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November 2015 Photonics Technologies & Solutions for Technical Professionals Worldwide www.laserfocusworld.com QCL arrays target IR spectral analysis PAGE 36 Positioning equipment— the foundational tools PAGE 27 Measuring aspheres with interferometry PAGE 41 Tunable laser diode combines QDs and SiP PAGE 45 ® Optical coherence tomography angiography, NIR fluorescence- guided surgery PAGE 55 1511lfw_C1 1 11/2/15 11:54 AM 1511lfw_C2 2 11/2/15 11:54 AM Optimize Your Surface Measurement and Inspection Motion Save 40% Measurement Time and 60% Footprint Traditional Cartesian systems require frequent, time- consuming motion reversals in X and Y to raster-scan a part, which necessitates longer travel ranges to account for inefficiencies in constantly starting and stopping. The vastly superior SMP design utilizes an industry-leading rotational motion profile to deliver smooth, continuous scanning of the part, with no starts and stops, resulting in significantly reduced measurement time and machine footprint. SMP-420 SMP-220 SMP-320 • Reduce measurement time by • Axis repeatability in the low • Ultra-smooth motion even at 40% compared to Cartesian nanometer range very low velocities systems • Nanometer-level minimum • Easily customizable for incremental motion (resolution) • Minimize footprint by 60% customer-specific compared to Cartesian systems measurement processes Z C Spherical Z C Aspheric RR Cylindrical RR C TT TT Z Ph: 412-963-7470 Dedicated to the Email: [email protected] Science of Motion www.aerotech.com AF1114E-TMG 1511lfw_1 1 11/2/15 11:52 AM Photonics Technologies & Solutions for Technical NOVEMBER 2015 ■ VOL. 51, NO. 11 Professionals Worldwide newsbreaks world news 9 15 Orbital Angular Momentum Natural catenary Pancharatnam lens acts as structures create perfect OAM beams improved diffractive lens 16 Silicon Photonics Standard wire-bonding technique doubles waveguide Ge detector bandwidth X-ray pumped laser produces 1.4 Å narrow-linewidth hard x-ray emission Gold wire G G G 10 S S G Ultrafast lasers simplify fabrication G of 3D hydrogel tissue scaffolds Al Ge SiO2 Si 12 17 Multimode holographic waveguides Mid-infrared Lasers CMOS silicon-on-sapphire tackle in vivo biological imaging process produces broad mid-IR supercontinuum 20 Fiber-optic Components Fiber Y-splitter Silk gel handles seven-core optical fiber XYZ translation stage Polarizer 10× objective Shutter Half-wave plate columns departments 7 THE EDITOR’S DESK 80 BUSINESS FORUM 25 LETTERS 79 ADVERTISING/WEB Built on a solid foundation Effective communication INDEX W. Conard Holton is fundamental to 69 NEW PRODUCTS Associate Publisher/Chief Editor success in photonics 79 SALES OFFICES Milton Chang 78 BUSINESS RESOURCE CENTER 75 MANUFACTURERS’ PRODUCT SHOWCASE LASERS ■ OPTICS ■ DETECTORS ■ IMAGING ■ FIBER OPTICS ■ INSTRUMENTATION 2 November 2015 www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World 1511lfw_2 2 11/2/15 11:52 AM LFW on the Web Visit www.laserfocusworld.com for breaking news and Web-exclusive articles features 27 Photonic Frontiers: Positioning and 45 Tunable Lasers Support Equipment Quantum dots and silicon Looking Back/Looking photonics combine in 36 COVER STORY Forward: Positioning broadband tunable laser A 200 cm-1 prototype equipment—the challenge A new wavelength-tunable laser diode quantum-cascade-laser of building a solid combines quantum-dot technology (QCL) array with 32 foundation for optics and silicon photonics with large QCLs is shown prior to beam combining and Stability and precision have been optical gains around the 1310 nm packaging. (Courtesy of crucial for optics since the 19th telecom window. Tomohiro Kita and Pendar Technologies) century. Jeff Hecht Naokatsu Yamamoto 36 Mid-IR Sensing 49 Optics Characterization Monolithic DFB QCL Shack-Hartmann wavefront array aims at handheld sensor enables flexible IR spectral analysis characterization of lenses Many QCLs combined on a single A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor chip demonstrate fully electronic can replace an interferometer or wavelength tuning for stand-off stylus profilometer for measuring IR spectroscopy of explosives lens properties in a lab or production and other materials. Mark F. Witinski, environment. Ralf Dorn and Johannes Pfund Romain Blanchard, Christian Pfluegl, Laurent Diehl, Biao Li, Benjamin Pancy, 52 Modeling Daryoosh Vakhshoori, and Federico Capasso Computer modeling boosts Coming laser device development 41 Photonics Products: Interferometers A full quantitative understanding of in December Numerous ways exist laser devices is boosted by computer to interferometrically modeling, which is not only essential Next month includes special measure aspheres for efficient development processes, articles to highlight what’s Aspheric optics can be measured but also for identifying the causes of hot in many important areas: using a Fizeau interferometer, or by unexpected behavior. Rüdiger Paschotta using an optical profiler containing an • A continuation of our interferometer. John Wallace Looking Back/Looking Forward series will investigate the many LASER FOCUS WORLD PRESENTS types of optical design software. • Senior editor John Wallace will examine the top 20 ® technology stories of 2015. 