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  • Volume 53, Issue 11

    • Volume 53, Issue 11

    Michele Gleber 720
    Optics

    Business Forum: Diving into emerging AR/VR markets -- opportunities for optics

    Michele Nichols
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Does augmented reality or virtual reality offer some optics and photonics companies a stronghold?
    FIGURE 1. The first commercial excimer laser was the Lambda Physik EMG 500, which produced a pulse energy of 220 mJ at 248 nm, with a repetition rate up to 20 Hz.
    Lasers & Sources

    Gas Lasers: Excimer lasers -- 40 never looked better

    Nov. 9, 2017
    Despite its middle-aged standing in the laser community, the excimer laser is a high-power source of UV and DUV light with no equal in certain critical applications.
    FIGURE 1. A full-wave finite-element analysis is done of electromagnetic waves that scatter off a metallic sphere. The electric-field variations make it necessary to use a fine mesh throughout the computational domain. As a consequence of the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, each wavelength needs to be resolved with a minimum of two sampling points to avoid aliasing. In practice, this leads to a requirement of at least a handful of finite elements per wavelength in each spatial direction.
    Software

    Wave Optics: Beam-envelope method efficiently analyzes photonic components

    Bjorn Sjodin
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Optics-modeling electromagnetics software beats the Nyquist criterion while saving computation time.
    This in vivo two-photon fluorescence image of a mouse brain depicts calcium-indicating protein that is fluorescent in the green channel, while the light-sensitive ion channel is labeled with the red fluorescent mCherry protein to help identify cells for potential targeting by the stimulation laser; the 100 numbered circles mark selected target neurons.
    Research

    Neuroscience/Optogenetics: All-optical, high-precision functional optogenetics

    Michael Mei
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Once an unattainable concept, cellular-resolution, functionally defined optogenetics has arrived—promising deep insight into the causal relationships between neuronal operations...
    FIGURE 1. Si-activation on displays is a multi-billion-application where microoptics makes a defined thin line out of a high-power excimer laser beam.
    Optics

    Microoptics: Surface functionalization -- How microoptics are changing industrial laser applications

    Nov. 9, 2017
    Laser technology enables surface functionalization that greatly improves material properties and enables new applications, and the laser systems developed for such applications...

    More content from Volume 53, Issue 11

    FIGURE 1. Beam divergence depends on the ratio of the wavelength and aperture diameter of the emitting antenna (radar) or lens (lidar). This ratio is larger for radar producing larger beam divergence and, therefore, smaller angular resolution. In the figure, the radar (black) would not be able to differentiate between the two cars, while lidar (red) would.
    Lasers & Sources

    Lidar: A photonics guide to the autonomous vehicle market

    Slawomir S. Piatek
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Lidar vs. competing sensor technologies (camera, radar, and ultrasonic) reinforces the need for sensor fusion, as well as careful selection of photodetectors, light sources, and...
    (Courtesy of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors)
    FIGURE 1. These unmounted pump laser-diode chips made by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors include high-power quasi-continuous-wave (QCW) bars (top left), low-fill-factor CW bars (top right), high-power CW bars (bottom left), and tailored mini-bars (bottom right).
    Lasers & Sources

    Photonics Products: High-power Laser Diodes: Pump laser diodes deliver high power for leading-edge applications

    John Wallace
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Laser diodes are efficient, narrowband, bright, and long-life, making them the ideal laser-pump source, and can be made to produce extremely high optical powers.
    (Courtesy of NPOI and MROI)
    IARPA is soliciting solutions that miniaturize and reduce cost for the ground-based interferometric detection of geosynchronous earth-orbiting (GEO) satellites. Shown here is the existing Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI; a) and the under-construction Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI; b)—sites that provide the framework for a less-costly, smaller system.
    Test & Measurement

