Laser Focus World articles from June 2004

Laser Focus World archives from June 2004

Reliability counts!(editor's desk)
June 1, 2004... The "tug of war" that exists in a manufacturing environment between innovation (we can make it faster, smaller, cheaper) and conservatism (we know it works) has resulted in the slower-than-expected uptake of some novel photonics technologies...

Continuous-wave single-fiber laser tops 1-kW output.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... A single-fiber laser with an optical output of greater than a kilowatt has been demonstrated for the first time by researchers at the University of Southampton's Optoelectrenics Research Centre (Southampton, England). The 8-m-long...

Confocal microscope scrutinizes diamond microlens arrays.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... Just as diamonds are rare in nature, optical elements made of single-crystal diamond are rare in the optical world. Although diamond's durability, high (in fact, unmatched) hardness and thermal conductivity, high index of refraction, lack of...

Quantum-cryptographic transmission rate reaches 1 Mbit/s.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST; Gaithersburg, MD) have demonstrated the fastest-yet quantum-cryptographic transmission, besting previously reported results by two orders of magnitude. In their system, a...

Paper Blu-ray DVD is recyclable.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... At the Optical Data Storage topical meeting in Monterey, CA, in April, researchers from Sony and Toppan Printing (both in Tokyo, Japan) described their recent development of a 25-Gbyte ROM DVD disc fabricated on a paper substrate and formatted...

Maskless lithographic system scans rather than steps.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... Maskless photolithography, in which the conventional photomask is replaced by optoelectronic hardware that modulates a line or patch of light, is not a new concept. It has not found practical use, however, mainly because of its very low...

Single-mode white-light supercontinuum source is compact.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... Researchers at the Institut de Recherche en Communications Optiques et Microondes (Limoges, France) have generated a smooth and truly single-mode white-light supercontinuum in normally dispersive holey optical fiber. The result was achieved by...

Light-emitting plasma rotates via circularly polarized microwaves.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... The electrode-less sulfur lamp is a white-light source that contains a microwave-generated sulfur plasma. Extremely efficient (170 Im/W) and long lasting, the bulb was developed in the 1990s and was accompanied by enough fanfare to make its...

Quantum-well-intermixing fabrication produces high OEIC yield.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... If optoelectronic integrated-circuit (OEIC) chips could be made at as high as yield as electronic chips, then progress might be accelerated in major markets such as ultra-high-bandwidth communications networks for enterprises and homes. In this...

Semiconductor laser emits at 241.5 nm.(newsbreaks)
June 1, 2004... Room temperature deep-ultraviolet lasing of an optically pumped aluminum gallium nitride (AIGaN) multiple-quantum-well (MQW) laser has been reported by scientists at Kogakuin University (Tokyo Japan). Although success when optically pumping...

Conical refraction becomes practical.(Birefringent Crystals)
June 1, 2004... In 1832, without the benefit of experiment, Sir William Hamilton deduced the existence of an optical phenomenon called conical refraction. Later that same year, Humphrey Lloyd, a fellow at Trinity College and professor at the University of...

SERS traces water pollution in real time.(optoelectronics world news)
June 1, 2004... Seawater pollution concentrates at river estuaries, harbor exits, and straits bearing heavy ship traffic. Coastal survey patrols can detect water turbidity or oil contamination during cruising, but they usually cannot analyze molecular...

Photon Forum: from blood to breath.(Conference Review)
June 1, 2004... Breath analysis may eventually replace blood and urine analysis to identify and diagnose early stage disease, according to Barbara Paldus, founder and chief technology officer of Picarro (Sunnyvale, CA). Speaking at last month's Photon Forum...

Light-activated molecules create complex microstructures.(Photolitography)
June 1, 2004... A two-photon 3-D lithography technique that uses light-activated molecules to selectively initiate chemical reactions within polymers and other materials could provide an efficient way to produce complex structures with submicron features....

