Photonics/​Optics

Access our comprehensive library of technical briefs on photonics and optics, from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories.

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Metallized Capillaries as Probes for Raman Spectroscopy

A class of miniature probes has been proposed to supplant the fiber-optic probes used heretofore in some Raman and fluorescence spectroscopic systems. A probe according to the proposal would include a capillary tube coated with metal on its inside to make it reflective. A microlens would be...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

According to a proposal, basic x-ray lithography would be extended to incorporate a technique, called "inverse tomography," that would enable the fabrication of microscopic...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Learning algorithms for machine vision are essential for many of the applications that require inspection and guidance. These algorithms typically require some type of learning...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Photovoltaic arrays of the rainbow type, equipped with light-concentrator and spectral-beam-splitter optics, have been investigated in a continuing effort to develop lightweight, high-efficiency...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A method for correcting the aim of a beam-waveguide microwave antenna compensates for the beam aberration that occurs during radio tracking of a target that has a component of...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Deformable mirrors of a proposed type would be equipped with relatively-large-stroke microscopic piezoelectric actuators that would be used to maintain their reflective surfaces in precise...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A class of lightweight, deployable, thin-shell, curved mirrors with built-in precise-shape-control actuators is being developed for high-resolution scientific imaging. This technology incorporates a...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Planar two-dimensional arrays of thermopiles intended for use as thermal-imaging detectors are to be fabricated by a process that includes surface micromachining. These thermopile arrays...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Custom Software for Infrared Camera Image Acquisition and Control

Infrared cameras based on hybrid focal-plane array sensors are unlike consumer video products such as camcorders. They are complicated imaging devices that output very large amounts of digital image data at high speeds, require multiple levels of camera control, and produce...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical-Quality Thin Polymer Membranes

A method of fabricating both curved and flat thin polymer membranes of optical quality has been developed. The method was originally intended to enable the fabrication of lightweight membrane imaging and interferometric optics, possibly with apertures multiple meters wide, for use in scientific instruments...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Brushlike arrays of carbon nanotubes embedded in microstrip waveguides provide highly efficient (high-Q) mechanical resonators that will enable ultra-miniature radio-frequency (RF)...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Electromechanical resonators of a proposed type would comprise single carbon nanotubes suspended between electrodes (see Figure 1). Depending on the nanotube length, diameter, and...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Pulsed-Source Interferometry in Acoustic Imaging

A combination of pulsed-source interferometry and acoustic diffraction has been proposed for use in imaging subsurface microscopic defects and other features in such diverse objects as integrated-circuit chips, specimens of materials, and mechanical parts. A specimen to be inspected by this...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Live/Dead Bacterial Spore Assay Using DPA-Triggered Tb Luminescence

A method of measuring the fraction of bacterial spores in a sample that remain viable exploits DPA-triggered luminescence of Tb3+ and is based partly on the same principles as those described in the immediately preceding article. Unlike prior methods for performing...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

An optoelectronic apparatus has been invented as a noninvasive means of measuring the concentration of glucose in the human body. The apparatus performs polarimetric and interferometric...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

An optoelectronic system has been developed for measuring heights, above a floor, of designated points on a large object. In the original application for which the system was...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Miniature, relatively inexpensive microbioanalytical systems ("laboratory-on-a-chip" devices) have been proposed for the detection of hazardous microbes and toxic chemicals. Each...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that operates in the frequency range from 77.5 to 83.5 GHz has been constructed in the form of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) that...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Two monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) have been designed and built to function together as a source of electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of 120 GHz. One of the...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Distributing Digital Signals to Multiple Destinations

Digital signal fanout is a very common requirement in testing, experimentation, and systems integration. Unlike radio frequency signals, high-speed digital signals cannot be simply split or "teed" off to multiple destinations. Even with a matched-impedance splitter, the resulting amplitude...

Briefs: Materials

Efforts are under way to develop a special class of thin-shell curved mirrors for high-resolution imaging in visible and infrared light in a variety of terrestrial or...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Fiber-Optic Ammonia Sensors

Reversible, colorimetric fiber-optic sensors are undergoing development for use in measuring concentrations of ammonia in air at levels relevant to human health [0 to 50 parts per million (ppm)]. A sensor of this type includes an optical fiber that has been modified by replacing a portion of its cladding with a...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Laser Ranging Simulation Program

Laser Ranging Simulation Program (LRSP) is a computer program that predicts selected aspects of the performances of a laser altimeter or other laser ranging or remote-sensing systems and is especially applicable to a laser-based system used to map terrain from a distance of several kilometers. Designed to run in...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Theodolite With CCD Camera for Safe Measurement of Laser-Beam Pointing

The simple addition of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera to a theodolite makes it safe to measure the pointing direction of a laser beam. The present state of the art requires this to be a custom addition because theodolites are manufactured without CCD cameras as standard...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

An optoelectronic system distributes a reference signal of low noise and highly stabilized phase and frequency (100 MHz) from an atomic frequency standard to a remote facility at a...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

An improved method of calibration has been devised for instruments that utilize tunable lasers to measure the absorption spectra of atmospheric gases in order to determine the relative...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The figure is a simplified cross section of a microscopic optical switch that was partially developed at the time of reporting the information for this article. In a fully developed...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A simple, easy-to-use optoelectronic tool projects scale marks that become incorporated into photographic images (including film and electronic images). The sizes of objects...

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