Photonics

3D Imaging the Biolocomotion of Fruit Flies

The last thing you probably do when a fly buzzes toward you is marvel at its graceful wing and body kinematics. But that’s exactly what researchers at Cornell University’s Itai Cohen Group do...

Properly Designing and Specifying Aspheric Lenses

Aspheric lenses greatly improve the performance and efficiency of a wide range of optical applications.

High-Efficiency Laser for Silicon Chips

Applications include optical data transfer, infrared and night-vision systems, environmental sensors, and breath analysis for medical diagnosis.

Defects Enable High-Performance Infrared Photodetectors

A highly sensitive, CMOS-compatible, broadband photodetector was created by tailoring material defects.

Space Station Garden Shines Light on Earth-Based Horticulture

NASA’s LED lighting system enables food and other crops to be grown indoors in places like skyscrapers.

Sussex Researchers Combine Lasers, Computers & THz Waves to Build Camera That Sees ‘Unseen’ Details

The nonlinear camera captures high-resolution images of the interior of solid objects using terahertz (THz) radiation.

Bats Inspire Detectors to Help Prevent Oil and Gas Pipe Leaks

Engineers have developed a new scanning technique inspired by the natural world that can detect corroding metals in oil and gas pipelines.

Moving Precision Communication, Metrology, Quantum Applications from Lab to Chip

A team is exploring new materials for telecommunications and LIDAR applications.

New Graphene-Based Metasurface Capable of Independent Amplitude and Phase Control of Light

Researchers described a new strategy of designing metamolecules.

Tackling Aircraft Laser Strikes from the Ground

To reduce the increasing frequency of attacks, the ground-based Laser Aircraft Strike Suppression Optical System (LASSOS) has been developed by researchers from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Using Lasers in the Automotive Manufacturing Industry

Ever since Henry Ford introduced the first moving production line to the industry in 1913, automotive manufacturers have been constantly striving to streamline their processes,...

The Configurable Laser — A Universal Manufacturing Tool

Laser technology will remain at the forefront of tomorrow’s digital manufacturing processes.

Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

Here's what you'll need to know when you’re choosing an encoder for a motion control system.

Using Sound and Light for Ultrafast Data Transfer

This method could lead to the transmission of data at the rate of 100 gigabits per second.

Seeing Around Corners to Detect Object Shapes

Special light sources and sensors see around corners or through gauzy filters, enabling reconstruction of the shapes of unseen objects.

Products of Tomorrow

A wildfire-preventing gel; NASA's 3D tissue models, and more.

New Technology for Pathogen Detection is Driven by Lasers

Researchers at Purdue University have been working to develop new technologies to help stop the spread of foodborne illnesses, which kill 3,000 people a year, by detecting them more...

Using Light to Put a Twist on Electrons

Some molecules, including most of the ones in living organisms, have shapes that can exist in two different mirror-image versions. The right- and left-handed versions can sometimes have different...

New Products

Final Vision Inspection (FVI) SystemCyberOptics® Corporation (Minneapolis, MN) has launched the Multi-Reflection Suppression™ (MRS™)-enabled 3D MX3000 Final Vision Inspection (FVI) system for memory modules. The launch extends...

Simple Retrofit Transforms Electron Microscopes into High-Speed Atom-Scale Cameras

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators have developed a way to retrofit the transmission electron...

New Products

Perovskites Goodfellow (Coraopolis, PA) recently announced a new range of perovskites, a group of materials that demonstrate great potential for optoelectronic applications. Perovskites have a unique and versatile crystal...

Spectral Sensitivity Curves of Cameras

Different line scan prism manufacturers might compare two possible curves in their advertising and argue that the steeper flanks should enable better color reproduction with greater selectivity.

Challenges for Lidar Software

Anand Gopalan, CEO of Velodyne Lidar, Inc., discusses lidar software for ADAS and autonomous vehicles

Fiber Lasers for Powertrain Welding Applications

Altering the traditional intensity distribution of fiber lasers improves weld quality.

Shortwave Infrared Cameras for High-Temperature Manufacturing and R&D Processes

There are longwave, midwave, and shortwave camera systems—each with its own advantages for specific industries and uses.

Researchers Generate Terahertz Laser with Laughing Gas

In the middle ground between microwaves and visible light lies terahertz radiation, and the promise of “Tray vision.”

New on the Market: March 2020

Thermal cameras, testing software, an ion air knife, and more.

Remote, Noninvasive Cardiac Activity Tracer (RENCAT)

This vibrometer has uses in analyzing spasms in humans, as a breath analyzer for diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, and as a preventative healthcare sensor.