Laser Focus World articles from April 2002

Laser Focus World archives from April 2002

Space probes provide planetary images. (editor's desk).
April 1, 2002... Once a source of major embarrassment for NASA, the Hubble space telescope was in the news again last month--this time with a positive spin--after astronauts from the space shuttle Columbia successfully installed a new central power unit in the...

Holograms are recorded at nanosecond speeds. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) have developed a holographic method that records fast phenomena. Previous fast holographic methods depended on electronics or mechanical scanners and were limited in speed....

Vacuum spectrometer pins down fluorine laser lines. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... The next generation of microlithography tools under development is being designed around the 157-nm output of molecular fluorine ([F.sub.2]) lasers. Because the calcium fluoride and barium fluoride refractive materials used to focus 157-nm...

Ytterbium-doped laser crystal generates shorter femtosecond pulses. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... Researchers at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) and the Australian National University (ANU; Canberra, Australia) have demonstrated a passively modelocked, diode-pumped, ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum borate (Yb:YAB) femtosecond...

Visible chemical-laser amplifier looks promising. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... A candidate for a practical visible-light-emitting chemical-laser amplifier is being characterized by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) and the University of Illinois (Urbana, IL). The potential amplifier is based...

Microlens forces VCSEL to lase in single mode. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... Getting vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) to lase in a single transverse mode has been the focus of much research. Researchers at Seoul National University (Seoul, Korea) and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (Suwon,...

Pixelless thermal imager upconverts room-temperature scenes. (news breaks).
April 1, 2002... A pixelless thermal imaging technique being developed by a group at the National Research Council (Ottawa, Ont., Canada) has reached new heights of practicality. A near-infrared-emitting, broad-area light-emitting diode (LED) is deposited...

Light valve changes beam profile. (Laser Machining).
April 1, 2002... One of the most important attributes of an industrial laser is its beam profile. Some applications, such as cutting, may require the pinpoint high intensity of a single-transverse-mode Gaussian beam, while others, like surface treating, benefit...

Cryogenic gives evidence for `Einstein'. (optoelectronics world news).
April 1, 2002... Einstein's theory of special relativity predicts that the speed of light is independent of the velocity of the laboratory. Evidence of this velocity-independence gets closer to the truth all the time, as shown by physicists at the University of...

Confocal spectroscopy assesses glass waveguide structures. (Spectroscopy).
April 1, 2002... During the past couple of years, interest in laser writing of waveguides in glass has blossomed as a potential enabling technology for fabrication of integrated optics, as evidenced by a plethora of papers on the subject presented at Photonics...

LED market shines through high-tech slump. (Conference Review).
April 1, 2002... Although most high-tech sectors of the economy showed dramatic declines in 2001, at least one segment of the optoelectronics business managed to stay on an even keel: high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HB LEDs). This market was the subject...

Analog chip sorts colors. (Image Processing).
April 1, 2002... Researchers at Iguana Robotics (Mahomet, IL) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) have demonstrated a single-chip analog image-processing system that can acquire color images, perform color segmentation, transform image color space,...

Underwater topography demands high-reliability laser. (Environmental Sensing).
April 1, 2002... Laser systems are often designed to emphasize performance features such as efficiency or power, but a system designed by engineers at Cutting Edge Optronics (St. Charles, MO) for use in underwater topography tasks such as minesweeping had of...

Phase crossing is absolutely precise. (Interferometers).
April 1, 2002... Distance-measuring interferometers (DMIs) track an object's axial location as it moves by monitoring the phase change of a beam bouncing off a mirror mounted to the object. Although conventional DMIs can measure displacements down to small...

Upward parallel beam improves laser guide stars. (Adaptive Optics).
April 1, 2002... A new method of sensing the wavefront distortion from a laser guide star fixes the problem of focal anisoplanatism, say scientists at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, England) and the University of Durham (Durham, England). In adaptive...

Self-guiding of laser beam has been known for decades. (Letters).
April 1, 2002... Regarding the article "Self-guiding trick works in solids as well as gases," (January, p. 54), contrary to the statement in the first sentence, self-guiding of a high-power loser beam in air was known in 1966 and given a thorough theoretical...

Diodetec starts up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. (Laser industry report).
April 1, 2002... Diodetec Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), a startup manufacturer of solid-state diode arrays to power advanced laser systems, will employ 12 people in the short term, and 35 to 50 in the next three years at its new facility in the Westmoreland Business...

Infinite wins $12 million DARPA contract for GCSELs. (Laser industry report).
April 1, 2002... The Infinite Photonics subsidiary of Infinite Group (Warwick, RI and Orlando, FL) has entered an R&D contract with DARPA for $12 million, based on Infinite's proprietary grating-coupled surface-emitting laser (GCSEL) diode technology. The work...

