Laser Focus World articles from November 2004

Laser Focus World archives from November 2004

Targeting the needs of war ...(editor's desk)
November 1, 2004... The continuing war in Iraq and ongoing concern about terrorism elsewhere serve to underscore efforts aimed at finding technology-based solutions to many security problems. Optoelectronics has much to offer in this respect and significant...

Market seminar to explore nanophotonics, China, and more.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... "Real-world" opportunities in nanophotonics and the emerging industrial-laser market in China will be two of the highlights at the 15th annual marketplace seminar presented by Laser Focus World and Strategies Unlimited Jan. 24, 2005, in San...

Quantum-dot laser has temperature-independent operation.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Scientists at Fujitsu (Tokyo, Japan) and The University of Tokyo have demonstrated temperature-independent operation of p-type doped quantum-dot lasers between 20[degrees]C and 70[degrees]C at a wavelength of 1.3 pm with an extinction ration of...

Mach-Zehnder modulator is molded from polymer.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Electro-optic polymers are being explored for use in integrated optical circuits. Their low material dispersion allows electro-optic modulation bandwidths up to 1.6 THz. Using soft-stamp replica-molding lithography, scientists have fabricated...

Tabletop laser produces femtosecond x-ray pulses.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Femtosecond soft-x-ray pulses will become valuable for research in structural biology and other areas. While some free-electron lasers (FELs) will provide these pulses, FELS are large, expensive, and uncommon. Researchers at the Laboratoire...

Interference technique characterizes ultrafast pulses.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) have developed a method to completely characterize the electric field of a train of identical ultrafast light pulses, revealing their structure in three spatial dimensions as well...

Transparent silica material emits white light.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... In a quest to wring light from silica, researchers from Kobe University (Kobe, Japan) have created a nonporous bulk silica glass that, when excited by UV radiation, emits broadband white light. The glass and its emission are stable under...

Perfect lens not possible with metamaterials.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Until the development of metamaterials, the search for a "perfect lens" that could create an undistorted, aberration- and diffraction-free flat image of finite size was seen as an impossible task. Metamaterials are engineered composites that...

Fabrication of mode-confined VCSEL is entirely epitaxial.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), while widely studied and manufactured, are limited in their reproducibility and reliability, problematic for dense integration, and subject to strain from the oxide itself due to...

Hybrid single-photon avalanche photodetector looks good for QKD.(newsbreaks)
November 1, 2004... Quantum-key-distribution (QKD) systems over optical fiber represent an ideal encryption method: by using the polarization state of a photon as the key for encoding information, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (which states that the...

'Oscilloscope rendering' of light is achieved.(Attosecond Physics)
November 1, 2004... While the frequencies of radio (megahertz range) and microwaves (gigahertz range) allow them to be simply observed as an oscilloscope trace, the frequency of visible light hovers at around [10.sup.15] Hz, or 10,000 times higher than the most...

Dye turns cancer tissue into lasing medium.(optoelectronics world news)
November 1, 2004... Researchers from the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) have discovered that cancerous tissue can be transformed into an optical-gain medium when doped with the dye Rhodamine 6G. The resulting random-lasing effect could prove useful in...

Hydrogen-filled hollow-core fiber converts wavelength.(Photonic-Crystal Fibers)
November 1, 2004... While some lasers are tunable, and others (for example, laser diodes) can be designed to emit at any wavelength within certain ranges, wavelength conversion through nonlinear optical processes is important for reaching many sought-after...

Quantum-well semiconductor is an optical buffer.(Photonic Integrated Circuits)
November 1, 2004... To date, realization of the much-sought-after all-200 optical communications network has been stymied in large part by the lack of a suitable optical buffer with which to delay and store optical signals (see figure). Optical-fiber delay lines...

Electrons probe to subangstrom levels.(Electron Microscopy)
November 1, 2004... Images with a resolution of less than an angstrom were obtained from an electron microscope at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN). (1) Steve Pennycook and other researchers incorporated advanced electron optics into a 300-kV...

