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  • Volume 44, Issue 3

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    SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION: Biophotonics graduate student reaches out to young students

    March 6, 2008
    Through a grant from the Optical Society of America Foundation, Ruby Raheem of the University of Edinburgh recently traveled to Ghana, Dubai, and India to give optics demonstrations...
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    Positioning, Support & Accessories

    NEW PRODUCTS

    March 1, 2008
    The compact VCSEL comb generator delivers 1 mW power on the order of several gigahertz for time-based calibration of electro-optic instrumentation, sensors, detectors, and streak...
    John Ellis
    John Ellis
    John Ellis
    John Ellis
    John Ellis
    Research

    Folding of Optics East is wrong for the industry

    March 1, 2008
    After the final SPIE Optics East conference in Boston ended this past September, I found myself wondering if I had missed something.
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    Optics

    The beat goes on

    March 1, 2008
    Vision-based music synthesizer uses pattern recognition.
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    Software

    Modeling software helps extract efficiency from LEDs

    March 1, 2008
    Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) appear in everything from display technologies such as flat-panel computer displays to light sources like traffic lights and flashlights.

    More content from Volume 44, Issue 3

    Research

    MONA paints picture of nanoscale world

    March 1, 2008
    While the role of nanotechnology in many recent photonics advances may be intuitively obvious, a recently released report from the EU offers an unusually comprehensive look at...
    Research

    ‘Press P for a real live person right now’

    March 1, 2008
    A few days ago I spent an entire day on the phone trying to reach various accounting departments to sort out my current crop of bills.
    Research

    LASER INDUSTRY REPORT

    March 1, 2008
    Mobius Photonics (Santa Clara, CA) has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) regarding U.S. patent 5,745,284.
    Detectors & Imaging

    IMAGING & DETECTOR INDUSTRY REPORT

    March 1, 2008
    Princeton Lightwave (PLI; Cranbury, NJ), manufacturer of optical semiconductor components and subsystems, was awarded a two-year, $3.5 million contract for the development of ...
    Optics

    OPTICS INDUSTRY REPORT

    March 1, 2008
    Sixty years after Archie Gooch and Leslie Housego collaborated to form a company that would focus on precision optics and crystalline materials, Gooch & Housego (Ilminster, England...
    Research

    FIBER OPTICS INDUSTRY REPORT

    March 1, 2008
    Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) transceiver developer Enablence Technologies (Ottawa, ON, Canada) will acquire all the outstanding shares of ANDevices (Fremont, CA), a supplier of planar...
    (Courtesy Jean-Luc Lacour from CEA, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique)
    An artist rendering shows the rover planned for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL09) mission in 2010-2011 performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a lightweight, ruggedized system designed by Thales Laser.
    An artist rendering shows the rover planned for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL09) mission in 2010-2011 performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a lightweight, ruggedized system designed by Thales Laser.
    An artist rendering shows the rover planned for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL09) mission in 2010-2011 performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a lightweight, ruggedized system designed by Thales Laser.
    An artist rendering shows the rover planned for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL09) mission in 2010-2011 performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a lightweight, ruggedized system designed by Thales Laser.
    An artist rendering shows the rover planned for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL09) mission in 2010-2011 performing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a lightweight, ruggedized system designed by Thales Laser.
    Test & Measurement

    MATERIALS ANALYSIS: Thales ChemCam will bring LIBS to Mars

    March 1, 2008
    After several years of intensive development activity, Thales Laser (Orsay, France) delivered the ChemCam Laser Flight Model to the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES; Paris...
    Research

