Lasers & Sources

Something is happening here

May 4, 2015

With apologies to Thomas Kuhn, the philosopher of science who wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and made famous the term "paradigm shift," I have been observing some fundamental changes in assumptions of the photonics community.

Conard Holton

With apologies to Thomas Kuhn, the philosopher of science who wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and made famous the term "paradigm shift," I have been observing some fundamental changes in assumptions of the photonics community. These changes—in both research and products—reflect the impact of developments in fields such as materials, nanophotonics, and super-resolution microscopy.

Our cover story on high-harmonic generation and coherent diffraction imaging from JILA and KMLabs illustrates this point by describing how new worlds can now be imaged, using a tabletop system, at the nanoscale (see page 38). In another potential transformation, an article from IPG Photonics describes an emerging solid-state mid-infrared source that competes with the venerable Ti:sapphire laser (see page 57). And an article by colleagues at the Radiophysics Laboratory in Moscow and the University of Münster describes the integration of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors into circuits for quantum computing applications (see page 47). Such potential instigators of paradigm shifts will be much discussed at CLEO in San Jose, CA, May 10–15. In addition, the winners of the CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Awards will be acknowledged—see page 28 for a description of the winning products from Aurea Technology, Northrop Grumman Cutting Edge Optronics, and Inrad Optics.

This issue marks an important shift for us as well because we are integrating our sister publication, BioOptics World, into Laser Focus World. BioOptics World, which had been published bi-monthly, will now appear every month (and online) and will reach an even broader audience of engineers, scientists, and clinicians in the life sciences community. For more on this new structure, read the welcoming editorial from Barbara Gefvert, editor in chief of BioOptics World (see page 63). Here will be a good place to learn more about super-resolution microscopy and the all the other shifts underway.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.