Photonics Spectra's Spectroscopy Summit is Now On Demand
Search
Menu
CASTECH INC - New Building the Bridge of Light
submit feature idea
Features

CCDs Aid Exploration
Whether imaging the galaxy or intracellular activity, cameras based on CCD sensors continue to capture ever more complex images of the known universe. Still images that are generated with full-frame CCDs can present stunning vistas, but images can become even more intriguing when they capture dynamic motion at speeds beyond the ability of conventional commercial cameras. As evidence, consider these images of primary neuron cultures from rats, acquired by engineers at Solamere Technology...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
CCDs Capture Dynamic Motion
Whether the application involves high-speed machine vision, live-cell imaging or surveillance, dynamic motion capture is a key task of the CCD image sensor. The need to capture an image fast and freeze it, while immediately exposing the photodiode...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Closed-Loop Control Boosts AFM Functionality
Many atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and scanning probe instruments that provide usable images do not have closed-loop position control, which is essential for accurate, distortion-free visualization and metrology. The key to position control is...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Diamond Turning Enters a New Era
Single-point, diamond-turned optics, if programmed and fixtured properly, can typically be produced right off the machine at λ/4 peak to valley, with surface finish as low as 50 Å rms in bare aluminum and as low as 25 Å rms with nickel plating,...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Fluorescence Microscopy Becomes Portable
A centimeter-wide “lab-on-a-chip” has been developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, using a new laser-processing technique. The chip, which contains optical elements for fluorescence analysis, can be taken onto the...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
High-Speed Optical Sensor for Security Applications
In today’s world, with its increasing demand for security, passive optical sensors are helping to keep us safe. They typically are used in video cameras that generate a two-dimensional image on a screen. The problem with 2-D imaging for security...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Image Intensifiers Multiply Photons
Originally developed to enhance night vision in military applications, image intensifiers combined with improved CCD imaging sensors emerged as serious contenders for low-light scientific imaging applications in the early 1990s. Today many...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Imaging Systems Gain a Brain
The use of video surveillance as a security tool historically has been plagued by multiple limitations, including cross-platform incompatibility, inadequate nighttime operability, and the human fatigue and error factors. Software developed by...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Interline CCDs Serve Machine Vision Applications
Many industrial manufacturers use machine vision systems to control the quality of their products. Such systems can measure the product’s size, position and color, the location of key components or other characteristics that determine whether an...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Laser Beam Characterization of a Diode Stack
The characterization of diode lasers becomes more and more important with the increasing number of industrial applications that depend on this type of laser. ISO 11146 provides the measurement procedures to characterize the propagation properties of...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Long-Range Surveillance Day or Night
Law enforcement and security professionals who safeguard borders, ports, nuclear power and chemical plants, and other high-value/high-danger assets deploy thermal imaging cameras as a critical component to their overall day/night situational...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Near-Field Holography Manufactures Submicron Gratings
Gratings with a 200- to 600-nm pitch are necessary for telecommunications devices such as passive optical components and InP laser diodes. They also are required in some emerging applications, including biosensors and various microelectromechanical...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Outsourcing: A Growing Trend for Optomechanical Assemblies
One area of the optics industry that continues to experience growth is that of precision optomechanical assemblies. This trend runs in parallel with increased reliance on more sophisticated laser-based instrumentation, which places extreme demands...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Spectroscopy Takes Security into the Field
With important advances in the miniaturization, cost and performance of optoelectronic devices and sampling accessories, techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy have found new applications in...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Strengthening Global Surveillance and Security
Patrolling national borders, detecting explosives and weapons in luggage and cargo and scanning battlefields for toxins are different tasks, yet they all have something in common. They are undertaken to ensure global security, the need for which is...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Testing the Water
Shortly after Sept. 11, an incident arose in which a water reservoir had been tampered with. The severity and seriousness of the act resulted in speculations of terrorist activity. The reservoir in question was the primary water source for a...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Vacuum Sealing Adds Life to Scientific CCDs
Perhaps a key question for any scientific imaging application is how long the CCD camera will last before the chip underperforms. One major “camera killer” is condensation on the chip. Most cameras leave the factory virtually blemish-free, but over...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
X-ray System Provides Improved Baggage Screening
Ensuring the safety of airline passengers has created a demand for larger, more robust security devices at baggage check-in sites. Previous x-ray systems could scan baggage but could neither detect three-dimensional objects nor automatically discern...
Photonics Spectra, April 2004
Alkali Lasers Challenge Thin Disks and Fibers
What led you to investigate alkalis as laser materials? I’m an inventor, an applied scientist. I like asking what the problem is and then looking for solutions to it. At any given time, we have an arsenal of lasers and we often try to force...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
Automation Speeds Fiber Alignment
Coupling a single-mode fiber to the lens of an infrared diode laser is one of the most common optical fiber alignment tasks. The success of this pigtailing process depends on accurate manipulation of the fiber in the X-, Y- and Z-axes, typically to...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
CO2 Lasers Maintain Their Momentum
Even in last year’s somewhat slow market, CO2 laser technology remained a strong contender in industrial laser applications — cutting and welding in particular. The technology also made incremental gains in applications such as cladding and marking....
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
CO2 Technology Continues to Evolve
The first commercial application for CO2 lasers was wire stripping — using a large, flowing gas system that required regular repair and maintenance. Today, the latest developments for this type of laser include a system scheduled for launch into...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
Fiber Lasers Poised to Seize Market Share
Significant progress over the past two years in the development of fiber lasers has led to an increase in the CW power of single-fiber devices from 130 W to 1 kW. Advances in fiber design have played a major role, particularly the development of...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
Fibers Deliver CO2 Laser Beams for Medical Applications
An innovative class of optical fibers was developed several years ago at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, based on 1998 work with photonic bandgap reflectors, a new type of dielectric mirror that can reflect light and that...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
FT Interferometry Measures Homogeneity
Today’s advanced semiconductor applications have pushed the limits of optical lithography systems. While the ability to fabricate optical components to their surface-form specifications is critical, the quality of the glass itself — or more...
Photonics Spectra, March 2004
(2,945 results found)

Explore Our Content
News
Features
Latest Products
Webinars
White Papers
All Things Photonics Podcast
Photonics Spectra Now
Videos
Our Summits & Conferences
Industry Events
Bookstore
Join Our Community
Subscribe
Advertise
Become a member
Sign in
Contribute a Feature
Suggest a Webinar
Submit a Press Release
Mobile Apps

About Us
Our Company
Our Publications
Editorial Advisory Board
Contact Us
Career Opportunities
Teddi C. Laurin Scholarship

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)



©2025 Photonics Media
100 West St.
Pittsfield, MA, 01201 USA
[email protected]
We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.