Photonics/​Optics

On-Chip Spectral Imaging for Earth Observation

Today, companies are building small satellite constellations with tens to hundreds of units, far exceeding the scale of traditional space operations. Read on to learn more.

Large Format Windows: From Material to Mission

Defense applications, in particular, are always tasked with the balancing act that optimizes size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) efficiencies when specifying new equipment. The challenge is how to balance beneficial trade-offs for optimal performance. Read on to learn more.

How Double-Sided Polishing Can Revolutionize Optical Manufacturing

In optical manufacturing, precision polishing is vital to achieving the required flatness, surface quality, and angular precision that many applications demand. Traditionally, single-sided polishing has been the go-to method, particularly for complex components where one-sided control is critical. Read on to learn more about double-sided polishing.

Top 5 Tech Briefs Quizzes of 2024

Learn which of our quizzes were the most popular this year. Read on to find out which five quizzes topped our 2024 list.

Enabling High-Capacity Space Communication

Researchers have achieved data rates as high as 424Gbit/s across a 53-km turbulent free-space optical link using plasmonic modulators — devices that uses special light waves called surface plasmon polaritons to control and change optical signals. The new research lays the groundwork for high-speed optical communication links that transmit data over open air or space. Read on to learn more.

Nanoscale Device Points the Way to Future Wireless Communication Channels

In a paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team of Caltech engineers reports building a metasurface patterned with miniscule tunable antennas capable of reflecting an incoming beam of optical light to create many sidebands, or channels, of different optical frequencies. Read on to learn more.

Can a Breakthrough in Photonic Time Crystals Change How We Use and Control Light?

An international research team has for the first time designed realistic photonic time crystals – exotic materials that exponentially amplify light. The...

Self-Propelled Nanorobots

The “nanoswimmers” could be used to remediate contaminated soil, improve water filtration, or even deliver drugs to targeted areas of the body.

Coating Hides Temperature Change from Infrared Cameras

If the outside of clothing or a vehicle were covered with the coating, an infrared camera would have a harder time distinguishing what is underneath. Read on to learn what this means.

Aerospace & Defense Finalist: Laser-Generated Anti-Icing and Anti-Fogging Transparent Materials

AlchLight has invented and pioneered a non-coating laser surface processing (LSP) technology that turns regular transparent materials such as glass and polymers superhydrophobic. It's the Aerospace & Defense Finalist. Read on to learn more.

New Upgrade Will Supercharge Atomic Vision of the World’s Most Powerful X-Ray Laser

The Department of Energy has given the green light for construction to begin on a high-energy upgrade that will further boost the performance of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Read on to learn more about it.

Can Optical Component Manufacturers Design Better Devices With AI?

Opto Generative Pretrained Transformer (OptoGPT), a decoder-only transformer, developed by University of Michigan engineers, harnesses the computer architecture underpinning ChatGPT to work backward from desired optical properties to the material structure that can provide them. Read on to learn more.

Product Showcase

See what's in the product showcase, including VSD’s innovative SV-2000 Flex; Keysight Technologies' N7718C Optical Reference Transmitter; MKS Instruments' Newport™ TLS260B Tunable Light Sources; Analog Modules' Picosecond Pulsed Seed Laser Diode Driver, Model 766A; and more.

Why Honda Wants FMCW LiDAR in Next Generation Mobility

Photonics & Imaging Technology caught up with Dr. Mehdi Asghari, SiLC Technologies CEO, to discuss their approach to designing and manufacturing FMCW LiDAR technology. Read on for the entire interview.

New Computer Vision-Based System Monitors Seasonal Dynamics of Tropical Water

Researchers have developed a new way to map water on land in the tropics. Called the UC Berkeley Random Walk Algorithm WaterMask, this advanced monitoring technology uses L-band microwaves from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System to “see” water hidden beneath visual barriers, like tree canopies and clouds. Read on to learn more.

New Technology Uses Light to Engrave Erasable 3D Images

Imagine if physicians could capture 3D projections of medical scans, suspending them inside an acrylic cube to create a hand-held reproduction of a patient’s heart, brain, kidneys, or other organs. Then, when the visit is done, a quick blast of heat erases the projection, and the cube is ready for the next scan. A new report by researchers at Dartmouth and Southern Methodist University outlines a technical breakthrough that could enable such scenarios, and others, with widespread utility. Read on to learn more.

An OLED for Compact, Lightweight Night Vision

A new type of organic light emitting diode (OLED) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to University of Michigan researchers. Read on to learn more.

Seeing Like a Butterfly: Optical Invention Enhances Camera Capabilities

Butterflies can see more of the world than humans, including more colors and the field oscillation direction, or polarization, of light. Other species, like the mantis shrimp, can sense an even wider spectrum of light, as well as the circular polarization, or spinning states, of light waves. Inspired by these abilities in the animal kingdom, researchers have developed an ultrathin optical element known as a metasurface, which can attach to a conventional camera and encode the spectral and polarization data of images captured in a snapshot or video through tiny, antenna-like nano-structures that tailor light properties.

New Ultrafast Imaging Technique Provides Insight into Combustion Processes

A team of scientists has developed an ultrafast imaging technique, called femtosecond laser sheet-compressed ultrafast photography, that can compile videos of incredibly transient details. Read on to learn more about it.

3 Imaging Technologies that Will Catch Your Eye

Watch this video to learn more about three new imaging technologies, including one on a new scientific technique that could significantly improve the reference frames for GPS navigation services. One on off-road autonomous driving tools with a focus on stealth for the military and agility for space and agriculture clients, and one on a novel approach for creating high-performance, ultrafast lasers on nanophotonic chips.

Tech Focus: Lumafield Announces Groundbreaking Ultra-Fast X-Ray CT Technology

At the Battery Show this week, Lumafield announced the launch of its Ultra-Fast Computed Tomography (CT) technology, a groundbreaking advancement in manufacturing...

Is that a Smartphone or Microscope in Your Pocket? It's Both!

Researchers have demonstrated that their smartphone-based digital holographic microscope can capture, reconstruct, and display holograms in almost real time.

New High-Performance Ultrafast Lasers That Fit on a Fingertip

In a newly published paper in the journal Science, researcher Qiushi Guo demonstrated a novel approach for creating high-performance, ultrafast lasers on nanophotonic chips. His work centers on miniaturizing mode-lock lasers. Read on to learn more.

Unique Nanodisk Holds Major Potential for Future of Photonic Research

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have for the first time succeeded in combining two major research fields in photonics by creating a nanoobject with...

This OLED Device is Thinner Than a Human Hair

A new type of OLED (organic light emitting diode) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to...

A New Optical Counterfeit Detection Method for Computer Chips

Researchers in Purdue University’s College of Engineering have developed a patent-pending optical counterfeit detection method for chips used in semiconductor devices.