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47 articles
Photonics Handbook
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Diffraction Gratings: Selection Guidelines
David Ventola, Optometrics Corp., an Omega Optical Holdings company
Diffraction gratings are optical components with a periodic structure that separate light into beams traveling in predictable directions based on their wavelength. The grating acts as the dispersive...
What Is Photonics?
Photonics Media Editors
Photonics is the study of light and other types of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The impact of photonics on research, technology, navigation, culture, astronomy, forensics, and...
Detectors: Options for Low-Light Applications
SLAWOMIR PIATEK AND EARL HERGERT, HAMAMATSU CORPORATION
Developed in the early 1990s, the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is a solid-state photodetector whose sensitivity to light rivals that of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) in a regime where a few hundred...
Silicon Photonics: Light Is the Ultimate Medium for High-Speed Communications
Christophe Kopp, Ségolène Olivier, and Stéphane Bernabé, CEA-LETI
Silicon photonics is widely considered a key enabling technology for further development of optical interconnect solutions needed to address growing traffic on the internet. From the first submarine...
Superresolution Microscopy: An Imaging Revolution
Marie Freebody, Contributing Editor
Superresolution optical microscopy, for which the Nobel Prize was awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell, and William Moerner in 2014, has been one of the most momentous developments in the life...
Measuring Aspheres: Selecting the Best Technique
Amy Frantz, Edmund Optics Inc.
The benefits of aspheric lenses are numerous: They allow for a reduction in spherical aberrations and are ideal for focusing or collimating light, as they can achieve a low ƒ-number. Aspheres...
Polarization-Based Imaging: Basics and Benefits
XING-FEI HE, TELEDYNE DALSA
There are three fundamental properties of light: intensity, wavelength, and polarization. Almost all cameras today are designed for monochrome or color imaging. A monochrome camera is used to measure...
Industrial Lasers: An Introduction to Process Qualification
JOCHEN DEILE AND FRANK GAEBLER, COHERENT INC.
Materials processing with lasers is actually a broad term for a diverse range of applications. The major categories of these uses, and the lasers that service them, are summarized Table 1. At one...
Microscopy Illumination: Considering Nonlaser Light Sources
BARBARA FOSTER, THE MICROSCOPY & IMAGING PLACE INC.
As recently as five years ago, shopping for a microscope light source was fairly straightforward. For routine applications, it was tungsten halogen, typically 100 W, while for fluorescence, it was an...
Aspheric Lenses: Optimizing the Design
Jeremy Govier, Edmund Optics Inc.
With the understanding of aspheric lens manufacturing provided in part one of this article, designers have the tools to optimize their aspheres; the next step is to understand how to specify and...
Flat Optics: Considerations When Buying
Michael Naselaris, Sydor Optics Inc.
Flat optics generally perform three main functions: They transmit light (windows), reflect light (mirrors), and fold light (prisms). While most optical manufacturers make spherical and flat optics, a...
Aspheric Lenses: Design Considerations
Jeremy Govier, Edmund Optics Inc.
Aspheric surfaces are powerful tools that combine the optical corrections of multiple lenses into a single element (Figure 1) and affect performance in ways that spherical optics cannot. For example,...
Lasers for Microscopy: Major Trends
Marco Arrigoni, Nigel Gallaher, Darryl McCoy, Volker Pfeufer, Matthias Schulze, and Daniel Callen, Coherent Inc.
Laser development for the microscopy market continues to be driven by key trends in applications, which currently include superresolution techniques, multiphoton applications in optogenetics and...
Transparent Ceramics: Enabling Large, Durable, Multifunctional Optics
Mohan Ramisetty, Lee Goldman, Nagendra Nag, Sreeram Balasubramanian and Suri Sastri, Surmet Corp.
Single-crystal sapphire has been the material of choice for defense and other applications that require extremely durable optics, but aluminum oxynitride (ALON) and magnesium aluminate (spinel) have...
Thin-Film Coatings: A Buyers' Guide
Trey Turner and Roger Kirschner, Research Electro-Optics Inc. (REO)
What are thin-film coatings? The purpose of any optical thin-film coating is to modify the transmittance and reflectance properties of the substrate material to which they are applied. Most coatings...
