Laser Focus World Articles, March 2010

Laser Focus World


Table of Contents

Features

MOTION CONTROL: Automated alignment keeps Z machine on target

Computer-controlled motorized mirror mounts enable rapid realignment of beam-steering optics between discharges at Sandia National Labs' Z machine.

HIGH-POWER SOLID-STATE LASERS: Ti:sapphire laser crystals reach 200 mm diameter

The unprecedented increase in peak laser powers in recent years has pushed the boundaries of Ti:sapphire crystal-growth technology.

IR DETECTORS: Low-cost organic photodiodes reach into the infrared

Strides are being made to extend the sensitivity of organic photodiodes into the infrared region for solar energy, communications, and imaging applications that can take advantage of their low-cost, low-temperature processing, and compatibility with flexible and large-area substrates.

PHOTONIC FRONTIERS: OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS: High-speed fiber transmission reaches 100 Gbit/s on a single channel

Coherent transmission, phase-shift keying multiple bits per modulation interval, and polarization multiplexing combine to transmit an impressive 100 Gbit/s through a 50 GHz optical channel on step-index single-mode fiber.

OPTICS FOR MICROSCOPY: Swept field confocal overcomes point-scanning microscopy limitations

Compared to the relatively slow acquisition speed and high phototoxicity of traditional confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), a new technology called swept field confocal (SFC) uses optics to split the excitation laser into multiple beams for improved live cell imaging studies.

Newsbreaks

Active-shutter LCD glasses bring 3D home

X6D Limited (Ljubljana, Slovenia and Los Angeles, CA) has introduced active-shutter liquid-crystal-display (LCD)-based viewing glasses that communicate via wireless Bluetooth with high-definition 3D televisions.

PC waveguide switches on and off magnetically

In a photonic-crystal (PC) waveguide switch developed by scientists at Michigan Technological University, Integrated Photonics, and the Russian Academy of Sciences, the photonic bandgap is controlled magnetically, allowing switching via an external electromagnet.

Smooth superlens images at 1/12 wave resolution

With a negative refractive index, a planar slab "superlens" can image features below the diffraction limit by recovering evanescent waves as well as ordinary free-space light waves.

Organic photodetector has voltage-adjustable spectral response

A polymer photodetector with a photoresponse that is voltage-adjustable from the visible to the near-IR range has been created by researchers at the National Tsing Hua University and the National Chiao Tung University.

NIF achieves symmetric capsule implosion

Researchers have begun using the 192 laser beams of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to implode spherical fusion capsules.

Single-wavelength channel carries 5.1 Tbit/s

The race is on for high-bit-rate data and telecommunications transmission with low power consumption.

World News

LASER DIODES: Ge-on-Si laser will integrate with optoelectronics

Large-scale integration of electronics with photonics on silicon chips will eventually make optical communications possible not just between computers, but inside them as well.

ASTRONOMY: New petal designs improve planet-finding occulters

When I saw three satellites traverse the sky one evening in a triangular formation, I thought I had seen a UFO.

OPTICAL FIBERS: Nanofibers show their inner workings

Interest in optical nanofibers (loosely defined as fibers with outer diameters of 1 µm or less) is growing.

PHOTOVOLTAICS: Waveguide creates planar micro-optic PV solar concentrator

Concentrating photovoltaic systems use low-cost optics to focus sunlight onto smaller, high-efficiency semiconductor PV cells, compared to flat-plate silicon or thin-film PV designs.

MOTION CONTROL: Nanoscroll unrolls to become actuator

Motion control in laboratory optics and photonics setups typically means using a screw or micrometer for motions in the millimeters-to-microns range, with piezoelectric actuators used for micron-to-nanometer movements.

Columns

The Editor's Desk

Keeping up with demand

Social media web site Facebook has some 300 million active users and attracts millions of new users every week.

Business Forum

Should I outsource or maintain a workforce?

I plan to start an enterprise that outsources everything with no employees.

In My View

Are there yet more bugs in your car's software?

Floor mats and pedal shims are highly visible, but invisible software is where the true geeks rule. How many thousand lines of code, did you say?

Departments

Letters

Tunable laser source exhibits out-of-band rejection of 10-6

Concerning the November 2009 edition of Laser Focus World, we have read the article on tunable sources–"Fully tunable visible laser source is valuable for biophotonics," by Frank Lison and Thomas Hellerer.

Current Magazine

Volume 46
Issue 3
March 2010
 

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