Laser Focus World

University of Glasgow scientists create 3D images with single-pixel detector

John Wallace — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:00 GMT

Glasgow, Scotland--A group at the University of Glasgow has created a single-pixel imaging setup that captures 3D images.

Silicon photonics company Kotura to be acquired by Mellanox

Gail Overton — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:44:00 GMT

Sunnyvale, CA and Yokneam, Israel--Optical interconnect solutions company Mellanox announced its intent to acquire privately held Kotura, a developer of silicon photonics optical interconnect technology.

Nanostructures take the color out of thin-film interference between inner interfaces

John Wallace — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:33:00 GMT

Raleigh, NC--Inspired (as are many photonics researchers) by the structure of moth eyes, researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) have developed nanostructures that limit reflection at the interfaces where two thin films meet, suppressing the thin-film interference.

Silicon/CNT substrate from NASA JPL improves photocatalytic hydrogen production

Gail Overton — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:51:00 GMT

Pasadena, CA--NASA JPL is developing a device for hydrogen gas production based on water-splitting redox reactions facilitated by catalysts stacked on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown on silicon substrates.

German VDMA says photonics market grows steadily

Lee Mather — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:57:00 GMT

Munich, Germany--The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) released a new report at LASER World of Photonics 2013 that examines 10 photonics sub-segments in all and analyzes them in detail for the 2005-2011 period. Importantly, it also provides future growth outlook of the sub-segments from now until 2020.

Avago to acquire InP component maker CyOptics for $400M

Gail Overton — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:22:00 GMT

San Jose, CA, Singapore, and Lehigh Valley, PA--Avago announced the execution of a definitive agreement to acquire CyOptics, manufacturer of indium phosphide (InP) component technologies for communications markets.

Sony to commercialize its own form of digital paper

John Wallace — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:47:00 GMT

Tokyo, Japan--Sony has developed a digital-paper device based on electrophoretic technology (the same basic approach as found in the Amazon Kindle reader, whose display is made by E-Ink of Cambridge, MA, the company that first commercialized electrophoretic-display technology).

PETCO: Where the lasers go

Gail Overton — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:52:00 GMT

If you haven't used one of the laser machines in your favorite pet store to engrave an ID tag, definitely give it a try.

HELIOS program develops complete supply chain for integrating photonics with CMOS

John Wallace — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:54:00 GMT

Grenoble, France--The just-completed HELIOS program, which consisted of 20 European institutions and commercial outfits cooperating to create a supply chain in Europe for silicon (Si) photonics on CMOS, has indeed produced the intended complete supply chain, according to CEA-Leti, a member of HELIOS.

Femtosecond lasers to replace trephine drills in cranial bone removal

Gail Overton — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:37:00 GMT

Dresden, Germany--Because a trephine drill can injure the outermost layer of the brain and lead to meningitis, researchers at several Fraunhofer Institutes intend to replace the trephine with a femtosecond laser.

CVI Laser Optics partners with optics distributor Acal BFi

Lee Mather — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:26:00 GMT

Albuquerque, NM--CVI Laser Optics and optical solutions distributor Acal BFi have signed a distributor agreement that covers sales and support of optical components and assemblies in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherland, Switzerland, and the UK.

Zapping rockets with 10 kW

Jeff Hecht — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:33:00 GMT

At first glance, the demonstration of the Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) ground-based laser weapon by Lockheed Martin might sound like just another big aerospace company jumping into high-power solid-state laser systems to defend against rocket, artillery, and mortar attacks.

Doped quantum dots yield amazing dye colors

Gail Overton — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:23:00 GMT

Chicago, IL--UIC researchers have developed a way to introduce precisely four copper "guest" ions into each and every quantum dot to produce spectacular colors.

Plasmonics could lead to paint-on organic photovoltaics

John Wallace — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:11:00 GMT

Buffalo, NY--Qiaoqiang Gan, University at Buffalo assistant professor of electrical engineering, and his team are developing photovoltaic (PV) cells that cost less to manufacture than existing devices.

NAWCAD engineers encode additional info onto laser beam for underwater imaging

John Wallace — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:53:00 GMT

Patuxent River, MD--Two engineers at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Linda Mullen and Alan Laux, have invented a method to encode a laser with a radar signal to improve the performance of underwater imaging systems in murky water.

Solid-state single-photon sources improve with temporal filtering

Gail Overton — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:46:00 GMT

Gaithersburg, MD--An international collaboration led by NIST researchers has demonstrated a temporal filtering approach that improves the performance of triggered single-photon sources based on solid-state quantum emitters.