Agility teams with Nissho to enter Japanese market. (Laser industry report).
April 1, 2002... Agility Communications (Santa Barbara, CA) has announced a strategic partnership with Nissho Electronics (Tokyo, Japan) that will give Agility entry into the Japanese marketplace. Under the partnership, Nissho will serve as Agility's...

JMAR x-ray lithography wins $35 million contract. (Laser industry report).
April 1, 2002... The JMAR Research (JRI; San Diego, CA) division of JMAR Technologies has received a DARPA contract valued at up to $34.5 million for delivery of the company's 1-nm point source x-ray lithography (XRL) systems. Performance advantages of XRL...

Laser-warning systems alert aircrews to missiles. (Laser industry report).
April 1, 2002... BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions (Austin, TX) has received a $3.5 million contract from ATK Integrated Defense Company (Clearwater, FL) for production of a laser-warning receiver, to be integrated into the AN/AAR-47(V)2 missile-warning...

MicroLight Corp. Of America. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... MicroLight Corp. Of America (Houston, TX) has received Food and Drug Administration market clearance for use of the company's ML830 "Cold Laser" in the nonsurgical treatment and management of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Shipping of Iolon Inc.'s (San Jose, CA) Apollo-L high-power, widely tunable, L-band, external-cavity laser began to Innovance Networks. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Shipping of Iolon Inc.'s (San Jose, CA) Apollo-L high-power, widely tunable, L-band, external-cavity laser began to Innovance Networks (Piscataway, NJ) under a long-term, multimillion dollar contract.

IMEC aims to push 193-nm litho to the limit. (optics industry report).
April 1, 2002... Although 193-nm lithography will be introduced for volume manufacturing of the 100-nm technology node, it has become clear that the technology must be pushed well beyond 100 nm, using next-generation step-and-scan systems equipped with...

Baylor College of Medicine evaluates UV scanner from LMG. (optics industry report).
April 1, 2002... Light Management Group (LMG; Norcross, GA) has entered into an agreement with the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) to supply an ultraviolet (UV) scanner and an acousto-optical deflector for evaluation in an application involving the UV...

Agilent donates $1 million in equipment to university laboratory. (optics industry report).
April 1, 2002... A new Agilent Technologies Communications Laboratory at Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, CA) will provide graduate students in the university's masters degree program in Computer and Engineering Science and undergraduates in applied...

IQE partners with Austriamicrosystems. (optics industry report).
April 1, 2002... IQE Silicon Compounds, a wholly owned subsidiary of IQE (Cardiff, Wales) has signed a one-year contract to supply Austriamicrosystems AG (Unterpremstatten, Austria) with silicon germanium (SiGe) epitaxy services. As part of the collaboration,...

Solus Micro Technologies opens U.K. facility. (optics industry report).
April 1, 2002... Solus Micro Technologies (Westlake Village, CA), a developer of tunable optical components for makers of DWDM (dense wavelength-division multiplexing) equipment, has opened a development facility in England. Located in Bracknell, about 20 miles...

Genoa Corp. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Genoa Corp. (Fremont, CA) has begun commercial shipments of its linear optical amplifier.

Quantum Photonics Inc. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Quantum Photonics Inc. (Jessup, MD) has completed its second round of funding, totaling $27.6 million.

Wave7 Optics Inc. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Wave7 Optics Inc. (Alpharetta, GA) has raised a second round of funding totaling $23 million, bringing the company's total funds raised to $32 million.

Microvison. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Microvison (Bothell, WA) reported 2001 revenue in excess of $10.5 million and record revenue in the fourth quarter. The company also projected 125% to 150% revenue growth in 2002 with by far the strongest first quarter in the company's history....

Onetta Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) has expanded sales initiatives for its intelligent optical engines into the European market by entering a distribution agreement with AMS Technologies AG. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Onetta Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) has expanded sales initiatives for its intelligent optical engines into the European market by entering a distribution agreement with AMS Technologies AG, headquartered in Munich, Germany, with additional offices in...

Dalsa picks up Zarlink Semiconductor. (imaging & detector industry report).
April 1, 2002... Dalsa (Waterloo, Ont., Canada) will acquire a controlling interest in the semiconductor foundry facility of Zarlink Semiconductor (Bromont, Que., Canada). The acquisition is intended to strengthen Dalsa's capabilities in charge-coupled-device...

eMagin's OLED display to aid infantry. (imaging & detector industry report).
April 1, 2002... Organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) microdisplay technology being developed at eMagin (Hopewell Junction, NY) has been selected for the Version 1.0 helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) for the U.S. Army's Land Warrior Program. Financial terms were...

