September 2009 T TABLE of CONTENTS

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September / 2009

Getting in Touch with Flat Screens

North of the Border: The Photonics Industry in Canada Mid-IR Lasers • Photonic Chips Laser Surgery

Pocket Projectors Are Poised to Explode

Applying Ancient Technologies to Modern Photonics Sept/09 909_Coherent_LMC_PgCVR2.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:03 AM Page CVR2

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[email protected] Benelux +31 (30) 280 6060 Italy +39 (02) 34 530 214 www.Coherent.com China +86 (10) 6280 0209 Japan +81 (3) 5635 8700 toll free: (800) 343-4912 France +33 (0)1 6985 5145 Korea +82 (2) 460 7900 phone: (408) 764-4042 Germany +49 (6071) 968 204 UK +44 (1353) 658 833

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Which of the following technologies/sciences do you and/or your organization Free 5 work with? (Please check all that apply.) Subscription Form A. A aerospace/aviation X imaging V process control IMPORTANT: This form must be completely filled out; all questions answered, C astronomy Z inspection/identification X quality control D automotive B. A machine vision Z remote sensing/lidar signed and dated. E biotechnology C materials processing/ C. A reprographics/printing I wish to continue to receive Photonics Spectra free of charge. Yes G chemistry, chemical production C robotics engineering E materials research E semiconductor processing No J chromatography This is a: Renewal Change of Address New Subscription G medical/biomedical G simulation/modeling L communications J microscopy J signal processing Company and address must be filled in even if your magazine is to be sent to your N computer engineering L military/tactical L spectroscopy home address. P displays N nondestructive testing N test & measurement Mr. First Name Init. Last Name R environmental P optical character P ultrafast/time- Dr. monitoring/sensing recognition resolution studies Ms. T forensic science R optical computing/ R other Job Title Mail Stop V holography data storage W lighting/illumination T photonic component mfg. Company Name at this Location (No Abbreviations)

Company Division/Address Line 1 Which of the following products do you buy, use, recommend and/or 6 specify? (Please check all that apply.) Address Line 2 A. Optical Components E. Cameras G monochromators & Software A CCD or CID J optics testing City State/Prov. ZIP/Postal AFFIX COVER A coatings C CMOS equipment C filters & beamsplitters E high speed L power/energy meters/ Country LABEL HERE E gratings G infrared wavelength meters Business Telephone Fax G infrared optics J line scan N radiometers/ J laser optics L other camera photometers E-Mail L lenses P spectroscopy N mirrors & reflectors F. Detectors/Sensors equipment Photonics Spectra privacy policy. P optical design A CCD or CID R spectrum analyzers E-mail is used for subscription renewals and is required for a subscription. Other information software C CMOS T telescopes may also be sent from photonics manufacturers/institutions — if you prefer NOT to receive R polarizing optics E detector arrays M. Electronics & Signal- e-mails from manufacturers, please check here. T prisms G infrared Analysis Equipment J photodiodes I would also like to receive Photonics Directory (limited quantities available). Yes V ultraviolet optics A amplifiers X windows & domes L photomultipliers C oscilloscopes How would you like to receive Photonics Spectra Magazine? Electronic/Digital B. Lasers N semiconductor E power supplies (Please select only one) Print A semiconductor, diode G. Imaging Equipment G pulse & signal C solid-state, diode- & Software generators If your company would prefer delivery to your home, please complete home address. pumped A frame grabbers J signal analyzers Company name and address are still required to qualify. E solid-state, Nd:YAG C image intensifiers L time-delay generators Home Address G solid-state, Ti:sapphire E imaging software N. Laser Accessories Street or PO Box J solid-state, tunable G infrared imagers A beam analysis L solid-state, VCSELs J illumination equipment C flashlamps City State/Prov. ZIP/Postal M fiber lasers L vision systems E laser chillers N x-ray imaging N gas lasers, CO2 G laser dyes, gases P gas lasers, excimer H. Manufacturing Equipment or rods My principal job function is: (Please insert one letter only.) R gas lasers, HeNe for Photonic Components J laser power & energy 1 T gas lasers, ion A assembly or meters Engineering- and Science-Related Management- or Business-Related V gas lasers, other packaging equipment L laser power supplies X dye C cleanroom equipment N laser safety A research & development G corporate Z other lasers ______E coating equipment P laser scanners B design H engineering/technical G cooling & C application J manufacturing or production C. Laser Systems P. Light Sources cryogenic equipment D manufacturing or production K purchasing A biometric/forensic A arc sources J diamond machining E measurement (testing, quality control L other management function C biotechnology C flashlamps equipment or safety) (please specify) ______E communications E infrared L grinding & F other engineering or science function G industrial (cutting/ G LEDs Other welding/marking) polishing equipment J ultraviolet (please specify) ______ M consultant P other functions (please J entertainment N optical design software Q. Materials & Chemicals N educator specify) ______L environmental P photonics test A cements, adhesives monitoring equipment & epoxies Please indicate the primary end product or service of your N holography R vacuum equipment C coating materials T other manufacturing 2 company at this location. (Please insert one letter/number only.) P materials processing E crystals R medical equipment G grinding & A aerospace/aviation systems R laboratory, government T military polishing materials B agriculture, food, forestry & mining S laboratory, industrial J. Positioning/Vibration V remote sensing J transmissive C analytical, test or measurement T lasers/laser systems Isolation Equipment X reprographics materials, IR instrumentation U manufacturing equipment, machinery or A benches, rails & slides (printing/graphic arts) L transmissive D automotive or transportation metal products C micropositioners Z spectroscopy & materials, UV E cable TV/video/broadcasting V medical & biotechnology equipment E mounts for photonic photochemical N transmissive F cameras, detectors, sensors & W military equipment components analysis materials, visible electro-optical components X navigation & guidance systems or G positioning equipment D. Fiber Optics R. Computers & Software G chemical or pharmaceutical products equipment J position-sensing equip. A cables A computer hardware H communications equipment or services Y optical components, materials or systems L stepper motors & C communications lasers (PCs, servers, (incl. telcos, RBOC & other carriers) Z plastics, polymers, rubber drivers E connectors or couplers workstations, J computer displays, peripherals, office & 1 printing, publishing, graphic arts N tables, optical G detectors or receivers mainframes) business equipment 2 university/institution/college P vibration-isolation H fiber C data acquisition K consumer electronics & appliances 3 utilities, energy, petroleum & coal equipment K gratings E scientific/engineering L electronics, semiconductors & IC 4 government personnel not classified K. LEDs and Displays M lightguides software M environmental monitoring elsewhere A CRTs N fiber optic components or systems 5 industrial company or commercial user N network components S. Nanophotonics C flat panel P hospital/medical university or office incorporating photonic products not O optical amplifiers A microscopes E LCDs Q industrial control systems & robotics classified elsewhere Q optical switches C nanophotonic devices G LEDs 6 other ______S splicing & polishing E nanophotonic materials J light valves equipment G quantum dots Principal Product or Service ______L OLEDs U test equipment N plasma W transmitters T. A Other______Which of the following publications do you read regularly? L. Test & Analysis Equipment Y WDM or DWDM 3 (Please check all that apply.) A interferometers X. None of the above Z other fiber optic A Advanced Imaging N Nature T Semiconductor C microscopes, optical (6A-6S inclusive) components H Laser Focus World P OLE International E microscopes, other K Lightwave R Physics Today V Vision Systems Design M NASA Tech Briefs S Science X None of the above

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September 2009 t TABLE OF CONTENTS

NEWS & ANALYSIS 20 | TECH NEWS Baking powder or anthrax? Ask the Ceeker Glasses provide information in the blink of an eye Multitasking fibers weave a new story for imaging systems Robo-weasel could sniff out contraband

24 | FASTTRACK Business and Markets Brighter days ahead for LEDs in signage Changing of the guard The Prism Awards Call for Entries

45 | EDUCATION WAVEFRONT by Gary Boas, Contributing Editor Understanding the “sex gap” in science and math

47 | GREENLIGHT by Anne L. Fischer, Senior Editor Back to green school Zero-net energy on the Washington Mall PV partnership in Arizona California community college commitment Dissolving CIGS for flexible application Flexible solar from Canada Solar infusion in the Netherlands

84 | SLICES FROM THE BREADBOARD It’s All About Patents by Amanda D. Francoeur, News Editor TeamPatent: A building block for developing a patent application

DEPARTMENTS 12 | EDITORIAL 16 | LETTERS THE COVER 86 | BRIGHT IDEAS This month’s cover was inspired 97 | HAPPENINGS by the flat screen display feature 100 | PEREGRINATIONS on page 56; designed by Art Dawn of an era: painting with light and optics Director Lisa N. Comstock.