Optics researchers receive 2004 Lawrence Awards.(Scientific Awards)
November 1, 2004... Two of the seven winners of the 2004 E.O. Lawrence Award named by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in September were recognized for contributions in the field of optics. Claire Max is co-inventor of the sodium-laser guide...

Short-wavelength 3-D photonic crystal is laser-written.(Two-Photon Fabrication)
November 1, 2004... Micro-optical components based on photonic crystals (PCs) promise to become useful as microcavities, mirrors, switches, and routers, each on a scale of a few wavelengths in size. To realize practical devices, it is necessary to have full...

Stanford meeting highlights nanophotonics.(Conference Coverage)
November 1, 2004... The challenge for nanophotonics is not simply one of fabricating nanostructures, according to Frank Schellenberg, a strategic marketer for photolithography software at Mentor Graphics (San Jose, CA). Chemists have been creating nanostructures...

Optical filters and math clarify underwater images.(Image Processing)
November 1, 2004... Studies have shown that certain marine animals actually use polarization to improve their underwater vision. (1) This knowledge has been expanded upon and improved by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa, Israel),...

World's best seeing site discovered.(Astronomy)
November 1, 2004... With funding for the Hubble telescope uncertain beyond 2007, the possibility of finding lower-cost Earth-based telescope alternatives is exciting to the astronomical community. Recent observations of winter-time seeing from Dome C, a high point...

Laser beam shaping with only one element.(optoelectronics world news)
November 1, 2004... For lots of modern laser applications the beam profile becomes more and more important. It means that a Gaussian beam sometimes is not the best solution anylonger. Therefore the Gaussian beam often has to be transformed into another profile,...

Power technology, Incorporated.(Corporate Profile)
November 1, 2004... Going strong since 1969--Power Technology, Inc.'s history of innovation Power Technology,, Inc. bas been a leader in the electro optics industry for over three decades Since 1969, PTI has been designing and manufacturing laser products for...

Terahertz screeners are compact.(Terahertz Detection)
November 1, 2004... A collaboration between terahertz-radiation specialist TeraView (Cambridge, England) and security-detection provider Smiths Detection (Pine Brook, NJ) has resulted in terahertz components that may soon make security-screening systems based on...

Low-fluence UV pulses clean art.(Excimer Lasers)
November 1, 2004... Studies have shown that excimer lasers are efficient and safe tools for removing layers of specified thickness from the surface of icons and paintings in a controllable way. To refine the technique, a team from the Institute for Electronic...

JMAR moves into biotech with LXT deal.(laser industry report)
November 1, 2004... As part of a long-term strategy to expand beyond its core microelectronics and industrial capabilities, JMAR Technologies (San Diego, CA) signed a binding agreement to acquire The LXT Group (Escondido, CA). The acquisition is expected to close...

Government grants support Aculight fiber lasers.(laser industry report)
November 1, 2004... Aculight (Bothell, WA) has won two new contracts under the Small Business Innovation Research program. These grants include a Phase II contract from the Department of Energy (DOE) for $750,000 and a Phase I contract from the National Institutes...

Industry group reports 75% increase in laser shipments.(laser industry report)
November 1, 2004... Shipments of industrial-laser equipment and systems to North America and U.S. exports were up 75% to $173.6 million in the second quarter of 2004 compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Laser Systems Product Group (LSPG) of the...

Datalogic adds Laservall to international portfolio.(laser industry report)
November 1, 2004... Datalogic (Bologna, Italy), the largest European manufacturer of barcode readers and portable data-collection terminals, has made a substantial addition to its traceability product line through the acquisition of laser manufacturer Laservall...

Crystal IS.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Crystal IS (Watervtiet, NY), a supplier of ultra-low-detect-density native aluminum nitride (AIN) single-crystal substrates, closed on $5 million of Series A round venture fund rig. Crystal IS' plans to leverage its native AIN substrate...