E Ink teams with VST and Air Products, gets $25 million funding. (imaging & detector industry report).
April 1, 2002... E Ink (Cambridge, MA) announced the first application of its character and segmented display platform in an agreement with Vossloh System-Technik (VST; Kiel, Germany), a supplier of mobile and stationary passenger-information systems. The two...

UDC benefits from Princeton University patent. (imaging & detector industry report).
April 1, 2002... Universal Display (UDC; Ewing, NJ) revealed that its research partner, Princeton University (Princeton, NJ), has been issued a new patent for an organic vapor-phase deposition (OVPD) process that can provide substantial advantages for the...

Eastman Kodak (Rochester, NY) has licensed its OLED technology to Denso. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... (Rochester, NY) has licensed its OLED technology to Denso (Tokyo, Japan) for use as passive-matrix displays in automobiles.

iSuppli. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... A forecast by market-research firm iSuppli (El Segundo, CA) predicts that CMOS image sensors will continue to take market share away from CCD devices in the next few years, with CMOS share gaining from 23% in 2001 to 47% in 2005.

Optical transmission market slated for positive growth. (fiberoptics industry report).
April 1, 2002... The worldwide optical-transmission systems market struggled in 2001 as revenue declined 10%, but the market is forecasted to show positive growth in 2002, according to Dataquest, a unit of Gartner (Stamford, CT). In 2001, worldwide...

Sumitomo builds optical-fiber plants in China. (fiberoptics industry report).
April 1, 2002... Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI; Osaka, Japan) has started construction of plants to manufacture optical fiber and optical cable in the city of Shenzhen in the Chinese province of Guangdong. Since the establishment in July of its...

Optical crossconnects make market inroads. (fiberoptics industry report).
April 1, 2002... According to an analysis from Frost & Sullivan (Mountain View, CA) "World Digital Cross Connect Markets for Core Long Haul and Metro/Regional Optical Networks," the industry generated revenues of $2.9 billion in 2001, with revenues projected to...

Jabil Circuit to manufacture for Digital Lightwave. (fiberoptics industry report).
April 1, 2002... Digital Lightwave (Clearwater, FL) has entered a manufacturing agreement with Jabil Circuit (St. Petersburg, FL), in which Jabil Circuit will serve as Digital Lightwave's primary contract manufacturer for the company's circuit board and product...

New World Network. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... New World Network (Miami, FL) has announced commercial availability of ARCOS (Americas Region Caribbean Optical-ring System), the company's fiberoptic cable network, which links 24 landing points in 15 countries within South. Central, and North...

Alcatel Optronics (Paris, France), CyOptics (Waltham. MA), and Oki Electric Industry (Tokyo, Japan), three leading companies in the electroabsorption domain. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... Alcatel Optronics (Paris, France), CyOptics (Waltham. MA), and Oki Electric Industry (Tokyo, Japan), three leading companies in the electroabsorption domain, have launched a joint effort to define a multisource agreement for 40-Gbit/s...

PrimeLink Systems (Folsom, LA) has entered a nonbinding agreement to construct a 900-mile proprietary network from Dallas, TX. (Also in the news ...).
April 1, 2002... PrimeLink Systems (Folsom, LA) has entered a nonbinding agreement to construct a 900-mile proprietary network from Dallas, TX, to Atlanta, GA, in conjunction with Broadwing Communications (Austin, TX) and Southern Telecom. a wholly owned...

THEMIS makes a thermal Odyssey to Mars. (Infrared Imaging).
April 1, 2002... The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is a compact multispectral imager built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing for Arizona State University to fly on NASA's Mars 2001 Odyssey orbiter, which was launched in April of 2001. The...

Edge-emitting III-V LEDs illuminate wearable color microdisplays. (Displays).
April 1, 2002... Scanned microdisplays offer several advantages over active-matrix displays such as thin-film transistor liquid-crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) and liquid-crystal on silicon (LCOS). Three RGB light sources and a scanning mirror are the principal...

Indium phosphide addresses 10-Gbit/s metro demand. (Modulators).
April 1, 2002... The low cost and increasing maturity of metropolitan optical networking systems have made metro systems increasingly attractive for intermediate distances of 300 to 500 km, previously the exclusive domain of long-haul systems. To address these...

Laser gyros, lidars guide air and space craft: in the years to come, lidars that help pilots avoid turbulence will join laser gyros as standard navigational equipment on commercial airliners. (Focus on: aerospace).
April 1, 2002... Since their commercialization nearly 20 years ago, laser gyros have become by far the most widely applied laser device in the aerospace field. Not only are they universal on airliners and rockets, but they are increasingly used on spacecraft as...

