Stories
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Deformable mirrors of a proposed type would be equipped with relatively-large-stroke microscopic piezoelectric actuators that would be used to maintain their reflective surfaces in precise shapes....
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A class of lightweight, deployable, thin-shell, curved mirrors with built-in precise-shape-control actuators is being developed for high-resolution scientific imaging. This technology incorporates a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Planar two-dimensional arrays of thermopiles intended for use as thermal-imaging detectors are to be fabricated by a process that includes surface micromachining. These thermopile arrays are...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Many imaging applications in the near-infrared (NIR) region of the spectrum require sensors that see beyond the traditional charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor’s spectral range. A standard uncoated CCD detector...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Custom Software for Infrared Camera Image Acquisition and Control
Infrared cameras based on hybrid focal-plane array sensors are unlike consumer video products such as camcorders. They are complicated imaging devices that output very large amounts of digital image data at high speeds, require multiple levels of camera control, and produce imagery...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical-Quality Thin Polymer Membranes
A method of fabricating both curved and flat thin polymer membranes of optical quality has been developed. The method was originally intended to enable the fabrication of lightweight membrane imaging and interferometric optics, possibly with apertures multiple meters wide, for use in scientific instruments...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Brushlike arrays of carbon nanotubes embedded in microstrip waveguides provide highly efficient (high-Q) mechanical resonators that will enable ultra-miniature radio-frequency (RF)...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Electromechanical resonators of a proposed type would comprise single carbon nanotubes suspended between electrodes (see Figure 1). Depending on the nanotube length, diameter, and...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
The adoption of reduced cladding thickness fibers by the telecom industry has greatly increased over the last year. In fact, almost every specialty fiber manufacturer has launched products aimed at the small form factor...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Pulsed-Source Interferometry in Acoustic Imaging
A combination of pulsed-source interferometry and acoustic diffraction has been proposed for use in imaging subsurface microscopic defects and other features in such diverse objects as integrated-circuit chips, specimens of materials, and mechanical parts. A specimen to be inspected by this technique...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Live/Dead Bacterial Spore Assay Using DPA-Triggered Tb Luminescence
A method of measuring the fraction of bacterial spores in a sample that remain viable exploits DPA-triggered luminescence of Tb3+ and is based partly on the same principles as those described in the immediately preceding article. Unlike prior methods for performing such live/dead...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic apparatus has been invented as a noninvasive means of measuring the concentration of glucose in the human body. The apparatus performs polarimetric and interferometric...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic system has been developed for measuring heights, above a floor, of designated points on a large object. In the original application for which the system was conceived,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A method of detecting bacterial spores incorporates
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Miniature, relatively inexpensive microbioanalytical systems ("laboratory-on-a-chip" devices) have been proposed for the detection of hazardous microbes and toxic chemicals. Each system...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that operates in the frequency range from 77.5 to 83.5 GHz has been constructed in the form of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) that includes...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Two monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) have been designed and built to function together as a source of electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of 120 GHz. One of the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Distributing Digital Signals to Multiple Destinations
Digital signal fanout is a very common requirement in testing, experimentation, and systems integration. Unlike radio frequency signals, high-speed digital signals cannot be simply split or "teed" off to multiple destinations. Even with a matched-impedance splitter, the resulting amplitude loss...
Briefs: Materials
Efforts are under way to develop a special class of thin-shell curved mirrors for high-resolution imaging in visible and infrared light in a variety of terrestrial or extraterrestrial...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Laser Ranging Simulation Program
Laser Ranging Simulation Program (LRSP) is a computer program that predicts selected aspects of the performances of a laser altimeter or other laser ranging or remote-sensing systems and is especially applicable to a laser-based system used to map terrain from a distance of several kilometers. Designed to run in a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Theodolite With CCD Camera for Safe Measurement of Laser-Beam Pointing
The simple addition of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera to a theodolite makes it safe to measure the pointing direction of a laser beam. The present state of the art requires this to be a custom addition because theodolites are manufactured without CCD cameras as standard or...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic system distributes a reference signal of low noise and highly stabilized phase and frequency (100 MHz) from an atomic frequency standard to a remote facility at a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An improved method of calibration has been devised for instruments that utilize tunable lasers to measure the absorption spectra of atmospheric gases in order to determine the relative...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The figure is a simplified cross section of a microscopic optical switch that was partially developed at the time of reporting the information for this article. In a fully developed version,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A simple, easy-to-use optoelectronic tool projects scale marks that become incorporated into photographic images (including film and electronic images). The sizes of objects depicted...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A proposed method based on the use of a special-purpose diffractive optical element (DOE) would simplify (relative to prior methods) the alignment of three off-axis mirrors that constitute an...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A ladar-based system now undergoing development is intended to enable an autonomous mobile robot in an outdoor environment to avoid moving toward trees, large rocks, and other obstacles...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
InAs quantum-dot lasers that feature distributed feedback and lateral evanescent-wave coupling have been demonstrated in operation at a wavelength of 1.3 µm. These lasers are prototypes...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Two techniques have been proposed to increase the efficiency of coupling of light from lasers to Cassegrain telescopes and, in general, telescopes with secondary or tertiary mirror...
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