    IARPA Amon-Hen program seeks interferometer to image GEO satellites

    Gail Overton
    Nov. 9, 2017
    The Amon-Hen program targets an interferometer system cost of less than $25 million in a footprint smaller than existing ground-based interferometry sites.
    Spatial and spectral (x × y pixels, and wavenumber, or w, respectively) data in each imaging plane combine to produce a volumetric hyperspectral dataset (z × x, with z equaling the sum of y planes). Unfolding the dataset produces a matrix (D=M × w, with M equaling z × x) useful for spectral unmixing analysis: D is unmixed into two matrices, C and ST, based on the quantity (N) of 'pure' components (in this example, N=4). The C matrix includes relative abundance values for the 'pure' components of each voxel in an M × N grid—in which every column corresponds to a single component. The ST matrix is an N × w grid that includes a 'pure' component spectrum in each row. Each C column provides the spatial data necessary to reconstruct the 3D architecture of every component, by refolding to its original x × y × z; and each voxel includes the reconstructed component's concentration profile. Quantification is enabled by comparing the number of voxels within an isosurface (the 3D analog of an isoline; e.g., cells A and B).
    Research

    Raman Spectroscopy/Cell Analysis: Raman-based imaging makes cell-based assays quantitative

    Barbara Gefvert
    Nov. 9, 2017
    The need for quantitative, nondestructive tools led a team of scientists to develop quantitative volumetric Raman imaging, a novel, label-free method of imaging multiple biomolecules...
    Approaching the desired Rec. 2020 color gamut standard, RGB laser projectors are capable of reproducing more colors than the typical Rec. 709 or hero DCI P3 standard achieved by an LED cinema screen.
    Detectors & Imaging

    Comparing RGB lasers vs. LEDs for cinema-scale displays

    Gail Overton
    Nov. 9, 2017
    Christie sheds light on the technical comparison between RGB laser projection and LED modules when used as the light engines for cinema-scale display applications.
    (Courtesy of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST/Peter Allen)
    A schematic shows the electrically pumped quantum-dot microring laser created at HKUST and UCSB; periodic quantum-dot-in-a-well layers can be seen at the centers of the lasers.
    Lasers & Sources

    Electrically pumped quantum-dot near-IR microlaser on silicon has submilliamp threshold

    John Wallace
    Nov. 9, 2017
    A team of researchers has created record-small electrically pumped microlasers epitaxially grown on industry-standard (001) silicon substrates.
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2017 11 1711lfw Nb F5
    Lasers & Sources

    KMLabs commercially introduces direct diode pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast laser

    John Wallace
    Nov. 9, 2017
    After years of development, KMLabs has commercially introduced the first titanium:sapphire (Ti:sapphire) ultrafast laser oscillator directly pumped with blue-emitting laser diodes...
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2017 11 1711lfw Nb F4
    Optics

    Diffuser in front of camera forms compact and low-cost wavefront sensor

    John Wallace
    Nov. 9, 2017
    A broadband, compact, and low-cost diffuser-based wavefront sensor works by simply placing a thin diffuser near a camera to allow sensing of the local wavefront gradient by measuring...
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2017 11 1711lfw Nb F3
    Spectroscopy

    A-TEEM combines absorbance, transmittance, and fluorescence spectroscopy

    Gail Overton
    Nov. 9, 2017
    The instrument is suited to water-quality research and monitoring, wine-constituent analysis, protein purity, and vaccine quality-assurance applications.
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2017 11 1711lfw Nb 1
    Detectors & Imaging

    Miniature space-qualified platform cools superconducting single-photon IR detector

    Gail Overton
    Nov. 9, 2017
    A miniaturized Stirling and Joule-Thomson (J-T) cooling platform, which was the prototype design for the cooler launched in 2009 onboard an Ariane 5 rocket as part of the Planck...
    Conard Holton2
    Optics

    Photonics is worlds apart

    Conard Holton
    Nov. 9, 2017
    No tradeshow or conference truly captures the photonics world, even SPIE Photonics West and LASER World of Photonics.