Optical regeneration will be key for 40 Gbit/s success; optical engineers hope to bypass O-E conversion and control dispersion with optical regeneration in the transition to 40-Gbit/s networks and beyond. (Optical Networking).
April 1, 2002... Electronic regeneration came first in fiberoptics, and optical amplification followed. Now developers are combining regeneration with optics to build optical regenerators. Optical regeneration began as a gleam in the eye of researchers who...

Power supplies adapted for diode-pumped laser systems: programmable direct current power supplies overcome current overshoot difficulties associated with supplying power to industrial laser systems. (Power Supplies).
April 1, 2002... While designing a power supply for its industrial diode-pumped laser systems, semiconductor-based laser and optical technologies manufacturer Spectra-Physics (Mountain View, CA) encountered current overshoot that can cause significant damage to...

High-accuracy laser metrology enhances the VLTI; ambitious interferometry programs at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer require implementation of a super-heterodyne laser metrology system to monitor optical path variations. (Optical Interferometry).
April 1, 2002... The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the Paranal Observatory (Paranal, Chile) allows the coherent superposition of the stellar light collected by two 8-m-diameter telescopes separated by more than 100 m (see Fig. 1). With this...

LAAPD array. (new products).
April 1, 2002... A new, monolithic, 16-element LAAPD array utilizes patented technology to provide an all-solid-state alternative to multichannel PMTs for use as photodetectors in low-light applications. The array offers a QE of up to 90% and a spectral range...

Deep-UV industrial laser. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The Azure is a cw, diode-pumped, deep-UV laser. The frequency-doubled laser 266-nm output with an output power of 200 mW and a TE[M.sub.00] beam Designed as a "hands-free" laser source industrial applications range from writing fiber Bragg...

Optical focus control. (new products).
April 1, 2002... New optical focus control (OFC) technology tracks the laser's focal point automatically in a closed-loop system with optical feedback. It is designed for use in material processing and focal point setup of laser systems. OFC operates...

Software for IR thermometer. (new products).
April 1, 2002... New software has been introduced for the Pyrolaser portable, automatic, emissivity-correcting IR thermometer. The software allows the user to recalibrate the Pyrolaser in the field without factory service. This allows the user to ensure...

Bragg laser diode. (new products).
April 1, 2002... A narrow-linewidth Bragg diode laser from Crystal GmbH emits 200 mW of uncollimated radiation at 860 nm at a driving current of approximately 250 mA. The emitted mode structure is fundamental in spatial and spectral mode, and a...

Monochrome camera. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The new FTM18D/22 is a 1-megapixel monochrome camera that uses a 1K x 7.5-[micro]m pixel, progress-frame-transfer CCD sensor. Operating at a frequency of 30 MHz, the camera provides 22 or 44 f/s with vertical binning. The camera utilizes TTL...

Intensified CCD camera. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The PI * MAX:1K intensified CCD camera has been introduced for high-resolution gated imaging and spectroscopy applications. The camera uses new intensifiers with limiting resolution of 72 lp/mm. A built-in HV pulser and a proprietary gating...

Connector certification system. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The ConnCert 100 is a complete fiberoptic-endface inspection and certification system that takes the subjectivity out of the inspection process. Using ConnCert 100 software, the user can specify inspection parameters based on programmed...

Tabletop machining system. (new products).
April 1, 2002... AccuLaze is a compact, tabletop microelectronics machining system. The self-contained system includes an Nd:YAG laser, a high-magnification video system, and control software to allow trimming and repairing of a variety of micro devices....

Laser-diode-bar stacking system. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The System P35 laser-bar stacker picks unsingulated laser-diode bars from wafer tape and places them into fixtures for coating processes. A secondary input station allows spacers to be picked up and placed with the laser bars. Laser-diode bars...

Prism/polygon measuring instrument. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The PrismMaster HR is an automated turnkey system that includes an ultra-precision rotation drive for fully automated measurement of optical components. The system includes an electric autocollimator and offers resolution of 0.036 arc sec and...

IR sensor head. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The Pyrofiber single-axis fiberoptic sensor head is designed for measuring IR temperature and emissivity values of miniature targets. Target sizes to 1 mm can be measured accurately. The sensor head is part of the Pyrofiber Lab, automatic...

Fiberoptic light modules and engines. (new products).
April 1, 2002... Solarc 50-W fiberoptic light modules (LM50) and light engines (LE50) are now available to industrial OEMs. The systems emit bright white light suited for microscopy, machine vision, and other industrial inspection applications. The LM50...