Solder-free approach improves diode-bar assembly.(Optoelectronics Fabrication)
June 1, 2004... A new solder-free mounting technology developed by Monocrom (Vilanova I la Geltru, Spain) simplifies the assembly of laser-diode bars. Developed in conjunction with high-power laser-diode assemblies designed by Monocrom, the mounting technology...

Quantum dots allow normal-incidence imaging.(Focal-Plane Arrays)
June 1, 2004... Quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) can serve as elements in focal plane-array (FPA) cameras for capturing middle- and long-wavelength IR images. Valued by the military, QWIP-based FPAs also have found commercial uses in night vision....

Backlighting scheme may improve efficiency.(Flat-Panel Displays)
June 1, 2004... At the National Chiao Tung University (NCTU; Hsinchu, Taiwan), researchers are working on getting more light into a liquid-crystal display (LCD) and distributing it more evenly. They have come up with a light guide that not only takes account...

High-density storage options compete.(Optical Storage)
June 1, 2004... If the 2004 Optical Data Storage topical meeting (April 18-21; Monterey, CA) had taken place in Hollywood, someone might have accused Blu-ray Disc (BD) of trying to steal the show. The opening technical session for the 300-plus attendees began...

Barriers slow moisture, boost lifetime.(Organic Light-Emitting Diodes)
June 1, 2004... Paul Burrows of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNL; Richland, WA) described promising developments for flexible organic LEDs at the MRS Spring Meeting (San Francisco, CA) in April. (1) Flexible OLED displays have enormous commercial...

Roll-coating organic LED is first step to cheaper fabrication.(optoelectronics world news)
June 1, 2004... Light-emitting-diode (LED) displays are typically made by the batch using vacuum deposition chambers, but researchers at Pacific Northwest laboratory (Richland, WA) recently demonstrated a fast and continuous method for depositing a film of the...

Canadian facility to explore matter with femtosecond pulses.(Ultrafast Lasers)
June 1, 2004... A newly announced laser facility at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS; Varennes, Que., Canada) will explore an ultrafast approach to the investigation of matter. Dubbed the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS), and funded...

Fiberoptic scanning cytometer is fast.(Optical Diagnostics)
June 1, 2004... Detection of tumor cells in peripheral blood using immunocytochemistry and optical scanning is a promising method for screening and monitoring cancer. But digital microscopy, the current gold standard for sensitivity, is too slow for practical...

Materials researchers pursue micro- and nanophotonics.(Conference Review)
June 1, 2004... As a material system that offers compatibility with the currently ubiquitous microelectronic technology, silicon offers a highly attractive option for materials researchers seeking to design micro- and nanophotonic building blocks for future...

Dynamic holographic system pulls signal from noise.(Signal Processing)
June 1, 2004... Researchers at the University of Colorado (Boulder, CO) have demonstrated that optical parallelism can he used to outperform conventional (serial) computers for information processing. Dana Anderson and his team have built a system that can...

Canada to build femtosecond-laser lab.(laser industry report)
June 1, 2004... Canada is establishing an international laser center for research and development in fields ranging from earlier breast cancer detection to physics. The Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) laboratory, located at Universite du Quebec's Institut...

StockerYale (Salem, NH) has received an order from BAE System to supply lasers for the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasure system.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... StockerYale (Salem, NH) has received an order from BAE System to supply lasers for the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasure system. The company is also developing a customized laser for the development of a missile countermeasure system for...

Furukawa Electric.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Furukawa Electric (Tokyo, Japan) has released a 488-nm single-harmonic-generation blue laser suitable for bioinstrumentation and medical equipment. The company says it is leveraging its expertise in optical communications to expand its product...

PhotoThera.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... PhotoThera (Carlsbad, CA) has raised $19 million from a group of venture capital investors. Last March the company received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell an IR laser device to treat tendonitis.

BTG to license chalcogenide laser technology.(laser industry report)
June 1, 2004... BTG (West Conshohocken, PA) is offering for license patented, fundamental chalcogenide semiconductor-laser technology that offers advantages for sensing and laser-ablation applications. The technology package was originally developed at...