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PHOTONICS: The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant Volume 43 Issue 9 energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and information processing. www.photonics.com

FEATURES 56 | FLAT SCREENS GO DEEP – AND MORE by Hank Hogan, Contributing Editor 3-D content and touch-screen displays mark the debut of interactive television.

63 | REFLECTING ON THE PAST by Jamie Knapp, Newport Corp. – Corion Optical Filters Applying ancient technologies to modern photonics.

68 | SENSORS ON THE FRONTIERS OF PHYSICS by David L. Shenkenberg, Features Editor Ultrasensitive detection may lead to quantum communication and computing.

70 | IT’S TWO, TWO, TWO TOOLS IN ONE by Laura S. Marshall, Managing Editor Technique enables simultaneous imaging and laser surgery without mechanical scanning.

68 72 | MID-IR TUNABLE LASERS PROBE HYDROCARBON MOLECULES by Angus Henderson, Lockheed Martin Aculight Infrared laser spectroscopy boosts sensitive hydrocarbon molecule detection.

76 | PICO BOOM by Melinda Rose, Senior Editor Pocket projectors are poised to explode, but will lasers or LEDs be the pre-eminent light source?

80 | NORTHERN LIGHTS: THE PHOTONICS INDUSTRY IN CANADA by Laura S. Marshall, Managing Editor Ontario and Québec are hot spots for photonics-related research and industries.

SPECIAL 16-PAGE INSERT

29 | THE PHOTONICS SPECTRUM REFERENCE WALL CHART The photonics spectrum wall chart displays the major commercial laser lines, detectors and optical materials in the ultraviolet to the far-infrared and beyond.

PHOTONICS SPECTRA (USPS 448870) IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY Laurin Publishing Co. Inc., Berkshire Common, PO Box 4949, Pittsfield, MA 01202, +1 (413) 499-0514; fax: +1 (413) 442-3180; e-mail: [email protected]. ISSN- 0731-1230. TITLE reg. in US Library of Congress. Copyright ® 2009 by Laurin Publishing Co. Inc. All rights reserved. Copies of Photonics Spectra on microfilm are available from University Microfilm, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Pho- tonics Spectra articles are indexed in the Engineering Index. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to Photonics Spectra, Berkshire Common, PO Box 4949, Pittsfield, MA 01202. Periodicals postage paid at Pittsfield, MA, and at additional mailing offices. CIRCULATION POLICY: Photonics Spectra is distributed without charge to qualified scientists, engineers, technicians, and management personnel. Eligibility requests must be returned with your business card or organization’s letterhead. Rates for others as follows: $122 per year, prepaid. Overseas postage: $28 surface mail, $108 airmail per year. Inquire for multiyear subscription rates. Publisher reserves the right to refuse non- qualified subscriptions. ARTICLES FOR PUBLICATION: Sci- entists, engineers, educators, technical executives and technical writers are invited to contribute articles on the optical, laser, fiber optic, electro-optical, imaging, optoelectronics and related fields. Communications regarding the editorial content of Pho- tonics Spectra should be addressed to the group publisher. Contributed statements and opinions expressed in Photonics Spectra are t hose of the contributors – the publisher assumes no responsibility for them.

Photonics Spectra September 2009 7 909Masthead.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:43 AM Page 8

Editorial Staff

Group Publisher Diane M. Laurin Managing Editor Laura S. Marshall Senior Editors Charles T. Troy, Anne L. Fischer, Melinda A. Rose Features Editors Lynn M. Savage, David L. Shenkenberg News Editors Caren B. Les, Amanda D. Francoeur, Rebecca C. Jernigan Departments Editor Ashley N. Paddock Copy Editors Judith E. Storie, Patricia A. Vincent, Margaret W. Bushee Contributing Editors Hank Hogan, Dr. Christine Connolly, Krista D. Zanolli, Gary Boas

Creative Staff

Senior Art Director Lisa N. Comstock BioPhotonics Art Director Suzanne L. Schmidt EuroPhotonics Art Director Juliana T. Willey Designers Janice R. Tynan, Taber A. Thayer

Editorial Offices

Berkshire Common, PO Box 4949, Pittsfield, MA 01202-4949 +1 (413) 499-0514; fax: +1 (413) 442-3180; www.photonics.com

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More Than 100,000 Distributed Internationally

Editorial Advisory Board

Valerie C. Bolhouse, Consultant; Walter Burgess, Power Technology Inc.; Sarah Cohn Christensen, SarahCohn.com; Dr. Timothy Day, Daylight Solutions; Dr. Anthony J. DeMaria, Coherent-DEOS LLC; Dr. Donal Denvir, Andor Technology PLC; Patrick L. Edsell, Avanex Corp.; Dr. Stephen D. Fantone, Optikos Corp.; John Hanks, National Instruments Corp.; Randy Heyler, Newport Corp.; Dr. Michael Houk, Bristol Instruments Inc.; Dr. Kenneth J. Kaufmann, Hamamatsu Corp.; Brian Lula, PI (Physik Instrumente) LP; Eliezer Manor, Shirat Enterprises Ltd., Israel; Dr. Kenneth Moore, Zemax Development Corp.; Shinji Niikura, Spec- tra-Physics KK, Japan; Dr. Morio Onoe, professor emeritus, University of Tokyo; Dr. William Plummer, WTP Optics; Dr. Richard C. Powell, University of Arizona; Dr. Ryszard S. Romaniuk, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland; Samuel P. Sadoulet, Edmund Optics; Dr. Steve Sheng, Telesis Technologies Inc.; William H. Shiner, IPG Photonics Corp.; John M. Stack, Zygo Corp.; Stuart Schoenmann, CVI Melles Griot; Dr. Albert J.P. Theuwissen, Harvest Imaging/Delft University of Technology, Belgium.

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Corporate Staff

Chairman/CEO Teddi C. Laurin President Thomas F. Laurin Director of Sales Robert Briere Controller Mollie M. Armstrong Accounting Manager Lynne M. Lemanski Accounts Receivable Manager Mary C. Gniadek Business Manager Elaine M. Filiault Human Resources Coordinator Carol J. Atwater

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e EDITORIAL COMMENT

A Great Loss iane M. Laurin, group publisher for Laurin Publishing’s slate of international trade maga- Dzines, died unexpectedly Aug. 3. She was 57. Diane’s mother, Teddi C. Laurin, founded Optical Spectra, later Photonics Spectra, magazine in 1967, and Diane began her career with Laurin Publishing shortly after graduating from Russell Sage College in 1973. Diane left the company in July 1991, becoming vice

TRUE FLAT TOP PERFORMANCE TOP TRUE FLAT president of public relations for Winstanley Associates, an advertising/marketing communications agency based in Lenox, Mass. Diane returned to Laurin Publishing in early 2008 Flat-Top to assist me, her brother, in managing the business. As group publisher, she spearheaded a rebranding and Projector refocusing of the company’s three magazines – the flagship publication Photonics Spectra, BioPhotonics and EuroPhotonics – and a completely new online Photonics Directory. Her ambitious goal was to reinvigorate industry pride and to position Laurin Publishing for the 21st century, and one of her first accom- plishments was giving the company a new identity: “Photonics Media – The pulse of the industry,” to describe its full suite of print and online media. She embraced new media StockerYale’s Flat-Top Projector ventures and led Laurin’s foray into social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. offers very smooth spatial Diane was happy to reconnect with her many friends and colleagues in the photonics variations with very low ripple. industry by attending several trade shows over the past two years. She also was instrumen- tal in founding the world-class Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, which recognize Features : the most innovative photonic products, conceived in partnership with SPIE and awarded KZgnZ[ÒX^ZciVaa\aVhhdei^Xh for the first time in January 2009. 6X]gdbVi^X[gdbJKidcZVg>G Diane also re-energized the staff of all three magazines, who considered her both a Jc^[dgb^inXdZ[ÒX^Zcid[kVg^Vi^dc mentor and a dear friend. of better than 1% achievable On a personal note, I would like to add that I worked with Diane in her early years at =^\]jc^[dgb^inZY\ZhiZZecZhh Laurin and when she came back in the spring of last year. She was more than a colleague, she was a dear friend, whom I – and everyone else here – will miss greatly. Diane was one of the brightest and most versatile people I’ve ever met. She worked and played hard, and enjoyed life to its fullest. Her passing leaves a huge void – professionally and personally.

