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  • Volume 43, Issue 7

    • Volume 43, Issue 7

    More content from Volume 43, Issue 7

    Courtesy of MIT
    An OCT system developed by MIT researchers scans a 4 × 4 mm region of the retina in just 0.87 s with an average depth resolution of 10 to 15 µm.
    Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, MA) have developed a new type of optical-coherence-tomography (OCT) system capable of taking high-resolution...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of Luna Technologies)
    An optical-backscatter reflectometer examines 2 km of fiber, revealing many loss events. Measuring the same fiber, a conventional optical-time-domain reflectometer sees virtually nothing of interest.
    Luna Technologies (Blacksburg, VA) has taken its optical-backscatter-reflectometry (OBR) technology to new levels-the company’s improved instrument can now look inside a fiber...
    July 1, 2007
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    Efficient multispectral polarimetric techniques, along with novel biomolecular contrast agents and photonic nanocrystal systems, are being explored by researchers at the University...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of Leica Geosystems)
    A laser scanner characterizes the collapsed state of a major overpass near San Francisco.
    At 3:42 a.m. on April 29th, a tanker truck carrying more than 8600 gallons of gasoline crashed on the “MacArthur Maze,” a heavily traveled approach to the San Francisco-Oakland...
    July 1, 2007
    The U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 1615, the Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2007, which amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the aiming of the...
    July 1, 2007
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    Much attention has been given to imaging applications at electromagnetic frequencies between 0.3 and 3 THz, mainly because of the unique features of terahertz radiation (T-rays...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of Holochip)
    A commercially available singlet lens with a continuously variable focus undergoes interferometric transmitted-wavefront measurement.
    A fluid-based singlet lens with a continuously variable focal length, commercially introduced by Holochip (Albuquerque, NM), promises to expand the options available to lens designers...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of Energy Focus)
    FIGURE 1. Metal-halide HID-based fiber-optic technology is being focused initially on the $2.5 billion MR-16 halogen market, currently the standard for commercial accent lighting. Recently developed technology produces equivalent levels of light while consuming 80% less power than the MR-16. Similar efficiency improvements can also be achieved compared to fluorescent lighting in freezer compartments due to the effects of cold temperatures on mercury. Current fiber-optic installation sites include supermarket chains (such as this Whole Foods Market in Colorado Springs, CO), retail stores, fast-food restaurants, theme parks and casinos, hotels, swimming pool, government structures, spas, and museums.
    Because one-third of the world’s electricity generation is used for lighting, savings resulting from fiber illumination may have more impact on global energy than improving the...
    July 1, 2007
    By executing a definitive stock purchase agreement in which a wholly owned subsidiary of II-VI (Pittsburgh, PA) will acquire substantially all of the equity interests of Pacific...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of University of St. Andrews)
    A laser pumps a silica capillary tube that is butt-coupled to a photonic-crystal fiber, the holes of which have been filled with a red organic dye (top). Near-field images show the fluidic-fiber laser operating below and above threshold (bottom, left and right, respectively).
    Researchers at the University of St. Andrews (Fife, Scotland) and Macquarie University (New South Wales, Australia) have demonstrated a compact, fluidic-fiber dye laser that operates...
    July 1, 2007
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    Increasing demand for high-power semiconductor lasers will require continual improvements in reliability and cost of ownership.
    July 1, 2007
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    Semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers are pervasive components in modern technology spanning a huge applications space.
    July 1, 2007
    FIGURE 1. In a long-wavelength synchronously pumped optical-parametric-oscillator source, a commercial femtosecond Nd:YLF laser pumps a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal within an external resonator.
    A synchronously pumped optical-parametric-oscillator source produces broadly tunable ultrafast pulses for nonlinear microscopy, providing longer-wavelength infrared light that...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of QED Technologies)
