Sensors for monitoring environmental toxins and detecting explosives, powerful new lasers for manufacturing, and tools for noninvasive imaging deep inside the brain are among finalists in nine categories for the 2013 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, a competition recognizing new products and inventions that break with conventional ideas, solve problems and improve life through the generation and application of the essential technologies of optics and photonics. The awards are sponsored by Photonics Media and SPIE. Winners will be announced by industry leaders on Feb. 6 during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco; presenters are being confirmed. Past presenters include industry leaders Michael Mertin, Jenoptik; Robert Edmund, Edmund Optics; Mary Lou Jepsen, Pixel Qi; and Milton Chang, Incubic. Since 2008, the annual Prism Awards have recognized photonic products that break with conventional ideas, solve problems and improve life through the generation and harnessing of light. "Each year, the quality of entries is higher and the competition keener," said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. "The awards celebrate the wide reach of photonics as an enabling technology and the innovation power of our community. Photonics inventions help create valuable new jobs in communications, health care, security, manufacturing and entertainment. The National Research Council's report 'Optics and Photonics, Essential Technologies for Our Nation' notes that, in the US, public companies focused on optics and photonics create more than $3 trillion of all public company revenues and 7.4 million of public company jobs." "The immense pride these companies have in their innovations and the pride they take in being named finalists in the Prism Awards is well-earned," said Laurin Publishing CEO Thomas F. Laurin. "Just as they are building on the inventions and innovations of the industry giants who came before them, they are all helping to build a strong industry for the future. And the Prism Awards are growing right along with them, becoming a highly sought after recognition." Many of the finalists will exhibit in the Photonics West exhibition (Feb. 5-7) and BiOS Expo (Feb. 2-3); see asterisks in the alphabetized list below. Visit www.photonicsprismaward.com for complete details. Defense and Security OEwaves*: Micro-Opto-Electronic Oscillator (µOEO), an information system on unmanned aerial vehicles and other platforms P&P Optica: PPO HyperChannel, for high-resolution detection of explosives Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments* (formerly Ahura Scientific and Polychromix): TruNarc, a handheld system for rapid narcotics identification Detectors, Sensing, Imaging and Cameras Princeton Instruments*: IsoPlane SCT, a research-grade imaging spectrograph Specim*: AisaFENIX full-spectrum hyperspectral imager, for imaging plant health, and detecting invasive and illicit species Wasatch Photonics*: Stroker f/1.3, Raman spectroscopy in low-light applications including online and industrial settings Green Photonics AdTech Optics*: DFB QCL 783, for air-pollution and emissions monitoring Visualant Inc.: ChromaID, for environmental-toxin and food-safety testing Leosphere: R-MAN510 Aerosol Lidar, for real-time detection of atmospheric hazards Industrial Lasers Aerotech*: Galvo and controller combination offers Infinite Field of View™ and >24-bit resolution IPG Photonics*: GLR-100, a single-mode CW green laser for materials processing, solar cell manufacturing, semiconductor inspection and annealing, etc. TeraDiode: TeraBlade 2-kW high-brightness direct-diode laser, beam combining for 1-µm fiber or disk laser brightness and direct-diode wall-plug efficiency and compactness, and for industrial metal cutting and welding Life Sciences and Biophotonics Femtolasers Produktions: Integral Core, a small sub-8-fs Ti:sapphire laser for biomedicine and industry Olympus America*: Scaleview microscope objectives, seeing farther into the brain Verisante Technology: Aura, multimodal imaging for skin cancer detection Manufacturing AFL*: LZM-100 LAZERMaster, a CO2 laser system for splicing and shaping glass Heidelberg Instruments*: µPG501 direct-write lithography system, a desktop maskless lithography tool for small patterns Parian Technologies: Archetto 3, an exponentially less-expensive nanolithography tool Optics and Optical Components TAG Optics*: TAG Lens 2.0, ultrahigh-speed acoustics to increase depth of field TelAztec: Antireflection Microstructures (ARMs), for suppressing reflection for solar modules, displays and finished optics Tornado Spectral Systems*: HyperFlux VIS-NIR multimode spectrometer, high spectral resolution with order-of-magnitude-higher photon flux Scientific Lasers Continuum*: Horizon OPO, a full-spectrum spectroscopy research tool Femotolasers Produktions: Femtosource rainbow CEP4, an ultrastable tool for ultrafast science Insight Photonic Solutions*: Advanced OCT Swept Tunable Laser, high performance at low cost Test, Measurement, Metrology KMLabs* (Kapteyn-Murnane Laboratories Inc.): Chromatis, broadband dispersion characterization for optics and coatings. Linden Photonics: Lindex Optics Cleaners, cleaning media for fiber optics Resolution Spectra Systems*: Zoom Spectra, ultrahigh spectral resolution for tunable laser control, laser diode measurement, Bragg component measurement and high-depth OCT Winners of the 2012 Prism Awards for photonics innovation pose with presenters after the gala awards banquet in January 2012 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square during SPIE Photonics West. Photonics Media, a global photonics publishing powerhouse, is the media brand of Laurin Publishing. It is responsible for publishing Photonics Spectra, BioPhotonics and EuroPhotonics magazines, Photonics.com as well as the Photonics Buyers' Guide — the most trusted and well-respected reference guide in the industry. For more information, visit www.photonics.com/prismawards SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The society serves nearly 225,000 constituents from approximately 150 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional growth and patent precedent. SPIE provided more than $2.7 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2011. For more information, visit: http://spie.org