Gaussian (Input) Flat-Top (Output) Thomas F. Laurin President Applications : ;adlXnidbZign 8dc[dXVab^XgdhXden lthough I grieve as only a mother can when losing a child, I am confident that the 9C6hZfjZcX^c\ company will continue the thoughts and dreams that have been put into place. And though it was only for a short year and half, I know that Tom was excited to work A>;hXViiZg^c\ A B^XgdhXden hand in hand with his sister to grow the company and make efforts to head it in the right direction. For Diane, I am proud of my staff because it embraced her efforts and followed her passion. At this time, we may have to pause and reflect upon our loss, but in the next moment, we know that we must still go forward. This is what we have been doing for more than 50 years as a family business. When Diane left the company 17 years ago to join a marketing firm, the company continued to grow and prosper. And while she is no longer with us today, her spirit is. And with her spirit alive, we will continue to grow and prosper in the www.stockeryale.com years to come.

Call today for more information!

T: 1-800-814-9552 I (514) 685-1005 Teddi C. Laurin ﬂ [email protected] Chairman/CEO

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WE’RE TRANSFORMING

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l LETTERS

White Elephant in Space? Many view the International Space Station (“Solar-powered space station,” Photonics Spectra, July, p. 36), as a $150 billion “white elephant” in space that has sucked resources from many other more worth- while programs – construction that was said to have been created in part to provide jobs for out-of-work ex-Soviet nuclear scientists so they would not run off and give atom bombs to rogue states. That it needs 32,800 solar cells is no brag. The same job could have been done with a plutonium energy cell the size of a home computer box, and it would not be relying on the sun to function. Richard Anderson Toronto Finally, I have asked some of the experts how to get those wonderful antennas A solar fraud? that amplify power. I would use them in In the July issue of Photonics Spectra I microwave and millimeter-wave commu- read “Solar from space” (page 35). This nication systems. Nobody has responded. concept is a complete fraud to get money All this is a hoax and pure fantasy, and for nonsense. moreover not based on natural laws. Those First, why is it so necessary to send space solar concepts are pure nonsense. power to Earth from space? Do we not Jiri Polivka Santa Barbara, Calif. have enough from fossils or other sources? One reason given is that it is often cloudy, so solar power plants cannot generate Editor’s response: As a science writer, I cover subjects that I enough power. think will be of interest to our readers and If you look at pictures of the globe sent make no claims as to the success of a from a Meteo geostationary satellite, you technology or marketing concept. We do, can easily see that only about one-eighth however, appreciate readers keeping us of the half-globe is covered by clouds. informed of the many issues surrounding This means that the remaining seven- such a controversial topic. eighths has unlimited solar irradiation, and we have terrestrial power networks to transport the generated power around the Thin-film question I read with great interest Caren B. Les’ globe. article in the July issue on p. 28: “Image Next, consider that solar cells are quite sensor market: Looking forward to better inefficient; today’s best are at about 15 times.” I am curious about a statement in percent, and they age in space. Satellite your article: “A third generation of devices designers know better. In my opinion, based on polymeric thin films … also heating water is more efficient, and it is could be developed.” done in California, Arizona, Spain, Japan Are there companies or start-ups in this and elsewhere without rocket technology. space? Then there’s the issue of energy loss as Erik Bodegom power is transmitted to Earth. Anyone Professor of Physics who has heard about electromagnetic Chairman, Department of Physics waves knows that the power decreases due Portland State University Portland, Ore. to propagation in proportion to inverse square. In a power distribution, a “good” efficiency is more than 80 percent. The Response: experts claim that the power will be fo- I’m not sure of any companies that might cused and collected by huge antennas. A be involved, but think PARC [Palo Alto typical good satellite antenna has about 50 Research Center] and the University of percent efficiency. And the free-space California, Santa Barbara, might be working on polymer-based image sensors. power loss at 2.45 GHz over 35,000 km is Charles E. Spear ~190 dB, otherwise 1020. What kind of IntertechPira power efficiency can you expect? Portland, Maine

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maxim izethe pco.dimax digital moment high speed 12 bit CMOS camera system

Features Applications 1279 fps @ 2016 x 2016 short time physics 4502 fps @ 1008 x 1000 plasma imaging 12 bit dynamic range PIV pixel size 11μm x 11μm ballistics imaging memory up to 36GB biomechanics research GigE Vision & USB2.0 automotive crash tests multiple trigger options combustion imaging

www.cookecorp.com In Europe contact: www.pco.de 909Online.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:18 AM Page 18

Online this month at Photonics.com

Visit Photonics.com for reporting on what’s timely and of interest to the photonics community – news, technology, advances, research, company changes and profiles, new products, feature articles and major industry events.

WEB EXCLUSIVES: Recent Developments in Photoconductive IR Arrays Brian Elias, director of engineering at Cal Sensors, takes a closer look at the application of several established technologies that have been applied to make lead sulphide (PbS) and lead selenide (PbSe) arrays compatible with modern infrared Pradeep's Thoughts array applications. In this article, an implementation will be – a regular column by shown that takes advantage of these techniques to produce a blogger Pradeep second-generation array. Chakraborty detailing the photonics industry in Check out a sample of the Asia. Pradeep is a semi- new digital version of Photonics con/telecom consultant Spectra magazine at www. at PC Mediaworks. photonics.com/DigitalSample. It’s a whole new world of information for people in the global photonics industry.

Plus all the latest news, products and industry information you need each day.

In the October issue of Photonics Spectra …

Instant Revenue – Marketing & Mergers Industry expert Milton Chang gives advice on quick revenue generation in the current economy, focusing on the benefits of advertising and pooling resources.

It's the Humidity Who Are You, Really? Whalespotting The humidity surround- Security ID systems use Whales are usually difficult to ing optical components a variety of techniques, find. A EuroPhotonics article can affect performance, many of which make use will introduce a thermal especially in systems of photonic sensors and imaging camera now in exposed to the elements, light sources. In an testing that could support such as cars. Multisorb increasingly cyber- research projects on whale Technologies explains physical world, those population or help ships the benefits of incorpo- systems also are used avoid collisions with the large rating desiccants early to control access to mammals. in the optical design computers, databases process. and cyberspace.

Staring into the sun Stories in GreenLight will focus on high-tech sun catchers, developments in "personalized energy" that involve storing solar energy in hydrogen fuel cells, the global photovoltaics market and the Desertec Industrial Initiative, a huge solar installation that intends to send solar power from the Sahara Desert to Europe.

Plus all the news that affects your industry, from tech trends and market reports to the latest products and media. You can’t afford to miss this issue.

