Photonics & Imaging

INRS Researchers Design the World’s Fastest UV Camera

Imagine being able to snap a picture of extremely fast events on the order of a picosecond.

Optimal Information About the Invisible

Researcher are finding ways to estimate a target location when light gets deflected by a disordered structure.

Cell Labelling Method from Microscopy Adapted for Use in Whole-Body Imaging

Processes and structures within the body that are normally hidden from the eye can be made visible through medical imaging. Scientists use imaging to investigate...

Algae-Powered Devices Inspired by Bioluminescent Waves

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed soft devices containing algae that glow in the dark when experiencing mechanical stress, such as being squished, stretched, twisted, or bent.

Self-Organizing Lasers Could Lead to New Materials

Researchers from Imperial College London and University College London have demonstrated the first spontaneously self-organizing laser device, which can reconfigure when conditions change.

Alternative Transparent Coating Suitable for Optics with Vacuum Deposition Layer

Researchers have developed a viable dust, water, and ice mitigation optical coating for space flight, aeronautical, and ground applications. The innovation of the LOTUS coating prevents contamination on sensitive surfaces.

Multicolored Light-Emitting Array on a Single Chip

A team of researchers demonstrated the first light-emitting array with 49 different colors on a single chip. This novel optoelectronic device is built on metal-oxide semiconductor capacitors.

New Blue Light Technique Could Enable Advances in Understanding Nanoscale Technologies

With a new microscopy technique that uses blue light to measure electrons in semiconductors and other nanoscale materials, a team of researchers is opening a new realm of possibilities in the study of these critical components, which can help power devices like mobile phones and laptops.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest LED And Holographic Microscope

Researchers have developed the world’s smallest LED. It enables the conversion of existing mobile phone cameras into high-resolution microscopes. Smaller than the wavelength of light, the new LED was used to build the world’s smallest holographic microscope.

Researchers Demonstrate Noise-Free Communication with Structured Light

Researchers have outlined a new optical communication protocol that exploits spatial patterns of light for multi-dimensional encoding in a manner that does not require the patterns to be recognized, thus overcoming the prior limitation of modal distortion in noisy channels.

Laser Attack Blinds Autonomous Vehicles, Deleting Pedestrians and Confusing Cars

Research reveals that expertly timed lasers shined at an approaching LIDAR system can create a blind spot in front of the vehicle.

A New Method to Measure the Motion of Soft Robots

Prompted by conversations regarding soft robotics, a research group has developed a design for a new sensor using 3D electrodes inspired by the folding patterns used in origami, able to measure a strain range of up to three times higher than a typical sensor.

Touchless Switches Provide a Hygienic User Interface Option

Touchless switches are an ideal solution for industries such as food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, medical, and chemicals where sanitary design is important. They are also useful for protecting the well-being of users in everyday commercial applications.

Tiny Implantable Tool for Light-Sheet Imaging of Brain Activity

The tool shows promise for imaging brain activity in 3D with high speed and contrast.

Corkscrew Filter Extracts Liquid from Air Charge

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center in collaboration with IRPI, LLC, have developed a compact inline filter that uses a multi-phase flow method to separate liquid from an incoming air charge. The filter also traps particulate matter and does so without significantly impinging upon flow velocity.

Imaging Space Debris in High Resolution

A team has introduced a new method for taking high-res images of fast-moving and rotating objects in space, such as satellites or debris in low-Earth orbit.

Getting NASA Data to the Ground with Lasers

The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will usher in a new era of laser communications.

Multi-Spectral Imaging Pyrometer

Innovators at NASA Langley Research Center have developed a multi-spectral imaging pyrometer utilizing tunable optics. The system uses a conventional infrared imaging camera as the basis.

Novel Light-Field Sensor for 3D Scene Construction Has Unprecedented Angular Resolution

A research team has developed a 3D imaging sensor that has an extremely high angular resolution — it can distinguish points of an object separated by an angular distance, of as little as 0.0018°. The sensor operates on a unique angle-to-color conversion principle.

NeuWS Camera Overcomes Light Scattering With Full-Motion Video

Engineers have created full-motion video technology that could potentially be used to make cameras that peer through fog, smoke, driving rain, murky water, skin, bone, and other media that reflect scattered light and obscure objects from view.

Transferring Data with Many Colors of Light Simultaneously

Researchers have demonstrated an energy-efficient method for transferring larger quantities of data over the fiber-optic cables that connect the nodes. This new technology improves on previous attempts to transmit multiple signals simultaneously over the same fiber-optic cables.

A First-Of-Its-Kind Integrated Optical Isolator

A team of researchers led by electrical engineer Marko Lončar at SEAS has developed a method for building a highly efficient integrated isolator that’s seamlessly incorporated into an optical chip made of lithium niobate.

Detecting Threats Beyond the Limits of Human, Sensor Sight

A new patented software system can find the curves of motion in streaming video and images from satellites, drones, and far-range security cameras and turn them into signals to find and track moving objects as small as one pixel.

Synthesizing Complex Optical Materials

Researchers have developed a colloidal synthesis method for alkaline earth chalcogenides. This method allows them to control the size of the nanocrystals in the material.

New Microchip Could Monitor Earth’s Climate, Human Health

A team at Delft University of Technology has built a new technology on a microchip by combining two Nobel Prize-winning techniques for the first time. This microchip could measure distances in materials at high precision — e.g., underwater or for medical imaging.

Detecting Porosity Defects in 3D-Printed Metal Parts

A research team has made new discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in industries that rely on strong metal parts, including aerospace.

Assembling Matter in 3D Using Sound Waves for 3D Printing

Researchers have created a new technology to assemble matter in 3D. Their concept uses multiple acoustic holograms to generate pressure fields with which solid particles, gel beads, and even biological cells can be printed.

Training a Quadrotor Drone to Cope with Collisions

Advanced technology plays a vital role in search and rescue operations after natural disasters such as earthquakes. Thermal imaging equipment and sensitive listening devices are deployed to seek out signs of life.