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Understanding Passively Q-Switched Solid-State Lasers
The operation of Q-switched lasers can be quantitatively understood – with huge benefits for laser design. In the September issue, we covered the operation and design of actively Q-switched lasers; this second part covers passively Q-switched lasers. In a passively Q-switched laser, instead of an electrically controlled modulator, a saturable absorber is used. In its unsaturated state, it introduces a high optical loss. The laser gain must overcome that loss before lasing can start.
Photonics Spectra, November 2014
Short-Pulse Lasers Enable Transparent Materials Processing
In several industries, an increasing need exists to cut, drill and mark glass, sapphire and diamond – materials that are difficult to machine using traditional mechanical methods due to their brittleness and hardness. Their transparency at...
Photonics.com, October 2014
Shorter Wavelengths, Pulses Power Laser Manufacturing
Recent laser advances are bringing benefits to manufacturing applications involving drilling, cutting and welding. More powerful diode lasers could, in the future, do more of these jobs directly, instead of being used to pump another material. The...
Photonics.com, October 2014
Gas Purging Keeps UV Systems Healthy
Photochemical deposition of organic films is a significant cause of performance loss in ultraviolet systems; when feasible, it can be reduced or eliminated with inert gas purging. Ultraviolet photons are highly energetic – enough to break...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Micro Thermal Camera Opens Applications to Consumers
Personal thermal imaging just got affordable – but the technology can be used in various industries, too. Thermal imaging is hardly new, but most of us don’t carry thermal imagers in our pockets. Not yet. But it could happen soon, thanks...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Additive Manufacturing: The Laser Source Is Critical
Laser beam power, spot size and focal point must be measured and controlled to produce parts to specification through 3-D printing. Laser-based additive manufacturing (AM) involves the deposition of a precise amount of material in a layer- by-layer...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Applications Expand for Photon Counting
The prospects of photon-counting imaging are as diverse as they are promising. From space-debris monitoring, to telecommunication satellites and shuttle missions, to the advent of powerful surgical tools, which could help cancer patients through the...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Bandwidth Demands Drive Fiber Optics Advances
Data centers and other applications are pushing changes in long-haul and short-haul fibers. Fiber optics connects the world, carrying calls and data. With bandwidth demand growing, manufacturers are working to up transmission rates, cut costs and...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Keeping Optical Tables Steady
Experimental results from a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer elucidate the effects of active vibration damping. Vibration presents a major challenge for precision experiments and manufacturing processes in optoelectronics. Optical tables and...
Photonics Spectra, October 2014
Diode Lasers Break into New Wavelengths, New Applications
New wavelengths, new production technologies and microassembly are all expected to help extend the reach of diode lasers in the future. The field of diode lasers is a dynamic, fast-developing area, enabling new applications to emerge continuously....
Photonics.com, September 2014
Lens-Free Microscopes Offer Real-Time Bio Imaging
A totally different type of microscope will be much smaller and less complex than traditional microscopes, but more powerful. Two years ago, a customer handed Richard Stahl and the imec team a challenge: one year to develop a microscope that could...
Photonics.com, September 2014
SWIR Applications and Challenges: A Primer
Infrared imaging opens endless possibilities for industrial, scientific and security image-processing applications. But short-wave infrared cameras must overcome the limitations of InGaAs sensor technology to provide high-quality images....
Photonics.com, September 2014
Dual-Band Monitoring Keeps Trains Running in Winter
Keeping critical parts of the railroad infrastructure free of snow, sleet, hail and ice – and even detecting unauthorized persons walking the rails – is essential for a safe and uninterrupted transportation service. Dual-band monitoring...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
Laser Technology Enhances Experience for Sports Fans, Refs
A laser device helps spectators and officials to better visualize important markers, so that people in the stadium have the demarcation information offered to TV viewers at home. Science and technology are inextricably linked with sports. Over the...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
Lasers Help Carmakers Chase Fuel Efficiency
Laser-based technologies and techniques including drilling, welding and measurement allow auto manufacturers to keep pace with the demand for lower emissions. For car manufacturers, the number 54.5 looms large. That’s the mile-per-gallon...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
QDs Generate Light for Next-Generation Displays
Large color gamut and better color reproducibility will be highly desired features of displays in the near future. Quantum dots will be the down-conversion technology of choice, allowing LCD makers to cost-effectively reach and exceed 100 percent of...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
Solar Cell Materials: Finding a Happy Medium
Marrying the low cost of thin-film and the efficiency of crystalline silicon helps to improve solar cells. The solar industry is at another inflection point in its development. Costs have come down as a result of a significant increase in capacity,...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
Understanding Actively Q-Switched Solid-State Lasers
With an increased quantitative understanding of the operation of Q-switched lasers come huge benefits for laser design. This first article in a two-part series focuses on actively Q-switched lasers; the second part, in a later issue, will cover...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
Vehicle Vision Puts the 'Auto' in 'Automobile'
Vision systems are increasingly enabling self-driving cars to automatically park, maintain speed and prevent collisions. Can a world of ubiquitous self-driving cars be far off? Whether it’s a flying, automatically driven car like the...
Photonics Spectra, September 2014
For Image Processing, More Power and More Challenges
Increased resolution, 3-D measurement and ease of use are placing ever-greater demands on vision software. In some ways, the machine vision market is no different than its consumer counterpart. Take, for instance, the question of megapixels. The big...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
Improving Slurry Recycling Makes Green Process Greener
In August 2012, Sydor Optics shared its efforts to recycle and reuse cerium oxide polishing slurry. Two years later, the company has improved the process to save even more cerium oxide – and even more money. In September 2010, thanks to...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
Industry Snapshot
SPIE’s annual salary survey offers a broad-ranging look at the current state of the industry. SPIE released the results of its latest annual global optics and photonics salary survey – the largest such international study of the industry...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
Mergers, Acquisitions and More
June 2013 through May 2014 Just a few short months ago, our January issue included a feature titled “Where the Jobs Are Now” by Howard Rudzinsky, who noted that the U.S. had experienced 44 months of continuous job growth with a comeback...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
Ones To Watch
Every August, we bring you some of the best and brightest early-career researchers and engineers (sometimes in middle school or high school) – and this year is no different. Our editors have searched far and wide to find students of various...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
Reader Polls
READER POLL: Textbooks or experience? Which is the better teacher? Both are great, but I prefer a good textbook to start learning from. You can refer back to it, and there is more time to process the information. Patricia Comeford, engineer (via...
Photonics Spectra, August 2014
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