Credit: Eric Sucar/University of Pennsylvania
FIGURE 1. Li He (left) and Bo Zhen (right) in the lab with their photonic crystal platform that enables guiding light in a forward-only direction around a chip’s defects and bends. Credit: Eric Sucar/University of Pennsylvania
Chips are akin to optical mazes, in which photons can scatter or never reach their destination. But researchers just created a gamechanger “photonic crystal highway” design to...
Credit: D. Antón, J. Mayoral-Valsera, M. D. Simón-Vallejo, R. Parrilla-Giráldez, and M. Cortés-Sánchez, J. Archaeol. Sci., 181, 106330 (Sep. 2025); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106330; Licensed under CC BY 4.0
Smartphone LiDAR 3D textured mesh: Gran Pez panel. Credit: D. Antón, J. Mayoral-Valsera, M. D. Simón-Vallejo, R. Parrilla-Giráldez, and M. Cortés-Sánchez, J. Archaeol. Sci., 181, 106330 (Sep. 2025); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106330; Licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Credit: Alain Herzog/CC BY SA 4.0
FIGURE 1. Christina Beanea-Chelmus, head of EPFL’s Laboratory of Hybrid Photonics, with Yazan Lampert, who holds the team’s lithium niobate chip that generates and detects THz by converting them to and from ultrafast optical signals.
Credit: Daniel Hellweg
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Sponsored
Is Your Healthcare Data Center Built for the Demands of Tomorrow?
Oct. 1, 2025
Courtesy of Avantier Inc
Case Study: Endoscopic Otoscope Lens
Advancing Endoscopic Otoscope Lens Manufacturing in Biomedical Engineering Avantier delivers high-precision medical device machining and assembly solutions tailored ...
Sept. 26, 2025
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High-Precision Infrared Objective Lenses for Analytical Instruments
Project Background Avantier partnered with a leading scientific instrumentation company to design, produce, and supply High-Precision Infrared Objective Lenses. These custom optical...
Sept. 22, 2025
Courtesy of Avantier Inc
Case Study Precision MgF₂ Hyper Spherical Dome for Airborne Optical Systems
Project Background: Large-Aperture Infrared Dome for Airborne Systems A defense industry customer approached us to evaluate the feasibility of producing a large-format infrared...
Sept. 15, 2025

Lasers/Sources

Credit: Prima Power
prima_power
The Giga Laser Next 3D laser cutting machine features a dual-station layout for parallel loading and unloading.
Sept. 28, 2025
Credit: EPIGAP OSA Photonics
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The OCI-460 shortwave-infrared (SWIR) LEDs combine a silicone dome and ceramic package for thermal efficiency.
Sept. 24, 2025
Credit: Alireza Marandi
The team’s experimental setup uses an on-chip optical parametric oscillator (OPO) to generate a frequency comb of laser-like light over a wide range of frequencies. An optical fiber is to the left and a free-space objective is to the right. Credit: Alireza Marandi
Caltech researchers create a nanophotonic optical parametric oscillator (OPO) to enable coherent light sources within photonic integrated circuits (PICs)—from visible to mid-infrared...
Sept. 24, 2025
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Episode 70 of Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast features Ifor Samuel and Andrea Di Falco, professors and researchers at the University of St. Andrews.
Sept. 23, 2025

Optics

Credit: Edmund Optics
edmund_optics
Acktar ultra-black, light-absorbing coatings are available in Metal Velvet and Spectral Black versions.
Sept. 30, 2025
Credit: Lumotive
From warehouse floors to the cloud, Lumotive’s LCM technology bridges the physical and digital worlds through software-defined light.
Optical breakthroughs are powering the next era of autonomy, infrastructure, and AI.
Sept. 26, 2025
Credit: OZ Optics
oz_optics
Fiber-optic coils are used in optical gyroscopes and advanced inertial sensing systems.
Sept. 22, 2025
Credit: Stephan Höck
Professor Andreas Tittl in front of his lab’s optical table. Credit: Stephan Höck
‘Temporal symmetry breaking’ marks a paradigm shift in active photonics. By enabling ultrafast control over light-matter interactions within metasurface resonators, it paves the...
Sept. 15, 2025

Quantum

Credit: Singular Photonics
Singular Photonics’ Andarta sensor.
At University of Edinburgh spinout Singular Photonics, we’re redefining single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) technology by building sensors that integrate computational intelligence...
Sept. 10, 2025
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Episode 65 of Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast features Part Three of our interview with Robin Hawk, CEO of Galxyz LLC.
Aug. 19, 2025
Credit: EPFL
Scanning electron microscope image of the team’s chiral metasurface. Credit: EPFL
Optical metasurfaces can control light by leveraging chirality—difference of a shape from its mirror image or its ‘handedness’—and it can be tuned via polarized light as a simple...
Aug. 13, 2025
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Episode 64 of Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast features Part Two of our interview with Robin Hawk, CEO of Galxyz LLC.
Aug. 12, 2025

Test/Measurement

Credit: Wavelength Electronics
wavelength_electronics
The LD250mTC5 LAB Series temperature control instrument has a 250-mA laser diode current capacity for cumulative current noise of 3 µA.
Sept. 16, 2025
Credit: Qing Hu’s group/MIT
SEM image of a curved double-chirped mirror before gold electroplating (for heat removal). Credit: Qing Hu’s group/MIT
Researchers combine an air-dielectric slab double-chirped mirror (DCM) and quantum cascade laser (QCL) to create a longwave-infrared (LWIR) frequency comb within a compact system...
Sept. 12, 2025
Credit: LongPath Technologies
A Red Pitaya board in LongPath Technologies' field-deployed cabinet.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) can provide adaptability at the hardware level—a blank slate of digital hardware engineers can rewire at will.
Sept. 8, 2025
Credit: TRIOPTICS
trioptics
ImageQuality Hub software provides harmonization and visualization of measurement data for image quality.
Sept. 8, 2025

Detectors/Imaging

Credit: Gamma Scientific
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The NED E-Series GazeCam imaging camera is available as a standalone camera head.
Oct. 2, 2025
Credit: Leica Microsystems
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The ARveo 8x hybrid surgical microscope is designed for neurosurgery, spine, and plastic reconstructive procedures.
Sept. 26, 2025
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Episode 69 of Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast features Jeroen Hoet, cofounder and CEO of eyeo.
Sept. 16, 2025
Credit: Lynred
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The LiSaSWIR shortwave-infrared (SWIR) line-scan camera and sensor is designed for the inspection of silicon wafers, solar panels, and waste management.
Sept. 14, 2025

Executive Forum

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Sept. 9, 2025
ID 60267818 © Oleg Dudko | Dreamstime.com
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Sept. 8, 2025
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Sept. 2, 2025
U.S. Patent application submissions (yearly).
Aug. 14, 2025