OPTOmism to focus on ‘green’ photonics
Laser Focus World (Nashua, NH) and the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA; Washington, D.C.), a not-for-profit association that serves as the nexus for vision, transformation, and growth of the photonics and optoelectronics industry, will cosponsor a new conference and exhibition, OPTOmism: Photonics for the Green Revolution, to be held in Santa Clara, CA, May 18–20, 2009. From highly efficient solid-state lighting to clean manufacturing using laser processing, and from new low-power display and communications technologies to photovoltaic energy generation, the conference will focus on photonics solutions that enable greater efficiency, smaller carbon footprints, and promote economic growth. For more information, see www.optomismshow.com.
IMEC and Aixtron partner on gallium nitride
Nanotechnology research company IMEC (Leuven, Belgium), and metal-organic chemical-vapor-deposition equipment company Aixtron (Aachen, Germany), demonstrated the growth of high-quality and uniform aluminum gallium nitride/gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) heterostructures on 200 mm silicon wafers—a milestone toward fabricating low-cost GaN devices for high-efficiency systems beyond the limits of silicon. The layers show good crystalline quality, and excellent morphology and uniformity.
SPIE retires regional chapters
In several press releases from SPIE (Bellingham, WA), including “Hong Kong Optical Engineering Society is launched” and “Photonics Society of Poland is launched,” SPIE announced that its former chapters are becoming independent entities. The decision dates back to 2005 when a board of directors task force developed the SPIE Global Strategy Initiative. “The task force concluded that direct interaction between local professional communities and SPIE would enable more effective support of international interaction than through the Regional Chapters,” said Amy Nelson, public relations manager of SPIE and SPIE Europe.
DARPA honors optics and materials researcher
Sylvain G. Cloutier, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware (Newark, DE), was awarded the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award. Cloutier is one of 39 young faculty members nationwide who have been identified by DARPA as “rising stars” in university microsystems research. The award program, which is administered by DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office and is now in its second year, is designed to seek out ideas from nontenured faculty to identify the next-generation of researchers working in microsystems technology. Cloutier said his work combines optics and materials. “We are looking for new ways to generate laser action onto silicon,” he said. “The goal is to interface high-speed optical links with conventional silicon-based microelectronics, which would dramatically improve on-chip and chip-to-chip data transfer and computing speeds.”
Cross-licensing aids intraocular lenses
Advanced Medical Optics (AMO; Santa Ana, CA) entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement with Alcon (Hünenberg, Switzerland) relating to intraocular lens technology. The patents relate specifically to AMO’s newly-launched Tecnis One-Piece Intraocular Lens. Alcon will make a payment to AMO of $31 million and AMO will make a payment to Alcon of $10 million. AMO says the agreement allows it to provide a full range of advanced refractive technologies and support to help eye-care professionals deliver optimal vision to patients of all ages.
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Also in the news . . .
Edmund Optics(Barrington, NJ) further expanded its global sales coverage by opening of a new office in Rome, Italy, covering southern Europe and the Mediterranean. . . . The U.S. Patent Office awarded U.S. Patent 7,366,382, to Photon (San Jose, CA) for an optical diagnostic device and method used to characterize optics and optical alignment performed in laser printer manufacturing, called the Platen Profiler. . . . Light-shaping diffuser manufacturer Luminit (Torrance, CA) is expanding into a new, larger facility in Torrance sometime near the end of 2008. . . . StingRay Optics (Keene, NH), a provider of standard and custom optical designs and lens assemblies, was awarded a contract to design and deliver an 800 mm focal length f/4.0 catadioptric lens assembly to MIT Lincoln Labs (Lexington, MA) for broadband imaging with large-format focal-plane arrays. . . . The first of five unique lenses—the largest being 1 m in diameter—have shipped from the U.S. to France for polishing to a smoothness level of one millionth of a centimeter; the lenses will be incorporated into a camera at Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile and will be used to map galaxies toward the goals of the Dark Energy Survey (DES; www.darkenergysurvey.org) project.