Photonics/​Optics

INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics

New Products: November 2020 Photonics & Imaging Insider

Spectrophotometer for a Microscope

CRAIC Technologies (San Dimas, CA) has introduced the 508 PV™ UV-visible-NIR spectrophotometer for your microscope. The 508 Perfect...

INSIDER: Imaging

Navy Researchers Evaluate Ultraviolet Sources to Combat COVID-19

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researchers evaluated commercial ultraviolet (UV) sources for viral disinfection to combat COVID-19 on land and at sea and established a...

INSIDER: Energy

Turning Streetwear into Solar Concentrators

Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich succeeded in developing a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities...

Articles: Semiconductors & ICs

Megapixel Photon-Counting Camera Technology

See what kinds of applications are possible when you can literally see light propagating through space.

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Material Advances for LED Quantum Dot Efficiency

Creating next-generation LEDs for novel efforts like COVID-19 decontamination requires LED manufacturers to reevaluate the materials that they’re using.

Briefs: Materials

Ambient Light Alters Refraction in 2D Material

See how tantalum disulfide is supporting new kinds of optics, and potentially new kinds of application for VR and self-driving cars.

Briefs: AR/AI

“Alexa, Go to The Kitchen and Fetch Me a Snack”

MIT engineers are envisioning robots more like home helpers.

Articles: Photonics/Optics

Overcoming Pitfalls When Measuring Thin, Parallel Optics

A "TPSI" process makes it possible to distinguish between the front and back of optical surfaces, and to characterize the quality of both in a single measurement.

Application Briefs: Test & Measurement

Measuring Layer Thickness Using a Microscope

With Nikon's Layer Thickness software module, comprehensive information about a specimen is obtained more quickly than if an operator is making all the measurements by hand.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Recovering Data: NIST’s Neural Network Model Finds Small Objects in Dense Images

A NIST method employs a neural network to detect patterns like geometric objects in imaging data.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Imaging Technology Could Improve Cancer Surgery

Cancer treatment could be dramatically improved by precisely locating the edges of tumors during surgery to remove them.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Electricity-Free Radiative Cooling System

The system is effective in urban environments where there are tall buildings on all sides.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Solid-State Sensor for Detection and Characterization of Electric Fields

The sensor enables detection of items for security screening, intrusion detection, forensics, and medical imaging.

Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Giant Telescope Construction Viewed Through an Industrial Lens

Once installed at Las Campanas Observatory in the Chilean Andes, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will introduce incredible opportunities for astrophysics.

Blog: Photonics/Optics

A Spider-Inspired Design Paves Way for Better Photodetectors

Purdue University innovators are taking cues from the spider to develop 3D photodetectors for biomedical imaging.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Hybrid Material is an Efficient Photodetector

A metal-organic framework does not contain cost-intensive raw materials and can be produced in bulk.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Optical Neural Network Recognizes Objects Instantly

This technology can work with multiple wavelengths of light simultaneously.

Briefs: Imaging

Mass-Producible, Centimeter-Scale Metalens

Applications include low-light conditions such as on orbital satellites and VR applications where the lens needs to be larger than a pupil.

Briefs: Materials

Quantum Switch Turns Metals into Insulators

This approach could engineer quantum materials atom-by-atom for new electronic, magnetic, and sensing applications.

Q&A: Lighting

Q&A: NanoLED Architecture Overcomes Efficiency Droop

A nanoLED has up to 1,000 times the brightness of conventional submicron-sized LEDs.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Wavy Surfaces for Better Light Control

This method could impact optical technologies such as smartphone cameras, biosensors, or autonomous vision for robots and self-driving cars.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Laser Spark Distribution and Ignition System

Traditional spark plugs are replaced by an optical pumping source.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Combined Optical Transmitter and Receiver

The tiny unit is significant for the miniaturization of optoelectronic systems.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Measuring Optical Null Lens Aberrations

This method can be used in astronomy, surveillance, and optics manufacturing.

Briefs: Materials

Nanocardboard Aircraft with No Moving Parts

Tiny aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly could serve as Martian atmospheric probes.