Imaging

New Products

See the new products, including TRIOPTICS’ ATS alignment turning stations, VIAVI Solutions' expanded fiber optic test solutions portfolio, LumeDEL's fiberoptic collimating lenses, Teledyne FLIR's Neutrino LC OGI optical gas imaging camera module, and IDS' Sony sensor.

Towards More Accurate 3D Object Detection for Robots and Self-Driving Cars

Researchers from Japan have developed DPPFA–Net, an innovative network that overcomes challenges related to occlusion and noise introduced by adverse weather.

Microwave Sensing Technology Enables Versatile Imaging

Microwave sensing and imaging (MSI) technology, which has been in for many years, has now improved to the point that it may usefully supplement or even replace MRI machines and CT scanners in certain applications, including stroke detection and breast cancer detection.

Properly Tolerancing Aspheric Lenses to Balance Cost and Performance

Understanding how to effectively tolerance aspheres is an incredibly useful communication tool to get the most out of your lens. In this article, we will provide some context behind asphere tolerances, exploring the factors that influence cost and performance.

Advancements Make Laser-Based Imaging Simpler and Three-Dimensional

There are times when scientific progress comes in the form of discovering something completely new. Other times, progress boils down to doing something better, faster, or more easily. New research from the lab of Caltech’s Lihong Wang, the Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, is the latter. Read on to learn more.

Treating Liver Cancer with Microrobots Piloted by a Magnetic Field

The idea of injecting microscopic robots into the bloodstream to heal the human body is not new. It’s also not science fiction.

Liquid Crystals Hold the Key to Shapeshifting Robots

Robots and cameras of the future could be made of liquid crystals, thanks to a new discovery that significantly expands the potential of the chemicals already common in computer displays and digital watches. The findings are a simple and inexpensive way to manipulate the molecular properties of liquid crystals with light exposure.

Coherent Establishes 6-inch InP Wafer Fabrication Capability

Coherent has established what the company describes as the "world's first capability for 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer fabrication." The compound semiconductor and...

Researchers Claim Lowest Ever Microwave Noise on a Integrated Photonic Chip

In a new Nature study, Columbia Engineering researchers have built a photonic chip that is able to produce high-quality, ultra-low-noise microwave signals using...

Processing Trillions of Images Per Second

Achieving speed records is not just for athletes. Researchers can also achieve this kind of feat thanks to their discoveries. This is the case of professor at the National Institute of Scientific...

Restoring Sight to Euclid's Visible Instrument System

A newly devised procedure to de-ice Euclid's optics has performed significantly better than hoped. Light coming in to the visible ‘VIS’ instrument from distant stars was gradually...

Using AI to Track Professional Hockey Players

Researchers from the University of Waterloo used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help capture and analyze data from NHL games faster and more accurately than ever before; the work has big implications for the business of sports.

Using AI to Identify Poison Ivy

To find poison ivy before it finds you, University of Florida scientists published a new study in which they use artificial intelligence (AI) to confirm that an app can identify poison ivy.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: 2Pi Optics' high-resolution fisheye sensor based on optical metalens technology.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including igus' two- and four-hole fixed flange bearings; FixtureBuilder 3D fixture-modelling software from Renishaw; XENON Corporation's X-1100/2x Pulsed Light Research System; Rad Source NDT's NDT 1000 X-ray Inspection System; and more.

Amateur Drone Videos Could Aid Natural Disaster Damage Assessment

By using artificial intelligence, researchers are developing a system that can automatically identify buildings after disasters and make an initial determination of whether they are damaged and how serious that damage might be.

NASA’s Ruggedized Video Camera Ready for Earth

A ruggedized video camera designed to withstand the shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures of space is now ready for extreme conditions on Earth.

Highest-Resolution Single-Photon Superconducting Camera

The NIST camera is made up of grids of ultrathin electrical wires, cooled to near absolute zero, in which current moves with no resistance until a wire is struck by a photon. In these superconducting-nanowire cameras, the energy imparted by even a single photon can be detected because it shuts down the superconductivity at a particular location (pixel) on the grid. Combining all the locations and intensities of all the photons makes up an image.

High-Brightness Source of Coherent Light Spanning from the UV to THz

An international team of researchers reports on a compact high-brightness mid-IR-driven source combining a gas-filled anti-resonant-ring photonic crystal fiber with a novel nonlinear-crystal. The tabletop source provides a seven-octave coherent spectrum from 340 nm–40,000 nm with spectral brightness 2–5 orders of magnitude higher than one of the brightest synchrotron facilities.

Metasurfaces Control Polarized Light at Will

Researchers at SEAS have uncovered hidden potential in metasurfaces and demonstrated optical devices that manipulate light’s polarization state with an unprecedented degree of control. Read on to learn more.

Terahertz Energy Focused by Credit Card-Sized Device to Generate High-Resolution Images

Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision. This opens the door to high-resolution, real-time imaging devices that are hundredths the size of other radar systems and more robust than other optical systems.

AI-Powered Self-Driving Microscopy Technique

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed an autonomous, or self-driving, microscopy technique. It uses AI to selectively target points of interest for scanning. Read on to learn more.

Expanding Copernicus’s Earth Observation Program With Hyperspectral Imaging

Last June, the European Commission and the European Space Agency awarded Kuva Space a €5M commercial contract to be the sole provider of hyperspectral data...

Photonics West 2024: 5 New Technologies on Display This Year

The largest optics and trade show in North America, SPIE Photonics West 2024, is just a few days away from its annual collection of exhibitions, conferences and courses at San...

How Much Do You Know About Machine Vision?

How much do you know about MV (an industry that is projected to be worth $18.4 billion by 2028)? Find out with this quiz.

5Ws of the Eye-Safe Laser

There is an urgent need for new technologies to improve the timeliness of traumatic brain injury diagnosis. Researchers from the University of Birmingham have a laser-based solution.

Designing Optics for Lunar Rovers, Satellites and Other Space-Based Applications

The year 2024 will be full of new satellite manufacturing, launches and operations, with major players like Amazon expected to start full-scale deployment of Project Kuiper and strong demand for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites driving development and launches from the likes of SpaceX and Telesat among others.