Nichia, Sony cross license blue-laser patents.(laser industry report)
June 1, 2004... Nichia (Tokyo, Japan) and Sony (Tokyo) have come to an agreement on the cross licensing of blue-violet laser-diode-related patents for optical-disc use. In December 2002, Nichia and Sony began collaborating on the development of blue-violet...

Industry veteran succumbs to cancer.(laser industry report)
June 1, 2004... The photonics industry has lost a good friend and laser evangelist. Arthur Rhea, known to all of his friends, acquaintances, and business partners as Art, passed away on April 20 after a long battle with sarcoma. He was 47. Rhea was actively...

Zygo to supply beam-splitter to Lincoln Lab.(optics industry report)
June 1, 2004... Zygo (Middlefield, CT) received an order from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory to supply the large-beam splitter assembly (LBSA) for use in a high-precision terrestrial laboratory-based optical test bed. The LBSA...

BTG seeks licensees for Corning molding process.(optics industry report)
June 1, 2004... BTG (West Conshohocken, PA) and Corning (Corning, NY) signed a representation agreement whereby BTG will seek licensees on behalf of Corning for a portfolio of Corning patents related to a widely used glass molding process. The molded glass...

Bruker Optics.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Bruker Optics (The Woodlands, TX) is considering building a manufacturing facility next to its office, creating 25 new jobs in the next two years and expanding the company to 40 employees. The company's long-term goal is to employ 150 people at...

Janos Technology.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Janos Technology (Townshend, VT) has hired Robert Winkler to take on the newly created position of Systems sales Engineer. Winkler has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, most recently at Corning's Diamond Turning Division in...

Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX), a manufacturer of step and flash imprint lithography (S-FIL) equipment, was awarded $36 million by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a project to establish the necessary technology infrastructure associated with the S-FIL process.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX), a manufacturer of step and flash imprint lithography (S-FIL) equipment, was awarded $36 million by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a project to establish the necessary technology...

APA Optics sells manufacturing assets.(optics)
June 1, 2004... APA Optics (Blaine, MN) sold certain assets related to its discontinued optics manufacturing segment to PNE (Litchfield, MN; dba IRD) for an undisclosed amount of cash. PNE will sublease a small portion of APA's Blaine facility for up to one...

Lockheed Martin completes optical-bench tests for ABL.(optics industry report)
June 1, 2004... Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD) completed factory testing of the optical benches for the Airborne Laser's beam-control/fire-control (BC/FC) system. The Airborne Laser (ABL) is the first megawatt-class laser weapon system to be carried on a...

Osram licenses LED patents to Vishay.(imaging & detector industry report)
June 1, 2004... Osram (Munich, Germany) and Vishay Semiconductor (Malvern, PA) have entered into a patent license agreement that gives Vishay the right to manufacture and sell light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for white light with conversion technology and...

Coreco expands presence in Asia.(imaging & detector industry report)
June 1, 2004... Machine-vision manufacturer Coreco Imaging (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) has opened its first office outside North America. Located in Tokyo's commercially up-and-coming Shinagawa District, the new office will enable Coreco to better serve the...

Jai PulNix forms smart-camera unit.(imaging & detector industry report)
June 1, 2004... Jai PulNix (Sunnyvale, CA), a global supplier of industrial-grade cameras, has formed a new business unit to focus on the rapidly growing "smart-camera" market. To lead this new business group, Jai PulNix has hired Mike Kelley, a 25-year...

DARPA funds near-IR brain-monitor project.(imaging & detector industry report)
June 1, 2004... TechEn (Boston, MA) has received funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of a real-time, wireless brain-monitoring device, which utilizes near-IR spectroscopy technology. TechEn is an...

FLIR Systems.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... FLIR Systems (Portland, OR) won a $7 million contract for the delivery of its Star SAFIRE III thermal imaging systems to the Royal Australian Air Force for use on its AP-3C Maritime Patrol Operations aircraft. FLIR Systems also received an...

