A Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

Researchers have developed standards and calibrations for optical microscopes that allow quantum dots to be aligned with the center of a photonic component to within an error of 10 to 20 nanometers (about one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper). Such alignment is critical for chip-scale devices that employ the radiation emitted by quantum dots to store and transmit quantum information. Read on to learn more.

James Webb Space Telescope Enters New Era of Universal Infrared Imaging in Cycle 1

It began full scientific operations July 11, following six months of instrumentation cool-down, calibration, and other commissioning activities.

Calibration System for Automated Fiber Placement

The system creates accurate defect standards for in-situ inspection systems.

Multispectral Imaging, Detection, and Active Reflectance (MiDAR)

This is a novel remote sensing instrument with myriad applications.

A Near-Perfect Blackbody Calibration Target

This rapid and cost-effective technique yields a uniform etched surface with 99.5 percent emissivity.

Embedded Fiber Optic Sensors (EFOS)

Current laser interferometry pressure pulse detection techniques use the shock-induced change in index of refraction to track detonation and/or shock fronts in a single fiber optic by reflecting laser light...

Calibration Method Improves Scientific Research Performed with Smartphone Cameras

Although smartphones and other consumer cameras are increasingly used for scientific applications, it's difficult to compare and combine data from different...

Inside Story: S. Himmelstein and Company

S. Himmelstein and Company (Hoffman Estates, IL) has been designing and manufacturing torque measurement transducers and instrumentation since 1960. The company’s products offer significant advantages...

Acoustic Beamforming Array Using Feedback-Controlled Microphones for Tuning and Self-Matching of Frequency Response

NASA's Langley Research Center, in collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU), has developed a microphone array that...

Non-Invasive Diabetes Monitoring Patch

An effective, non-invasive way of monitoring blood glucose could help both diabetics and those at risk of developing diabetes make the right choices to either manage the disease well, or reduce their risk...

Learn to Trust Your Infrared Camera

It's tough to trust measurements from instruments when you don't have a clear understanding of how their sensitivity and accuracy are derived, and many times infrared cameras fall in this category. In...

3D Vision Made Easy

Whether it is the industrial smart robot in the age of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), using three-dimensional data to orient itself in its working space, the reverse vending machine counting empty bottles in...

Optical Monitoring System Enables Greater Accuracy In Thin-Film Coatings

The challenges in achieving greater accuracy in optical thin-film coatings, both historically and in today's coating processes, are many and deserve our scrutiny. The...

App Enables Smartphone Camera to Screen for Pancreatic Cancer

The five-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer is one of the worst — 9 percent — in part because there are no obvious symptoms or non-invasive screening tools to catch a tumor...

How to Test Devices Used in Optical Communications Systems

As signal rates approach 50 Gb/s, bandwidth demand has outpaced conventional circuit boards. Engineers are now turning to PAM4 signaling rather than conventional NRZ as the most viable...

Reducing Inaccuracies in Force/Haptic Feedback Systems

Researchers at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed a new technology to reduce inaccuracies in force/haptic feedback devices and systems. Used at NASA in aircraft...

Chip-Based Power Measurement Sensor

Phone signals spend at least some time traveling over fiber-optic cables. To ensure that the information gets where it needs to go, and to help researchers find better ways to ferry this information around,...

In-Situ Load System for Calibrating and Validating Aerodynamic Properties of Scaled Aircraft in Ground-Based Aerospace Testing Applications

The in-situ load system (ILS) provides the ground-testing community with a comprehensive tool that...

Reducing Inaccuracies in Force/Haptic Feedback Systems

Researchers at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed a new technology to reduce inaccuracies in force/haptic feedback devices and systems. Used at NASA in aircraft...

Photogrammetry System and Method for Determining Relative Motion Between Two Bodies

NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a novel method to calculate the relative position and orientation between two rigid objects using a simplified...

In-Flight Pitot-Static Calibration

NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a new method for calibrating pitot-static air data systems used in aircraft. Pitot-static systems are pressure-based instruments that measure the aircraft’s...