Sarnoff.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Sarnoff (Princeton, NJ), a manufacturer of custom-order semiconductor lasers, is stocking and selling a line of mid-infrared laser diodes operating at power outputs ranging from 20 mW to 1 W. This is the first time Sarnoff has shipped laser...

Candela (Wayland, MA) signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Chindex International (Bethesda, MD).(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Candela (Wayland, MA) signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Chindex International (Bethesda, MD), a provider of Western health-care products and services in the People's Republic of China, to market and distribute Candela's aesthetic...

CVI wins $1 million NIF contract.(optics industry report)
November 1, 2004... CVI Laser (Albuquerque, NM) has won a contract valued at more than $1 million to supply mounts for laser optic assemblies to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) operated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA). The contract,...

SBIR contract targets thin-film coatings.(optics industry report)
November 1, 2004... MetaStable Instruments (St. Peters, MO) won a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the Missile Defense Agency to develop a new instrument for measuring the very low absorption of light by thin-film optical coatings....

ASML and Micron team up on photomasks.(optics industry report)
November 1, 2004... ASML MaskTools, (Santa Clara, CA), and Micron Technology (Boise, ID) signed a comprehensive multiyear business agreement to enhance the capability of lithography tools by focusing on low-[k.sub.1] imaging solutions at and below the 95-nm node....

Large Binocular Telescope dedicated.(optics industry report)
November 1, 2004... The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) project was honored in dedication ceremonies held in Tucson, AZ, on Oct. 15. The $120 million LBT is located on Mount Graham near Safford, AZ. When fully operational in 2005, it will be the most...

Kollmorgen to provide optical sight systems for the U.S. Navy.(optics industry report)
November 1, 2004... Kollmorgen Electro Optical of Northampton, Mass., will provide five MK46 Mod 1 optical sight systems under terms of a $6.9 million contract from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command. The MK46 Mod 1 optical sight system is a two-axis,...

Lucent Technologies.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) was awarded a four-year, $9.5 million contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an advanced microsystem that will make the design, engineering and fabrication of...

The Lasermetrics division of FastPulse Technology (Saddle Brook, NJ) has entered into a multiyear contract.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... The Lasermetrics division of FastPulse Technology (Saddle Brook, NJ) has entered into a multiyear contract to provide proprietary optical laser gating systems for the National Ignition Facility (Livermore, CA)....

Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX), a manufacturer of step and flash (S-FIL) imprint lithography, has opened a European office in Aalen, Germany.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX), a manufacturer of step and flash (S-FIL) imprint lithography, has opened a European office in Aalen, Germany. This office will offer technology and applications support for regional customers and for MII's...

Pranalytica wins $13 m DARPA contract.(imaging & detector industry report)
November 1, 2004... Pranalytica (Santa Monica, CA), a trace-level gas-sensor company, was awarded a $13.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop laser-based technology and instrumentation for the detection of...

Kodak, IBM partner on image sensors.(imaging & detector industry report)
November 1, 2004... Eastman Kodak (Rochester, NY) and IBM (White Plains, NY) have joined forces to develop and manufacture image sensors for use in consumer products such as digital still cameras and camera phones. The companies signed a multiyear agreement that...

Exfo consolidates photonics and life-sciences group.(imaging & detector report)
November 1, 2004... At least 25 people will be affected by Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering's (Quebec City, Canada) decision to consolidate operations of its Photonics and Life Sciences Division. In ongoing efforts to improve market focus, efficiency, and cost...

Retica Systems (Waltham, MA) and Sigma Partners closed a $2.5 million Series A financing to fund the final development of a retinal biometric system for use in a variety of homeland security and commercial security applications.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Retica Systems (Waltham, MA) and Sigma Partners closed a $2.5 million Series A financing to fund the final development of a retinal biometric system for use in a variety of homeland security and commercial security applications. Retica was...

