Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. will develop a method for bonding laser materials under a contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory/Directed Energy Directorate. Under the arrangement, Synoptics, a unit of the company's space technology sector based in Charlotte, N.C., will develop a process that will enable the fusion-bonding of different types of laser materials, which is expected to result in improved efficiency, performance and thermal management. The contract will enable Synoptics to grow, fabricate, coat and bond laser crystal materials under one roof.Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaArticlesDARPA Selects Design Teams for Power Beaming Relay InitiativeDARPA has selected three teams, led by RTX Corp., Draper, and BEAM Co., to develop wireless optical power relays for its Persistent Optical Wireless Relay (POWER) program. The program, which will...Photonics Spectra December 2023 IssueFusion Startup Xcimer Raises $100M, Plans Laser PrototypeFusion energy startup Xcimer Energy has raised $100 million in a series A financing round. The company plans to use the funds to establish a new facility in Denver where it will build a prototype...Photonics Spectra August 2024 IssueDOE Unites Fusion Research Trailblazers with $42M InjectionThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a $42 million initiative to establish three research hubs — at the University of Rochester (UR), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL),...Photonics Spectra February 2024 IssueUS Department of Energy Details Net Energy Gain from LLNL Fusion WorkOfficials from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved fusion ignition, marking...Photonics.com 12/13/2022ProductsBeam Profiling SystemThe Ophir® BeamWatch® Plus noncontact beam profiling system from MKS Instruments Inc. is designed for measuring focus shift, focus spot size, and position of high-power industrial lasers...Photonics Spectra September 2023 IssueEmissions Analytics Lidar PlatformQuantum Gas Lidar and the QLM Cloud from QLM Technology Ltd. is a comprehensive solution for emissions measurement and quantification. The lidar utilizes quantum photonics detection and tunable...Photonics Spectra October 2023 IssueLaser Processing SystemThe Fast Component Welding (FCW) laser processing system from Scansonic MI GmbH combines multiple scanner units, allowing for simultaneous processing of multiple components or the processing of...Photonics Spectra September 2023 IssueOptical Cesium ClockThe OSA 3350 SePRC™ optical cesium clock from Adva Optical Networking SE delivers extensive timing holdover with high-performance stability and lifetime. The device offers a lifeline to...Photonics Spectra March 2023 IssuePhotonics Handbook ArticlesPassive Athermalization: Maintaining Optical Performance Over TemperatureFor rotationally symmetric optical systems, either the lens or the detector moves along the optical axis to maintain optical performance. If the compensating axial motion is accomplished without the...Photonics HandbookCO2 Lasers: The Industrial WorkhorseIn the three decades since its introduction, the CO2 laser has become the workhorse of industrial lasers. Today it is available in a range of designs and sizes with output powers of 20 kW and more....Photonics HandbookUltraviolet Reflectance Imaging: ApplicationsReflected-ultraviolet imaging is a rather mysterious area of the imaging field. There is relatively little actual UV imagery to be found on the Internet or in the literature compared to near-infrared...Photonics HandbookPhotomultipliers: Low-Light, High-Speed SpecialistsThe applications where rapid detection of light is a must are many. They include a wide variety: semiconductor inspection, gene sequencing, oil well logging and high-energy physics. The reasons for...Photonics HandbookWhite PapersOPTOMAN LIDT CapabilitiesOPTOMAN takes innovation very seriously and makes sure that optical components are able to resist the ongoing increase of laser power and decrease in pulse duration, thus high LIDT is OPTOMAN‘s bread...Photonics.com 4/5/2024FISBA READYBeam™ - Compact Powerful Laser SourceThe FISBA READYBeam™ is our answer to customers' increasing demand for compact, powerful, and reliable multicolor laser source that can be easily integrated into existing set-ups. 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Therefore, the natural degradation of their materials can cause variability in performance. Aging optics often cause slow changes in laser behavior and, when left...Photonics.com 11/2/2022Controlling High-Power Laser ProcessesLaser beams with powers of many tens of kilowatts are becoming increasingly common in today's industrial applications. However, as the powers increase, the stakes increase as well. Keeping high-power...Photonics.com 10/13/2021Laser Characteristics that Drift and How to Manage the ChangesLasers used for material processing face two general challenges over the course of their lives. First, these lasers operate at relatively higher power levels compared to lasers used in other...Photonics.com 3/27/2024Photonics Dictionary Termsbeam shaperA beam shaper is an optical device or system designed to modify the spatial profile or intensity distribution of a laser or light beam. The goal is to transform the incoming beam into a desired shape...Photonics Dictionaryablative wall flashlampAn ablative wall flashlamp typically refers to a type of flashlamp used in certain high-energy laser systems. Components include: Flashlamp: This is a device that produces an intense pulse...Photonics Dictionarycomputer-generated holographic scannerA phase reflection scanner that eliminates the need for a complex translation device while maintaining a high-energy-density level during laser materials processing. These devices direct and focus...Photonics Dictionarylaser materials processingLaser materials processing refers to a diverse set of manufacturing techniques that utilize lasers to modify, cut, weld, drill, or otherwise manipulate materials. These techniques offer high...Photonics DictionaryMediaMoviTHERM Solar Cell Inspection using Lockin ThermographyMoviTHERM's Solar-CHECK solution uses lockin thermography to inspect for electrical shunts and other defects in thin-film as well as in thick-film photo-voltaic cells. The cells can either be excited...Photonics.com 7/22/2024PIC Fundamentals, Design at Heart of AIM Photonics Summer AcademyStudents from large and small size companies and bigger Department of Defense affiliates of the AIM Photonics Institute took part in the recent AIM Photonics Summer Academy at MIT. This was the third...Photonics.com 7/30/2018Photonics on the Showroom Floor and in the Lab - LIGHT MATTERS 02.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you on a brief tour of the Higgins Laboratories at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Quinsigamond Community College and WPI received a $4M grant...Photonics.com 2/21/2018Fundamentally Different Photonics - LIGHT MATTERS 03.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Trade Show in Austin, Texas, as new photonics innovations hit the show floor of the Austin Convention Center....Photonics.com 3/29/2018Photonics Buyers' Guide CategoriesRaman CellsPhotonics Components TestingPartial ReflectorsInfrared CollimatorsCompaniesExcelitas Technologies Corp.Excelitas Technologies® Corp. is a leading industrial technology manufacturer focused on delivering innovative, market-driven photonic solutions to meet the illumination, optical, optronic,...Photonics Buyers' GuideFOCtek Photonics Inc.FOCtek provides customers with all types of custom manufactured lenses, Precision Optical Components, Polarizing Optics, Prisms, Filters, Coatings, Optical Systems, Crystals, Nonlinear Crystals,...Photonics Buyers' GuideOhara CorporationOHARA manufactures more than 130 environmentally safe optical glass types, free of both lead and arsenic. More than 300 tons of optical glass are melted per month, available in the following forms of...Photonics Buyers' GuidePrecision OpticalPrecision Optical: our name embodies who we are. Since 1959, Precision Optical has earned a widely recognized reputation for reliability, value, and quality precision optics for the most demanding...Photonics Buyers' Guide