Invisible photonic pattern could stop counterfeit clothing

Gail Overton — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:03:00 GMT

Gothenburg, Sweden--Chalmers University of Technology has found a way to differentiate between designer clothing and knockoffs: a photonic textile.

PIXELTEQ adds new vice presidents of operations and technology

Gail Overton — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:11:00 GMT

Golden, CO--PIXELTEQ announced the addition of two semiconductor optics veterans to its management team to support its growing portfolio of OEM spectral filters, sensors, and imaging products.

Insect eyes inspire hemispherical digital camera

Gail Overton — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:39:00 GMT

Evanston, IL--An interdisciplinary team led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University has developed a hemispherical digital camera inspired by the complex fly eye.

For storing light in optical resonators, chaos proves superior to order

John Wallace — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:11:00 GMT

Thuwal, Saudi Arabia--In a collaboration led by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), researchers have found that chaos (in other words, a hypersensitivity to initial conditions) can beat order when it comes to light storage in optical resonators.

Tunable deep-UV supercontinuum source launched by NKT Photonics

Gail Overton — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:37:00 GMT

Birkeroed, Denmark--NKT Photonics will demonstrate the world's first tunable deep-UV supercontinuum-powered light source at LASER World of Photonics 2013 in Munich.

DOE report estimates savings for use of LEDs in common lighting applications

John Wallace — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:52:00 GMT

Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report analyzing markets where light-emitting diodes (LEDs) compete with traditional lighting sources (for example, incandescent and fluorescent).

NIST uses laser frequency combs to wirelessly transport ultraprecise time signals

Gail Overton — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:38:00 GMT

Boulder, CO--NIST researchers have transferred ultraprecise time signals through open air by bouncing eye-safe laser pulses off a mirror on a hillside.

Robots need vision

Jeff Hecht — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:12:00 GMT

We may think robotics is all about machines, but attending the IEEE Technologies for Practical Robot Applications (TEPRA) conference on April 22–23, 2013, reminded me that vision and sensing also are crucial.

Photonics21 releases roadmap to photonics research and innovation priorities

Conard Holton — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:56:00 GMT

Brussels, Belgium--At the Photonics21 Annual Meeting the group presented the Photonics Multiannual Strategic Roadmap Towards 2020 – Photonics Driving Economic Growth in Europe to Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission.

LMI Technologies acquires 3D scanning supplier 3D3 solutions

Lee Mather — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:43:00 GMT

Vancouver, BC, Canada--LMI Technologies has acquired 3D scanning solutions supplier 3D3 Solutions, under which the two companies will integrate under the LMI brand.

Fosun Pharma acquires aesthetic laser company Alma Lasers for $240M

Gail Overton — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:47:00 GMT

Hong Kong--Healthcare company Fosun Pharma and its subsidiaries will invest up to $240 million dollars to acquire up to 95.6% share of aesthetic laser company Alma Lasers.

MOSIS teams with imec, Tyndall, and ePIXfab on silicon photonics

Gail Overton — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:37:00 GMT

Leuven, Belgium--IC fabricator MOSIS has teamed with ePIXfab to enable collaboration with imec and the Tyndall National Institute on producing silicon photonics.

Fraunhofer organizes upcoming course on laser technology developments, trends

Lee Mather — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:21:00 GMT

Dresden, Germany--The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS) and the Technical University of Dresden will organize an international summer school, "Trends and New Developments in Laser Technology," to be held August 26-30, 2013.

Edmund Optics names Agnes Huebscher as European marketing director

Lee Mather — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:50:00 GMT

Barrington, NJ--Optical components maker Edmund Optics has appointed Agnes Huebscher as European marketing director—a role in which she will handle all marketing in Europe, including tradeshows, advertising, customer mailings, and e-mail campaigns.

Laser-based airborne asbestos detector developed at University of Hertfordshire

Gail Overton — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:43:00 GMT

Washington, DC--A paper published today in OSA's Optics Express describes the first portable, real-time airborne asbestos detector developed at the University of Hertfordshire.

NONLINEAR OPTICS: NLO waveguide structures advance quantum communications

Wed, 01 May 2013 21:42:00 GMT

Periodically poled nonlinear optic (NLO) crystal waveguides overcome obstacles inherent in bulk NLO devices, generating useful quantum states that support leading-edge quantum-communication technology.

LASER WORLD OF PHOTONICS PREVIEW: A global trade fair and technical congress: LASER World of Photonics

Wed, 01 May 2013 21:36:00 GMT

The place to be in May is Munich, where the industry’s vendors, institutes, and visitors gather to network, see new products and solutions, and learn about the latest trends in photonics technologies and applications.