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TECH NEWS

Baking powder or anthrax? Ask the Ceeker CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – These days, anyone who comes across a strange white powder might like to know – as quickly and as accurately as possible – whether it is benign baking powder or deadly anthrax. The Ceeker can help. Pronounced “seeker,” the handheld gadget was created by Veritide Ltd., which develops biological identification and detection devices. It analyzes a suspicious sample and, within minutes, can reveal whether it contains bacterial spores. First responders such as police and firefighters, Drs. Andrew Rudge (left), CEO of Veritide Ltd., and With a push of a button, Veritide Ltd.’s Ceeker can HazMat personnel, airport security, postal Lou Reinisch (right), inventor of the Ceeker’s optical accurately analyze a sample in 10 minutes. Tradi- technology with the device. tional methods involve sending the sample to a lab- workers and military units would benefit oratory, where it takes two to three days before sci- most from the tool because they are more entists can determine whether the substance is likely than the general populace to en- convert into picolinic acid – a more fluo- anthrax or not. Images courtesy of Veritide Ltd. counter hazardous materials on the job. rescing fluorophore. “At the very beginning, when we came Another fluorescence test then is carried Bay, Fla., the detector accurately identified up with the technology … it was very out at 350 nm. This time, the Ceeker’s 100 percent of bacterial spores and 95 per- clear to us … it was something that would software looks at and compares both cent of hoax substances. Veritide said that help a lot of people,” said Lou Reinisch, results to determine whether DPA and pi- a sample size of only 3000 spores is re- professor of physics and head of the phys- colinic acid are present. “This gives the quired for an accurate readout, while other ical and Earth sciences department at absolute certainty that DPA was detected detectors require at least 10,000 to 10 mil- Jacksonville State University in Alabama. and indicates that bacterial spores are lion spores for a valid result. Reinisch is the inventor of the technology present,” Reinisch said. “Our detection level is well below the behind the device. Because there is no wet chemistry in- estimated 10,000 spores (LD50) [lethal volved in the process, and no heat or ultra- dose 50 percent] it takes to infect some- Singling out spores sound testing, the sample avoids damage, one,” Reinisch said. Furthermore, the With just a push of a button, operators and examination can continue. The equip- Ceeker can identify bacterial spores in wet can identify a substance. The equipment ment also can be tested for additional sub- or dry samples, even if the substance is uses fluorescence – ultraviolet light near stances without delay. Each result is stored mixed with contaminants such as dust or 350 nm – to measure instances of dipicol- for future reference, along with the equip- dirt. inic acid (DPA), a chemical compound ment’s operational factors during testing. He noted that anthrax threats or “white that makes up 5 to 15 percent of the dry “All information is archived in the device powder incidents” occur in the US at least weight of bacterial spores. “This particular and can be downloaded at a later date,” he 20,000 times a year – or about 55 per day. compound is unique to all bacterial said. The Ceeker’s reliability and meticulous- spores,” Reinisch said. After a brief 10-minute analysis, a yes ness may help to alleviate the threat in Both DPA and calcium-DPA (CaDPA) or no answer is displayed on an LCD many of these situations by immediately complex, which constitutes about 80 per- screen positioned at the top of the device. informing first responders as to whether a cent of DPA, can be identified with the Current methods involve sending the sam- substance is anthrax or not. UV light. However, both composites are ple to a laboratory, which can take up to a Veritide is working on incorporating the weakly fluorescing, and photochemistry few days for scientists to confirm the pres- same technology to identify both Ricin must be applied to verify the presence of ence of toxins. The delay can negatively toxin, a white powder or liquid protein ex- hazardous matter. Because of this, a affect a business because it must be shut tracted from castor beans, and Botulinum shorter wavelength of light, near 250 nm, down during the investigation. toxin, produced by the bacterium Clostrid- is used to illuminate the sample, prompt- ium botulinum. The two also are fre- ing photodissociation of a slight amount of Nowhere to hide quently used as biological weapons. DPA and CaDPA. The exposure causes the During a two-week independent test run Amanda D. Francoeur DPA to lose a carboxylic group and to at Midwest Research Institute in Palm [email protected]

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CVI MELLES GRIOT. YOUR SINGLE-SOURCE SOLUTION FOR

Precision Coatings for Fluorescence

Glasses provide information in the blink of an eye DRESDEN, Germany – In the James ganic LEDs on top of a 19.3 ϫ 17-mm Bond film Die Another Day, the titular CMOS chip, a lightweight combination. hero trains for his upcoming mission using In the prototype model, the chip is just virtual reality sunglasses. Researchers at behind the hinge on the temple of the the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Mi- glasses, and the bidirectional display proj- crosystems (IPMS) are developing a bona ects onto the retina of the wearer so that it fide interactive display on a pair of glasses appears to be viewed from 1 m away. that they hope will be worthy of the fic- The eyeglasses’ final model may have tional spy. additional optics. According to Michael A user of the Fraunhofer glasses will be Scholles, the business unit manager at able to look at his surround- ings and the display at the New Products same time. Technically, this combination of a virtual reality display and the ability New Xsquared™ fi lters incorporate to see the surrounding envi- dense coating technology using our ronment is referred to as precision coating process. Ideal for augmented reality. fl uorescence based applications where Although virtual and augmented reality head- signal-to-noise is critical to your mounted displays have been overall performance. High contrast, around a long time, histori- peak transmission and deep blocking cally they showed information only passively and combine to create the precision were bulky to wear on the required for fl uorescence microscopy. head. The Fraunhofer glasses are lightweight and Researchers at Fraunhofer IPMS created these interactive glasses. interactive. Courtesy of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Excitation, Emission & Dichroic Filters The researchers are developing an eye-tracking feature that will Fraunhofer IPMS, “The challenge is to EfkZ_Xe[<[^\=`ck\ij enable wearers to influence the content of find an optics design that can be used both for generating the virtual image display the display by scrolling with their eyes or Gifkfkpg\Xe[:ljkfdFgk`fej by fixing their eyes on a point to select a and the eye tracking.” menu option. A separate group of re- Until spring 2011, the product’s devel- searchers, at Fraunhofer Institute for Infor- opment will be funded by the Fraunhofer mation and Data Processing in Karlsruhe, central administration under the iStar proj- How can we help make your Germany, is working on eye-tracking algo- ect. The project has an industry advisory project a success? rithms that can distinguish between in- board that includes companies such as tended eye movements and random ones EADS, Daimler and T-Systems, which are such as blinking. pilot users of the system. This eye-tracking feature will be useful “We think that first applications will be for anyone needing to work with his hands for professional use (assembly, mainte- while using the display, including sur- nance, medical). However, within the geons, civil engineers and technicians. mentioned iStar project, also a touristy This option will allow surgeons to operate prototype application will be developed. while viewing x-ray images, or building So, yes, we believe that the interactive engineers to look at plans while working eyeglasses will be available to the greater on a project. The glasses also connect to a public, but only as a second step,” personal digital assistant that can be used Scholles said. for handheld control. David L. Shenkenberg Filters | Lenses | Mirrors | Lasers The interactive display consists of or- [email protected] Integrated Assemblies | Waveplates | Mounts cvimellesgriot.com | Americas +1 760 438 2131 Europe +31 (0)316 333041 | Asia +81 3 3407 3614

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t TECHNEWS

Multitasking fibers weave a new story for imaging systems The researchers made the fiber using polyethersulfone as the base material and alternating layers of semiconducting

As 40Se60 or As40Se54Te6. Contacts made of tin were attached to the semiconductor rings. After deposition, the layers were rolled together onto a tube. After making a series of these tubes, the engineers stacked them, joined the ends by heating them and drew them out into their final fiber diameter (see figure). The preforms were about 3 cm in diameter, while the processed fibers ranged from 100 μm to 1 mm in diameter. When an external electric field is applied to the contacts, which act as electrodes, the semiconductor layers become responsive to light via the photocurrent effect. A single layer of the material can dis- criminate the incoming light’s angle of in- cidence; a second layer distinguishes wavelength. A third layer, in theory, would add RGB information to the mix. According to Fabien Sorin, a member of Fink’s group representing MIT’s electronics lab, the semiconductor bandgap

