Photonics

Reflectors Made From Membranes Stretched Between Beams

Lightweight cylindrical reflectors of a proposed type would be made from reflective membranes stretched between pairs of identically curved and identically oriented end rails. In each such...

Tool Coil Springs Aid in Hubble Repairs

Canted-Coil™ springs Bal Seal Engineering Foothill Ranch, CA 949-460-2100 www.balseal.com When astronauts embarked on the latest mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, Bal Seal Engineering’s...

Instruments for Imaging From Far to Near

The acronym “CHAMP” (signifying “camera, hand lens, and microscope”) denotes any of several proposed optoelectronic instruments that would be capable of color imaging at working distances that...

Designing Electro-Optical Sensors Using Collaborative Systems Engineering Technology

About 25% of space-borne electro-optical (EO) sensor programs in both the civil and National Security Space (NSS) communities have experienced reduced on-orbit...

Choosing Optics for Medical Lasers

Designers of medical equipment using lasers must be careful in their selection of optical components in order to ensure safe and reliable operation. The high power density and narrow wavelength range of lasers...

VGA Cameras

Basler Vision Technologies (Ahrensburg, Germanay) has introduced four new scout 120gm VGA cameras based on Sony’s ICX618 sensor. The cameras feature a compact 29 mm × 44 mm × 73.7 mm housing and are equipped with a C- or...

Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

ORTEC® (Oak Ridge, TN) offers the trans-SPEC DX-100 hand-held gamma-ray spectroscopic instruments that are suitable for a variety of in situ applications. The trans-SPEC DX-100 features a high-purity Germanium (HPGE)...

Vision Software

Cognex (Natick, MA) has released VisionPro 5.2 hardware-independent vision software that features SearchMaxTM and Color ExtractorTM color tools. SearchMax uses color features to search for objects, and Color Extractor locates...

Photodarkening-Resistant Fibers

nLIGHT (Vancouver, WA) has released highly doped, photodarkening-resistant ytterbium fibers with up to 60% higher absorption at 920nm and pump conversion efficiencies routinely over 75%. The LIEKKITM Yb2000...

UV LEDs

OPTEK Technology (Carrollton, TX) introduces OUE8A ultraviolet LEDs in the UV-A spectrum. OUE8A UV LEDs are offered in a variety of wavelengths and are housed in hermetic TO-46 metal can packages. The UV LEDs are suitable for medical...

Ambient Light Sensor ICs

ROHM Semiconductor (San Diego, CA) releases analog and digital Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) ICs for the control of LED backlighting for LCD-equipped devices. Featuring ROHM’s proprietary trimming process and use of...

Digital Wavefront Analyzing System

DataRay (Boulder Creek, CA) introduces PhaseProTM, a Digital Wavefront Analyzing system that measures intensity and wavefront phase with high resolution in real-time in one shot. PhasePro employs patented data...

LED Color Correction Filters

Abrisa (Santa Paula, CA) has introduced color correction filters for energy-efficient LEDs. The durable LED filters are ideal for interior and architectural lighting design, and can be easily interchanged to achieve...

Marking Laser

The TruMark 3010 marking laser from TRUMPF (Farmington, CT) is suitable for users who need to mark small batches or individual workpieces. The marking laser features user-friendliness, compact size, and low maintenance. Due to a...

Specialty Fibers for Er:YAG Lasers

Infrared Fiber Systems (Silver Spring, MD) produces HPTM Fiber, a Germanium Oxide glass fiber for use with Er:YAG and Er:YSGG lasers. Transmission range is from visible to 3.0 microns, with typical absorption...

Fiber Optic Switches

New fiber optic switches from Leoni (Nurnberg, Germany) offer reproducibility in the range of 0.1%, they can act up to 50 Hz, and they have ed as well. Up to 16 output channels can be provided by cascading switches. All...

High-Speed Nanopositioner

The new Nano-LPQ piezo nanopositioner from Mad City Labs (Madison, WI) is the lowest profile high speed XYZ nanopositioner available and offers 75 × 75 × 50μm travel with picometer position noise under closed loop...

Product of the Month: Short-Pulse Ultrafast Laser

Newport Corporation’s Spectra-Physics® Lasers Division (Mountain View, CA) introduces the Mai Tai SP, the first fully-automated, hands-free 60nm to responding to near transform-limited pulse...

Machine Vision Software

DALSA Corporation (Ontario, Canada) has advanced the color capability of its Sapera Essential software for machine vision applications. The cost-effective machine vision software toolkit bundles board-level acquisition...

DUV Dynamic Interferometer

The FizCam DUV interferometer from 4D Technology (Tucson, AZ) provides accurate measurement of optics and optical systems at 193 nm wavelength (deep ultra-violet), even in the presence of vibration and air turbulence....

Thin Film Measurement Instrument

The Craic Technologies QDI 2010 FilmTM is available from Elliot Scientific (Hertfordshire, UK). The QDI 2010 Film is a specialized instrument developed from the existing QDI 2010 UV-VIS-NIR...

Organic Photovoltaic Technology

Cytec Industries (Woodland Park, NJ) and IMEC (Leuven, Belgium) have collaborated to develop a commercially viable technology for organic photovoltaic devices with enhanced stability and extended lifetime. The...

Light Guide Foils

CoActive Technologies KDM (Newton, MA) has expanded its family of light guide foils to include devices with a thickness of less than 200μm. The light guide foils are designed to evenly distribute light from side-firing LEDs,...

Comparing Emissivity Evaluation Methods for Infrared Sources

Heat transfer is governed by three distinct mechanisms: convection, conduction, and radiation. Unlike convection or conduction, heat transfer through radiation does not occur through...

Product of the Month: Continuous Wave DPSS Ruby Laser

The new CRESCENDO DPSS ruby laser from KLASTECH-Karpushko Laser Technologies GmbH (Dortmund, Germany) is available in 100mW and 150mW versions with plans to increase its power output to...

Custom Light Guide Capabilities

Dolan-Jenner Industries (Boxborough, MA) offers custom light guide capabilities. The fiber optics are high-intensity and feature a cold light that keeps damaging lamp and infrared heat away from samples and the...

High-Speed Video Camera

The HyperVision HPV-2 high-speed video camera from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (Columbia, MD) uses a high-sensitivity IS-CCD image sensor to achieve ultra-fast recording, including newly developed multi-camera...

Laser Diode Driver

The low-noise FL500 Laser Diode Driver from Wavelength Electronics (Bozeman, MT) is compatible with reflow processing less than 250°C. The surface mount chip offers exceptionally low noise laser diode control that can be...

Optical Interconnects

Molex (Lisle, IL) and Polymicro Technologies (Phoenix, AZ), a subsidiary of Molex, have released Molex LumaCoreTM-based interconnects that incorporate Polymicro’s large core, optical fibers. The complete solution...