Lasers: Understanding the Basics
Coherent Inc.
Over 60 years have passed since the first demonstration of a laser in 1960. After the initial spark of interest, lasers were for a while categorized as “a solution waiting for a problem,”...
Excimer Optics: High Power Demands High Reliability
Michael A. Case, Teledyne Princeton Instruments, Business Unit of Teledyne Technologies
The first high-reflectance mirror coatings for the UV and vacuum UV (VUV) were of the Al + MgF2 type produced in the late 1950s. Coatings of this design are still used today for multigas cavity...
Integrating Spheres: Collecting and Uniformly Distributing Light
Greg McKee, Labsphere Inc.
An integrating sphere’s function is to spatially integrate radiant flux (light). However, before one can optimize a sphere design for a particular application, it is important to understand how...
Common Infrared Optical Materials and Coatings: A Guide to Properties, Performance, and Applications
Jeffrey L. Tosi and Kumar M. Khajurivala, Janos Technology LLC
The optical materials selected for an optical system depend upon the application, the required system performance and the environment in which the system is to perform; thus the materials’...
Optical Materials: Double-Sided Lapping and Polishing
Michael Naselaris, Sydor Optics Inc.
Double-sided processing is a batch-type process that uses planetary action — generally with loose, abrasive particles suspended in a liquid vehicle — to abrade material almost equally...
Ultraviolet Filters: Past and Present
Sarah Locknar, PhD, Omega Optical LLC, an Omega Optical Holdings company
In their earliest forms, UV bandpass filters that were optimized for wavelengths less than 400 nm, such as the Schott UG or the Hoya U-series, were constructed of absorbing compounds in glass. Such...
Diode-Pumped Lasers: Performance, Reliability Enhance Applications
Arnd Krueger and Scott White, MKS/Spectra-Physics
Neodymium-doped crystals and glasses such as Nd:YAG (neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet) have long been used as laser gain materials. Optically pumped, they produce an output wavelength close to 1...
Plastic Optics: Specifying Injection-Molded Polymer Optics
William S. Beich, GS PLASTIC OPTICS
The use of precision polymer optics is becoming an increasing necessity today as products demand sophisticated light handling components to achieve desired results. Polymer optics can be thought of...
Infrared Spectral Selection: It Begins with the Detector
Austin Richards, FLIR Systems, Commercial Vision Systems
Spectral selection is a powerful tool that enhances conventional imaging tremendously. Most imaging systems, including the human eye, are designed to image light over a broad range of the spectrum....
Heat Control and Lighting Systems Design: Optical Coatings Separate Light from Heat
Eric Krisl, Deposition Sciences Inc.
Controlling and minimizing heat output is desirable in most lighting applications. For example, conventional incandescent light sources are very inefficient with only a small portion of the...
Spectroscopy: The Tools of the Trade
Dr. John R. Gilchrist, Clyde HSI
All optical spectrometry techniques rely on the measurement of radiant power. The configuration of the instrument varies based on the measurement technique: absorption, emission, luminescence, or...
Optical System Design: Keeping the Coatings in Mind
JDSU
An optical coating engineer is frequently confronted with a difficult specification for a coating. Often the difficulty in the specification results from the particular form of the optical system. If...
Radiometry: A Simplified Description of Light Measurement
Angelo V. Arecchi, Labsphere, Inc.
Radiometry involves several activities. The two most common are the description and measurement of optical radiation, and, starting with the knowledge of some aspects of optical radiation at one...
Quantifying Light: Intensity, Uniformity Hold the Key
Steven Giamundo, Fiberoptics Technology, Inc.
Intensity and uniformity can be described using different physical attributes, which makes interpreting requirements somewhat confusing. This article intends to provide an explanation and serve as a...
Lens Aberrations: Avoiding Defects in Imagery
Bruce H. Walker, Walker Associates
A lens collects light from a point on an object and focuses it to a corresponding conjugate point on an image. Under most conditions, the lens fails at this task because of some error in the...
Photonics Packaging: Optical Communication Components
Torsten Wipiejewski, VNT Management Oy, German Office
Photonic components are key elements for the information technology (IT). Photonics technology covers the generation of information (cameras, sensors), its transportation (optical communication),...