A group at MIT has developed a multimaterial can be adjusted so that wavelengths from optical fiber that can detect the components of any the UV to the visible to the IR can be de- light that strikes it. Woven together, the fibers make tected. a flexible, lensless camera. Courtesy of Fabien The investigators tested the fiber’s abil- Sorin, MIT. ity to form an imaging system by arrang- ing them into a 32 ϫ 32 grid, with about CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Imagine walking 1 cm between each pair of strands. Pow- to work one day and, for no obvious rea- ered up, the optical fiber “fabric” patch son, you get a feeling that everyone is could image an object with features as looking at you. You ignore the feeling for small as 100 nm. a while, but it persists, despite the fact that “The size [of the grid] was limited for none of the people bustling around nearby convenience of use in the lab,” Sorin said, are casting a single glance at you and “but could be made much larger, with you’ve gotten used to the growing number smaller spacing between fibers.” That of surveillance cameras filling every city would significantly improve image resolu- block. Now you feel silly, perhaps even a tion. little paranoid. But you might not be Fink’s group sees strong potential for wrong – a new imaging technology has this technology – which its members have begun to weave itself into the fabric of dubbed “multimaterial fibers” – in such everyday life. applications as large-area medical imag- In the lab of professor Yoel Fink of the ing, remote sensing, industrial control and materials science and engineering depart- intelligent fabrics. ment at MIT reside swaths of woven It may even show up as watchful sew- strands of optical fibers. Not off-the-roll on patches on clothes and baseball caps, fibers ordered from a catalog, but custom giving their wearers an extra eye with lines drawn from a preform crafted by which to watch the world and you some- Fink’s group. Interwoven like a patch of thing to be wary of on your walk to work. cloth, the fibers combine to form a lens- Lynn Savage less, flexible camera. [email protected]

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TECHNEWS t

Robo-weasel could sniff out contraband SHEFFIELD, UK – A sophisticated robot magnet for the wheel, proved too expen- with a suite of laser and fiber optic-based sive. With the hope of maximizing the sensors is being developed to detect illicit magnetic force while keeping costs down, substances concealed in cargo containers the researchers plan to redesign the wheels at airports and seaports. using a ring of small magnets. They are The 30-cm-long robot, dubbed the currently seeking an expert to help with “cargo-screening ferret,” would be the the design, which they deem critical to the world’s first to operate inside standard project. freight containers and the first designed to A key benefit to the cargo-screening fer- detect illegal immigrants and all kinds of ret is that it will reduce the need for cus- illicit substances, including drugs, toms and security officials to enter or un- weapons and explosives. pack freight containers, a Dr. Tony J. Dodd, who is leading the time-consuming job project at the University of Sheffield, said that exposes of- the robot’s name has more to do with ficers to po- what it does than with how it tential dan- looks. Long and thin like a fer- ger or to ret, or its cousin, the contamina- weasel, it can nav- tion from igate through harmful sub- small spaces, stances, Dodd said. emulating the “It’s essential we develop animal’s slinky something that is simple to oper- movements. ate and that border agents This is a prototype of the “We are very cargo-screening ferret. can have total confidence excited about the possi- Courtesy of EPSRC. in,” he said. “The ferret bilities for the cargo- will be able to drop small screening ferret. We believe the robot will probes down through the cargo and, so, enhance the ability of border agents to de- pinpoint exactly where contraband is tect contraband in cargo and will act as a concealed.” deterrent to smugglers,” Dodd said. “We Because the current design is based on hope the ferret robot will form part of a the robot clinging magnetically to the team of robotic detection systems for the sides or ceiling of the container, the pos- UK Border Agency.” sibility that newly manufactured contain- Current methods for screening cargo ers could be constructed of nonferrous rely largely on sniffer dogs and external materials could prove challenging. Al- scanners that provide information only though Dodd admits that this could be about the shape and density of objects or troublesome, he emphasizes that the substances within the containers. The fer- many millions of steel containers in the ret, on the other hand, will house sensors world will continue to be used for many that will be able to detect not only the tini- years. est traces of illicit substances found in The three-year project, which began in drugs and explosives but also the smallest October 2008, is being funded by the En- amounts of carbon dioxide, indicating gineering and Physical Sciences Research human presence. Council (EPSRC) and also involves the When placed inside a steel freight con- University of Glasgow, Loughborough tainer, the ferret will attach itself to the University, City University (London) and top. Magnetic wheels will allow it to defense and security specialist QinetiQ move about in search of contraband, all Inc. the while sending a steady stream of infor- Working prototypes of the cargo-screen- mation back to the controller. ing ferret could be ready for testing within Dodd said that the design of the mag- two years and for deployment within five netic wheels has proved more challenging years. than anticipated. The original design, Krista D. Zanolli which consisted of a solid cylindrical [email protected]

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FAST TRACK

Brighter days ahead for LEDs in signage

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Valued at $1.17 aged LED chips and high-brightness sin- in 2008. The global consumption value of billion in 2008, the global consumption of gle- and multiple-chip packaged (single- standard or conventional LEDs used in packaged LED chips (component-level bulb and multiple-chip/bulb single-chip/ commercial/professional digital LED LED bulbs) used in commercial/profes- bulb or device package) LEDs, which are display panels is forecasted to decrease in sional signage applications is projected to used in digital LED display panels/sig- value from $515.46 million (45 percent rise to $1.49 billion in 2013, according to nage, channel letter signage and retail dis- of the market share) in 2008 to $511.12 studies conducted by ElectroniCast Con- play light boxes. million (40 percent of the market share) sultants, a market analysis company based In 2008, the Americas region, consisting in 2013, he said. in Upper Lake, Calif. of North, Central and South America, LED-based electronic billboards enable The studies encompass the current represented a 43 percent share of the multiple advertising messages to share the worldwide consumption of standard pack- worldwide consumption of LEDS used in same sign space, and they allow the deliv- signage and professional displays. The ery of messages in real time, which is company projects that, in 2013, the Ameri- important for public emergency announce- cas’ share will have increased to 46 per- ments and other information. cent, with a value of $686.85 million. In The company says that, based on its 2008, Europe, consisting of Western and observations at technical conferences over Eastern Europe, and the Middle Eastern the years, much basic research is still countries, represented a 24 percent share being pursued in this industry, mainly of the market. The company projects that in university, government and other non- the Asia-Pacific region share will increase commercial laboratories. This is viewed in value from $384.27 million in 2008 to as an indicator that there are many more $487.91 million in 2013. years of vigorous growth ahead for LED The company recently published two advancement. reports: LEDS Used in Signage & Profes- The company focuses on the consump- sional Displays Global Market Forecast tion of signage and professional LED dis- (2008-2013) and LEDS Used in Solid- play panels, such as surface-mount device State Lighting/Illumination Global Mar- types, and conventional types, which use ket Forecast – the latter of which in- discrete LEDs. Most outdoor screens, as cludes data on LEDs used in channel well as some indoor ones, are built around lettering signs and in retail display light discrete LEDs, also known as individually boxes. mounted LEDs. As a result of the economic downturn, High-brightness visible LED lamps are slower sales in consumer and commercial typically used in outdoor applications such markets across multiple industries world- as traffic signals, changeable message wide are expected, including some seg- signs, large-area visible displays and auto- ments of the LED industry, through most motive exterior lighting, while conven- of 2009, according to Stephen Mont- tional low-power visible LEDs are com- gomery, president of the Asia-Pacific monly used as solid-state indicator lights region at ElectroniCast Consultants. in cameras, appliances, dashboards, instrument panels, telephone dials and computer Display panels: standard vs. terminals, and as light sources for numeric high-brightness LEDs and alphanumeric displays. The global consumption value of LEDs used in commercial/professional digital Display cases and channel letters LED display panels in 2008 was $1.141 The global value of LEDs used in chan- billion and is forecast to rise to $1.278 bil- nel letter signage and retail light box lion in 2013, Montgomery said. In 2008, applications is expected to rise from high-brightness LEDs represented a 55 $30.43 million in 2008 to $208.92 million percent share of this global consumption in 2013, according to the company. value. By 2013, this share is expected to “The standard light box technology The Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas uses LED displays for the Viva Vision “A Tribute to rise to 60 percent and to increase in value used to display merchandise in the retail Queen. to $767.11 million versus $625.15 million industry soon could become yesterday’s

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news,” Montgomery said. New develop- tion and maintenance costs, thinner light ments in the technology and the demand boxes that save space, brighter and more for more sophisticated and energy-effi- even illumination, and greater compli- cient display box lighting are bringing ance with consumer and regulatory about change in this market, he said. demands for environmentally friendly For the retail industry, LED/solid-state retailing. lighting has the potential to bring about Caren B. Les significant reductions in energy consump- [email protected]

