Photonics/​Optics

Briefs : Photonics/Optics

Polymer Coating Cools Down Buildings

This coating acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint.

Briefs : Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D Printing of Plastics with Electrical Circuits

This innovation could lead to better drones, satellites, and biomedical devices.

Briefs : Robotics, Automation & Control

Multimaterial Fiber “Ink” for 3D-Printed Devices

Filaments with embedded circuitry can be used to print complex shapes for biomedical and robotic devices.

Briefs : Sensors/Data Acquisition

Long-Distance LADAR System and Method

The system provides three-dimensional imagery of potential threats at closer ranges.

Briefs : Photonics/Optics

Underwater Telecom Cables Used as Seismic Network

Fiber-optic cables could help scientists study offshore earthquakes and the geologic structures hidden deep beneath the ocean surface.

Briefs : Semiconductors & ICs

Atoms Can Receive Common Communications Signals

This atom-based receiver has the potential to be smaller and work better in noisy environments than conventional radio receivers.

Briefs : Materials

Welding Ceramics with Lasers

This technology could be used to create smartphones that don't scratch or shatter, metal-free pacemakers, and electronics for space and other harsh environments.

Briefs : Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Intelligent Microrobots

Such machines, only a few tens of micrometers across, could be used in the human body to perform small operations.

Facility Focus : Materials

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Explore Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's first space flight complex.

INSIDER : Photonics/Optics

New Products: January 2020 Photonics & Imaging Insider

SWIR Camera

Princeton Infrared Technologies, Inc. (PIRT) (Monmouth Junction, NJ) will be introducing its new compact MVCam series shortwave-infrared (SWIR) and...

INSIDER : Data Acquisition

Simulated Image Demonstrates Power of Nasa's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp...

INSIDER : Photonics/Optics

Laser Pulse Creates Frequency Doubling in Amorphous Dielectric Material

Researchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don’t normally support them. Using a...

INSIDER : Photonics/Optics

Tests Measure Solar Panel Performance Beyond Established Standards

Photovoltaics used in solar panels are sensitive to environmental factors and often suffer degradation over time. International Electrotechnical Commission standards for...

Briefs : Sensors/Data Acquisition

Laser-Based System Detects Fires Even in Dusty, Harsh Environments

A new laser-based system offers an efficient way to detect fires in challenging environments such as industrial facilities or large construction sites.

Products : Test & Measurement

New Products: January 2020 Photonics & Imaging Technology

Photopolymer films, LED light engines, measurement systems, and more.

Briefs : Sensors/Data Acquisition

Microchip Produces High-Contrast OCT Imagery

For disease diagnosis, a microchip maps the back of the eye.

Articles : Photonics/Optics

SPIE Photonics West 2020 Preview

SPIE Photonics West 2020 returns to The Moscone Center in San Francisco, February 1 through February 6

Briefs : Imaging

Helping Autonomous Vehicles See Around Corners

A system senses tiny changes in shadows on the ground to determine if there’s a moving object coming around the corner.

Briefs : RF & Microwave Electronics

Sandia’s Nanoantennas Help Detectors See More Heat, Less Noise

A nanoantenna-enabled detector boosts the usable signal of a thermal infrared camera by up to three times.

Articles : Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Blue Lasers: Leveraging Fundamental Physics for High Performance

Increased laser capacity has enabled, and will continue to enable, new manufacturing possibilities.

Application Briefs : Materials

Additive Manufacturing of Precision Optics at Micro and Nanoscale

AM is an especially good fit for products that require a high level of customization.

Articles : RF & Microwave Electronics

Virtually Optimizing Metasurface Topology with a Genetic Algorithm

See how software supported the design of an advanced antenna.

Application Briefs : Test & Measurement

NASA’s BITSE Solar Scope

NASA and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) recently tested a new way to see the Sun