San Francisco, CA--Winners of the 2011 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation were announced at a gala banquet on January 25 during SPIE Photonics West. Nine photonic products in nine different categoriesâincluding biophotonics, scientific lasers, and other light sourcesâgarnered awards for their ability to challenge conventional ideas, solve problems, and improve life through the generation and harnessing of light.
Winners and categories are:
⢠89 North (Burlington, VT; Life Sciences and Biophotonics) for theHeliophor, a pumped-phosphor light engine for quantitative fluorescence microscopy that provides an alternative to arc lamps, metal halides, and LED light sources. With nine available wavelength modules, each system is user-configurable. Features include rapid switch times, digital shuttering, and advanced triggering and control capabilities to rapidly interface with other system components and enable high-speed, multidimensional imaging.
⢠PD-LD(Pennington, NJ; Scientific Lasers) for LabSource, a VBG-stabilized, dual-laser source for use in shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS). LabSource is based on the VBG-stabilized laser diodes with strictly controlled wavelength separation corresponding to the line width of the Raman bands. LabSource allows subtraction of the fluorescence contribution from the Raman signal and is intended for bench-top applications, where its SERDS capabilities can be integrated with existing laboratory analytical equipment.
⢠Amplitude Systèmes (Pessac, France; Industrial Lasers) for the Satsuma HE, an ultrafast fiber laser for industrial markets such as eye surgery, medical device manufacturing, and semiconductor processing. The laser delivers ultra-short pulse duration (350 fs), high repetition rate (1 MHz or more), and high energy (up to 20 µJ) in a compact housing.
⢠MERMEC (Monopoli Bari, Italy; Detectors, Sensing, Imaging and Cameras), for T-Sight 5000, a system mounted to the front of high-speed trains that performs an in-depth inspection and analysis of tunnels and clearance profiles on railways, capturing image data of bridges, underpasses, poles, and other obstacles that may hinder the safe transport of rail passengers and cargo. Once image data are captured, the system can visually recreate 3D images of the railway infrastructure. The system's internal architecture integrates two different systems (clearance gauge measurement and tunnel wall inspection) sharing the same laser illuminating source.