Optics & Photonics News

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Sensitive Laser Crucial for NASA's Search for Life on Mars

Minuscule traces of cells can be detected in a mineral likely present on Mars, a new study shows. The results, obtained using a technique developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, could help mission scientists choose Martian surface samples with the most promise for yielding signs of life.

18 Oct 2008

New Catalog from PI Focuses on Specimen Positioning Devices and Microscope Lenses

Nanopositioning specialist PI has released a new catalog entitled "Tools for Microscopy and Imaging", available for download in PDF format.

17 Oct 2008

Single Mode Green Laser from Coherent Sets Power Record for Precision Micromachining Applications

The new AVIA(TM) 532-45 from Coherent, Inc. is the most powerful diode-pumped, solid state green laser currently available that delivers diffraction limited output. Specifically, this new laser provides 45W of average power (at 120 kHz) at 532 nm, in a single mode output beam (M2 < 1.3), making it over twice as powerful as the nearest competitive model.

17 Oct 2008

Pro-Lite Announces Release of ProSource 8.0 Light Source Modelling Software

Pro-Lite Technology LLP (Cranfield, England) has announced the release of ProSource 8.0 software from Radiant Imaging. The light source modeling software now delivers an improved user interface and expanded functionality for Radiant Source Model analysis and ray generation.

16 Oct 2008

Astor Center Hosts Top Photomicrographs from Around the World

With the appearance of gracefully swooping beams of light or a colorful array of feathers, a dazzling photo of Pleurosigma (marine diatoms) has won the 2008 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. Michael Stringer of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom took home the top honor with this image, which was magnified 200 times and taken using darkfield and polarized light.

16 Oct 2008

Fermi Telescope Discovers Gamma-Ray-Only Pulsar

About three times a second, a 10,000-year-old stellar corpse sweeps a beam of gamma-rays toward Earth. Discovered by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the object, called a pulsar, is the first one known that only "blinks" in gamma rays.

16 Oct 2008

Using Light to Control Proteins

A team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has discovered a way to use light to control certain proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions. "This is one of the first examples of someone successfully controlling the activity of a protein using light," said Stephen Benkovic, Penn State Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Chemistry, and one of the team's leaders.

16 Oct 2008

Research Paving Way for Improved Liquid Crystal Displays

Charles Rosenblatt, professor of physics and macromolecular science at Case Western Reserve University, and his research group have developed a method of 3D optical imaging of anisotropic fluids such liquid crystals, with volumetric resolution one thousand times smaller than existing techniques. A research paper detailing the team's findings appeared in the September 21 advanced online publication of Nature Physics. The print version will be available soon.

16 Oct 2008

New Material Captures Entire Range of the Solar Spectrum

Researchers have created a new material that overcomes two of the major obstacles to solar power: it absorbs all the energy contained in sunlight, and generates electrons in a way that makes them easier to capture.

16 Oct 2008

Transformation Optics Promises Radical Advances in Optical Technologies

A new research field called transformation optics may usher in a host of radical advances including a cloak of invisibility and ultra-powerful microscopes and computers by harnessing nanotechnology and "metamaterials."

16 Oct 2008

DRS Technologies Receives $33-Million Order for Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System Subassemblies

DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has received a follow-on order of $32.7 million for electro-optical subassemblies for the Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) program. This is the second order under a five-year contract with a projected minimum value of $100.8M over its term, awarded by the Raytheon Company, McKinney, Texas, the prime contractor and final integrator for the LRAS3 program.

16 Oct 2008

QLED Thermal Simulation Software Named Finalist in LED Journal's Innova Awards

Future Lighting Solutions announced today that its QLED thermal simulation software for solid-state lighting designers has been named a finalist in LED Journal's Innova Awards, designed to honor LED-related technology breakthroughs. QLED is nominated in the Product Development Excellence category, which recognizes the most innovative and cutting-edge products in the industry.

16 Oct 2008

Corning Receives 2008 R+D 100 Award for ClearCurve Optical Fiber

Corning Incorporated will receive R+D Magazine's respected 2008 R+D 100 Award for its innovative ClearCurve(TM) optical fiber at a ceremony this evening in Chicago, Ill. The award recognizes the 100 most technologically significant new products of the year.

16 Oct 2008

Unidym Showcases World's First Nanotube-Based Color Active Matrix EPD

Unidym, Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, announced today that Samsung Electronics is demonstrating the world's first carbon nanotube-based color active matrix electrophoretic display (EPD) e-paper at the International Meeting on Information Display (iMiD) at KINTEX, Ilsan, Korea from October 13th through October 17th.

16 Oct 2008