Power/mation (St. Paul, MN), a distributor of high-tech industrial automation solutions, formed three new vendor partnerships with SICK and Moxa Technologies in its Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois sales regions and Cognex in its Iowa and Nebraska sales regions.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Power/mation (St. Paul, MN), a distributor of high-tech industrial automation solutions, formed three new vendor partnerships with SICK and Moxa Technologies in its Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois sales regions and Cognex in its Iowa and Nebraska...

ipd.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... ipd (Billerica, MA), the intelligent products division of Coreco Imaging, has named Barr-Thorp Electric Company as its distributor in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska....

Imaging Diagnostic Systems.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Imaging Diagnostic Systems (Fort Lauderdale, FL) was granted Canadian patent 2,373,299. "Laser imaging apparatus using biomedical markers that bind to cancer cells," for a period of 20 years from the date of filing until April 1, 2019. This...

Textron Systems.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Textron Systems (Wilmington, MA) won a $49.9 million, five-year contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to continue developing a high-resolution active imaging system that can be installed in a ball turret in a warplane so it can...

Finisar to buy Infineon fiberoptics group.(fiberoptics industry report)
June 1, 2004... Finisar (Sunnyvale, CA) and Infineon Technologies (Munich, Germany) entered into a definitive agreement through which Finisar will acquire Infineon's fiberoptics business unit based in Munich for 135 million shares of Finisar common...

Lucent wins two big DOD contracts.(fiberoptics industry report)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) two contracts valued at $26 million. One contract, worth $13.4 million, is for the second phase of the Coherent Communications Imaging and Targeting (CCIT)...

Edsell takes over at NP Photonics.(fiberoptics industry report)
June 1, 2004... NP Photonics (Tucson, AZ), a developer and manufacturer micro fiber products for sensing and scientific applications, has appointed industry veteran Pat Edsell as president and CEO. Edsell brings more than 20 years of senior executive...

Terabeam acquired by wireless firm.(fiberoptics industry report)
June 1, 2004... YDI Wireless (Falls Church, VA) is adding free-space optics to its technology stable with the purchase of Terabeam (Redmond, WA), which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of YDI and remain focused on high-capacity wireless systems for...

Continuum Photonics.(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... Continuum Photonics (Billerica, MA), a developer of optical switches for the optical automation systems and telecommunications markets, closed an additional round of more than $17.5 million in its Series C financing....

OFS (Somerset, NJ) sold its Optical Channel Monitor product line to Princeton Lightwave (PLI; Cranbury, NJ).(Also in the news ...)
June 1, 2004... OFS (Somerset, NJ) sold its Optical Channel Monitor product line to Princeton Lightwave (PLI; Cranbury, NJ). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Change is in the air: vendors adjust to new military, security, and commercial opportunities.(inside imaging)
June 1, 2004... When SPIE changed the name of its AeroSense show to the Defense & Security Symposium (Orlando, FL; April 12-16), it first seemed an awkward title that would lose the broader sweep of topics that had also been covered. But the name change seems...

Biostimulation moves into consumer realm.(market watch)
June 1, 2004... Clinical research continues to demonstrate that low-power lasers (less than 500 mW) affect the cellular energy of tissue without thermally harming the tissue, opening up a host of potential therapeutic applications. It has even become clear to...

How does offshore outsourcing affect the high-tech industry?(business forum)
June 1, 2004... I recently participated in a panel discussion at a university alumni meeting about offshore outsourcing, the future of high-tech industry, jobs, and entrepreneurship. The following questions reflect some of the issues discussed. Q: What...

Modeling software analyzes heat buildup in VCSELs.(software & computing)
June 1, 2004... Internal heating is a key issue for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), which generally have higher thermal impedance than edge emitters. VCSELs are Fairly efficient for optical devices, running at roughly 25% efficiency, in...