Changing of the guard

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Michael manager and senior optical T. Houk, co-founder and vice engineer for Exfo Burleigh president of technology at Bris- Products Group Inc., also in tol Instruments Inc. in Victor, Victor. There, he participated N.Y., has joined the Editorial in the development of more Advisory Board of Photonics than 20 interferometer-based Spectra. He replaces longtime products. member William Gornall, a re- Houk earned a doctorate spected industry consultant, in optical engineering from who has retired. the Institute of Optics at the Houk’s current research in- University of Rochester in terests focus on novel wave- New York, where he studied length measurement methods, the design, fabrication and laser frequency stabilization and Fourier- testing of index gradients in fluoride mate- based spectral analysis. rials. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Before helping to found Bristol Instru- physics from Kalamazoo College in ments, a developer of optical interferome- Michigan. ter-based laser wavelength meters and Rebecca C. Jernigan laser spectrum analyzers, he was a project [email protected]

The Prism Awards Call for Entries PITTSFIELD, Mass., and BELLING- change, and se- HAM, Wash. – Laurin Publishing, pro- curity, to men- ducer of Photonics Spectra, and SPIE, the tion a few,” international society for optics and pho- said Eugene tonics, are accepting entries for the 2009 Arthurs, CEO Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation of SPIE. “The until Sept. 22, 2009. Prism Awards The Prism Awards, introduced for the program is one first time in 2008, recognize the best inno- way we are vative technology in the photonics indus- helping to ac- try. A panel of 26 independent judges, all celerate inno- considered industry experts, will select fi- vation and nalists in nine product categories as fol- move technol- lows: optics; lasers; other light sources; ogy to market. detectors, sensing and imaging systems; We are pleased analytical, test and measurement; photon- to honor and ics systems; photonics processes; sustain- promote the technological creativity and able/green technology; and life sciences. vision represented by these entries.” “Photonics technologies affect nearly Last year 130 entries were submitted, of every aspect of life – energy production which 67 were tapped as finalists for the and distribution, communications, con- global competition. Ultimately, 10 winners sumer electronics, medicine, biotechnol- representing three nations were chosen, ogy, manufacturing, analysis of climate and the awards were presented at Photon-

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f FASTTRACK

ics West 2009, North America’s premier leaders and experts.” Dome Award Optimax Systems Inc., head- event for the photonics and optics industry. The winners of this year’s Prism quartered in Ontario, N.Y., a manufacturing “The overwhelming global response to Awards for Photonics Innovation will be company that provides prototyping of precision the Prism Awards demonstrates that even announced at Photonics West 2010 in San optical components, has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research grant. The during this grim economic downturn, the Francisco. award will enable the company to create a pol- industry is very much alive and increas- Entries can be submitted at www.pho- ished transparent aerodynamic infrared tangent ingly relevant,” said Thomas F. Laurin, tonicsprismaward.com; contact innova- ogive dome out of polycrystalline alumina. president of Laurin Publishing. “We look [email protected] with questions. forward to seeing this year’s exciting Krista D. Zanolli Certification Received In Pavilion, N.Y., Syn- tec Optics has received ISO 9001:2000 certifi- world-class innovations from our industry [email protected] cation. The custom polymer optics manufacturer plans to leverage the qualification to reach global markets where strict process control is required to meet cost and schedule re- strictions.

Funding Optics The Optical Society of America (OSA) Foundation has announced the programs it will be funding next year. It will offer grants for optics education, for OSA student member activities and for student travel to OSA-sponsored events. The foundation’s goals are to improve science education, provide optics instruc- tion and resources to underserved populations, and offer career and professional development support to the optics community.

Semiconductor Collaboration An agreement to expand access to the 3M Wafer Sup- port System equipment has been signed by 3M of St. Paul, Minn., and Suss MicroTec of Garching, Germany. The German company will become an authorized equipment supplier for the 3M system, which temporarily bonds the ultrathin wafers required for 3-D packaging. Suss MicroTec also will manufacture and sell wafer bonders designed to use 3M’s materials.

New View In Ulm, Germany, WiTec GmbH has moved to its new headquarters. The facility provides about 1900 sq m of space and contains customized production facilities, seminar rooms and office space. The company believes that the building will enable it to meet the demand for its high-resolution nanoanalytical microscopy solutions.

SSL Opportunities The US Department of Energy (DoE) is seeking applications for three solid-state lighting (SSL) funding opportunities. Under funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the DoE will provide support for projects focusing on core technology research, product development and manufacturing.

Million-Dollar Order Ceramics and metals manufacturer SCI Engineered Materials Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, has received an order for thin-film solar products worth $1 million. The products are expected to be manufactured and shipped during the latter half of this year.

Chapter 11 Citing the recession and a 2007 federal raid on the business, Rocky Mountain Instrument (RMI) Co. of Lafayette, Colo., a manufacturer of full spectrum optical components, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company owes between $1 million and $10 million to as many as 49 creditors. RMI has

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asked the court for permission to use $1 mil- York. The program is run by Sematech, a pand the company’s energy-harvesting lion of its lines of credit to support the business global consortium of chipmakers. The company presence and products as well as its thermal and fulfill orders while it reorganizes, as well will collaborate with metrology experts to cre- management products. as for permission to use cash to retain its ate tools for high-resolution imaging and com- workforce. positional data at the nanometer scale for use Applications Laboratory BaySpec Inc. of Fre- in defect analysis. mont, Calif., has established a Systems & Field Expanded Distribution AMS Technologies AG Sales Div. to promote its optical spectral engine of Munich, Germany, and Laser Operations LLC Energy-Harvesting Expansion Nextreme systems. The new applications laboratory will of Sylmar, Calif., have agreed to expand their Thermal Solutions of Durham, N.C., has raised provide customers with demonstrations of the distribution agreement. The German company another $8 million in Series B financing from company’s full range of products, including op- will sell and support its partner’s products, in- undisclosed investors, increasing its total to $21 tical spectrum analyzers, microscopes and fiber cluding the QPC Lasers line – which it has been million. The latest funding will be used to ex- accessories. distributing for several years – in the UK, Ire- land, France and Spain.

Large Hadron Collider Restart According to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, repairs and upgrades to the Large Hadron Collider are on schedule for a restart this fall, although two to three weeks later than originally planned. A new quench protection system, designed to prevent failures such as the one that occurred last year, should be fully tested by late summer.

More IR ULIS of Veurey-Voroize, France, a manufacturer of infrared detectors for low-cost IR cameras, has quadrupled the production capacity of its microbolometers to 200,000 units per year. The company expects to see large- scale orders resulting from three market drivers: the trend of adding IR to visible surveillance cameras, government mandates for improved safety, and new regulations in energy conservation and building compliance.

Shifting Subsidiaries Coastal Optical Systems Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Liebmann Optical Co. of Easthampton, Mass., have merged. Both subsidiaries of Jenoptik AG of Jena, Germany, they will be known as Jenoptik Optical Systems Inc. and will be based in Jupiter, Fla. The new company will offer design and manufacturing capabilities for prototype optical assemblies as well as high-volume component manufacturing.

Investment Funding Pyreos Ltd. of Edin- burgh, UK, a supplier of infrared components, has secured another round of funding, £750,000, from Noble Venture Finance of London. The funds will be used to expand the company’s global sales and commercial operations.

Investing in Telecommunications In France, 3S Photonics of Nozay has raised funds totaling nearly €13 million from three investment groups. The company, which manufactures optical and optoelectronic components for telecommunications networks, received €450,000 from Midi Capital of Toulouse, €2.5 million from Alto Invest of Le Chesnay and a promise of €10 million from France’s Strategic Investment Fund, €5 million of which has been provided so far.

Metrology Research FEI Co. of Hillsboro, Ore., a provider of atomic-scale imaging and analysis systems, has joined the Advanced Metrology Development Program at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany-State University of New

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SPIE AND LAURIN PUBLISHING PRESENT THE 2009

Call for Entries

The second Annual Prism Please join us in participating in the Awards are presented in 2009 Prism Awards competition honoring the recognition of the Best in best in innovative photonics technology for 2009. Innovative Products and This global competition will be judged by a Processes for the Photonics distinguished panel of acknowledged Industry Worldwide. technology experts in their respective fields.

