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    • Volume 37, Issue 8

    More content from Volume 37, Issue 8

    Tunable lasers in one form or another have been a goal of researchers since the invention of the laser. A single source that emits at various wavelengths is inherently more cost...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of Creol)
    Th 68531
    These days, concepts for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) optical switches intended for fiberoptic networks are legion. Desirable qualities for these devices include low ...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of NOKIA)
    An unpixelated diffractive diffuser reveals stripes and other nonuniformities produced by light-emitting-diode sidelights. A pixelated version with gratings of two differing orientations produces a uniform background. The proportion of the two types of pixels varies across the backlight; the proportion was determined by a combination of calculation and experiment.
    The ideal backlight for a mobile phone would at once be thin, efficient, uniform in illumination properties, and inexpensive to make. Manufacturers are still fishing around for...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of Schottglass Tech.)
    Examples of a hybrid preform, hybrid glass substrates, and hybrid disks.
    A proprietary, low-temperature method of joining active and passive phosphate glasses was recently developed by researchers at Schottglass Technologies (Duryea, PA). Hybrid glass...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    TOKYO—Researchers at Toppan Printing have developed a hologram that reproduces color with a brilliance twice that of conventional holograms. Because three primary colors...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Engineers at TRW have developed an EUV laser for the Engineering Test Stand based on expertise in solid-state lasers and flowing xenon-jet technology that they must now direct toward scaling to meet the demands of a commercial system.
    Increasing the optical power output of the illumination system is the primary focus of the industry and government consortium that hopes to keep pace with Moore's Law by developing...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    TOKYO—The Network and Alliance Business Associates Corp. has marketed an imaging spectroscopic system that uses prism spectroscopy to simultaneously measure 240 points of...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    SENDAI—Researchers at the Riken Photo-Dynamics Center have developed a terahertz laser light source that is tunable over a wide range of frequencies. Terahertz light falls...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    TOKYO—NABA Corp., in collaboration with Nano Focus (Duisburg, Germany) and others, has developed and begun to market three different nanoscale three-dimensional (3-D) surface...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Marconi Plc sets off worldwide financial fireworks; Luminous Networks gains $80 million in financing; Vitesse acquires Versatile, integrating optical and electrical components...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    An Australia/US collaboration has lead to the fabrication of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with output that can be steered by as much as 20°. Output direction...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Using available matrix-based optical switches, equipment manufacturers are constructing wavelength-selective crossconnects (WSXCs) for a future generation of all-optical networks...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    In the first of my columns for Laser Focus World (January 1992, page 55) I suggested that the advent of high-speed, high-capacity fiberoptic networks would make the cost of transmitting...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Mastery in advanced technology is established at its core through materials science and materials processing. In optical communications, some extraordinary achievements in the...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    With the explosion of interest in telecom devices, optical modeling codes must advance to meet the challenge. Fortunately the exponential growth of calculation power resulting...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    1304qa Chang New
    I overcame the temptation of a high-paying job to go on for a Ph.D. Should I consider a major in physics instead of optics? My view is physics provides more options, whereas the...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Drawn by enchanting visions of telecom delights, 1310-nm vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have begun the parade to market this year with monthly technology development...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    The Pentagon's Airborne Laser project was one of the big winners in President George W. Bush's amended defense budget for fiscal 2002, which he sent to Congress late in June.
    Aug. 1, 2001
    A listing if industry events covering September to October 2001.
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Diode-pumped industrial UV laser; Ball and drum lenses with new coatings; Halogen-lamp holders; Red laser diode; Laser barrier curtain; Free-space telecom laser sources ...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Three-Five and DuPont team up on OLEDs; Advanced Research Technologies gets $9.5 million toward imager; Scottish group attracts business interest, $1-million grant for organic...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    FIGURE 1. A reach-through avalanche photojunction has a very narrow junction (p+), where the multiplication takes place at the back end of the devices, farthest from the light source.
    For photon counting at low light levels, solid-state avalanche photodiodes, superconducting junctions, and microcalorimeters are replacing PMTs in many applications.
