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  • Volume 45, Issue 4

    • Volume 45, Issue 4

    Optics

    Material matters

    Stephen G. Anderson
    April 1, 2009
    Though often taken for granted because of their relative invisibility, optical coatings are an indispensible element of almost all of today’s optical components.
    Research

    TECHNOLOGY NEWS ONLINE: Rogue waves make for better supercontinuum light sources

    April 1, 2009
    Rogue waves of light–rare and explosive flare-ups that are mathematically similar to their oceanic counterparts–have recently been tamed by a group of researchers at the University...
    Th 314576
    Optics

    New Products

    April 1, 2009
    The 10 and 3 kV Pockels cell drivers provide fast, high-voltage switching to drive the latest Pockels cells in high-power laser applications.
    (Courtesy of IPG Photonics)
    FIGURE 1. High-power fiber lasers present new challenges for laser safety, complicated by a flexible fiber beam delivery system that requires monitoring for potential breakage during operation.
    Lasers & Sources

    LASER SAFETY EQUIPMENT: Fiber lasers present new safety challenges

    April 1, 2009
    In the last few years, integration of fiber lasers into process machines has proved challenging when trying to comply with laser-safety regulatory agencies. Recent developments...
    Research

    These ‘lunatics’ weren’t wild and crazy

    Jeffrey Bairstow
    April 1, 2009
    Although the society was quite small, it was probably the most formidable assemblage of science and technology brain power ever to present papers and argue scientific discoveries...

    More content from Volume 45, Issue 4

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    Lasers & Sources

    CNT thin films show high infrared transparency

    April 1, 2009
    Conductive-carbon-nanotube (CNT) thin films–developed as a replacement for more-brittle indium tin oxide materials–have been studied in the visible wavelength range for applications...
    FIGURE 1. Optimization of the cross-relaxation process in Tm-doped fibers (top) has increased the efficiency of 2 µm fiber lasers to the point where they now approach the efficiency of Yb fiber lasers at 1 µm (bottom).
    Fiber Optics

    FIBER LASERS: Thulium-doped fiber forms kilowatt-class laser

    April 1, 2009
    High-power fiber lasers emitting at the “eye-safe” wavelength of 2 µm are fabricated from thulium-doped silica fiber and pumped with 790 nm light.
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    Optics

    Tunable membrane mold shapes polymer aspherical lenses

    April 1, 2009
    A group of researchers from the University of California at San Diego and Cymer (San Diego, CA) has developed a way of fabricating aspherical polymer lenses with a tunable liquid...
    FIGURE 1. Standard CMOS technology offers three types of p-n junctions: n-plus to p-substrate (left), p-plus to n-well (upper right), and n-well to p-substrate (right).
    Detectors & Imaging

    CMOS DETECTORS: Concentric photodiode array enables spatial-domain multiplexing

    April 1, 2009
    A novel CMOS-based photodetector uses concentric octagonal structures to detect and demultiplex spatially separated communications signals emitted from an optical fiber.
    (Courtesy of Sarnoff)
    FIGURE 1. Iris on the Move technology from Sarnoff uses an array of 15 frames/s video cameras with 850 nm LED illumination to image the irises of individuals coming within 3 m of the system at a rate of 30 people per minute (top). The system first segments the iris (middle), then remaps the iris image from Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates in a normalization process (bottom). In the normalized image, increasing radius goes from top to bottom, while increasing angle goes from left to right, allowing the formatted image to be matched against reference irises.
    Detectors & Imaging

    PHOTONICS APPLIED: HOMELAND SECURITY: Threat identification demands new imaging technologies

    Gail Overton
    April 1, 2009
    Recognizing that the potential for national-security breaches along our borders and in our waterways is significant, imaging companies and research organizations are stretching...
    Fiber Optics

    Optical steganography hides stealth signal

    April 1, 2009
    Two low-latency chirped fiber Bragg gratings (CFBGs) were used by researchers at Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) to completely hide a “stealth” signal in an ordinary signal...
    (Courtesy of Edmund Optics and Leybold Optics)
    FIGURE 1. An automatic substrate loading device in the Helios APRS magnetron sputtering system maximizes throughput and minimizes particle contamination of optics such as TECHSPEC filters.
    Optics

    OPTICAL FABRICATION: Advances in sputtering benefit coating costs

    April 1, 2009
    Magnetron sputtering systems for production of high-precision optical coatings promise benefits in capability over traditional evaporation techniques, as well as potential cost...
    Detectors & Imaging

    GaAs-based upconverter is efficient for near-IR light

    April 1, 2009
    One way to image IR radiation in the 1.2 to 1.6 µm region with silicon CCD cameras, which are normally not sensitive to this wavelength range, is to upconvert the light to wavelengths...
    FIGURE 1. The Newport ST-UT2 Series optical table can be upgraded with an iQ active damper system (shown) without dismantling your experiment (left; Courtesy of Newport). The 5300 Series optical table from Kinetic Systems features broadband damping plus quad-tuned dampers in each corner. Retractable castors are an optional accessory (right; Courtesy of Kinetic Systems).
    Positioning, Support & Accessories

    PRODUCT FOCUS: OPTICAL TABLES: Optical-table basics: from breadboards to active vibration-control systems

    Valerie Coffey-Rosich
    April 1, 2009
    Setting up an optical laboratory begins with specifying the optical table–a task more complex than it sounds. Understand your requirements before you place an order.
    Detectors & Imaging

    Plasmonic lens increases photodetection capability

    April 1, 2009
    Researchers at Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) and the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.) have increased the photocurrent reaching a metal-semiconductor-metal (...
    Research

    Phosphor-based FEEL shines efficiently with no mercury

    April 1, 2009
    By combining characteristics of fluorescent and cathodoluminescent (CL) lamps into a single emitter, researchers at the Industrial Technology Research Initiative (Chatung, Taiwan...
    FIGURE 1. What looks like a more traditional OCT image (left) is actually a reconstruction of all slices registered during Cell OCT imaging of a rat’s anterior eye (cornea). The Cell OCT approach enables cellular-resolution views of transverse slices (right).
    Test & Measurement

    OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY: Full-field OCT approaches clinical application

    Claude Boccara
    April 1, 2009
    Newly developed Cell OCT, an approach to full-field optical coherence tomography, has enabled researchers to image breast-cancer tissue with histology-like results.
    Detectors & Imaging

    Plasmons enhance bioluminescence

    April 1, 2009
    The creation of plasmons in metal films or structures has been shown to enhance the processes of fluorescence, phosphorescence, and chemiluminescence; now, researchers at Ben-...
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    Positioning, Support & Accessories

    NSM vibration isolation critical to neuronal measurement

    Gail Overton
    April 1, 2009
    When air tables, stacked air tables, and active electronic vibration-isolation systems failed to reduce vibrations to a level allowing measurement of neuronal brain activity for...
    Research

    Quantum dots double performance of current-sensing fiber

    Gail Overton
    April 1, 2009
    Because rare-earth-doped glasses exhibit a large Faraday (or magneto-optical) effect, polarization and birefringence effects within these glasses can be directly correlated to...