Mirrors and laser line reflectors. (new products).
April 1, 2002... New diode-laser mirrors and high-power laser line reflectors offer reflectance of >99.8% and a damage threshold of 20 J/cm2. Available in diameters of 12.5 and 25 mm, the mirrors are manufactured from fused silica with a dielectric coating....

Spectral radiometer. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The new RSA2000-CVF spectral radiometer is designed with 8-in. diameter optics and a Circularly variable filter for high-resolution spectral analysis. The dual detector is cryoengine-cooled and provides a spectral response of 1.4 to 14 [micro]m...

Pump for micro-YAGs. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The UM4200/M20/CB series of high-brightness diode-laser modules allows the efficient pumping of micro solid-state lasers with power up to 4.2 W at 808 nm. The compact units supply a collimated, symmetrized, polarized, and homogenized output...

Ion laser. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The new Solano is an air-cooled ion-laser system that integrates both laser head and power supply into a single, compact package. The entire laser head measures 370 x 133 x 163 mm. A "smart" power supply automatically compensates for variations...

Scanner laser welding. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The new programmable focusing optic (PFO) focuses the laser beam to any defined location on the working area using a series of Galvo mirrors. With an integrated pulsed or cw laser, parts can be welded without movement of the focusing optics or...

Surface-mounted LEDs. (new products).
April 1, 2002... Surface-mounted LEDs are designed to save space on printed circuit boards and are supplied on tape and reel for automated placement on equipment. Available in gull-wing, SOT-23, 1206, 0603, 0805, and other industry-standard packages with...

Controllable luminance/radiance light source. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The Model BN-0101 luminance/radiance calibration standard is designed around a 250-mm-diameter integrating sphere with highly reflective OP.DI.MA.coating. Four individually driven lamps, with signal-level control from 1000 cd/[m.sub.2] and...

Machine-vision system. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The EZVision 12X machine-vision system includes robot guidance, pattern matching, optical character verification, and SPC data collection. Now available in Windows 2000, the system includes the processor, software, the EZVIP operator interface,...

Laser-diode life test system. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The LD 960-32 life test system uses a patented conductive thermal control technology, as opposed to an air-based oven, for precise control of diode temperature during the life test process. The system is capable of performing life tests on up...

Miniature integrating sphere. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The Innasphere is a miniature integrating sphere for use with fiberoptic spectrometers. It provides full-function cosine reception over spectral ranges from UV through visible, and into the NIR. With system calibration, it will provide both...

Linear motor stage. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The NanoSlide linear motor stage is a direct drive stage, designed for applications including life science, factory automation, digital imaging, semiconductor, and photonic alignment and automation. Its integral, center-drive linear motor has a...

Lensed fiber. (new products).
April 1, 2002... Lensed fiber has been introduced to the Yellow Jacket-brand metallized-fiber product line. Both screwdriver-tip and conical-lens geometries are available. Asymmetrical radius of curvature or aspheric configurations may be specified. ...

Unmounted diode-laser bars. (new products).
April 1, 2002... High-peak-power QCW unmounted diode-laser bars, emitting in the 900-nm wavelength range, have been introduced. Consisting of 90% fill-factor, the 100-W peak power diode-laser bars are designed for integration into a number of solid-state laser...

CCD and CCTV lenses. (new products).
April 1, 2002... A new line of CCD and CCTV lenses is designed for various 1/3-, 1/2-, 2/3-, and 1-in. formats. The lenses are of 3-, 6-, or 7-glass element designs, mounted in compact, durable metal housings, with focal lengths from 10 to 45 mm, speeds from...

Laser-scanning microscope. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The LSM 510 META is a laser-scanning microscope designed for fluorescence microscopy in biomedical research. The new system allows more fluorescent markers to be used simultaneously and their fluorescent emissions to be assigned despite...

Thermoelectric air conditioner. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The compact 400-BTU thermoelectric solid-state air conditioner, model AAC-140B-4XT, is now available with an integral power supply and adjustable thermostat. Users can cool small electronic packages directly from a 120/240-V ac power source. A...

Remote monitoring device. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The GammaTRACER is designed for unmanned continuous surveillance of gamma radiation. The unit is a combination of a GM-based survey instrument and+ a microprocessor-controlled data logger in a compact, environmentally sealed package. Up to...

Area-scan camera. (new products).
April 1, 2002... The megapixel DALSTAR 4M30 is an area-scan camera offering 2k x 2k resolution and true 12-bit digital output at 30 fps. It has a square pixel format and high fill factor for quantifiable image quality at low light levels. The camera has a...