Photonics/Optics

Optics

Advanced optics technologies are essential to design engineers developing systems in manufacturing. Here are the latest technical briefs, products, and applications for design engineers working with optics technology.

Stories

Briefs: Test & Measurement

NIST Improves the Ability of Optical Microscopes to Measure the Volume of Microdroplets

For the first time, a team has measured the volume of individual droplets smaller than 100 trillionths of a liter, with an uncertainty of less than 1%.

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

New Device Modulates Visible Light with the Smallest Footprint and Lowest Power Consumption

Columbia researchers are reducing both the size and the power consumption of a visible-spectrum phase modulator, from one millimeter to 10 microns.

Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Measuring Aggressive Launch Loads on Spacecraft

What began as a research tool to collect aerodynamic data from research aircraft is now solving technical challenges for NASA.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Using Magnets to Toggle Nanolasers Leads to Better Photonics

A new control mechanism may prove useful in devices that make use of optical signals.

NASA Spinoff: Photonics/Optics

LED Lighting Beyond Space

NASA’s lighting research gives people on Earth better rest and helps plants grow.

Special Reports: Photonics/Optics

Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - February 2022

How virtual, cloud-based technologies are powering the next industrial revolution...transforming plastic parts into high-value products...designing optics for medical 3D printing. Read these...

Briefs: AR/AI

Photonic Integrated Chip for Improved Light Control

This combination of technologies could enable developments for many optical applications.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Sub-Pixel Spatial Resolution Interferometry

Applications include aircraft-mounted and space-based interferometers, electronics fabrication, and military optics.

Briefs: Energy

Optical Coating Exhibits the Same Color in Reflection and Transmission

Fano Resonance Optical Coatings can both transmit and reflect the same color simultaneously.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Multi-Shot Lensless Camera

The camera could have uses in faster disease diagnosis and thinner cellphones.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Light Helps Autonomous Vehicles Better Scan for Nearby Fast-Moving Objects

Mechanical control and modulation of light on a silicon chip could enhance LiDAR.

Blog: Photonics/Optics

SPIE Photonics West 2022: Reality Versus Virtual Reality

There are some things you just can't do at a virtual trade show. Editor Bruce A. Bennett walks the floor at SPIE Photonics West.

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

The James Webb Space Telescope Successfuly Launches

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched on December 25 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. A joint effort with ESA (European...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Fundamental Particles Modelled in Beam of Light

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have succeeded in creating an experimental model of an elusive kind of fundamental particle called a skyrmion in a beam of light. The breakthrough...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

Testing Sensors in Fog to Make Future Transportation Safer

Self-flying drones and autonomous taxis that can safely operate in fog may sound futuristic, but new research at Sandia National Laboratories’ fog facility is bringing the future...

Question of the Week: Design

Would You Use A.I-Driven Laser Cutters like SensiCut?

Laser cutters are a popular tool for today’s design engineers. Users, however, still face difficulties distinguishing among stockpiles of metals, woods, papers, and plastics.

Application Briefs: Test & Measurement

High-Speed Inspection and Reverse Engineering in 2D and 3D

The Opti-Scan inspection system can measure surfaces and edges in 3D.

Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Manufacturing Large Mirrors

With advanced tech, mirrors can be made with high accuracy.

Articles: Semiconductors & ICs

SPIE Photonics West 2022 Preview

The main Photonics West exhibition opens on Tuesday, January 25.

Products: Imaging

New Products

Fiber laser machinery, polishing pitch, beam collimators, and more.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Metasurfaces Control Polarized Light at Will

Researchers from SEAS have found "hidden potential" in metasurfaces.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Automatic Observation Management System, New Tool to Coordinate Telescope Network

The "AOM" performs complex observations with ten observation modes and 175 strategies.

Briefs: Aerospace

Need for Larger Space Telescope Inspires Lightweight Flexible Holographic Lens

Holographic lenses render visible and infrared starlight into either a focused image or a spectrum.

Briefs: Imaging

Sixth Mirror Casting Brings Giant Magellan Telescope Closer to Completion

At 3 p.m. on March 5, a gigantic furnace slowly started spinning underneath the stands of Arizona Stadium at the University of Arizona. Fire-engine red, massive in size...