    FIBER-BASED SENSORS: Advances in optical sensors benefit broad array of markets

    March 1, 2008
    Advances in high-performance sensor materials and optoelectronics have enabled optical sensors for use in a diverse array of markets including life sciences, environmental, food...
    (Courtesy University of St. Andrews)
    Scanning-electron micrographs of the directional coupler switch show two photonic-crystal waveguides composed of three regions: the central directional coupler region of length 5.2 µm and the input and output regions (top). An overview image of the structure shows s-bends (bottom left) used to prevent interactions between the access waveguides and to provide sufficient spatial separation at the facets to observe each output port. The photonic-crystal portion of the coupler contains three different hole sizes (bottom right) to engineer the dispersion of the photonic-crystal waveguides.
    Scanning-electron micrographs of the directional coupler switch show two photonic-crystal waveguides composed of three regions: the central directional coupler region of length 5.2 µm and the input and output regions (top). An overview image of the structure shows s-bends (bottom left) used to prevent interactions between the access waveguides and to provide sufficient spatial separation at the facets to observe each output port. The photonic-crystal portion of the coupler contains three different hole sizes (bottom right) to engineer the dispersion of the photonic-crystal waveguides.
    Scanning-electron micrographs of the directional coupler switch show two photonic-crystal waveguides composed of three regions: the central directional coupler region of length 5.2 µm and the input and output regions (top). An overview image of the structure shows s-bends (bottom left) used to prevent interactions between the access waveguides and to provide sufficient spatial separation at the facets to observe each output port. The photonic-crystal portion of the coupler contains three different hole sizes (bottom right) to engineer the dispersion of the photonic-crystal waveguides.
    Scanning-electron micrographs of the directional coupler switch show two photonic-crystal waveguides composed of three regions: the central directional coupler region of length 5.2 µm and the input and output regions (top). An overview image of the structure shows s-bends (bottom left) used to prevent interactions between the access waveguides and to provide sufficient spatial separation at the facets to observe each output port. The photonic-crystal portion of the coupler contains three different hole sizes (bottom right) to engineer the dispersion of the photonic-crystal waveguides.
    Scanning-electron micrographs of the directional coupler switch show two photonic-crystal waveguides composed of three regions: the central directional coupler region of length 5.2 µm and the input and output regions (top). An overview image of the structure shows s-bends (bottom left) used to prevent interactions between the access waveguides and to provide sufficient spatial separation at the facets to observe each output port. The photonic-crystal portion of the coupler contains three different hole sizes (bottom right) to engineer the dispersion of the photonic-crystal waveguides.
    Research

    PHOTONIC CRYSTALS: Photonic-crystal switch is ultracompact

    March 1, 2008
    Most optical switches operate by shutting light on or off, or by directing light between two different ports of the device through inducing a refractive-index change or phase ...
    (Courtesy of E. Auksorius)
    An intensity-merged fluorescence lifetime image of 200 nm fluorescent beads is shown in confocal mode (left) and with sub-diffraction-limit resolution using the STED (right) mode.
    An intensity-merged fluorescence lifetime image of 200 nm fluorescent beads is shown in confocal mode (left) and with sub-diffraction-limit resolution using the STED (right) mode.
    An intensity-merged fluorescence lifetime image of 200 nm fluorescent beads is shown in confocal mode (left) and with sub-diffraction-limit resolution using the STED (right) mode.
    An intensity-merged fluorescence lifetime image of 200 nm fluorescent beads is shown in confocal mode (left) and with sub-diffraction-limit resolution using the STED (right) mode.
    An intensity-merged fluorescence lifetime image of 200 nm fluorescent beads is shown in confocal mode (left) and with sub-diffraction-limit resolution using the STED (right) mode.
    Optics

    MICROSCOPY: Two methods marry for superresolution imaging

    March 1, 2008
    Stimulated emission-depletion microscopy represents one of the most straightforward among techniques to image at a resolution beyond the diffraction limit.
    Infrared stimulation in the cochlea can selectively stimulate a population of cochlear neurons (blue line). The results are similar to the selectivity of acoustic stimulation at low sound levels (black line). It is not possible to achieve the same selectivity of stimulation with electrical stimulation.
    Infrared stimulation in the cochlea can selectively stimulate a population of cochlear neurons (blue line). The results are similar to the selectivity of acoustic stimulation at low sound levels (black line). It is not possible to achieve the same selectivity of stimulation with electrical stimulation.
    Infrared stimulation in the cochlea can selectively stimulate a population of cochlear neurons (blue line). The results are similar to the selectivity of acoustic stimulation at low sound levels (black line). It is not possible to achieve the same selectivity of stimulation with electrical stimulation.
    Infrared stimulation in the cochlea can selectively stimulate a population of cochlear neurons (blue line). The results are similar to the selectivity of acoustic stimulation at low sound levels (black line). It is not possible to achieve the same selectivity of stimulation with electrical stimulation.
    Infrared stimulation in the cochlea can selectively stimulate a population of cochlear neurons (blue line). The results are similar to the selectivity of acoustic stimulation at low sound levels (black line). It is not possible to achieve the same selectivity of stimulation with electrical stimulation.
    Research

