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  • Volume 48, Issue 10

    • Volume 48, Issue 10

    A prototype Solo Spectroscopy chip is photographed on an English penny; the spectrometer chip is less than 0.5 square millimeters in size.
    Spectroscopy

    SPECTROMETERS: Chip-based resonant spectroscopy overcomes traditional challenges

    Oct. 12, 2012
    A new concept in spectroscopy uses a resonant-based detection technique where light is both analyzed and detected in a single, completely monolithic component manufactured using...
    (Courtesy of NASA Goddard/Debbie McCallum)
    The Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) imaging spectrometer aboard the LRO (shown here in a pre-flight photo) has detected helium in the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere based on far-ultraviolet (121.6 nm) hydrogen Lyman-alpha emissions.
    Research

    SPECTROSCOPY: LAMP spectrometer finds helium in Moon’s atmosphere

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 12, 2012
    Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and Central Arizona College have used the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) spectrometer aboard NASA...
    1304qa Chang New
    Executive Forum

    Business Forum: Making mentorship work is mutually beneficial

    Milton Chang
    Oct. 12, 2012
    How much has your career benefited from having mentors?
    (Courtesy of the University of St. Andrews)
    A single multimode fiber serves as an in vivo neuroimager; image information carried by its multiple modes is unscrambled by a spatial light modulator at the other end of the fiber.
    Detectors & Imaging

    FIBER-OPTICS: Single multimode fiber is imager for in vivo applications

    D. Jason Palmer
    Oct. 11, 2012
    Researchers at the University of St. Andrews have shown for the first time how to unscramble highly disordered images sent down single multimode fibers, making for the narrowest...
    (Courtesy of Q5 Innovations)
    A real-time polarization difference imaging camera called Detect POL—made possible by a unique beamsplitter—can reveal hidden details such as a mountain range (a) obscured by fog (b) or a fingerprint (c) not revealed by a conventional camera image (d).
    Detectors & Imaging

    NOVEL CAMERAS: Polarization difference imaging camera reveals ‘unseen’ features

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 11, 2012
    Subtle surface details, textures, and entire features missed by an unpolarized white-light camera can be revealed through real-time polarization difference imaging via a novel...

    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.
    Spectroscopy

    SPECTROSCOPY: Femtosecond laser measures atmospheric-radical traces in Antarctica

    John Wallace
    Oct. 10, 2012
    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 ...
    (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.
    Optics

    PLASMONICS: Plasmonics enters practical WDM switching applications

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 10, 2012
    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...
    (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.
    Lasers & Sources

    DIRECTED-ENERGY WEAPONS: Testing sets pace for solid-state laser weapons

    Jeff Hecht
    Oct. 10, 2012
    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.
    1210breaks Fig1
    Optics

    Down-draw process fabricates ultrathin glass

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 9, 2012
    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...
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2012 10 1210lfwnbf2web
    Lasers & Sources

    Yb:LuAG laser ceramic has efficient heat removal at high dopant concentrations

    John Wallace
    Oct. 9, 2012
    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...
    Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2012 10 1210lfwnbf3web
    Research

    Photovoltaics from any semiconductor? Yes

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 5, 2012
    University of California–Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) researchers have developed a technology that could turn any semiconductor material into a photovoltaic...
    Content Dam Lfw Print Articles 2012 10 1210lfwnbf4web
    Optics

    Liquid-crystal material has large birefringence for terahertz radiation

    John Wallace
    Oct. 5, 2012
    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...
    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.
    Spectroscopy

    SPECTRAL IMAGING: Spectral imaging provides new view for biotech and medical professionals

    Oct. 1, 2012
    Innovative spectral sensors help refine Raman, multipoint, and hyperspectral sensors for use in healthcare and pharmaceutical development and production.
    1210lfw03f1
    Lasers & Sources

    ULTRAFAST LASERS: Picosecond laser micromachining produces high-quality results

    Oct. 1, 2012
    Materials that suffer from negative thermal effects during nanosecond laser machining can potentially be machined by picosecond lasers with a much higher quality.
    FIGURE 1. A draw-tower setup allows the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings during the draw process.
    Fiber Optics

    NOVEL OPTICAL FIBERS: Draw-tower process creates high-quality FBG arrays

    Oct. 1, 2012
    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.
    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.
    Research

    PHOTONIC FRONTIERS: GENOMICS: Advances in photonics-based tools expand genomics possibilities

    Jeff Hecht
    Oct. 1, 2012
    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...
    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.
    Optics

    OPTOFLUIDICS: Optofluidics assists solar fuel generation

    Oct. 1, 2012
    Analogous to the natural photosynthetic process, cultivation of cyanobacteria in photobioreactors using an optofluidic approach to illumination offers a new fuel source—if properly...
    (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.
    Lasers & Sources

    PHOTONICS APPLIED: OPTICAL DATA STORAGE: Can new techniques continue to densify optical data storage capacity?

    Gail Overton
    Oct. 1, 2012
    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...