High power, high brightness fiber-coupled diode lasers are now available.(Advanced Diode Laser Technology)
June 1, 2004... A series of high power, high brightness, fiber-coupled laser diode devices are now available for industrial and medical applications from Apollo Instruments. The laser products are based on a new beam shaping technology developed by the company...

OLEDs bring the sunshine in: organic-LED technology is emerging as the next generation of ambient white light for general illumination.(Optoelectronic applications: light & illumination)(Cover Story)
June 1, 2004... Imagine your office with overhead lighting that is warm and inviting rather than harsh and headache-inducing. Imagine your home with curtains and furniture that illuminate the room in soft and soothing ways, mimicking the outdoors. Now imagine...

Semiconductor ink advances flexible displays.(Flat-Panel Displays)
June 1, 2004... A newly developed organic semiconductor ink will be the key to fabricating large, low-cost flexible displays. ********** Flat-panel displays are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to traditional cathode-ray-tube (CRT) monitors....

Fiber lasers advance sensing applications.(Fiber Sensing)
June 1, 2004... Development of 1.55-[micro]m fiber lasers based on erbium/ytterbium co-doped phosphate glass has made optical technology a more feasible tool for distributed sensing and related applications. ********** Optoelectronics and fiberoptics...

Passive waveguides boost performance and yield.(Novel Semiconductor Lasers)
June 1, 2004... Integrating high-power single-mode lasers into multi-element laser arrays in optical systems improves cost, form-factor, robustness, and ease of manufacture. ********** Individually addressable single-mode lasers are used in many...

Planar waveguides offer route to integration.(Optical networking: reconfigurable planar waveguides)
June 1, 2004... Optical integration is an attractive way to improve network performance with reduced size and costs, but its goals have shifted from systems to modules and subsystems, with a major emphasis on reconfigurable optical circuits. **********...

Applying lessons learned.(Editor's Desk)
June 1, 2004... The optoelectronics manufacturing landscape has changed radically since the telecom boom ended a couple of years back. As component production volumes have fallen, so too have the number of players involved. And after an initial spate of trying...

Optics business model grows beyond a cottage industry: as the photonics industry matures, manufacturers are adjusting their focus from individual innovation and craftsmanship to a more highly competitive model based on service, quality, and price.(Supply And Demand)
June 1, 2004... One sign that the young upstart optics industry is actually beginning to mature, according to EM4 (Bedford, MA) CEO Basil Garabet, is an increasing realization that the net worth of a company lies much more in factors such as R&D, intellectual...

What does outsourcing mean to the photonics industry?(Industry Forum)
June 1, 2004... As a changed economy begins to pick up and the downturn that hit the optics and photonics industry ends, the issue of offshore technology outsourcing has been given increasing media attention. Managers and technologists need to understand how...

Automating handling and test of edge-emitting lasers presents unique challenges: cost-effective production of edge-emitting laser diodes requires that manufacturers eliminate manual handling and characterization of laser die before the packaging process begins.(Fabrication)
June 1, 2004... Wafer fabrication of laser diodes involves high-technology processes that are mainstream to semiconductor manufacturing: epitaxial growth, deposition, metallization, masking, and etching. Laser-diode packaging processes involving die bonding,...

Surface-mount photonics simplifies optical assembly: novel assembly and packaging techniques used for optoelectronic devices benefit from existing electronics production processes and promise lower-cost precision single-mode optical components.(Assembly & Packaging)
June 1, 2004... Optical assemblies produced with the surface-mount-photonics process look more like semiconductor products than optical products. That's no accident. The overarching design-for-manufacturabillty objective tot the optical assembly and packaging...

Near-infrared photodetectors enable new applications.(Photomultiplier Tubes)
June 1, 2004... PMTs make inroads in cancer detection and therapy, as well as in semiconductor materials research. ********** Field-assisted photoemission at longer wave-lengths has been studied for decades. Yet while the materials under study emitted...

