Photonics & Imaging

Photonics/​Optics

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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.

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Configurable Circuit Technology Poised to Expand Silicon Photonic Applications
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Comb on a Chip Could Revolutionize Clocks, Telescopes, Telecommunications
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
New Products: July 2020 Photonics & Imaging Insider
INSIDER: Communications
Using Sunlight to Save Satellites from Becoming ‘Space Junk’
INSIDER: Energy
Transparent Graphene Electrodes Might Lead to New Generation of Solar Cells
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Top Stories

Blog: Aerospace

Answering Your Questions: How Does the Mars Rover Camera Stay Clean?

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

Guided by Light, A Mini Robot Catches Particles Underwater

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Robotic Gripper Gets a Handle on a Challenging Object: Cables

Videos: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Autonomous Drones Learn Challenging Acrobatics

Podcasts: Materials

Here's an Idea: A Morphing Airplane Wing Built by Tiny Robots

Videos: Medical

4D Printing Progress for Shapeshifting Biomedical Implants and Soft Robots

Latest Briefs & News

White Papers: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Distributed Sensing Beyond Rayleigh Scattering Limits in Single and Multicore Fiber Waveguides

Optical fibers with enhanced scattering properties can provide distributed reflection signals beyond the limits set by Rayleigh scattering in...

White Papers: Photonics/Optics
Understanding Key Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer Specifications

Spectrum analyzers are the fundamental instrument used by RF engineers to measure individual signals across a defined frequency band. They capture and display wanted and unwanted...

White Papers: Photonics/Optics
Board-Level Cameras: The Benefits of a Smaller Design

When too much tech can weigh down a UAV, you need lighter parts. See the kinds of compact board-level cameras being used to support aerial imaging, handheld vision systems, and more.

Blog: Test & Measurement
Answering Your Questions: Will the 2020 Mars Rover Have Back-Up Features?
A reader asks our NASA expert: "What kind of redundancy is built into the Mars 2020 rover?"
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
New High-Speed Microscope Can Capture Brain Neuroactivity
A research team has built a super-high-speed microscope.
Briefs: Imaging
Low-Cost Imaging System Poised to Provide Automatic Mosquito Tracking
A new low-cost imaging system could make it easier to track mosquito species that carry disease, enabling a more timely and targeted response.
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Extended Dynamic Range Camera Imaging
New surveillance sensors are able to perform better than ever under unpredictable and dynamic lighting conditions.
Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics
High Quality Optical Surfaces
Make sure the polished optic meets the requirement of a particular application.
Articles: Motion Control
Optical In-Line VCSEL Testing
In-line testing of certain LEDs, using nanosecond pulses, will become more and more relevant with time-of-flight applications.
Technology Leaders: Nanotechnology
ZERODUR: The Highly Technical Glass-Ceramic
Highly technical glass-ceramic delivers optical precision at nanometer scale.
Products: Photonics/Optics
New Products: July 2020 Photonics & Imaging Technology
High-speed cameras, ultra-stable mounts, automated inspection systems, and more...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Understanding Sensitivity in sCMOS Microscopy Cameras
A new iteration of sCMOS camera technology promises even higher sensitivity than prior designs.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Photonic Microwave Generation Using On-Chip Optical Frequency Combs
Using integrated photonic chips fabricated at EPFL, scientists have demonstrated laser-based microwave generators.
Briefs: Imaging
Unlocking the Gate to the Millisecond CT
A new CT scan method using intense synchrotron radiation produces higher quality images within milliseconds.
Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Beyond LPW: Debunking the Myth that More is Better
There’s been a race to the top among industrial LED lighting manufacturers as they scramble to squeeze the maximum possible lumens per watt (LPW) out of their products.
Briefs: Lighting
A Combined Optical Transmitter and Receiver
Researchers at Linköping University, together with colleagues in China, have developed a tiny unit that is both an optical transmitter and a receiver.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Quantum Computing at Room Temperature
Quantum computer circuits that will no longer need extremely cold temperatures to function could become a reality.
Briefs: Materials
Soft Prosthetic Hand Feels Surroundings via Stretchable Optical Waveguides
Sensors in the hand can actually detect forces being transmitted through the thickness of the robot.
Briefs: Defense
Process for Producing High-Quality, Lightweight Mirrors
The process provides a cost-effective solution for applications in space-based imaging systems, military reconnaissance, and satellite and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Device Modulates Light and Amplifies Tiny Signals
This system can amplify a faint signal from a neighboring system even when that signal’s amplitude is as small as ten trillionths of a meter.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optically Reconfigurable Charge-Transfer Liquid Crystals
These re-writeable materials have applications in data storage and encryption, energy transducers, and optical display technologies.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Carbon Nanostructure is Stronger Than Diamonds
A novel plate-cell architecture reaches the theoretical limit of performance.
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Soft Hardware for More Flexible Robots
Combined muscles and sensors made from soft materials allow for adaptable robots.
Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Seeables and Hearables for Fitness Feedback
Learn abut Bosch Sensortec's “Light Drive” system.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improving Data Speeds with Laser-Activated Magnets
Mini-magnets could enable cloud computing systems to process data up to 100 times faster than current technologies.
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Mars 2020 – Looking for Life
Tech Briefs spoke with NASA’s Ken Williford, Mars 2020 Deputy Project Scientist, to learn more about the science capabilities of Perseverance.
5 Ws: Photonics/Optics
5 Ws of Bacteria-Killing Metal Surfaces
Bacterial pathogens can live on surfaces for days. What if frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs, could instantly kill them off?
Briefs: Imaging
Navigation Measurement Software
This program provides a relative navigation capability for spacecraft, remotely operated terrestrial vehicles, and machine vision.
White Papers: Photonics/Optics
Fiber Optic Rotary Joints Add a Spin to Sensing, Mobile, and Robotic Fiber Systems

To the passing optical signals, fiberoptic rotary joints (FORJs) are nothing more than fiber connectors, which provide connection between one or multiple...

Webcasts

On-Demand Webinars: Test & Measurement

How Shapeable Desiccant Protects Missiles, Cameras, and Guidance Systems

Upcoming Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

Autonomous Bin Picking for Cobots: Is It Finally Here?

Upcoming Webinars: Defense

OpenVPX Technology: The Future of Military Computing

Upcoming Webinars: Lighting

Driving Ahead of the Curve: Visionary Headlamp Concept

Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

The New DIS ISO/SAE 21434: Road Vehicles – Cybersecurity...

Upcoming Webinars: Medical

Conformal Coating Protection of Critical Medical Technologies

Trending Stories

INSIDER: Power

Solid State Batteries With Ten Times More Current Density

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Low-Temperature-Compatible Electronics for a Miniature Nuclear Magnetic...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

MAP- and Laurent-AMP-Based Carrier Synchronization in GMSK

Briefs: Motion Control

Autonomous Boats Automatically Target and Clasp Onto Each Other

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Electrochemical, H2O2-Boosted Catalytic Oxidation System

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Transparent Graphene Electrodes Might Lead to New Generation of Solar Cells

Videos