Explore the latest technical briefs and product breakthroughs in photonics and optics. Resources include breakthroughs in lasers, laser systems, fiber optics, optical components, and photonics.
On April 14, the 5,000 fiber-optic eyes of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which scientists and students at UC Santa Cruz are key collaborators on, swiveled...
Scientists at Heriot‑Watt University have demonstrated in a world-first, that light can be used to control every aspect of how electromagnetic waves...
Requirements for more accurate processing have turned NIR fiber lasers into a rapidly growing player in all high-power applications, including military, research, and material...
Defense startup unveils autonomous fighter jet…advanced radar boosts Ukrainian air defense…NASA technology powers fire‐fighting drones. Read all about it in this compendium of articles from...
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have optimized and 3D-printed helix structures as optical materials for Terahertz frequencies, a potential way to address a technology gap for next-generation telecommunications, non-destructive evaluation, chemical/biological sensing and more. Read on to learn more.
Pilots, drivers, and automated safety systems in cars and airplanes could be alerted to icy hazards by a pair of sensors developed at the University of Michigan. Read on to learn more about it.
A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data speeds that rival those of physical fiber-optic cables and laying the groundwork for a transition to 6G and FutureG data transmission protocols. Read on to learn more about it.
Early LiDAR sensors, built on legacy mechanical architectures, proved the possibility of 3D perception but struggled to meet the demands of production. As the industry matures, the focus has shifted from simply detecting objects to doing so reliably, at scale, and at a price point suitable for commercial deployment. Read on to learn more.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis recently found that perovskites may enable a new class of light-responsive semiconductor devices. Read on to learn more.
As it orbits the Moon, the Orion spacecraft will carry an optical (laser) communications system developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in collaboration with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Called the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O), the system is capable of higher-bandwidth data transmissions from space compared to traditional radio-frequency (RF) systems. Read on to learn more.
A team of biomedical engineers at Georgia Tech has unveiled a breakthrough in adaptive optics: a bio-mimetic, light-powered soft lens that mimics the human eye’s ability to refocus and adjust to varying light conditions. Read on to learn more.
Astronomers and amateurs alike know the bigger the telescope, the more powerful the imaging capability. To keep the power but streamline one of the bulkier components, a Penn State-led research team created the first ultrathin, compact metalens telescope capable of imaging faraway objects, including the Moon. Read on to learn more.
In a new study, researchers at CU Boulder have used doughnut-shaped beams of light to take detailed images of objects too tiny to view with traditional microscopes. The new technique could help scientists improve the inner workings of a range of “nanoelectronics,” including the miniature semiconductors in computer chips. Read on to learn more.
In a milestone for scalable quantum technologies, scientists from Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern University have reported the world’s first electronic–photonic–quantum system on a chip, according to a study published in Nature Electronics. Read on to learn more about it.
When materials function inside an operating device, they can behave as if they are dancing. This dynamic disorder is difficult to study because the clusters are not only so small and disordered, but they also fluctuate in time. Researchers report that they have developed a new kind of “camera” that can see the local disorder. Read on to learn more about it.
Laser invention to steer the next generation of moon landers…why Mars rovers keep getting stuck in the sand…are nuclear micro reactors the future of spacecraft propulsion? Read all about it in this compendium...
What should engineers consider when choosing a low outgassing adhesive system for their application? The aerospace, electronic, and optical industries often involve environments where...
Caltech scientists have developed a way to guide light on silicon wafers with low signal loss approaching that of optical fiber at visible wavelengths. Read on to learn more about it.
The world’s first automatic and adaptive, dual-mode light-emitting diode (LED)-based optical wireless power transmission system, that operates seamlessly under both dark and bright...
See the products of tomorrow, including a bio-mimetic, light-powered soft lens that mimics the human eye’s ability to refocus and adjust to varying light conditions; a new material for insulating windows that could improve the energy efficiency of buildings worldwide; and more.
A new Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) grating modulator has been developed, offering significant advancements in optical efficiency and scalability for communication systems. By integrating a tunable sinusoidal grating with broadside-constrained continuous ribbons, a large-scale aperture of 30 × 30 mm is achieved and supports high-speed modulation up to 250 kHz. Read on to learn more.
The technique promises immediate impact not only on high-capacity optical communications but also on real-time endoscopic imaging, vibration-tolerant fiber sensors, and any application that demands fast, energyefficient phase retrieval. Read on to learn more.
Harvard research breakthrough could speed development of room‐temperature quantum computers…New generation of ultra‐lightweight, high‐res space cameras takes flight…NASA LiDAR advance gives...
Stanford researchers have developed a flexible material that can quickly change its surface texture and colors, offering potential applications in camouflage, art, robotics, and...
Ultrashort laser pulses — that are shorter than a millionth of a millionth of a second — have transformed fundamental science, engineering and medicine. Despite this, their ultrashort duration...
NVIDIA is bringing Ethernet networking with co-packaged optics to artificial intelligence (AI) factories, enabling scale-out and scale-across on the NVIDIA Rubin platform...
Ongoing use of the laser has broadened the horizon of aerospace and defense capabilities by enabling the warfighter and through additive manufacturing processes that result in...
In a pivotal step toward autonomous lunar exploration, Advanced Navigation has announced the successful completion of the critical terrestrial validation for its LUNA (Laser Measurement Unit for Navigational Aid) sensor. Read on to learn more.
Endoscopic imaging system development requires coordination between various engineering disciplines, especially for optical illumination and imaging engines, particularly when adding fluorescence imaging capabilities. Read on to learn more about it.
