Features
- LASER MARKETPLACE 2008: Innovation opens the door for next wave of success
  Last September at the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association’s (OIDA; Washington, D.C.) “Perspectives on the Optoelectronics Industry” forum in San Jose, CA, keynote speaker Henry Kressel of Warburg Pincus (New York, NY) noted that in today’s increasingly competitive global technology marketplace, innovation is critical to sustaining and stimulating growth.
- LASERS FOR MARKING: DPSS lasers rival fiber lasers for marking applications
  Fiber-laser technology has moved from a “niche play” in 2002 to a mainstream laser technology today-but what about diode-pumped solid-state laser sources?
- ACTIVE SURFACE PLASMONS: Tuning of surface plasmons leads to new optoelectronic devices
  Surface plasmons can be thought of as light waves trapped and traveling along the interface between a metal and a dielectric material.
- MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING: Segmented tunable filters advance multispectral imaging
  The study of transient atmospheric and environmental events has been gaining in importance since the discovery of sprites in 1989 and as observation platforms increasingly transition from ground to space.
- TERAHERTZ GENERATION: Near-IR lasers may close the terahertz gap
  In seafarers’ maps of Renaissance times, the term terra incognita was used to denote unknown land-areas beyond the known frontiers that were yet to be documented.
- REMOTE SENSING: The geospatial imagery revolution… it’s everywhere
  While remote sensing has long been a useful mapping or surveillance tool for governments and the military, as well as for a plethora of other users such as the energy industry, meteorologists, and scientific researchers studying changes in the world’s climate, geospatial imagery is now a hot technology that is suddenly appearing everywhere.
- PHOTONIC FRONTIERS: NONLINEAR ORGANIC MATERIALS: Designer organic molecules create a new class of nonlinear materials
  Research on organic nonlinear materials dates back a couple of decades, but those efforts have only recently started paying practical dividends.
- PHOTOVOLTAICS: Spectroradiometer improves accuracy of photovoltaic measurement
  Since the discovery of the photoelectric effect in 1939 by Alexandre Edmond Becquerel, the performance of photovoltaic (PV) detectors has gradually improved from scientific novelty to a potentially viable alternative energy source.
- NEXT-GENERATION DETECTORS: Plasmon grating-gate devices have potential as tunable terahertz detectors
  The field-effect transistor (FET) is the cornerstone of modern technological advances such as computer processors and cellular phones.
- ENDOSCOPIC FIBER: Microfluidic chemical deposition moves optical fiber to the nanoscale
  °Optical fibers are fundamental to the information age and are now used not only for long-distance telecommunications but also for chemical sensing, fiber lasers, laser power delivery, and imaging, among many other applications.
- TEST & MEASUREMENT: Wavefront sensing goes off-axis
  Optical design of lenses and lens systems are being driven by the increasing size of sensors and shrinking size of pixels.
Newsbreaks
- JDSU introduces 10 W single-emitter diode laser
  JDSU (Milpitas, CA) has introduced a new single-emitter diode-laser platform that the company says is the most powerful fiber-coupled diode laser now on the market.
- Silicon modulators could enable laptop supercomputers
  Scientists at IBM Research (Yorktown Heights, NY) have developed silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulators so tiny that supercomputers-consisting of thousands of individual processor “brains” connected by miles of copper wires-could one day fit into a laptop personal computer using the same amount of energy expended by a light bulb.
- Tapered QC lasers reduce beam divergence
  Although mid- to far-infrared quantum-cascade (QC) lasers are ideal for gas sensing, free-space optical communications, and imaging, their high beam divergence (typically about 48º for ridge-waveguide devices) can be a limiting factor for resolution and efficiency.
- InGaAs quantum-well lasers provide alternative to 1.55 µm GaAs-based lasers
  Gallium arsenide (GaAs) lasers at 1.3 and 1.55 µm have received a lot of attention in the past several years for their potential as inexpensive, high-speed, uncooled sources for telecommunications.
