Researchers have fabricated a silicon optical antenna that is somewhat like an extremely small, special kind of prism. This is because when a red light shines on the optical antenna, the light turns right, but when the light is another colour such as orange, it turns left. This unusual property, which is called "bidirectional colour scattering," enables the optical antenna to function effectively as a passive wavelength router for visible light.

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a new type of material with nanoscale pores. Bioscience engineers from KU Leuven have developed an alternative method that produces these materials in the form of very thin films, so that they can easily be used for high-tech applications such as microchips. The study was published in Nature Materials.