Photonics & Imaging

Photonics/​Optics

Explore the latest technical briefs and product breakthroughs in photonics and optics. Resources include breakthroughs in lasers, laser systems, fiber optics, optical components, and photonics.

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Improving the Optical Quality Factor of the WGM Resonator
Resonators usually are characterized with two partially dependent values: finesse (ℱ) and quality factor (Q). The finesse of an empty Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator is defined solely by the quality of its mirrors and is calculated asℱ = πR1/2/(1 – R).
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Suitably configured whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators have been proposed as delay lines for trains of short light pulses. Until now, it has been common practice to implement...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The ultra-stable beacon source (USBS) provides a laser-beam output with a very low angular jitter and can be used as an absolute angular reference to simulate a beacon in the...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Nematic Cells for Digital Light Deflection
Smectic A (SmA) materials can be used in non-mechanical, digital beam deflectors (DBDs) as fillers for passive birefringent prisms based on decoupled pairs of electrically controlled, liquid crystalline polarization rotators, like twisted nematic (TN) cells and passive deflectors. DBDs are used in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Solar-thermal-radiation concentrators in the form of transmissive diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have been proposed as alternatives to mirror- type solar concentrators now in...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A system that comprises optical and electronic subsystems has been developed as an infrastructure for a spectroradiometer that measures time- dependent spectral radiance of the daylight sky,...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An improved packaging approach has been devised for filling a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber (HC-PCF) with a gas, sealing the HC-PCF to retain the gas, and providing for optical connections and,...
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Blog: Photonics/Optics
Embedded Telescope
Tiny telescopes have long been mounted on glasses to help visually impaired people perform tasks, such as driving. But many potential users have resisted using them due to their appearance, whereby the lens is mounted atop the regular lens or above the frame. Moreover, the magnified view through the telescope is narrow. Now,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This work represents a radical simplification in the design of the optical head needed for high-precision laser ranging applications. The optical head is now a single fiber-optic collimator with...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Miniature incandescent lamps of a special type have been invented to satisfy a need for compact, rapid-response, rugged, broadband, power-efficient, fiber-optic-coupled light sources for...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
NbₓTi₁₋ₓN Superconducting-Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors
Superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) in which NbxTi1–xN (where xerve as the superconducting materials have shown promise as superior alternatives to previously developed SNSPDs in which NbN films serve as the superconducting materials. SNSPDs have potential...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Thermal issues are dominating today’s electronic product design landscape as never before. It is easy to see this in Intel’s move to a multi-core architecture as a methodology to manage...
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Articles: Photonics/Optics
In recent years the explosion in demand for multispectral imaging has coupled with the industry’s insatiable need for weight reduction, there-by greatly increasing the demand for more sophisticated...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A prism window has been devised for use, with an autocollimator, in aligning optical components that are (1) required to be oriented parallel to each other and/or at a specified angle of incidence with respect...
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Hollow-core, periodic bandgap (HCPBG) flexible waveguides have been proposed as a means of low-loss transmission of electromagnetic signals in the frequency range from about 300 GHz to 30 THz. This...
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Blog: Lighting
Microscope Illumination System
Researchers at Auburn University have designed a rechargeable microscope illumination system that can be used by NASA scientists to observe microscopic life in places where there is no electricity. The patent-pending Ilumna 120, which contains a battery pack, condenser, and bulb with a built-in collimator, attaches to...
Products: Photonics/Optics
A new series of low-power, continuous-wave (CW) CO2 lasers from Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) now offers high reliability operation for OEM applications. The new DIAMOND C Series consists of sealed lasers with output powers of 30,...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Mouser Electronics, Inc. (Mansfield, TX) has expanded its C&D Technologies portfolio to include the DMS-30DR series daylight-readable digital panel meters. The DMS-30DR series of large, 0.56-inch high, super-bright red LEDs...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Two new Smart ForceTM LED driver boards from Endicott Research Group (Endicott, NY) provide wide range dimming, wide input voltage, and full brightness. The SFDL Series driver board provides high efficiency power with a...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
The electron multiplication 12-bit CCD camera system from The Cooke Corporation (Romulus, MI) has a resolution of 1004 × 1002 pixels and is suitable for extreme low-light camera applications. The system features...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Hamamatsu Corporation (Bridgewater, NJ) has introduced the C10054 series of compact Intensified CCD (ICCD) cameras for capturing still images or continuous video of high-speed or ultra-low-light phenomena. Key features...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Cicoil (Valencia, CA) has released water-repellent silicone cables that are impervious to immersion, high humidity, fungus, and damp operating environments. Also, extremely dry conditions, low humidity, or salt spray and...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Intevac, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) announced the MicroVistaTM–NIR, a back-thinned CMOS camera optimized for near-infrared imaging with 100% fill factor and proprietary anti-reflection coatings. Applications for the MicroVistaTM-NIR...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
The Jade LR is a high-performance thermal camera from Cedip Infrared Systems (Croissy-Beaubourg, France). The camera provides long-range images from fixed position surveillance applications, including passive observation,...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Labsphere’s (North Sutton, NH) Spectralon® Laser Pump Reflectors offer greater than 99 percent reflectance, beam stability, and uniformity. They have a high level of diffusion efficiency coupled with economical machined...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
The Keyence GV Series Digital CMOS Laser Sensor from Keyence (Woodcliff Lake, NJ) uses a DATUM Algorithm to stably detect targets. The GV is an optical triangulation sensor, and it excels in detecting shiny objects...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
The OVS5WBCR4 Series from OPTEK Technology (New York, NY) is a 0.5W surface mount white LED package with an ultra-low profile of 1.5 mm. This LED package has a 120° viewing angle and water clear lens. The typical luminous flux is...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Prior Scientific (Rockland, MA) introduces the H117LSM ProscanTMII flat top motorized stages designed specifically for Carl Zeiss laser scanning microscopes, specifically the Axiovert 200 and AxioOberver microscopes....
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Bartington Instruments (Oxfordshire, England) offers a new version of software for its Spectramag-6 Data Acquisition system. The Spectramag-6 combines PC-based data storage/display with a separate signal conditioning...
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