Photonics/​Optics

LEGO-Like Artificial Intelligence Chip

Imagine a more sustainable future, where cellphones, smartwatches, and other wearable devices don’t have to be shelved or discarded for a newer model. Instead, they could be upgraded with the...

Breakthrough Lightweight AR Eyeglasses

With AR eyeglasses, the screen of a mobile device can be transitioned to the lens of a pair of eyeglasses. The problem with that is that even though the technology has been around for a while, the...

Platform for Quantum Technologies Using Gold

Scientists discovered a new platform for quantum technologies by suspending two-dimensional (2D) crystals over pores in a slab of gold. When heated, the metal reflows to form a porous structure...

Shaping Light Enables 2D Microscopes to Capture 4D Data

Super temporal resolution microscopy allows imaging of fluorescent molecules 20 times faster than traditional lab cameras normally allow. A general method has been developed to let a...

Compact Laser Source Detects Pollution

A middle infrared light source can detect greenhouse and other gases as well as molecules in a person’s breath. The compact system, which resembles a tiny suitcase, contains just two parts: a standard...

Optical De-Multiplexing Method for QKD Encryption

Classical laser communication gimbals are coupled to 105um multimodal receiving fibers for the high-power transmission of data, fine pointing, and tracking. These fibers cannot be used in...

Materials for Next-Generation LED-Based Data Communications

Light-emitting diode (LED)-based communications techniques allow computing devices, including cellphones, to communicate with one another using infrared light. However, LED...

Filter Enhances Robot Vision on 6D Pose Estimation

Robots are good at making identical repetitive movements such as a simple task on an assembly line. But they lack the ability to perceive objects as they move through an environment. A...

Products of Tomorrow: June 2022

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

High-Power Terahertz Laser for Sensing and Imaging

A terahertz laser was developed with high constant power, tight beam pattern, and broad electric frequency tuning for a wide range of applications in chemical sensing and imaging. The...

Shaping Light with a Dynamically Tunable Smart Lens

The importance of optical image quality and the trend toward thinner smart-phones have pushed manufacturers to increase the number of cameras in order to provide cellphones with better...

Topological Control Capabilities for 5G Communications

A new research focusing on topological control capabilities in an integrated acoustic-electronic system at technologically relevant frequencies could pave the way for additional research...

A Laser-Based Volumetric Additive Manufacturing Method to 3D Print Glass

Traditional glassmaking techniques can be costly and slow, and 3D printing glass often results in rough textures, making them unsuitable for smooth lenses. Using a new...

Next-Generation High-Performance Lasers

NASA’ Deep Space Network (DSN), a sort of GPS system for space, relies on atomic clocks for extreme accuracy. Any modern navigation system must accurately time radio signals to triangulate a...

Photonic Quantum Computer Made in Germany

Everyone is talking about quantum computers. By interconnecting as many qubits (two-state quantum systems) as possible, massive amounts of data can be processed more easily, quickly and securely...

Sapphire Fiber Could Enable Cleaner Energy and Air-Travel

Researchers at Oxford University have used a sapphire optical fiber – a thread of industrially grown sapphire less than half a millimeter thick – that can withstand...

New Products: May 2022 Photonics & Imaging Insider

CRAIC Technologies (San Dimas, CA) announced that CRAIC Technologies microspectrometers will now feature Windows 11 operating systems in which CRAIC Lambdafire™...

High-Power Laser Being Constructed for New Experimental Facility

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s expertise in developing high-energy lasers is being tapped to provide a key component of a major upgrade to SLAC National...

Ensuring Optical Fiber Alignment

Most optical networks have many fiber couplings and even minor losses at these junctions will produce significant signal losses that cause problems in data transmission. Precise fiber alignment at the optical...

Challenges of Coating Aspheric Lenses

Aspheric lenses let optical system designers improve resolution, reduce the number of lens elements required, and increase system light throughput. Their complex, non-spherical surfaces correct for more...

Manufacturing Wafer-Level Optics Using UV Adhesives and Polymers

Micro-optics and nanostructures are key technologies for the latest optoelectronic components in smartphones, smart glasses and vehicles. Some examples used in consumer...