Optics & Photonics News

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New Widely Tunable Semiconductor Lasers Offer Wide Range of Applications

A single semiconductor laser chip with world-record wavelength tuning range of 200 nanometers - from 500 to 700 nanometers - has been demonstrated by a research team led by Cun-Zheng Ning, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University.

8 Feb 2009

Quantum Light Platform Surpasses Brightness and Lifetime Performance Thresholds

QD Vision, developer of nanotechnology-based solutions for displays and lighting, announced it has achieved significant improvements in brightness, efficiency and lifetime thresholds for its Quantum Light" product platform, advancing its quest to make quantum-dot-based light-emitting devices (QLEDs) deliver best-in-class performance among display technologies.

7 Feb 2009

Anti-Oxidants in Diet Shown to Halt Vision-Destroying Conditions

Though based on mouse studies, the research bolsters the idea that humans suffering from these and other eye conditions may be able to help preserve function by adding antioxidants to their diet, and explains why this would work. The team also devised a new cell-based gene therapy technique that could eventually offer another option for arresting vision loss from these diseases.

6 Feb 2009

Poway-Headquartered Laser Manufacturer Earns 2008 Prism Award

Daylight Solutions is pleased to announce that on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, the company was presented with a 2008 Prism Award. The Prism Awards recognize the best in innovative technology within the multi-billion dollar photonics industry. Daylight Solutions received a Prism Award in the Laser category for its broadly tunable, CW Mode-hop-free laser system.

6 Feb 2009

New Microscopy Technique Could Help Scientists Improve Drug Design

CSIRO has patented an improved microscopy method for measuring the shapes and sizes of proteins which could help scientists create new pharmaceuticals that are a better match for the proteins they target.

6 Feb 2009

Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy Research Wins ABC Best Paper Award

The Springer journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC) has chosen the chemist Wei Sun (26) as the recipient of its Best Paper Award 2008. Sun is the lead author of a paper in ABC on developing advanced tools for in vivo biological imaging. The award, including the 1,000 euro prize, was created by Springer to help exceptional young scientists establish their research careers.

5 Feb 2009

New Laser Technique Reveals Inner Workings of Photosynthesis

"These new pictures are instantaneous snap-shots of energy being transported between electrons across a protein. Remarkably, the pictures go further in unravelling the complex way the electrons interact. This gives us something akin to a fingerprint for electronic couplings," says Dr Ian Mercer from the School of Physics at University College Dublin, the lead author of the new study, who is a visiting researcher at Imperial College London.

5 Feb 2009

Emerging Field of Astrophotonics Shows Promise in Analyzing Light from the Night Sky

Future telescopes, with mirrors half the size of a football field, will need special components to deal with the light they collect. Astronomers are turning to photonic devices that guide and manipulate light inside specially-designed materials. The greatest potential, which is described in the latest issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal, may lie in a laser-based technique that carves out micron-sized light pathways in three dimensions.

5 Feb 2009

Using Multispectral Artificial Vision Systems to Enhance Value of Electronic Scrap

TECNALIA Technological Corporation is studying an innovative method based on multispectral artificial vision systems to enhance the value of electronic scrap which currently represent 4% of urban waste in Europe.

5 Feb 2009

Imatek Installs Integrated High Speed Video System at Corus Swinden Technology Centre in Rotherham

Imatek has recently installed its Integrated High Speed Video system at the Corus Swinden Technology Centre (STC) in Rotherham. The new system will be used to improve understanding of the performance of steel at high rates of strain and for other general applications.

4 Feb 2009

Tiny Solar Collectors on Butterfly Wings Inspire More Efficient Solar Cell

The discovery that butterfly wings have scales that act as tiny solar collectors has led scientists in China and Japan to design a more efficient solar cell that could be used for powering homes, businesses, and other applications in the future. Their study appeared in the Jan. 13 issue of ACS' Chemistry of Materials, a bi-weekly journal.

4 Feb 2009

Plasma Transistor Could be Used to Make Higher Resolution Flat-Panel Displays

By integrating a solid-state electron emitter and a microcavity plasma device, researchers at the University of Illinois have created a plasma transistor that could be used to make lighter, less expensive and higher resolution flat-panel displays.

4 Feb 2009

Chromaticity and Color Spatial Uniformity Tool Automates Complex Computations and Verifies Compliance with Published Standards

Philips Lumileds has launched a free online tool that makes it easier for manufacturers of LED-based luminaires to show compliance with ENERGY STAR® standards. The tool is available from both the Philips Lumileds and Future Lighting Solutions web sites.

4 Feb 2009

Company Unveils Plans to Proliferate Single-Frame Super-Resolution Technology

NEC Electronics today introduced a new application-specific standard product (ASSP) to address the dramatic divergence between yesterday's image resolution and the high resolution of today's audio-visual (AV) display systems. Based on the company's unique single-frame super-resolution technology, the small, low-power ASSP (part number uPD9245GJ) reduces the blurring that occurs when low-resolution images are expanded and displayed in high-resolution.

4 Feb 2009

Zeeko Technologies Expands Research of Optics-Polishing Technology

Zeeko Technologies LLC, a Purdue Research Park-based company, announced Wednesday (Feb. 4) that it will further develop its high-precision polishing technology for optics manufacturing through a Small Business Innovation Research grant.

4 Feb 2009