PW Showcases Products, Tech

More than 1000 companies from all over the world will showcase their newest products and technology during SPIE Photonics West 2008, Jan. 19-24 in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Some exhibitors will offer demonstrations of their latest products, while others will make major announcements.

SPIE Photonics West is the most important North American exhibition on optics, lasers, biomedical optics, optoelectronic components, and imaging technologies and is located in the center of the world's hottest technology market, Silicon Valley. The conference and exhibition attracts more than 17,000 attendees from 50 different countries representing all areas of the photonics industry. (See also Hot Topics, Bright Minds at PW, and Photonics.com's Photonics West Sneak Previews: Issue 1 | Issue 2 | Issue 3| Issue 4 | Issue 5)

The three-day Photonics West exhibition (Jan. 22-24) is the place for application and design engineers, system integrators, test and measurement engineers, product and process developers, corporate executives and others to see the newest trends, technology and techniques in optoelectronic components, fiber optic components and devices, lasers (solid-state, fiber, gas, diode and crystal), lenses and coatings, LEDs, photonic packaging, microscopes, communication devices and materials, nanotechnology, MEMS/MOEMS (microelectromechanical systems/micro-optoelectromechanical systems) components and applications, micromachining, microsystems and microfabrication.

The chance to see new products as they make their debut is always a Photonics West exhibition draw, as are major announcements such as new partnerships, acquisitions, or consolidations or the first appearance of a company since a major merger or acquisition. Companies from the same country sometimes exhibit together in a cluster to give visitors a chance to better realize the collaboration and investment opportunities available.

This year, UbiFrance, which develops partnerships between French companies, has arranged for 15 French organizations to participate in the trade show. The UbiFrance pavilion is at Booth 1307 in Hall 2 and Booth 6150 in the South Hall. The 15 participating companies will present their new products ranging from biomedical optics and imaging technologies to optoelectronic components, fiber optics, lasers, lenses and coatings, and nano- and microtechnologies.

France's exhibitors will include: Teem Photonics, a maker of Q-switched microlasers and ion-exchange integrated optics; Silios Technologies, a manufacturer of micro-optics, diffractive optics, miniature spectrometers and optical instrumentation; Sedi Fibres Optiques, an optical fibers, cables and components manufacturer; Savimex, a maker of optical components in thermoplastic polymer materials by injection, as well as optical thin-film coatings and optomechancial subsystem assemblies; Phasics, a maker of high-resolution wavefront sensors; iXFiber, a producer of active and passive specialty optical fibers, components based on Bragg grating technology and subassembly modules; metrology systems provider Fogale Nanotech; scientific instrumentation company Fastlite; and Impulsion, an optics competitiveness cluster in Saint-Etienne that deals with businesses microstructuring substrates by laser with ultrashort pulses of all types of materials and businesses that make femtosecond lasers, among others.

Gooch & Housego of Ilminster, England, recently announced it is consolidating its photonics and optoelectronics companies -- Gooch & Housego UK, Cleveland Crystals, Neos Technologies, Landwehr Electronic and Sifam Fiber Optics -- under the Gooch & Housego brand (See Gooch & Housego Consolidates) and will be based in England. The integrated business will make its debut at Photonics West (Booth 1013). The company said its combined product portfolio offers a broad range of optical components which act as enabling technologies for photonics-based systems in industries such as laser, automotive, aerospace, environmental sensing, imaging, energy research, scientific and medical. The company is debuting two products at Photonics West: A 16-channel, frequency-synthesized driver module used to drive its broadband acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF), and an ultrasmall, compact Q-switch driver capable of delivering up to 24 W at 24, 27.12 or 40.68 MHz.

Industrial laser diode maker Bookham of San Jose announced this week it will enter the biomedical illumination market with its ZoroLight LED multiplexing technology, which it will showcase at the BiOS (Jan. 19-20, Booth 8636) and Photonics West (Booth 1207) exhibitions. The compact LED-combining module uses Bookham filter technology and is designed for bio-analytical applications and medical instrumentation. Also during the Photonics West exhibition, Bookham will show the first range of products from its new 808-nm multimode high-power laser diode bar platform, which deliver in excess of 60 W in continuous wave (CW) operation for pumping and fiber-coupled applications. The company said the gold-tin hard-soldered laser diode bars enable higher efficiency and increased power, resulting in reduced energy consumption and thermal loads.

Photonics West 2008 exhibitors will include:

Ocean Optics (Booth 927), Dunedin, Fla. -- The company will debut Jaz, a line of stackable, modular and flexible sensing tools. Users can select from various Jaz modules to create a networked community of smart sensing appliances with common electronics and communications.
CVI Melles Griot (Booth 1318), Albuquerque, N.M. -- The company said it is officially launching its new corporate identity at the show. CVI Laser LLC acquired Melles Griot in May 2007 (see CVI Acquiring Melles Griot) and the new company was renamed CVI Melles Griot. The company bought Coherent Imaging Optics Ltd. (CIOL), a subsidiary of Coherent Inc., in October (See CVI Melles Buys CIOL). CVI Melles Griot will also be introducing universal controllers to run a variety of DPSS or diode lasers from 405 to 660 nm in cw or modulation mode and showcasing the rapid coated-optic turnaround times of two weeks or better offered at its Albuquerque facility.
Coherent (Booth 1517), Santa Clara, Calif. -- An investor tour will be hosted on Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 11 a.m. to noon; CEO John Ambroseo will provide an overview on the products and applications being featured at the show. A number of new lasers and laser solutions will be showcased, including high-power optically pumped semiconductor lasers (OPSL) for medical and display applications, new oscillator and amplifier lasers for ultrafast applications (live demonstrations of new ultrafast technology will be unveiled at the show), Avia and Prisma lasers for applications in solar power, Diamond E-400 sealed-off pulsed CO2 lasers, LabMax laser power and energy meter displays, Chameleon OPO laser for deep tissue imaging in the long wavelength, and the Avia 532-38, a DPSS laser that delivers over 38 W of output at 532 nm with a pulse width of 60 nsec.
Nextreme Thermal Solutions (Booth 6328), Durham, N.C. -- The new UPF (ultrahigh packing fraction) OptoCooler thermoelectric platform for optoelectronics, electronics, medical, military and aerospace applications will be introduced. The tiny module (see photo) has been optimized for laser diode, LED and advanced sensor products. The UPF OptoCooler removes up to 420 mW of heat at 25 °C in an active footprint of .55 mm2. As a result, it can pump a heat density up to 78 W/cm2, a tenfold increase in heat-pumping capacity over conventional thermoelectric cooling modules. Nextreme said it developed the module in response to market demand for microscale cooling solutions that improve the performance of electronics without sacrificing efficiency.
Edmund Optics (Booth 1019), Barrington, N.J. -- TechSpec BeamX laser beam expanders will be previewed; the product, made fused silica and designed for integration into new or existing optical systems, is available in 532, 633 and 1064-nm wavelengths, with broadband options available. Magnifications of 3X, 5X and 10X support common Nd:YAG and a variety of other laser sources. BeamX expanders feature a high damage threshold, with up to 5 J/cm2 for an 8-ns pulse at 532 nm, up to 15 J/cm2 for a 10-ns pulse at 1064 and up to 5 J/cm2 for an 8-ns pulse in both the near-infrared and visible wavelengths. They are designed for use in high-damage-threshold applications such as laser engraving and high-power laser research. All BeamX expanders are compatible for use with TechSpec F-Theta scanning lenses and the C&T mounting threads can be used with Edmund Optics' line of threaded mounting components.
General Scanning (Booth 316), Billerica, Mass. -- The optical scanner inventor will introduce the Lightning digital scanner technology platform, which consists of three elements: Fourth-generation MPower motors, a second-generation Lightning digital servo driver based on 16-bit digital technology, and TuneMaster scanner optimization software.
Krell Technologies (Booth 5113) Morganville, N.J. -- Advances in bare-fiber polishing systems and techniques will be demonstrated for various photonics, medical and research applications. Also being showcased is the Rev Polisher for repairing scratched and damaged optical connectors and fibers. The Rev processes components to their original surface finish in as quickly as 15 sec., the company said.
Zecotek Photonics (Booth 1733), Vancouver, British Columbia -- The company said it will demonstrate its breakthough green fiber laser, which operates in wavelengths throughout the green spectral range, together with its next-generation rare-earth fine oxide (RFO) vanadate laser cavity crystals. Zecotek said it will also be displaying other products, including its LFS (lutetium fine silicate) scintillation crystals and MAPD (micropixel avalanche photodiodes) solid-state photodetectors used in medical and other imaging applications. Also appearing at Zecotek's booth will be its laser distributor in North America, MarketTech Inc.
Tessera (Booth 727), San Jose -- The company will display its new OptiML, a wafer-level camera (WLC) technology (see photo) designed to significantly advance the integration of miniaturized cameras in mobile phones, personal computers, security cameras and other electronics . The technology makes it possible for cameras to be manufactured at the wafer level, drastically reducing the size and cost of materials in camera modules, the company said. It will also showcase its portfolio of optics solutions, included integrated optical assemblies and high-performance refractive and diffractive lenses used in photonics, photolithography, telecommunications, aerospace and defense, vision and data storage applications.
Aculight (Booth 941), Bothell, Wa. -- The laser technology developer's increased range of products, including fiber, will be showcased during the exhibition. Featured will be: Perseus pulsed fiber lasers for laser radar, surveying and surveillance; Telesto high-peak power, polarized pulsed fiber lasers for mapping, surveillance, ladar (laser detection and ranging), nonlinear optics conversion and materials processing; the Argos optical parametric oscillator for spectroscopy and sensing; the Aquarius green fiber laser system for underwater imaging and communications; and the Capella infrared nerve stimulator, Aculight's debut product for the medical research market.
New Focus (Booth 1207), San Jose -- Visitors to the booth of New Focus, a division of Bookham Inc., will see what the company said is its most sophisticated range of new products for precision measurement applications. Products on display will include new quadrant-cell detectors with USB interface for precision beam-position measurement and stablization; fiber-coupled single-wavelength lasers with narrow linewidths and high wavelength stability for Raman spectroscopy, interferometry and other applications; an expanded line of vacuum and ultraclean products for semiconductor equipment applications; and new 2-in. motorized Flipper mounts and other photonics tools for advanced scientific applications. New Focus said its upgraded e-commerce system being launched at the show will offer customers expanded product information, including 3-D models and drawings, access to order histories, delivery of formal quotes and the ability to store favorite products and a virtual shopping cart for future visits.

For more information about the Photonics West exhibition, visit: http://spie.org/x7766.xml