55 Editor’s Column 58 Optical Coherence Tomography/ • Articles on Optics profile up among neuroscientists Ophthalmology magnetorheological Barbara Gefvert OCT angiography: A new finishing (MRF) and Editor in Chief, BioOptics World approach with ‘gold standard’ high-power laser capabilities and more Chieh-Li Chen, calibration and Qingin Zhang, Anqi Zhang, and Ruikang K. Wang 56 BioOptics News & Breakthroughs characterization. In BioOptics World, we will Neuro15 exhibitors meet exacting 63 Fluorescence-guided Surgery demands: Part 1 have articles on optoacoustic Advanced surgery: NIR fluorescence guidance imaging and optical filtering arrives David J. Burrington for the life sciences. Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com November 2015 3 1511lfw_3 3 11/2/15 11:52 AM AFFORDABLE SPEED, ACCURACY & PERFORMANCE. FLIR A6700sc The FLIR A6700sc brings the performance and accuracy of cooled, high-speed InSb thermal imaging together in an affordable package. Perfect for electronics inspections, medical thermography, manufacturing monitoring, non-destructive testing, and other specialized uses, the A6700sc lets you reliably capture and measure high-speed thermal events. The A6700sc gives you: • Excellent image quality – 640 x 512 pixels • High sensitivity – <20 mk • High-speed image acquisition – up to 480 Hz • Synchronization with other instruments • Wide choice of optics and extender rings • Very low noise, cooled InSb detector LEARN MORE AT WWW.FLIR.COM/LFW SHOWS FINE DETAIL FOR ELECTRONICS TESTING IDEAL FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND MORE 1511lfw_4 4 11/2/15 11:52 AM laserfocusworld.online More Features, News & Products trending now cool content Focus on Positioning & Support Blog: Photon Focus Laser Focus World covers optical mounting, positioning, and Strategies Unlimited isolation equipment available for everything from simple senior analyst Allen Nogee optics to confocal microscopes and interferometers. Here gives his thoughts on a are three of our most recent articles on this topic. Kickstarter campaign for a laser-powered razor Kirigami thin-film in development. Keep photovoltaic cells coming back to our blog flex to track the sun for more hot topics, cool A team of researchers has commentary, and other come up with a way to events-related musings! tilt solar cells in a simple, http://bit.ly/14RIfUO compact way such that the whole apparatus can fit within a flat solar panel. Technical Digests dig into http://bit.ly/1LIB7ye technology topics Laser Focus World offers Get the most out of your microscope by free downloadable understanding your site environment technical digests that Measuring and analyzing environmental noise before the installation provide an in-depth of a precision microscope resource on photonics enables the end user to and optoelectronics save time, money, and topics, including free- resources by preparing form optics and military the installation location laser systems. appropriately for the http://bit.ly/ViD38v incoming instrument. http://bit.ly/201ovMm Webcasts let you make new Matter wave discoveries from your desktop interferometry cools Whether you are looking to learn about laser atoms and should damage to optics or finite element modeling cool molecules of laser material processing, we’ve got Researchers demonstrated webcasts aplenty to meet your educational needs. for the first time a new laser http://bit.ly/Onhs9J cooling method—based upon the interference of matter waves—that could White papers offer detailed tech be used to cool molecules. http://bit.ly/1RqXv2x specs on many products Our library of technical white papers delves into performance attributes of several optics and photonics products available on the market, including LED lens component CORRECTION The cover photo in the October 2015 issue should have been credited to Optimax Systems and not Thin Film Center. Laser Focus World regrets the error. optimization software and nanostructured substrates for optical diagnostics. http://bit.ly/1BUCpTf www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com November 2015 5 1511lfw_5 5 11/2/15 11:52 AM 1511lfw_6 6 11/2/15 11:52 AM editor’s desk Built on a solid foundation Stability and precision are critical characteristics of photonics tools, and represent a recurrent theme of this issue. The characteristics are essential in interferometers, as noted by