If commercially available stereoscopic displays could work without special glasses and be viewed from virtually any angle, by any number of people at once, we would probably view all three-dimensional data stereoscopically. Alas, such a technology is but a dream in the minds of inventors and science fiction writers. There are, however, several good choices for electronic stereoscopic displays. End users, OEMs, system integrators and application developers have a choice of several proven...

Unless you know the questions to ask, selecting the right imaging technology for your applications can seem more of a coin toss than an educated choice -- an outright nightmare for those uninitiated in the intracacies of solid-state imaging...

The vertebrate olfactory system is well-known for its extraordinary sensitivity and broad selectivity. Tufts University researchers have incorporated this array format into the design of a broadband optical vapor sensor.

Environmental issues such as global warming, ozone depletion and photochemical air pollution have increased concern about how pollutants affect the environment. This has led to an increased emphasis on detecting pollutants, understanding their...

Deciphering the human genome and exploring genetic variation are fueling a biomedical revolution. Diagnosis of inherited disorders and disease at the genetic level relies on the identification and detection of the responsible gene sequences. Optical...

Near-field optical techniques employ a single nanometer-size aperture that scans across a region of interest. Increasing the number of apertures expands the area that can be scanned at one time. Tufts University researchers have generated thousands...

While many factors can diminish a city's quality of life, one literally takes residents breath away: smog. Traffic, industrial pollution, weather patterns and geography can turn a perfectly lovely city into a very hazy place. Cleaning the air...

As the world's sensitivity to environmental pollution increases, it is becoming increasingly important to understanding the overall nature of combustion. They key to this knowledge is precise and detailed measurement of the temperature, distribution...

Optical fibers have revolutionized a variety of fields: They carry images through endoscopes, voices through phone lines, data and video through cable networks, and, more recently, physical and chemical information through sensors. The fiber's...

Spectral information enhances our knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, metallurgy, and meteorology, and it contributes to applications in photonics, communications and medical instrumentation. Different specialties may use one of many spectral...

When most people over 30 think of three-dimensional video, they conjure up memories of wearing silly red/blue glasses to watch even sillier horror movies. Today, three-dimensional imaging is serious business. An impressive array of advances in 3-D...

European telecommunications companies, anticipating the demand for delivery of interactive multimedia services to business and residential customers, are busy planning for tomorrow. On the drawing boards are broadband networks designed for...

When telecommunications companies first looked for solutions to the overcrowded world of wired, electronic communication, coherent light and fiber optics were there. Fiber optics brought high-bandwidth communications without the electromagnetic...

The growth and development of continuous-wave high-power diode lasers in the last few years has been phenomenal, enabling many advances in a wide range of applications. Diodes’ efficiency, compactness and cost-effectiveness make them an excellent...

Instrumentation and consumer product designers are enamored of photonics technology. Products containing lasers, LEDs and detectors abound on the shelves of electronics stores, appliance centers and even the corner gas station. Photonics makes new...

Once, our eyes were all the quality control we needed. But as products became more complex -- containing more, smaller parts -- so did the need for quicker, more efficient inspection techniques. Photonics technology has mirrored the increasing...

Organic materials are part of our everyday life, but only recently have photonic devices begun to exploit their versatility. For more than 20 years it was common knowledge that organic crystals exhibited electroluminescence when large voltages were...

Improvements in the size, power, lifetime and ruggedness of solid-state lasers has truly improved their chances in a marketplace that sees a laser as a device and not necessarily a tool. As applications for solid-state devices grow, researchers will...

The explosive increase of fiber optics in communications, materials processing and medicine is driving both performance and manufacturing technology improvements in fiber optic interconnects. However, the task of accurately aligning and affixing...

Proving that imaging based on complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) could compete with CCDs was a multifaceted effort. The first step was developing a working product. The second phase was to prove that CMOS imaging could compete...

A new semiconductor-based infrared detector technology for mid- and long-wavelength instruments is ready for the marketplace. The quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) is based on absorption by confined carriers in multiple quantum wells. QWIPs...

When completed in 2002, the National Ignition Facility will culminate more than a decade of research on laser ignition: the controlled implosion of a small, hydrogen-isotope-filled target by laser beams of sufficient energy and quality to create...

Fiber optic sensors, thanks to their size, flexibility and survivability advantages, continue to gain popularity as effective alternatives to conventional transducers. Two types have emerged as leaders in meeting the changing needs of industrial...

Advances in micro-optics have led to the development of large-volume and batch-processed diffractive and refractive micro-optical components, creating a technology that promises to revolutionize many photonic systems. Similar to micro-optic...

The air-cooled argon-ion laser remains the most widely used source OEM applications requiring blue or green light. However, its shortcomings in efficiency, size, operating life and cost have inhibited the growth and development of applications....