Chirped-pulse oscillators repair photomasks.(Industrial Lasers)
June 1, 2004... With an output energy falling between those of a femtosecond oscillator and a chirped-pulse amplifier (CPA), the newly developed chirped-pulse oscillator can replace the CPA for some applications, including photomask repair. ********** ...

Solid-state etalons improve wavelength measurement.(Wavelenght Meters)
June 1, 2004... Novel wavelength measurement tools set new standards in terms of resolution, precision, and acquisition speed for tunable lasers. ********** Since the invention of the laser, wavelength measurement devices (WLMs) have been...

Distributed multimode architectures deliver low-cost power and reliability.(Laser Diodes)
June 1, 2004... Highly reliable, high-power single-emitter laser chips and packaging have powerful manifestations when deployed in large ensembles. A modest redundancy means that pump power can be maintained with high confidence over extended periods of time....

Nano-optic devices enable integrated fabrication.(Optics Fabrication)
June 1, 2004... The properties of nano-optic devices--thin-film optical devices with subwavelength periodic features--make the wafer-based manufacturing of optics and integrated optics possible. ********** Individual optical functions are most often...

Proper capacity control improves chiller performance.(Chillers)
June 1, 2004... Cycling of compressors in refrigerated chillers leads to reduced life and temperature instabilities. An automatic zero-to-full-load capacity control does away with compressor cycling, eliminating associated problems. ********** ...

Goniometer.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The OL 700-30 Goniometric Measurement Assembly is designed to work with the company's high-speed test system for measuring the view angles of LEDs. It has a USB interface, an automated horizontal range of -90[degrees] to +90[degrees], minimum...

Picosecond source.(new products)
June 1, 2004... A pulsed laser-diode source, the NanoLED-14 emits pulses with duration less than 100 ps at a nominal wavelength of 475 nm. It comes in a miniaturized package and offers turnkey operation. It can be used as an excitation source for TCSPC-based...

Progressive scan camera.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The CV-M9CL camera offers resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels--three times XGA resolution. It uses three progressive-scan CCDs, operates at 30 frames/s, has a digital output selectable between 8 and 10 bits, and has a C-mount. It include built-in...

BBO plates.(new products)
June 1, 2004... Thin Beta-Barium Borate plates are designed for femtosecond laser applications. The high-damage-threshold BBO has a wide transparency and phase-matching range in the visible and UV. Plates are available with aperture up to 20 x 20 mm and...

Laser-diode series.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The LambdaLok high-power laserdiode series incorporates a volume Bragg grating to "lock" the wavelength and narrow the spectral linewidth to 0.3 nm (typical) with a temperature coefficient 0.01/[degrees]C. The diodes, available at 785, 808, and...

Avalanche photodetectors.(new products)
June 1, 2004... A new line of avalanche photodiodes have active area diameters from 300 to 900 [mu]m and are sensitive from 400 to 1100 nm with a peak responsivity of 850 nm. The devices are available in a hermetically sealed TO-46 package with either a flat...

Optical switch system.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The PSC32 configurable optical switch system is designed for test and measurement applications. The PSC32 uses a patented Micro-Actuation and Sensing System (MASS). Each of the 32 optical connections can be assigned as either input or output...

Picosecond laser.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The Nd:YV[O.sub.4] diode-pumped Staccato laser, manufactured by Lumera Laser, provides 13-ps pulses to produce cuts in metal comparable to a femtosecond laser. "Cold" micromachining at 100 kHz is possible, as the target is ablated without...

Radiometric head.(new products)
June 1, 2004... The Ophir PD300-BB is a photodiode-based detector head with a flat spectral response from 400 to 1000 nm for power measurement of broadband light sources. It has a dynamic range from 50 pW to 8 mW of power. Suited for radiometry applications,...

Diode laser.(new products)
June 1, 2004... A new 780-nm external-cavity diodelaser system with 1-W diffraction-limited output power joins the Tiger Series. The single-stage laser system provides a narrow linewidth of 1 MHz, a side-mode suppression better than 50 dB, and beam quality of...