a very prolific debate about the contribution of each process, surface optical rectification has been highlighted as the dominant process at high excitation, but the effective limits in the conversion are largely unknown. The current state of the art suggests that in field-induced optical rectification a maximum limit of the emission may exist and it is ruled by the photocarrier induced neutralisation of the medium's surface field. This would represent the most important impediment to the application of surface optical rectification in high-energy THz emitters. We experimentally unveil novel physical insights in the THz conversion at high excitation energies mediated by the ultrafast surface optical rectification process. The main finding is that the expected total saturation of the Terahertz emission vs pump energy does not actually occur. At high energy, the surface field region contracts towards the surface. We argue that this mechanism weakens the main saturation process, re-establishing a clearly observable quadratic dependence between the emitted THz energy and the excitation. This is relevant in enabling access to intense generation at high fluences.

Optical clocks provide ultraprecise frequency references that are vital for international metrology as well as for tests of fundamental physics. To investigate the level of agreement between different clocks, we simultaneously measured the frequency ratios between ten optical clocks in six different countries, using fiber and satellite links. This is the largest coordinated comparison to date, from which we present a subset of 38 optical frequency ratios and an evaluation of the correlations between them. Four ratios were measured directly for the first time to our knowledge, while others had significantly lower uncertainties than previously achieved, supporting the advance toward a redefinition of the second and the use of optical standards for international time scales.