In March, I attended LASER World of PHOTONICS China in Shanghai, where many Laser Focus World readers helped fuel record attendance. With more than 65,705 visitors, 60,750 square meters of exhibition space, and 1177 exhibitors from 26 countries, the event is Asia’s largest trade fair for photonics professionals. This month I travel to Germany, where from June 24 to 27, many of us will visit LASER World of PHOTONICS Munich, the leading international gathering of manufacturers and customers of photonics products and technologies. This trade fair remains the most international of photonics exhibitions, with close to 32,000 attendees expected, almost 1300 exhibitors, and a World of Photonics Congress that covers all the major technology and application areas (see article).
Just as attendees of these two big shows should expect exposure to a great range of photonics technologies and applications, so should Laser Focus World readers expect a steady flow of photonics coverage in every issue. This issue is no exception, starting with our cover story about how laser texturing of piston skirts using chirped-pulse amplification femtosecond lasers improves automotive fuel efficiency and extends engine life (see article). Contributing editor Jeff Hecht gives an update on U.S. plans for laser weapon battlefield testing (see article).
If you want to know about the all-weather capability enhancements of frequency-modulated continuous-wave lidar in automotive applications, see this article. In biophotonics, a new type of light source that is needed for the small-diameter fiber-based illumination systems enabling leading-edge biomedical applications is described (see article). We also cover how free-license software removes trial and error in metamaterial design (see article), how plasma source monitoring stabilizes optical coating processes (see article), using photometric stereo techniques to analyze reflections and improve image contrast (see article), ultrafast laser applications in medical device manufacturing (see article), optics replicating human vision in AR/VR display testing (see article), seeing the invisible with quantum-enhanced imaging (see article), and resolving damage ambiguity and laser-induced damage threshold complications (see article). As always, I hope you enjoy this issue.