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    The transition from the mercury-arc lamp 365-nm line (i-line) to deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photolithographic projection imaging has presented several technological and commercial...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Every science is auxiliary to every other." Now researchers at the US Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of Lucent Technologies)
    FIGURE 1. An optical MEMS mirror can tilt on two axes; the mirror itself pivots on one axis, while the ring surrounding it pivots on a perpendicular axis.
    Advances in all-optical technologies have produced a variety of switch components for use in telecommunications applications.
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Membrane-mirror light-modulator (MLM) technology has been in existence at least since 1968.1 The technology incorporates a deformable membrane mirror as the light-modulating element...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    Software-based vision solutions perform a variety of visual inspection tasks, including pattern matching. Pattern matching is a method of identifying features in an image that...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    FIGURE 1. The active element of a tunable DBR laser is based on a resonant cavity, formed by controlling the reflectivity of the cleaved reflecting facets at the ends of the device.
    Semiconductor sources that deliver multiple wavelengths are critical to the success of emerging optical networks. Many design approaches address these network requirements.
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Bell Labs' scientists calculate theoretical limits of fiberoptic networks; Intense Photonics acquires DuPont facility; Corning levels patent infringement charges at Highwave.....
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Spectra-Physics returns to original name on 40th anniversary; European Physical Society presents annual awards; Bandwidth9 grows in capacity, collaborators, and advisors...
    Aug. 1, 2001
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    A scanned carbon dioxide (CO2) laser beam used for marking is switched on at the point of movement and can mark a distance of more than 2.5 mm in one millisecond. In contrast,...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Screen-printing technique produces OLE displays; Dye and microspheres create an optical diode; Dual fiber-ring depolarizer is insensitive to input conditions ...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Liquid-crystal molecules align on a sheet of graphite in a scanning tunneling microscope image. Experiments show that the molecules can crystallize even above the usual 'melting' temperature if they are placed in a narrow space between two surfaces.
    Somewhere between a solid and a liquid, nematic liquid crystal (LC) is characterized by molecules that retain parallel alignment of the longitudinal axes but can flow like a fluid...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Effective optical-networking solutions based on existing technology involve optical transparency for data routing, while using electrical processing for data-management functions.
    The market focus on optical networking has shifted from capacity expansion to cost-effective network management, according to Mark Krol from Corning Incorporated (Corning, NY)...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    FIGURE 1. Six regions of a diamond LED p-n junction emit UV luminescence. (The dark electrodes are not connected to the power source).
    Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science (Tsukuba, Japan) have reported the realization of an ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diode with the use of a diamond...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory)
    An in-tunnel view of the long undulator magnet used for the Advanced Photon Source's FEL project.
    A team of scientists and researchers at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL) has achieved saturation of self-amplified spontaneous emission ...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of University of Colorado)
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    One sign that a technology is maturing is the evolution of large, awkward prototypes into compact and easy-to-use devices. This sort of change is happening in the area of high...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Calculated emission rate images [R(x, y)] show that for different polar orientations of a molecule in the x-z plane, maximum fluorescence is seen when the dipole axis and the beam axis are aligned (θ = 0).
    In the world of molecular interaction, the positioning of the "poles" determines whether or not two molecules are likely to interact. This molecular dipole moment is the axis ...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    Infrared-spatial-interferometer telescopes measuring 1.5 m are mounted in vans for relative positioning and orientation.
    A research group at the University of California-Berkeley, led by 85-year-old Nobel Laureate Charles Townes, is using laser-based heterodyne interferometry to challenge conventional...
    Aug. 1, 2001
    (Photo courtesy of UC-Berkeley; Science)
    These images, captured with a scanning electron microscope, show an array of ultraviolet ZnO nanowire nanolasers. Bunched together in this manner, the nanolasers are bright enough to be used in applications such as optical computing, information storage, and nano-analysis.
    University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) chemist Peidong Yang and colleagues have grown room-temperature nanowire nanolasers that, under optical excitation, demonstrate...
    Aug. 1, 2001