Competition Categories: Awards Presentation: Optics January 2010 Lasers SPIE’s Photonics West, Other Light Sources North America’s largest commercial exhibition on Detectors, Sensing & Imaging Systems optics, lasers, biomedical Analytical, Test & Measurement optics, optoelectronic Photonics Systems components and imaging technologies. Photonics Processes Sustainable/Green Technology Life Sciences

Call for Entries Deadline: September 22, 2009 Please visit www.PhotonicsPrismAwards.com for Award regulations and entry forms. Educational Wavefront.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:04 AM Page 45

EDUCATION WAVEFRONT e Understanding the “sex gap” in science and math Study focuses on relationship between implicit stereotypes and academic achievement

BY GARY BOAS CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

he assumption that boys are naturally drawn to – and inherently T skilled at – math and science while girls are predisposed to the more liberal arts is deeply embedded in our culture. And it is continually reinforced and per- petuated by observations that boys do in fact do better in these areas. There is evidence, however, that this so- called “sex gap” is shaped by sociocultural factors. A recent report found, for exam- ence, liberal arts). Those who participated they have convinced themselves that they ple, that differences in math performance in the gender-science component com- believe otherwise. The PNAS study shows have been declining over time. Another re- pleted the test, a short questionnaire that that more than 70 percent of the 500,000+ vealed correlations between the size of the measured beliefs and attitudes, and math IAT respondents were more apt to associ- gap and national indicators of gender egal- and science and demographics question- ate males with science and females with itarianism. If aptitude for math and sci- naires. liberal arts than the reverse. That said, the ence were somehow intrinsic to boys and For a study published in the June 30 extent to which people make such assump- not to girls, we probably would not see issue of PNAS, Nosek and a number of tions varies considerably, both across indi- such variability across time and place. colleagues from across the globe looked at viduals and across cultures. Brian A. Nosek, an associate professor IAT data collected between May 2000 and Which brings us to the second take- of psychology at the University of Virginia July 2008. More than half a million IATs home lesson: There is a strong correlation in Charlottesville, and colleagues decided were completed during this time. The re- between how well people think males and to explore the influence of sociocultural searchers focused specifically on the females will do in math and science and factors, looking specifically at the role of nearly 300,000 tests completed by citizens how well they actually do, as recorded by implicit, or unconscious, stereotypes about of the 34 countries covered by the 2003 the TIMSS. Nosek and colleagues avoid gender and science. “Stereotypes have Trends in International Mathematics and the obvious and unanswerable chicken- often been implicated in contributing to Science Study (TIMSS). This facilitated and-egg question here, but they note that the sex gap, but the evidence for self-re- comparison with the results of that study, implicit gender stereotypes and sex gaps ported stereotypes predicting such out- in which standardized exams of math and are mutually reinforcing. Because they are comes is mixed. We thought that implicit science achievement were administered to exposed to the stereotypes pretty much stereotype measures might be more effec- samples of eighth-graders. from birth, girls often show less interest tive predictors because they do not require They reported three main findings: (1) than boys in science and math, and as a re- self-awareness of possessing them, and The implicit association tests confirmed sult they may not perform as well in these they can exist in people’s minds even if the existence of implicit stereotypes asso- areas. This serves to reinforce the belief they are consciously rejected,” he ex- ciating males with science much more so that boys are more inherently skilled in plained. than females. (2) The investigators found math and science. And so on. Nosek serves as director of Project Im- that nation-level implicit stereotypes pre- While governments around the world plicit, which seeks to uncover the differ- dict nation-level sex differences in are working to close the sex gap in science ences between conscious and unconscious achievement in eighth-grade science and and math, it is not yet clear which inter- attitudes through administration of Im- math. And finally, (3) they noted that self- ventions have been the most or the least plicit Association Tests (IATs). Visitors to reported (that is, conscious) stereotypes do effective. Researchers and policy makers the Project Implicit Web site (http://im- not predict differences in achievement. will want to know, however. “Those ques- plicit.harvard.edu/) can complete tests So what does this tell us? First, on some tions are highly important and surely covering a range of topics: measuring as- unconscious level, many people still as- among the next issues to investigate in this sociation strengths, for example, between sume that males have greater aptitude for research,” Nosek said. gender (male, female) and academics (sci- math and science than females – even if [email protected]

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GreenLight Back to green school

BY ANNE L. FISCHER SENIOR EDITOR enewable energy technologies are have signed on to the program. at Butte College in Oroville, Calif., and at everywhere, but nowhere are they In this issue’s GreenLight section, we McMaster University in Hamilton, On- R more prevalent than on college look at green endeavors at the college tario, Canada, both of which are leading and university campuses around the globe. level across the globe. Perhaps the greatest by example. Sustainability is the name of the game display of photonics-related green activity In other cases, cutting-edge research on when it comes to curriculum development, is the Solar Decathlon, which pits 20 materials and production techniques is research funding, student initiatives and colleges and universities in a competition rapidly advancing solar technology and much more, including even the overall de- to build a home that is powered fully by manufacturing, as is the case with a new sign of the campuses themselves. solar energy. approach to copper indium gallium The Association of University Leaders Sustainable initiatives take other ap- selenide production at the University of for a Sustainable Future supports sustain- proaches on campuses as well. Industry/ California, Los Angeles. ability in all of these areas and maintains a university partnerships are working to ad- This section just skims the surface of list of those who have signed the Talloires vance solar technology, examples of which sustainability on campuses around the Declaration, a 10-point action plan for in- are the Arizona State/Advent Solar part- world. We look forward to bringing you corporating sustainability and environmen- nership and a unique project in the Nether- more examples, and we welcome your tal literacy into teaching, research, opera- lands. examples of cases where the sciences offer tions and outreach at colleges and As campuses worldwide commit not real solutions to today’s environmental universities. More than 350 university only to teaching green but to being green, issues. presidents and chancellors in 40 countries solar is springing up all over, with projects [email protected]

Zero-net energy on the Washington Mall he 2009 Solar Decathlon will take place Oct. 9-18 on the National TMall in Washington, where 20 university teams from the US, Canada, Spain and Germany each will build a self-sufficient 800-sq-ft solar home. They compete in 10 contests proving that the solar design is producing enough electricity and hot water to perform the normal functions of a home. Added to this year’s competition is a net-metering contest, which will test each home’s ability to produce its own energy. Twenty 800-sq-ft solar-powered homes will be transported to the Washington Mall in October, where they’ll be Each team is made up of students and competing in 10 contests. Some entries, such as the one pictured here from the University of Puerto Rico, come advisers from multiple disciplines, with from overseas. Photo courtesy of the University of Puerto Rico. the majority focusing on architecture and engineering. Team Boston is mostly archi- landscape architects, engineers; they have afforded to students of high school age, tecture students from Boston Architectural brought consultants into their classrooms – yet Stein is certain of their capabilities. College (BAC) and Tufts University. like folks from the Biomimicry Institute, One of the many tasks that may be Regardless of their fields of study, all modular builders, HVAC [heating, ventila- unrelated to what the students are studying teams divvy up the responsibilities of tion and air conditioning] consultants, in school is transportation logistics. fundraising, marketing, lighting design, fundraisers, Web designers, Autodesk Mostly, the students are concerned with construction and more. To achieve this computer programmers … . In addition, designing the most energy-efficient off- end, according to Jeff Stein, dean of BAC, they are working with high school the-grid home, but they have to get it to the students have created “collaborative students on the issues of design that they Washington – undamaged. Logistics is, design studios with interior designers, confront. This is an experience rarely therefore, supremely important, especially

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for those not on the continental US. Two years ago, the University of Darmstadt in Germany traveled across the ocean to take first place. Joining the Darmstadt team from abroad this year will be contenders from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain and the University of Puerto Rico.