- Retinal flow cytometer tracks circulating blood cells
  A retinal flow cytometer developed by researchers from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, MA) has demonstrated the potential to noninvasively monitor disease progression and enhance treatment by measuring blood flow in the eyes.
- Fiber Bragg gratings switch in nanoseconds
  High-speed switching or tuning of light in fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) can be applied to Q-switching, cavity dumping, and pulse picking in a fiber laser, among other applications.
- Iridium (III) device emits red light efficiently
  Flexible displays have proven inefficient compared to other types of displays and, so far, expensive to fabricate.
- Researchers propose ‘on-chip’ single-photon gun
  Single-photon sources and detectors are highly desirable for quantum information systems.
- Orange-red chromophores produce stable white-emitting OLEDs
  White-light organic and polymer light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs and WPLEDs) show promise for use in full-color displays, liquid-crystal-display backlights, and solid-state lighting.
World News
- OPTICAL PHASE MEASUREMENT: Terahertz waves probe phase in QC lasers
  The understanding of some of the most fundamental, and heretofore inaccessible, aspects of optical dynamics looks set to leap forward with the first-ever direct measurement of the phase in a medium with optical gain.
- ATTOSCIENCE: Photonic-crystal fiber produces attosecond pulses
  A team of physicists has reported using a photonic-crystal fiber to manipulate light a million times more efficiently than previously known possible.
- METAMATERIALS: Optical guiding slows light to speed it up
  The ability to route, switch, and store information in broadband telecommunications networks typically depends on electrical signals, but a new optical technique to slow down and trap light may offer a 1000% speed-up of Internet traffic.
- MATERIALS PROCESSING: Lasers bond metal and plastic
  Industry is still seeing a rise in the use of plastics as a material in integrated technologies and the superior mechanical and electrical properties of metals ensures their place in the mix.
- DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING: Speedy imaging technique moves into human trials
  A research team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH; Boston, MA) has developed a laser-based technique that, because it can visualize deposits of plaque, macrophages, and other dangerous components inside coronary arteries quickly, accurately, and in three dimensions, holds the promise of helping to diagnose the early stages of heart disease in real time.
- LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES: Microlens arrays improve the extraction efficiency of nitride LEDs
  The light-extraction efficiency of quantum-well (QW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is one of the keys to the quantum efficiency of these devices.
- MICROSTRUCTURED OPTICAL FIBERS: Sensor uses open slots on holey fibers
  Microstructured optical fibers typically consist of a solid core surrounded by a structure of holes in the cladding that run along the length of the fiber.
- GERMANIUM-ON- SILICON LASERS: Germanium lasers may help photonic integration with silicon
  Germanium could be the key ingredient needed to integrate high-speed optical interconnects with silicon integrated-circuit chips and two independent groups have taken important steps toward germanium-on-silicon structures.
- ULTRAFAST TECHNOLOGY: 3-D movie shows femtosecond pulse propagation
  For the first time, three-dimensional (3-D) images of femtosecond light-pulse propagation have been observed and recorded by researchers at the Kyoto Institute of Technology (Kyoto, Japan).
- RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY: Micro-Raman spectra explore carbon nanotube geometry
  Raman spectroscopy enables chemical identification of many substances through the vibrational energies of molecules, but the scattering cross section of most molecules is extremely small, limiting its use.
- QUANTUM-CASCADE LASERS: Silicon-based QC lasers close out the terahertz gap
  The quest for practical terahertz sources and detectors has been driven by the tremendous potential of these devices in medical diagnostics, security screening, and manufacturing quality control.
- QUANTUM MECHANICS: Double-slit experiment succeeds in a single hydrogen molecule
  A team of researchers has performed the smallest and simplest double-slit experiment to date.
- COLLISION AVOIDANCE: NIST tests automobile crash-warning system
  Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST; Boulder, CO) have developed and tested a laser-based ranging system to assess the performance of automobile collision-warning systems.
