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  • Volume 48, Issue 10

    • Volume 48, Issue 10

    More content from Volume 48, Issue 10

    Courtesy of Coherent Inc.
    A femtosecond laser (Coherent Chameleon Ultra II) is carried by helicopter on its way to an Antarctic lab, where it became part of a modelocked cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (ML-CEAS) setup used to measure trace molecules in the atmosphere.
    A femtosecond laser was part of a recent successful study at a French Antarctic base to measure key trace molecular species—iodine monoxide (IO) and bromine monoxide (BrO)—at ...
    Oct. 10, 2012
    (Courtesy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Center for Research and Technology Hellas, and the University of Burgundy)
    a) A schematic layout shows a hybrid silicon dielectric-loaded surface-plasmon-polariton (DLSPP) Mach-Zehnder interferometric switch in an asymmetric configuration. The lower plasmonic branch is widened to introduce a default asymmetry to achieve high-performance switching with reduced power consumption. This configuration produces the fundamental quasi-TM mode shown in the upper arm (typical DLSPP waveguide; b) and the lower arm (widened DLSPP waveguide; c), both with tight mode confinement of approximately 1 μm.
    The combined efforts of members of PLATON—the European Union 7th Framework Programme Collaborative Project, funded since January 2010, that aims to put “plasmonics ‘in-the-box...
    Oct. 10, 2012
    (Courtesy of RELI)
    An array of fiber amplifiers are fed by a master oscillator, forming a high-power laser weapon. The laser could attack mortars at 6 to 8 km, UAVs somewhat farther away, and at longer distances could help field commanders identify distant objects and decide how to engage them.
    Development of tactical solid-state laser weapons is settling into a slow but steady mode aimed at producing usable mobile systems in a few years.
    Oct. 10, 2012
    Researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory are creating useful mid-IR nonlinear optical devices by alternating the actual crystal orientation of the semiconducting nonlinear...
    Oct. 9, 2012
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    Scientists at Schott AG have developed a down-draw process that moves molten glass using a nozzle and roller system into an ultrathin glass sheet, in much the same way that optical...
    Oct. 9, 2012
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    A group at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) has fabricated laser ceramics of Yb-doped lutetium yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:LuAG) using a solid-state reactive sintering...
    Oct. 9, 2012
    Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley
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    University of California–Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) researchers have developed a technology that could turn any semiconductor material into a photovoltaic...
    Oct. 5, 2012
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    A group at Nanjing University and Tsinghua University in China is using a fluorinated phenyl-tolane-based nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixture between two thin fused silica plates...
    Oct. 5, 2012
    FIGURE 1. The Raman Explorer sensor design has a multi-input, retroreflective concentric design with an aberration-corrected diffraction grating. Here, the laser excitation is at 785 nm.
    Innovative spectral sensors help refine Raman, multipoint, and hyperspectral sensors for use in healthcare and pharmaceutical development and production.
    Oct. 1, 2012
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    Materials that suffer from negative thermal effects during nanosecond laser machining can potentially be machined by picosecond lasers with a much higher quality.
    Oct. 1, 2012
    FIGURE 1. A draw-tower setup allows the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings during the draw process.
    Arrays of fiber Bragg gratings are fabricated at the same time the fiber is drawn, resulting in high strength and enhanced optical properties needed for sensing applications.
    Oct. 1, 2012
    FIGURE 1. Sequencing DNA by building up a complementary chain in the Sanger process. Unlabeled bases accumulate one by one until a tagged base carrying a fluorescent dye terminates the chain. The chains are separated by mass then excited with light that produces the characteristic fluorescence of each tagged terminating base. The final sequence is complementary to the starting chain.
    Laser-induced fluorescence played a key role in sequencing the human genome. Now more advanced photonic systems have slashed sequencing costs and are offering new capabilities...
    Oct. 1, 2012
    FIGURE 1. For solar fuel production, a schematic shows uneven light distribution due to cell-to-cell shading inherent in bulk-suspension-type photobioreactors and ponds (a). But a conceptual schematic of an optical-fiber-based photobioreactor using evanescent illumination (b) provides light and fluids to all cells within the reactor.
    Analogous to the natural photosynthetic process, cultivation of cyanobacteria in photobioreactors using an optofluidic approach to illumination offers a new fuel source—if properly...
    Oct. 1, 2012
    (Courtesy of Yole Developpement and System Plus Consulting)
    FIGURE 1. Blu-ray optical data-storage systems are typically backward-compatible with compact disc (CD) and digital video disc (DVD) systems in that they not only incorporate the 405 nm blue laser but also a 780 nm (CD) and 650 nm (DVD) laser, as shown in this SEM photo of a Sony stacked-die configuration. Emission of the various wavelengths occurs from the die facets as labeled.
    Optical data storage capacities are moving beyond Blu-ray capabilities with holographic, near-field, and even heat [laser]-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) on the horizon; however...
    Oct. 1, 2012
    Conard Holton2
    Photonics is often described as a critical enabling technology and evidence is ample to support that contention. In this issue, two articles illustrate the research value of spectroscop...
    Oct. 1, 2012