INTERBAND CASCADE LASERS: ICLs open opportunities for mid-IR sensing

Wed, 01 May 2013 21:33:00 GMT

Singlemode interband-cascade lasers (ICLs) enable spectroscopic absorption measurements throughout the entire 3-6 μm wavelength range while using very little power.

BUSINESS FORUM: 'Culture' isn’t just corporate when it comes to business

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:59:00 GMT

I was recently asked to speak at a Photonics Society of Chinese-Americans (PSC) meeting at OFC on entrepreneurship, how to be successful on the job, and how to get into mainstream America.

PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBES: μPMT is key to high-performance portable devices

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:31:00 GMT

The tiny size of the μPMT enables onsite applications for photosensing instruments that rely on PMTs.

PHOTONIC FRONTIERS: EUV LITHOGRAPHY: EUV lithography has yet to find its way into the fab

Jeff Hecht — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:15:00 GMT

Demonstration of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources delivering tens of watts to wafers is a major milestone, and shipments will begin later this year. But serious challenges remain in reaching the performance needed for mass production of chips.

OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY: OCT advances into clinical applications

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:58:00 GMT

New developments in swept light sources such as VCSELs with long coherence lengths and akinetic swept sources with pure electrical tuning are enabling high-resolution, high-speed, and long-range OCT imaging.

NOVEL USES OF OPTICAL FIBER: PRISM makes hollow-core fibers single-moded

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:21:00 GMT

Hollow-core fibers designed via the "perturbed resonance for improved single modedness" (PRISM) approach rapidly attenuate higher-order modes while allowing the fundamental mode to propagate at low loss.

SPECTROMETERS: Miniature spectrometer designs open new applications potential

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:47:00 GMT

With embedded, onboard microprocessors for rapid spectral manipulation, a USB 3.0 communication port for faster data transfer, and an ultrafast trigger delay to monitor up to 32 channels of data simultaneously, miniature spectrometers have uses in untapped application areas.

Our professional network

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:39:00 GMT

Internationally, many efforts are underway to support innovation and growth in photonics-which in turn promises to help society in so many fundamental ways.

PHOTONICS APPLIED: RENEWABLE ENERGY: Overcapacity stifles solar PV equipment suppliers

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:56:00 GMT

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry continued to grow in 2012, reaching 29 GW of PV demand. However, massive overcapacity and oversupply impacted PV manufacturers (especially thin-film suppliers), with the industry kitted out to supply a 45 GW end market.

MARKET INSIGHTS: Selling overseas-if you are serious about the global photonics market

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:06:00 GMT

In my many years as an entrepreneur in the photonics industry, owners and managers of photonics companies have been asking me if it makes sense for them to consider selling in foreign markets.

Radio-astronomy array images distant Universe and finds . . . laser speckle?

John Wallace — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:27:00 GMT

Astronomers have used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to obtain the most detailed image yet of the ancient Universe -- which looks a lot like laser speckle. Is it? (Hint: no, it's not.)

Exotic EO and LightWorks merge operations to form LightWorks Optical Systems

Gail Overton — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:07:00 GMT

Murrieta and Tustin, CA--II-VI Incorporated subsidiaries Exotic Electro-Optics and LightWorks Optics have merged operations, forming the new company LightWorks Optical Systems.

Open Photonics and Lockheed Martin partner to develop emerging photonics technologies

Gail Overton — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:35:00 GMT

Orlando, FL--Open Photonics has partnered with Fortune 500 Company Lockheed Martin to research and potentially develop emerging photonics-related technologies and innovations.

Jenoptik and Phoenix Contact jointly develop intelligent industrial LED lighting

John Wallace — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:24:00 GMT

Jena and Blomberg, Germany--Jenoptik and Phoenix Contact are cooperating on the development of intelligent LED factory and machine lights; this strategic collaboration between the two companies is based on a long-term development and supply agreement concluded in 2012.

HIGH-DATA-RATE COMMUNICATIONS: Broadband mode-division multiplexing demoed in hollow-core fiber

Jeff Hecht — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:53:00 GMT

Developers of hollow-core fibers announced two important firsts in a March 21, 2013 postdeadline paper at this year’s Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition and National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC 2013).

SUBWAVELENGTH-SIZED LASERS: Electrically pumped nanolaser works at room temperature

John Wallace — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:12:00 GMT

A research team at Arizona State University (ASU) led by Cun-Zheng Ning has created an electrically pumped continuous-wave nanolaser that reliably operates at room temperature.

New director and mission transition at NIF

Conard Holton — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:07:00 GMT

Livermore, CA--Jeffrey Atherton has been named the new director of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, effective May 1. NIF itself is making a transistion to user facility.