    A single-point-diamond-turned asphere is polished via MRF (magnetorheological finishing). A new shape specification for axially symmetric aspheric surfaces promises to make optical design and fabrication of aspheres more straightforward.
    The capabilities that well-designed aspheric lens surfaces can bring to optical systems are dramatic, from the simplification of objective lenses for CD and DVD drives to larger...
    July 1, 2007
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    A fiber-ring laser developed by researchers at Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China) and Fudan University (Shanghai, China) consists of a silica microfiber tied into a knot.
    July 1, 2007
    (Photo courtesy of NIST)
    A grainy image of a baby just 5 × 5 cm in size turned out to be the well from which satellite imaging, CAT scans, barcodes on packaging, desktop publishing, digital photography, and a host of other imaging technologies sprang.
    A grainy image of a baby just 5 × 5 cm in size turned out to be the well from which satellite imaging, CAT scans, barcodes on packaging, desktop publishing, digital photography...
    July 1, 2007
    (Photos courtesy of Point Source)
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    Images from a confocal laser microscope are being transformed into artworks to be projected onto public buildings in Portsmouth, U.K.
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of John Griebsch)
    Xerox scientist Reiner Eschbach demonstrates how UV light can reveal hidden words and figures. Along with scientist Raja Bala, Eschbach is co-inventor of a process that requires no fluorescent ink, yet enables Xerox printers to individualize documents with different fluorescent words, codes, or signatures, making counterfeit copies easy to detect.
    The idea of embedding an authenticating fluorescent pattern—invisible under normal light but visible under UV illumination—for document security is not new, according to Raja ...
    July 1, 2007
    Conventional silicon (Si) photodetectors are used extensively in the UV, visible, and very near-IR (shorter than 1.2 µm) wavelengths; however, the 1.1 eV bandgap of Si precludes...
    July 1, 2007
    In a cash-and-stock deal, Gooch & Housego (Ilminster, England) acquired Sifam Fibre Optics (Torquay, England) for $10 million dollars.
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of Uwe Morgner)
    A Yb:KYW oscillator provides seed pulses for a high-repetition-rate OPA (not shown).
    Optical-parametric-amplifier (OPA) systems in the ultrafast regime provide broad tunability for a range of applications, but typical designs present the familiar tradeoff of pulse...
    July 1, 2007
    Cognex (Natick, MA), a supplier of machine-vision sensors and systems, announced that a major Japanese supplier of industrial robots standardized on Cognex In-Sight vision sensors...
    July 1, 2007
    Courtesy of Stephen Chou, Princeton University
    FIGURE 1. Nanoimprint lithography is a mechanical process that can pattern very-high-resolution nanometer-scale features-in this case, 6 nm line and 12 nm pitch-onto thermoplastic substrates.
    Near-term applications include biotech and O/E devices, but the real prize is CMOS fabrication.
    July 1, 2007
    The profile of the global warming debate has recently increased dramatically. On the political front, President Bush’s greenhouse gas reduction proposal in May and June’s G8 summit...
    July 1, 2007
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    Aspheric-lens arrays made possible by precision molding enable cost-effective high-volume manufacturing of optics in smaller, lighter packages for digital photography and industrial...
    July 1, 2007
    Researchers at the Institute of Photovoltaics at the Juelich Research Center (Juelich, Germany) have been able to grow low-temperature microcrystalline silicon-carbide (µc-SiC...
    July 1, 2007
    As the chinese makers ramp up production, they will be facing market-share pressure both at home and overseas. This could cause the larger makers to cut margins dramatically in...
    July 1, 2007
    A free-space quantum-communication experiment carried out in the Canary Islands by researchers from eight universities and research institutes in Austria, Germany, The Netherlands...
    July 1, 2007
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    Quantum computers hold out hope of tackling tough problems from code-breaking to quantum-mechanical modeling. But nobody thinks its great potential will be easy to realize, and...
    July 1, 2007
    (Courtesy of the ILT)
    A fiber-coupled diode-laser module emits at 1.9 µm. The water-cooled module has two polarization-coupled bars and a green laser pointer to visually show the optical axis.
    Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes of Laser Technology (ILT; Aachen, Germany) and of Applied Solid State Physics (IAF; Freiburg, Germany) have joined forces to produce the...
    July 1, 2007