Photonics/​Optics

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Low-Bandwidth Radar Technology Provides Improved Detection of Objects

Radar technologies were originally designed to identify and track airborne military targets. Today, they're more often used to detect motor vehicles, weather formations,...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Embedded Fiber Optic Sensors (EFOS)

Current laser interferometry pressure pulse detection techniques use the shock-induced change in index of refraction to track detonation and/or shock fronts in a single fiber optic by reflecting laser...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Free-Space Fiber Optic Laser Rod

This approach removes the limitation on peak power densities that exists for fiber lasers.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Photonic Switch Increases Speed and Efficiency of Light Through Optical Fibers

This optical switch controls the direction of light passing through optical fibers faster and more efficiently.

Briefs: Energy

Photovoltaic-Powered Sensors

RFID-based devices work in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions and could transmit data for years before they need to be replaced.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Method Speeds 3D Printing of Millimeter-Sized Imaging Lenses

The method could impact optical imaging, vision correction, and disease diagnosis.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Optically Fixable Shape Memory Polymers

These polymers can combine thermal and optically fixable shape memory.

Briefs: Aerospace

MMOD Impact Detection and Location

This system uses fiber optic strain sensing to detect and locate micrometeoroid/orbital debris.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Aerogel-Fiber Layered Laminate System

This multifunctional hybrid laminate composite can be used for residential and commercial construction.

Q&A: Electronics & Computers

Q&A: Refrigeration by Twisting Fibers

Changing directions of twist and coiling changes whether a material cools or heats.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Adaptive Spatial Resolution Enables Focused Fiber Optic Sensing

This innovation dynamically provides fast signal processing and precision measurement.

Articles: Aerospace

Products of Tomorrow: December 2019

Products include an aerosol scattering sensor; metal foam; and a new coated drug capsule.

INSIDER: Nanotechnology

New Metasurface Design Can Control Optical Fields in Three Dimensions

A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As...

INSIDER Product: Imaging

New Products: November 2019 Photonics & Imaging Insider

Test Equipment

The LDTC LAB series instruments from Wavelength Electronics (Bozeman, MT) combine low noise, high-end digital control laser diode driver technology with an...

INSIDER: Imaging

Exposing Cathodes to Light Decreases Charge Time in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have reported a new mechanism to speed up the charging of lithium-ion batteries...

INSIDER: Imaging

DESI Points 5,000 Robotic ‘Eyes’ at the Sky to Explore Dark Energy

A new instrument mounted on a telescope in Arizona aimed its robotic array of 5,000 fiber-optic “eyes” at the night sky on Oct. 22 to capture the first images...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Method Produces Three-Dimensional, Curved Electronics

Contact lenses that can monitor the wearer’s health and correct eyesight use embedded electronics. These, and other curved devices such as solar cells and electronics, could be...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Form-Fitting Nanoscale Sensors

A method was developed to make atom-flat sensors that seamlessly integrate with devices to report on what they perceive. Electronically active 2D materials, touted for their strength, are difficult to move to...

Application Briefs: Data Acquisition

Quantitative Analysis of Raw Milk Using Spectral Sensors

Measuring milk components has become very crucial for the dairy industry.

Application Briefs: Aerospace

A Vision-Based Lunar Navigator for Next-Generation Landers

Learn about the Draper Multi-Environment Navigator.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Researchers Turn off Backscattering, Aim to Improve Optical Data Transmission

Engineers at the University of Illinois have found a way to redirect misfit light waves to reduce energy loss during optical data transmission. In a study,...

Products: Electronics & Computers

New Products: November 2019 Photonics & Imaging Technology

LIDAR Systems, Smart Cameras, Optical Communications, and more.

Articles: Test & Measurement

Expanding Traditional Machine Vision With High-Speed Digital Imaging

Machine vision systems shed light on processes too small or too fast to see with the human eye.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Bringing Precision Anamorphic Micro-Optics to Consumer-Level Laser Applications

Laser illumination is scaling in a new direction.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Tiny Lensless Endoscope Captures 3D Images of Objects Smaller Than a Cell

Researchers have developed a new self-calibrating endoscope that produces 3D images of objects smaller than a single cell without a lens or any optical, electrical, or...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Shaping Light with a Smartlens

High quality camera performance on mobile devices has proven to be one of the features that most end-users aim for. The importance of optical image quality improvement and the trend to have thinner and thinner...