Early fiber lasers were inefficient and limited to low powers, until more effective methods emerged to deliver the pump light into the cladding. Valentin Gapontsev, founder and CEO of IPG Photonics, is credited with pioneering the use of distributed side-pumping into a large-area cladding by multiple single-emitter diode lasers, a method that overcame the limitations of previous pumping approaches. The side-pumping approach helped to unleash the true potential of fiber lasers, opened a new era

Understanding the fundamental characteristics of scatter and the limitations imposed by scatterometers is essential to performing meaningful stray light calculations.

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 photons per second illuminate the detector.

Electrical engineers are very familiar with the effects of shot noise, thermal noise, flicker noise and crosstalk, and recognize how these effects can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in their systems. Most optical engineers, on the other...

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 optical cable to the fiber-to-home deployment to...

Superresolution optical microscopy has been one of the most momentous developments in the life sciences over the last decade — and its evolution is ongoing. Progress has been so rapid and significant that it has been dubbed by some observers as “the...

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 also allow the same or better performance using fewer...

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 the intensity of light over a broadband spectrum...

Technological advances have resulted in new, higher-quality sensors that enable machine vision cameras to deliver greater features and functionality at a lower cost than ever before. These factors are motivating businesses in a widening range of...

There is a big step from successfully demonstrating a new laser process on a limited number of samples under laboratory conditions, to scaling that process up for high-volume industrial use. In particular, it’s necessary to determine how variations...

The versatility of quantum cascade lasers makes them a good choice for the mid-infrared region. Since its first successful operation in 1960 at Hughes Research Labs, the laser technology has been at the center of innovation and research....

The term fluorescence is often applied as a synonym for photoluminescence, although luminescence actually covers fluorescence and phosphorescence. Both of these terms describe the process of absorption of light at a higher energy and subsequent...

Many common spectroscopic measurements require the coordinated operation of a detection instrument and light source, as well as data acquisition and processing. Integration of individual components can be challenging and various applications may...

When evaluating the surface of a component, surface roughness can be assessed by eye or by rubbing it with a fingertip. Common expressions include “shiny,” “lusterless and rough,” “like oxidized silver,” or “like a mirror.” The differences indicated...

It is almost a cliché among students of creativity that innovation occurs at the intersection of fields. Since nanopositioning is a discipline that has enabled swiftly evolving application arenas as diverse as materials science, genomics, photonics,...

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 arc source, typically 100 W mercury. Today, there...

Small beams are used in many critical applications yet often they are not directly profiled. While obtaining good beam profiling data on beams under 10 µm has its challenges, they can be overcome with proven techniques.

Given the pace at which technology advances, there always seems to be a learning curve. With the abundance of consumer electronics available, there typically is no right or wrong way to use these devices — the choice usually comes down to the method...

This second of two articles discusses the tools optical designers need to tailor their designs to the appropriate manufacturing process, optimizing the cost of component fabrication.

Nothing has changed the world of communications as much as the development and implementation of optical fiber. This article provides the basic principles needed to work with this technology. Optical fibers are made from either glass or plastic....

Light is a versatile tool for investigating physical and chemical processes in nature. Any specific system being analyzed may, through the light it emits or reflects, communicate information about itself. Electrical signal is an effective medium for...

To simplify the process when purchasing flat optics, we will discuss the top six factors from a manufacturer’s perspective, all of which affect the three major areas of the purchasing decision: quality, delivery, and cost. Flat optics generally...

This first of two articles will cover design and manufacturing options for aspheres; the second will include more detail on manufacturing and testing processes. These articles will provide the tools optics designers need to tailor their designs to...

When purchasing an industrial laser system, the astute buyer will look for a Class 1 laser product — a system where the laser beam hazard is completely enclosed and there is no potential laser radiation exposure to the operator or anyone in the...

Enhanced interface usability in modern design software enables even inexperienced lens designers to build well-performing optical systems. Optical design software allows the user to develop a configuration of optical elements that manipulate the...