CRLO Displays (Fife, Scotland) has acquired the business of CRL Opto from Scipher and raised $19 million of funding from its owners.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... CRLO Displays (Fife, Scotland) has acquired the business of CRL Opto from Scipher and raised $19 million of funding from its owners. CRLO designs silicon-based microdisplays for high-definition rear projection televisions....

Nanometrics (Milpitas, CA), a supplier of metrology systems, is collaborating with Timbre Technologies (Santa Clara, CA) to develop scatterometry (optical digital profiling) technology used in semiconductor manufacturing.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Nanometrics (Milpitas, CA), a supplier of metrology systems, is collaborating with Timbre Technologies (Santa Clara, CA) to develop scatterometry (optical digital profiling) technology used in semiconductor manufacturing. Optical digital...

Jobin Yvon.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Jobin Yvon (Edison, NJ) has changed its name to HORIBA Jobin Yvon. HORIBA Jobin Yvon, one of the world's largest manufacturers of spectroscopic and analytical instruments, joined the HORIBA Group in 1997.

KVH secures $1 million in defense contracts.(fiberoptics industry report)
November 1, 2004... KVH Industries (Middletown, RI) says it has received three new engineering contracts valued at a total of more than $1 million from U.S. defense customers. The largest of the three is a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant...

Verrillon introduces hermetic fibers for oil and gas applications.(fiberoptics industry report)
November 1, 2004... Verrillon (North Grafton, MA), a maker of specialty optical fibers and components, has introduced a new family of optical fibers for harsh-environment applications such as oil, gas, and geothermal exploration. The fiber family includes both...

StockerYale partners with Mitsubishi.(fiberoptics industry report)
November 1, 2004... StockerYale (Salem, NH) signed a mutual distributorship and product development agreement for specialty optical fiber (SOF) with Mitsubishi Cable Industries of Japan. Under terms of the agreement, Mitsubishi will distribute select StockerYale...

Honeywell and SiOptical target next-generation networks.(fiberoptics industry report)
November 1, 2004... Honeywell International (Morristown, NJ) and SiOptical (Allentown, PA) are partnering on the development of MEMS-based components for next-generation communication networks for military and commercial use. The companies will work together to...

OFS Laboratories.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, through its Advanced Technology Program, will provide up to $2 million to OFS Laboratories (Murray Hill, NJ) to support the development of new processes for manufacturing high-power fiber...

Prime Research.(Also in the news ...)
November 1, 2004... Prime Research (Blacksburg, VA) was selected by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC; Philadelphia, PA) to receive $2 million for a program to develop and manufacture fiberoptic sensors for the U.S. Navy. The goat of the program is to develop...

Providing an education: optoelectronics could learn something from the machine-vision sector.(inside imaging)
November 1, 2004... Readers of Laser Focus World get some of their education in optoelectronics from technical conferences such as SPIEs Photonics West or the Optical Society of America's (OSA's) CLEO, not to mention numerous topical meetings and workshops. It is...

How can I find a VC to keep my business alive?(business forum)
November 1, 2004... Q: My ten-person company has been around for a long time, but we need funding to stay alive. Can you recommend a venture capitalist? A: I am sorry to hear that. I have seen you working hard at trade shows, must be for 20 or more years. Your...

Automated optimization advances software for illumination design.(software & computing)
November 1, 2004... Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have longer lifetime, draw less power, and are more rugged than incandescent bulbs. These attributes make the LED a particularly attractive light source for flashlights intended for rough environments, such as...

Laser light shows take on new dimensions: advances in solid-state RGB lasers and graphics software have expanded the market for laser-based entertainment, especially in smaller venues.(Optoelectronics applications: entertainment)(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... In today's highly competitive high-tech world, the inherent beauty of a laser beam is often overshadowed by the all-too-familiar mantra, "smaller, faster, cheaper." But 40 years after the laser's introduction, there remains a contingent of...

