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.

Stories

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Microwave signals are ubiquitous in wireless communications but interact too weakly with photons. A technique was developed to fabricate high-performance optical microstructures using lithium niobate, a material with...
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Briefs: Communications
Light is widely used for communications, carrying phone conversations and video signals through fiber optic cables around the world in pulses composed of many photons. Single photons...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Traditionally, electronics are cooled using a heat sink that transfers the heat generated by the electronic system into the air or a liquid coolant. For the heat sink to work, it has to be...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Extreme Environment Displacement Sensors and Systems The Measuring Division of Kaman Precision Products, Inc (Colorado Springs, CO) announces the availability of its Extreme Environment high-precision displacement sensors and...
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Briefs: Wearables
Stretchable electronics, which can be stretched, deformed and wrapped onto nonplanar curved surfaces, have attracted much attraction due to their...
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Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Smart agriculture, also known as precision agriculture, allows farmers to maximize yields using minimal resources such as water, fertilizer, and seeds....
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Articles: Test & Measurement
There are a number of ways to extract data from a production line. In factory automation, sensors are used in work cells to gather data for inspection or to trigger other devices. These sensors fall into...
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INSIDER: Materials
An international team led by a group of Boston College researchers reported that a recently discovered Weyl semimetal delivers the largest intrinsic conversion of light to electricity of any material....
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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
A team of engineers at Tufts University has developed a series of 3D printed metamaterials with unique microwave or optical properties that go beyond what is possible using...
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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) produce incredibly powerful beams of light that enable unprecedented studies of the ultrafast motions of atoms in matter. To interpret...
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INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics
Software for Enhanced Laser Processing Prima Power Laserdyne (Champlin, MN) released of the FASTTRIM™ CAD/CAM software for use with its multi-axis precision laser processing systems. The FASTTRIM all-in-one software enables...
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Application Briefs: Lighting
Gas Monkey Garage (GMG) is arguably America's most recognized hot rod shop. Founded in 2004 by charismatic serial entrepreneur Richard Rawlings, the Dallas, Texas garage is a state-of-the-art restoration and...
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Articles: Imaging
Since Robert Hooke's microscopic observations of cork cells in the 17th century, optical imaging has proven an indispensable technique in elucidating the pathophysiology of diseases. Perhaps the real...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Researchers at the University of Houston have created an inexpensive system that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as dangerous, using a lens made with an...
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Articles: Photonics/Optics
There have been many changes in laser technology over the past 30 years. With each advancement comes new challenges and opportunities. The CO2 laser with 10-micron wavelength was king for many of those years...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A Northwestern University research team has developed tiny optical elements from metal nanoparticles and a polymer that one day could replace traditional refractive...
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Briefs: Lighting
One of the frontiers of medical diagnostics is the race for more sensitive blood tests. The ability to detect extremely rare proteins could make a life-saving difference for many...
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Products: Photonics/Optics
Sony Pregius Sensor FRAMOS (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) now offers the Sony IMX392, a 1/2.3 type of imager with a square 1920 (h) × 1200 (v) active pixel array. The sensor has a pixel size of 3.45μm and is available in both color...
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Articles: Software
Three-dimensional (3D) imaging applications are used in many different industries ranging from industrial pick and place, palletization/depalletization, warehouse, robotics, and metrology to...
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Articles: Photonics/Optics
What Does It Takes to Change the Game? Industrial lasers are integrated into manufacturing and fabrication facilities around the world. Every moment, there is an industrial laser somewhere that is cutting, etching, or...
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Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Fuel economy is a key factor in worldwide energy-consumption. One way to improve fuel economy is using driver feedback to promote efficient habits (eco-driving). Emerging research is looking into...
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Briefs: Medical
A team of bioengineers supported through a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has developed a...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
New adversarial techniques developed by engineers at Southwest Research Institute can make objects “invisible” to image detection systems that use deep-learning algorithms. These techniques...
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Briefs: Nanotechnology
Anyone who skis, wears glasses, uses a camera, or drives a car is familiar with the problem: Coming into a humid environment from the cold causes eyewear, camera lenses, or windshields to quickly...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Existing techniques for creating nano-structures are limited in what they can accomplish. Etching patterns onto a surface with light can produce 2D nano-structures but doesn’t work for 3D structures. It...
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Articles: Medical
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 innovation.
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NASA Spinoff: Lighting Technology
Rocket engine testing requires a lot of light since all tests are filmed with high-speed cameras to monitor performance; however, those cameras have to adjust to the bright plume from a firing...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Most 3D printers, including light-based techniques, build up 3D objects layer by layer. This leads to a “stair-step” effect along the edges. They also have difficulties creating flexible...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Researchers have constructed a “metamirror” device capable of perfectly reflecting sound waves in any direction. The proof-of-principle demonstration is analogous to looking directly...
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