    MEDICAL THERAPY: Laser stimulation hits a nerve at BiOS 2008

    March 1, 2008
    In recent years the bulk of the scientific sessions at the SPIE Biomedical Optics (BiOS) conference have focused on optical imaging for diagnostic and biological applications....
    The four-wave mixing scheme for optical signal regeneration (top) exploits the high optical nonlinearity of silicon nanowaveguides (SEM image; bottom) and reduces low-level noise and timing jitter.
    The four-wave mixing scheme for optical signal regeneration (top) exploits the high optical nonlinearity of silicon nanowaveguides (SEM image; bottom) and reduces low-level noise and timing jitter.
    The four-wave mixing scheme for optical signal regeneration (top) exploits the high optical nonlinearity of silicon nanowaveguides (SEM image; bottom) and reduces low-level noise and timing jitter.
    The four-wave mixing scheme for optical signal regeneration (top) exploits the high optical nonlinearity of silicon nanowaveguides (SEM image; bottom) and reduces low-level noise and timing jitter.
    The four-wave mixing scheme for optical signal regeneration (top) exploits the high optical nonlinearity of silicon nanowaveguides (SEM image; bottom) and reduces low-level noise and timing jitter.
    Research

    OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS: Silicon may offer signal regeneration solution

    March 1, 2008
    Optical communications systems find their limits as signals degrade along the network, but a new approach may provide a way to simply and cheaply maintain signal fidelity.
    (Courtesy of Coherent)
    Coherent displayed its unique optically pumped semiconductor laser via a multiwatt four-color (460, 532, 577, and 635 nm) diode-laser display.
    Coherent displayed its unique optically pumped semiconductor laser via a multiwatt four-color (460, 532, 577, and 635 nm) diode-laser display.
    Coherent displayed its unique optically pumped semiconductor laser via a multiwatt four-color (460, 532, 577, and 635 nm) diode-laser display.
    Coherent displayed its unique optically pumped semiconductor laser via a multiwatt four-color (460, 532, 577, and 635 nm) diode-laser display.
    Coherent displayed its unique optically pumped semiconductor laser via a multiwatt four-color (460, 532, 577, and 635 nm) diode-laser display.
    Lasers & Sources

    PHOTONICS WEST 2008: Clear skies marred by storm clouds on horizon?

    March 1, 2008
    Despite record attendance of more than 17,500 at SPIE’s Photonics West in San Jose, CA, recession fears in the U.S. cast a shadow on an otherwise bright outlook for the solid,...
    (Courtesy Stanford University)
    A scanning-electron micrograph shows a silicon island surrounded by coiled silicon wires (top). When the wires are uncoiled and attached to other silicon islands, the flexible array (bottom) can be used for large-area silicon-based applications including lower-cost solar cells and distributed sensor arrays.
    A scanning-electron micrograph shows a silicon island surrounded by coiled silicon wires (top). When the wires are uncoiled and attached to other silicon islands, the flexible array (bottom) can be used for large-area silicon-based applications including lower-cost solar cells and distributed sensor arrays.
    A scanning-electron micrograph shows a silicon island surrounded by coiled silicon wires (top). When the wires are uncoiled and attached to other silicon islands, the flexible array (bottom) can be used for large-area silicon-based applications including lower-cost solar cells and distributed sensor arrays.
    A scanning-electron micrograph shows a silicon island surrounded by coiled silicon wires (top). When the wires are uncoiled and attached to other silicon islands, the flexible array (bottom) can be used for large-area silicon-based applications including lower-cost solar cells and distributed sensor arrays.
    A scanning-electron micrograph shows a silicon island surrounded by coiled silicon wires (top). When the wires are uncoiled and attached to other silicon islands, the flexible array (bottom) can be used for large-area silicon-based applications including lower-cost solar cells and distributed sensor arrays.
    Optics

    SILICON PHOTONICS: Silicon ‘expands’ to meet large-area applications

    March 1, 2008
    When we think about silicon photonics, we often picture a uniform, monolithic wafer of material.
    FIGURE 1. A typical PMT (left) uses dynodes as electron multipliers, while an HPD (right) uses an avalanche diode.
    FIGURE 1. A typical PMT (left) uses dynodes as electron multipliers, while an HPD (right) uses an avalanche diode.
    FIGURE 1. A typical PMT (left) uses dynodes as electron multipliers, while an HPD (right) uses an avalanche diode.
    FIGURE 1. A typical PMT (left) uses dynodes as electron multipliers, while an HPD (right) uses an avalanche diode.
    FIGURE 1. A typical PMT (left) uses dynodes as electron multipliers, while an HPD (right) uses an avalanche diode.
    Detectors & Imaging

    PHOTOMULTIPLIERS: Hybrid detector combines PMT and semiconductor-diode technologies

    March 1, 2008
    Originally developed for particle-physics experiments, the hybrid photodetector offers low-light detection with better pulse height resolution than a PMT, fast time response and...