In his preview of next month’s Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, senior editor Hassaun Jones-Bey says that among the wide variety of technical advances to be reported at CLEO 2006, the most prominent areas in the program are quantum phenomena and nanophotonics, technology for defense and security, and fiber lasers (see p. 95). The annual CLEO event is the preeminent global forum for reporting advances in photonics and optoelectronics technology and it’s certainly no accident that Laser Focus World routinely covers these areas and the many other developments from CLEO as well as from countless additional photonics conferences. Our editors conduct extensive and ongoing research to stay “ahead of the game,” monitoring the latest global developments in lasers and photonics and bringing them to you in a timely manner-in print, via e-mail, and on the web.
In the nanophotonics arena, noble-metal nanoparticles are the basis for a new class of optical nanosensors and have other applications as well. In one example, gold nanoparticles with plasmon-resonant absorption in the near-IR can be used to photothermally destroy cancerous tumors in mice (see p. 89). Terahertz radiation is likely to open up a number of new defense and security applications but the lack of practical terahertz sources is holding back some of this development. Now a tunable, compact, and efficient source has been demonstrated (see p. 17). And in the fiber-laser arena, the latest modelocked fiber lasers are compact and turnkey sources of ultrafast pulses like the one shown on the cover (see p. 65).
Of course we’ll be covering all of the many developments from CLEO as they unfold. And because of the combined power of print and digital media, the Laser Focus World franchise—which includes Laser Focus World, LFW Japan, LFW China, the LFW eNewsletter, Optoelectronics Report, and www.laserfocusworld.com—we’ll be reaching more people worldwide than any other photonics publication. All part of staying ahead of the game as we strive to serve our industry.
Stephen G. Anderson | Director, Industry Development - SPIE
Stephen Anderson is a photonics industry expert with an international background and has been actively involved with lasers and photonics for more than 30 years. As Director, Industry Development at SPIE – The international society for optics and photonics – he is responsible for tracking the photonics industry markets and technology to help define long-term strategy, while also facilitating development of SPIE’s industry activities. Before joining SPIE, Anderson was Associate Publisher and Editor in Chief of Laser Focus World and chaired the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar. Anderson also co-founded the BioOptics World brand. Anderson holds a chemistry degree from the University of York and an Executive MBA from Golden Gate University.