Optics & Photonics News

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State-Of-The-Art Laser Peening Technology Improves Fatigue Strength of Titanium Blades

Curtiss-Wright Corporation announced today that Siemens Power Generation has begun utilizing its laser peening technology to improve the fatigue strength of titanium last row blades on certain of their advanced steam turbines. The last row blades extract energy from the steam to drive electrical generators. Although laser peening technology has been utilized for several years to strengthen critical titanium components in commercial and military turbine engines, this application represents its first production use in power generation steam turbines.

12 Oct 2007

Spartanics Announces Introduction of Laser Cutting Control Relying on Smart Sensing Mechanisms

Spartanics announces the introduction of the Spartanics Laser-Smart?Control System, an integrated system for laser cutting control that relies on smart sensing mechanisms. The Spartanics Laser-Smart Control System allows single operators to manage all laser cutting related operations simultaneously.

12 Oct 2007

CO2 Laser Coding Systems for Harsh Environments

ID Technology today announced the availability of its Series KIP-1000 CO2 Laser Coding Systems with IP65 rating for harsh environments. The laser components and touchscreen controller are enclosed in an airtight casing which protects them from dust and water. The IP65 rating is a significant step for laser coding technology, and means customers can now deploy IDT Laser Coding Systems in harsh production environments where dust and frequent wash downs are the norm.

12 Oct 2007

Laser Efficiency Increased Using Ceramic in Optical Pumping Cavities

Lasers have been used in medicine for many years, mostly as minimally invasive surgical cutting tools. However, in recent years there have been many advances in the market, and the range of applications for lasers and light-based systems continues to expand across several specialities, especially in ophthalmology and cosmetic treatments. This has created a demand for increased efficiency of lasers and high intensity pulsed lamps, while creating new systems that are more compact, gentler, quicker and more cost-effective.

12 Oct 2007

Solid-State Illuminator Laser Succeeds in In-Flight Test

A solid-state illuminator laser developed by Raytheon Company for the Missile Defense Agency has been fired successfully more than 50 times for periods of up to 90 seconds since in-flight tests began in January.

12 Oct 2007

Spectroscopy in a Suitcase

The University of Leicester and the East Midlands Region are leading a national programme aimed at providing schools and colleges with hands-on access to state of the art scientific instrumentation in the study of chemistry.

11 Oct 2007

New Type of Electronic Ink Based on Photonic Crystals Under Development

The Toronto based Start-Up Company Opalux has developed a new type of electronic ink, based on photonic crystals called P-ink. The new crystal-based e-paper can display colors in a way that current technology has not enabled until now. This promising technology, which is just taking its first steps, could become commercial within the next two years, promising low power consuming, low cost, color rich, electronic paper displays.

11 Oct 2007

Fiber-optic Maker Received Research Grant to Develop Fiber That Can Transmit One terabit of Data per Second

An Upper Macungie Township maker of fiber-optic components is one of 69 companies to receive research grants from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

11 Oct 2007

KU and K-State Will Use Dark Fiber For Expansion of Network Systems

A new agreement between the University of Kansas and Kansas State University provides researchers, students and faculty access to an unused fiber optic cable that runs alongside Interstate 70 in northeast Kansas.

11 Oct 2007

Liquid Explosives Can Be Detected by New Laser Technique

One difficulty in detecting potentially dangerous materials like liquid explosives, as reported by Science & Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, is the wide variety of packaging in which air travelers can readily concealed these substances.

11 Oct 2007

British scientists Developed Laser Than Can Detect Counterfeit Drugs Through Packaging

A laser that can detect counterfeit drugs through packaging has been developed by British scientists, allowing investigators to check on their authenticity without opening sealed bottles or packs.

11 Oct 2007

QPC Developed Green Laser For Potential Display Applications

QPC,” a world leader in the development and commercialization of high brightness, high power semiconductor lasers for the industrial, defense, and medical markets, today announced that it has demonstrated a green laser based on QPC’s proprietary BrightLase® semiconductor laser technology.

11 Oct 2007

Micron-Scale Metallic Marking Grid Could Improve Understanding, Diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Other Diseases

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a method for correlating the results of microscopic imaging techniques in a way that could lead to improved understanding, diagnosis, and possibly treatment of a variety of disease conditions, including Alzheimer's disease. The Laboratory has filed a U.S. provisional patent application for the invention.

11 Oct 2007

Exotic Form of CO2 Could Affect How Greenhouse Mechanism Works on Venus

Planetary scientists on both sides of the Atlantic have tracked down a rare molecule in the atmospheres of both Mars and Venus. The molecule, an exotic form of carbon dioxide, could affect the way the greenhouse mechanism works on Venus.

11 Oct 2007

As Demand for Fiber Optics Takes Off, Investors Cashes In

Despite the countless miles of unused fiber-optic cable laid during the dot-com bubble, demand for the high-capacity lines has been rising. And that bodes well for the stocks of companies that produce not only the cable but also the equipment that runs it.

10 Oct 2007