RGB laser projectors attract new audience.(Optoelectronics applications: entertainment)
November 1, 2004... In addition to their impact on the laser-light-show field, the development of lower-cost solid-state RGB lasers has opened up new applications in laser-based projection displays. Combining these lasers with new spatial-light modulators has made...

Dual ion-beam system deposits ultra-low-loss mirrors.(Thin-Film Coatings)
November 1, 2004... Many advanced commercial and military applications require ultra-low-loss films that are extremely difficult to deposit using conventional electron-beam or ion-assisted deposition (IAD). Mirrors used in ring-laser gyroscopes (RLGs), for...

Bio-agent sensing challenges photonics: it seems like it should be easy, but it's tough for optics alone to meet the stringent requirements of sensing biological agents for security applications.(Back to basics: optical detection)
November 1, 2004... Optical techniques sound like a natural approach for detecting biological agents. Remote sensing systems have been developed for many other applications. They can probe the spectrum of an unknown substance with high sensitivity and resolution...

The right tool.(editor's desk)
November 1, 2004... At home, under my kitchen sink, are two screwdrivers, a hammer, and a box of nails. In my basement, however, are three jam-packed toolboxes, a table covered with a further assortment of hand tools, and a dozen or so power tools. So where do I...

CRDS measures atmospheric C[O.sub.2]: cavity-ring-down spectroscopy offers benefits in precision, accuracy, linearity, memory, and zero drift. This absolute-absorption technique measures concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide to high accuracy.(Spectroscopy)
November 1, 2004... Are we transforming Earth into a big greenhouse? During the 20th century, global mean surface temperature increased by 0.6[degrees]C, global mean sea level increased at an average annual rate of 1 to 2 mm per year, and non-polar glaciers...

Analytical spectroscopy benefits from telecom photonics: miniature near-IR spectrometers based on telecommunications-grade optical channel monitors are well suited for process analytical instruments.(Spectroscopy)
November 1, 2004... A telecommunications optical channel monitor (OCM) is a highly specialized and optimized near-IR spectrometer that produces a chart of power versus wavelength. In dense wavelength-division multiplexing, a resolution of 3 GHz (approximately 25...

Instrument commonality aids industrial spectroscopy: a flexible spectrometer engine allows cost-effective use in both laboratory and production settings.(Spectroscopy)
November 1, 2004... The pairing of compact array-based spectrometers with on-board microprocessors has resulted in a new generation of streamlined, portable instruments. These spectrometers are well suited to on-line and at-line industrial measurements and can...

InGaAs sees infrared and visible light.(Semiconductor Detectors)
November 1, 2004... The ability of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) photodiodes to operate at room temperature with high quantum efficiency for wavelengths from 920 to 1700 nm makes InGaAs an optimal material choice for short-wavelength-IR (SWIR) imaging...

Small excimers shine in scientific applications.(Excimer Lasers)
November 1, 2004... The important role that UV radiation has come to play in industrial applications (such as photolithography, materials processing, and machining) has spurred major efforts to scale up the pulse energy and average power of excimer lasers. At the...

Watching from above: the success of unmanned surveillance aircraft over the battlefield is driving intensive efforts to greatly improve and extend this technology.(Image Engineering)
November 1, 2004... The development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), prodded by the needs of security and war, is experiencing explosive growth. Vehicles now under development may someday take the place of satellite surveillance in most military and civilian...

Laser-diode system.(new products)
November 1, 2004... A high-power pulsed laser source for the green, red, and IR wavelength range includes a pulsed seed-laser and tapered amplifier in a master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration. It produces light pulses down to 100 ps at an adjustable...

Galvanometer.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The QuantumScan-7 (QS-7) galvanometer is designed for scanning 7- and 10-mm-aperture mirrors. The model offers a 30% increase in scanning speed and optimized thermal characteristics. Specially designed ceramic output shafts provide lower...