Optical Coatings: Improving Traditional Technology
Arthur T. Howe, CHROMATEL; Mervyn Davis, Nordiko Technical Services Ltd.; and David Pearson, Pearsonics Ltd.
The common polycrystalline materials used for optical thin-film materials do not satisfy the requirements of telecommunications because of the instabilities caused by moisture absorption in their...
Optical Coating: Materials and Deposition Technology
CERAC, Inc., a subsidiary of Williams Advanced Materials; technical assistance from Pellicori Optical Consulting
Optical coatings are deposited as thin-film multilayers of a variety of materials using specific deposition techniques. Coatings are applied to optical components that are intended for use at...
Adhesives for Fiber Optics Assembly: Making the Right Choice
Edward A.Y. Fisher, Henkel Corp.
Adhesives for fiber optic components that perform well on glass, metal, ceramic and most plastic substrates provide excellent chemical and solvent resistance. They also can act as an electrical...
Beryllium Mirrors: Refinements Enable New Applications
Vladimir Vudler and Peter Richard, Hardric Laboratories, Inc.
With a specific gravity of 1.85 g/cm3, beryllium is the lightest metal that is workable. It is 45 percent lighter than aluminum and approximately five times as stiff. Its stiffness to weight ratio...
Positioning System Performance: Understanding the Rules
MKS/Newport
Abbe Error — Linear off-axis errors introduced by angular deviations coupled to a moment arm at the point of interest on stage mounted devices (θ in Figure 1). The effect of Abbe error...
Excimer Lasers: Photonic Stamps with Micron Resolution
Coherent, Inc.
Excimers are pulsed gas lasers that deliver high output power and pulse energies in the ultraviolet and deep-ultraviolet wavelengths. This enables them to power applications that cannot be supported...
Connectors and Splices: Correct Alignment Spells Success
Paula Trindell, Tyco Electronics
Just as an electronic connector provides a pluggable connection between electronic circuits, a fiber optic connector provides an optical one. The goal is joining a fiber to a transmitter, receiver or...
Diamond Machining: Ultraprecision Machine Technology
Engineering Staff, AMETEK Precitech, Inc.
Ultraprecision machining can be defined in general terms as the removal of material from a substrate utilizing a machine tool that operates at a resolution of 10 nm (0.4 μin.) or less. The...
Nano-Optics Technology: Optical Alchemy
Hubert Kostal, NanoOpto Corp.
Optics today needs alchemy, and the forces that motivate microchip technology are a key reason why. Today, light can transmit and process digital information as well as electricity can — in...
Polygonal Laser Scanners: Fitting the Elements to the Task
Glenn E. Stutz, Lincoln Laser Co.
Reading and writing systems for polygonal scanners differ in the use of the scanner. However, many performance characteristics are similar for both. In writing applications, a light source, usually a...
Optical Objective Systems: A Schematic Guide
Warren J. Smith, Rockwell Collins Optronics
Simple Meniscus Lens The simple meniscus lens is almost universally used in inexpensive cameras. To get an image of good quality it must be used with a separate aperture stop, reducing the...
Optical Components: Finding Your Way Through the Maze
CVI Melles Griot
Lenses come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. They can be made of a single piece of glass or have multiple elements; their surfaces can be spherical, aspheric or cylindrical; they can be...
Beam Diagnostics: Meeting the Need for High Quality
Coherent, Inc.
For any discussion of laser beam diagnostics, it is first necessary to define some terms that characterize beam properties. Broad definitions can include measurements of laser energy or power,...
CO
2
Lasers: The Industrial Workhorse
Thorsten Frauenpreiss, Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH
In 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....
Adaptive Optics: Taming Atmospheric Turbulence
Tom Gonsiorowski, Adaptive Optics Associates, Inc., a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Systems
To Isaac Newton the problem was clear, and in 1704 he realized the effects of atmospheric turbulence on image formation. Just as heat waves shimmering above a hot patch of ground can distort our...
SWIR Imaging: An Industrial Processing Tool
Sensors Unlimited Inc., A Collins Aerospace company
Imaging has long been used in industrial processes to measure, monitor, control, or otherwise manage the production of goods. The challenge to the process designer is to develop a tool that captures...
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