- ORGANIC OPTOELECTRONICS: European team characterizes photonic-feedback structures for mini organic lasers
  A team of researchers from AMO (Aachen, Germany), IBM Research (Rüschlikon, Switzerland), and the University of Wuppertal (Wuppertal, Germany) recently investigated the combination of mixed-order two-dimensional (2-D) photonic-crystal-laser structures with a high-gain organic polymer to tap into its potential for producing a lower lasing threshold and a device-shrinking footprint.
- OPTICAL SENSORS: Nanoscale microcavity detects single particles
  One-dimensional photonic crystals and photonic-crystal microcavities have already been used for the detection of DNA, proteins, and even bacteria.
- Report identifies $200M OCT market
  According to “Optical Coherence Tomography - Technology, Markets, and Applications: 2008-2012,” a market-research report from PennWell, publishers of Laser Focus World and BioOptics World, the global market for OCT systems is around $200 million, with an annual growth rate of 25%.
Industry Reports
- LASER INDUSTRY REPORT
  Ultrafast-fiber-laser manufacturer IMRA America (Ann Arbor, MI) and Toptica Photonics (Munich, Germany), manufacturer of diode lasers and femto-fiber technology for industrial and scientific markets, signed a license agreement for IMRA femtosecond fiber technology.
- OPTICS INDUSTRY REPORT
  Boston Micromachines (Watertown, MA), a provider of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based deformable-mirror products for adaptive-optics systems, has been selected by the U.S. Army for a Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) award through the Department of Defense.
- IMAGING & DETECTOR INDUSTRY REPORT
  SEMI (San Jose, CA), the global industry association for the manufacture of semiconductors, displays, photovoltaic cells, and related products, and Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe, together with Solar Promotion, organizers of Intersolar, the world’s largest trade fair for solar technology, announced a partnership to host Intersolar North America.
- FIBER OPTICS INDUSTRY REPORT
  Leoni (Nuremberg, Germany), a wire, cable, and wiring systems specialist, is further expanding its activity in the high-growth market for fiber optics by acquiring 90.2% of the shares in FiberTech (Berlin, Germany).
Columns
- The Editor's Desk
  - Turbulence ahead?
    Despite softness in some photonics market segments and the economic challenges of 2007-which included record energy prices and the housing credit debacle in the U.S. - the lasers and photonics markets came through 2007 quite well.
- Software & Computing
  - Machine-vision software masters corner detection
    In machine vision, edge-detection algorithms locate intensity transitions within an image that correspond to physical edges.
- Comment
  - Women in STEM fields still need support
    Snell, Fraunhofer, Fresnel, Fizeau, and Raman: a few of the numerous men after whom optical principles are named.
- Business Forum
  - Does government funding yield enough photonics licenses?
    Q:My impression is very few photonics technologies that came out of government-sponsored research, even when they are useful product ideas, are ever licensed.
- Inside Imaging
  - Heart of the matter
    Balloon angioplasty provides cardiologists with a means to treat blockages of the arteries caused by coronary heart disease.
- In My View
  - Who won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics?
    That’s a very serious question, believe you me. The winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics barely made a minor dent in the major media in the U.S.
Departments
- Letters
  - Photovoltaics should be friendly to the environment
    In your November 2007 issue, you report about a composite solar cell with record efficiency.
- New Products
  - New Products
    The Optical Fiber Length Meter from Oz Optics measures the lengths of multimode, single-mode, and polarization-maintaining fibers, including fibers for nontelecom wavelengths.
Web Exclusives
- OPTICS FABRICATION: Off-the-shelf edge-blackened optics speed system integration
  Now that edge-blackened optics are available commercially, the ability of these types of optics to greatly reduce stray light becomes more compelling, simplifying the optical engineer’s task as only stock optics can.
- LASER-DIODE DRIVERS: Laser-diode controllers outdo power supplies in diode protection
  Laser-diode controllers, unlike general-purpose power supplies, provide constant current to laser diodes, as well as solutions to system-design tasks.
- SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION: Posters and lesson plans bring optics to the classroom
  The OSA’s Optical Phenomena Poster Series sparks discussion in classrooms around the globe.