Quasi-CW UV laser.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The Paladin 355-8000 is a commercial, quasi-CW laser that delivers 8 W of output at 355 nm. The laser is designed for applications such as laser direct imaging of PC boards and computer-to-plate production in reprographics. The laser is made...

Spectrofluorometer.(new products)
November 1, 2004... Time-correlated single-photon-counting (TCSPC) capabilities have been added to the Fluorolog-3 spectrofluorometer. The instrument offers a choice of flashlamps for excitation or the use of an LED from a NanoLED source. TCSPC is the most...

Nanopositioner.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The new TRITOR 200/20 is a piezoelectric-driven stage based on the stiction/friction-free flexure hinges design. The three-axis system allows each axis to be measured and controlled independently. An integrated feedback sensor overcomes the...

IR readers.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The DataMan 6400 and DataMan 6500 hand-held readers and the In-Sight 5110 fixed-mount reader run IDMax data-matrix reading software, based on patented technology. The readers combine high-speed processing with optimized lighting, optics, and...

Servo controller.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The Soloist is a single-axis servo controller that combines a power supply, amplifier, and position controller in a single package. The controller can control up to four tasks simultaneously, as well as handle variables and manage I/O....

Polarization-monitoring system.(new products)
November 1, 2004... A monitoring system allows researchers, engineers, and technicians to monitor polarization-induced transmission impairments in fiber-optic communication networks. The system, which includes an internal automatic-trigger capability, analyzes...

Power supplies.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The expanded SPS line of programmable switching power supplies range from 1.2 to 30.0 kW, up to 800 VDC/2700/ADC and is now available with a built-in Ethernet interface. The Ethernet option provides an alternative to traditional GPID...

Yield module.(new products)
November 1, 2004... A new module has been added to the OlympIOs planar-waveguide design and simulation platform. The module allows for the calculation of device yields for specified performance criteria and statistical process data. The module's simulation engine...

Ultrafast photodetectors.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The UPD series of photodetectors covers the 190- to 1800-nm spectral range. Specifications include rise times below 40 ps with high sensitivity. The compact device can be powered by both a battery and an external power supply. Applications...

Image-acquisition board.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The X64-LVDS is a 64-bit image-acquisition board for parallel-output digital area and linescan cameras. The unit is compatible with 8-, 10-, and 12-bit LVDS and RS-422 digital-area or linescan monochrome or RGB cameras and supports up to eight...

Nylon cartridges.(new products)
November 1, 2004... Nylon cartridges are now available for the MIXPAC hand-held cartridge dispensing system for two-component adhesives. These cartridges have been designed for use with chemistries that are incompatible with traditional polypropylene cartridges....

XY deflection heads.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The Superscan family includes XY deflection heads with apertures of 7, 10, 15, and 20 mm. The 7-mm head is suited for high-speed applications while the 20-mm head is designed to achieve a very fine spot for increased power density at the...

Faraday optical isolator.(new products)
November 1, 2004... A new Faraday optical isolator acts as an optical diode, allowing propagation of linearly polarized light in one direction, but blocking light in the reverse direction. It consists of a Faraday rotator, two polarizers and a body to house the...

Superluminescent LEDs.(new products)
November 1, 2004... New superluminescent LEDs (SLEDs) provide 120 mW output at 1550 nm. They can be used for 100-mW-class semiconductor broadband lightsource solutions. These chip-based high-power SLEDs deliver a broadband spectrum through direct quantum processes...

Bare-fiber testing device.(new products)
November 1, 2004... The Divot bare-fiber testing device is designed to quickly connect bare (unterminated) fiber to test, measurement, and communication equipment with results similar to a standard terminated piece of fiber. Features include acceptance of a...

Laser diodes.(new products)
November 1, 2004... Discrete Mode (single wavelength) transmitter lasers now feature low astigmatic emission patterns for coupling to waveguides and fibers using lower-cost lenses. The uncooled lasers operate to more than 90[degrees]C and utilize proprietary mode...