The role of the sun Each team takes its own unique approach to solar design. Virginia Tech, for example, uses bifacial building-integrated photovoltaic panels on its house (dubbed “Lumenhaus”), meaning that a tilting mechanism that adjusts the arrays allows both sides of the panels to produce elec- Members of Team Boston, which includes students from Boston Architectural College and Tufts University, are tricity. The house also has photovoltaic shown tacking insulation onto their solar home. Photo by Erin Baldassari. wafers within the skylight in the bath- room. hot or cold water, an air conditioner and a bility, energy efficiency and building inte- The University of Puerto Rico’s home is dehumidifier. gration. At Iowa State, a class called “File called “CASH,” for Caribbean Affordable to Fabrication,” which merges lighting and Solar House, and its solar and structural Competing with light computer design, was altered somewhat to design takes the hot and humid climate Lighting design is one of the 10 con- better prepare students to participate in the into consideration. The roof has 34 crys- tests, and it is judged by a jury of lighting Decathlon, according to associate profes- talline-silicon solar panels for electricity, designers and industry experts who look sor Mikesch Muecke, who teaches the evacuated-tube solar collectors for hot for things like quality of electric lighting course. Jennie Retke is one student who water, a radiant ceiling system of piped and daylighting, ease of operation, flexi- took the course and also participated in the

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strategy greatly affected energy performance. “If our daylighting approach didn’t work as planned, we would have to turn more lights on, thus changing our projected energy consumption.” Lighting analysis is required in the rules of the Solar Decathlon, so John created an independent study course to look at the quantitative analysis of both the daylighting electric lighting design and the strategies. Using software from AGi32 of Littleton, Colo., he modeled the sun- light for different times of day and sky conditions, which provided information on how much artificial lighting would be Refract House, the entry for Team California (Santa Clara University and California College of the Arts), is needed, and when. shown at night illuminated by LEDs. When asked what he had gained from the project that could be used in a future solar decathlon workshop. According to the eye. For example, John George, a career, George was quick to point out that Muecke, “From participating in the work- third-year master of architecture student his role was “minimal compared to many shop, she knew the specs we needed to at Iowa State, took a summer course others who have worked longer and more work with, the size and type of lights.” designed to study energy consumption intensely.” He added that his role as He added that, as a result, “She took a of the Decathlon project. The course “checker” is one that’s rarely addressed in lead role in the lighting design.” included overall energy performance, academic settings, but it’s important in The amount of background work thermal loads, diurnal shifts and mechan- any project, and he hopes it will translate that goes into lighting design for any ical system responses. During the course, to applicable experience in the working Decathlon entry is far more than meets participants realized that their lighting world.

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Competing for market Stein, than an understanding of the Lighting, solar energy and self-suffi- consequences of our own actions. He ciency are important aspects of the compe- points to the Nike slogan, “Just Do It,” tition, but also critical is how the design which he said students have come to will fare on the market, and the houses are oppose. Instead they’ve learned that what judged on that as well. In addition to works in terms of designing places for trying to win in marketability, some teams people to live is to “just think about it, already have plans for the homes after just consider its consequences, just work they are hauled back to campus. The Rice out its funding, just understand how to University team’s home, called the construct it, just imagine how people “Ze-Row House,” was designed to be will feel around it for the next few gener- replicable and to fit into a neighborhood ations, [and] just imagine how to solve of row houses in Houston. Knowing that for the future.” the home would have to be comfortable The competition takes place every two for a family in Houston’s high-heat, high- years and is sponsored by the US Depart- humidity climate added challenge to the ment of Energy, which awards $100,000 team’s engineering efforts. to each team for design and construction The students gain much from partici- costs. A European Solar Decathlon will pating in the Solar Decathlon, but noth- take place in Madrid, Spain, in 2010. ing more significant, according to BAC’s [email protected]

PV partnership in Arizona

As part of a business- university partnership, a solar technology engineer performs a quality control check on silicon designed for Advent Solar Inc.’s Ventura technology, which is being developed at Arizona State University’s SkySong business incubator.

partnership between graduate- try, noted Peter Green, president and CEO level engineering students and a of Advent Solar. The cell-to-module Asolar energy business is working architecture means that the function of a on advancing the efficiency of photo- single cell now can be addressed. Green voltaics. explained, “If one cell is shaded or In New Mexico, Advent Solar Inc. of impacted, we can address it at the individ- Albuquerque has found a home within ual cell level.” SkySong, Arizona State University’s busi- The team is developing the module and ness incubator in Scottsdale. At SkySong, the software control, which will monitor alongside ASU engineering students, the its function without human interface. company’s own engineers are working on Green is confident in his partnership Advent Solar’s Ventura technology, which with ASU. “They’re quite a sustainability puts an emitter wrap-through back-contact engine,” he said, noting that the university cell into a monolithic module assembly. offers what was the nation’s first degree The module uses low-cost manufacturing program in sustainability. techniques from the semiconductor indus- [email protected]

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California community college commitment

utte College of Oroville, Calif., is Teaching the talk on a sustainability mission. One At Butte, it’s not just about practicing Bgoal is to be grid-positive by 2012, sustainability; it’s about teaching it. The and another is to be carbon-neutral by school offers a green building construction 2015. Well on its way toward achieving program and various sustainability those goals, the college recently installed degrees, and it is involved with a program on a campus parking garage more than that retrains construction workers in solar 2000 solar modules that will produce installation. Miller said that the facilities 545,400 kWh each year. department, although it is not integrated Mike Miller, director of facilities, into the official curriculum, is involved predicts that the campus will produce with student orientation, showing students nearly all of the electricity it needs by the solar photovoltaics and other sustain- 2012. In fact, it’s already producing able initiatives on campus right from day nearly 50 percent of its electricity from one. Four kiosks demonstrate energy solar. production on a screen. Miller said these Besides generating energy, the campus work really well, “and are so sensitive that has been saving energy by installing LED if a cloud goes over, you see a drop in lighting and occupancy sensors, and it production.” In August, the school hosted has taken steps toward water conservation. its third annual conference focusing on According to Miller, “The metrics are institutional sustainability and energy interesting” because even though recent projects for colleges, and it offered group building construction has added about tours of its solar setup. So at Butte, 50 percent more square footage, the sustainability teaching extends far beyond college has managed to decrease energy the campus community. use and cost by 30 percent. [email protected]

In California, Butte College of Oroville has taken giant steps toward grid independence while also teaching solar installation and other green skills.

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Dissolving CIGS for flexible application

olar cell designs traditionally are based on crystalline silicon, but not Sonly has that material been in short supply, the silicon-solar process is relatively expensive. And as the solar industry strives to decrease the cost to make it a viable alternative to fossil fuels, many are turning an eye toward panels with copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) as an alternative. Although CIGS cells have proved effi-

cient and have the potential to cost less, a Doctoral candidate William Hou works with the low-cost production method has eluded the UCLA team that is developing a low-cost production industry. Researchers at Henry Samueli method for CIGS solar cells. School of Engineering and Applied Sci- ence at the University of California, Los liquefying the materials cheaper and easier Angeles (UCLA), are aiming to change than the vacuum method, but the materials that by developing a low-cost production can be applied to various surfaces, includ- method for solar cells based on CIGS. ing film that can be manufactured in a The group, led by Yang Yang, a profes- roll-to-roll process. sor in the department of materials science Yang said that, even though the material and engineering, recently published a study system is unchanged, “the quality of the in the journal Thin Solid Films that de- material is very different between the con- scribes a low-cost method for manufactur- ventional methods and our process.” The ing on a large scale. The study reports the challenges have been in understanding the efficiency at 7.5 percent, but the team has type of defects that result from the solu- surpassed that, improving to 9.3 percent. tion-processing method “and to either eliminate or passivate the defects.” The dissolution method As far as efficiency goes, he said they Key to the method is the fact that it does are seeing an increase of about 1 percent not use a vacuum evaporation process. every two months and expect to reach Most CIGS solar cells are produced by 15 to 20 percent within a few years. heating each of the active elements and Currently, the best CIGS method achieves depositing them onto a surface in a vac- about 20 percent but is more costly and uum. This “co-evaporation” method can be challenging to produce and cannot be costly and time-consuming, Yang said. applied to the range of surfaces that the Instead, the investigators dissolved the new UCLA method can. materials into a liquid, applied it onto a substrate and baked it. They had been A flexible future dissolving organic materials for both LED The significance of this work is the and solar cell applications, and it was only potential of using a flexible insulating recently that they applied this concept to material such as polyimide, which cannot inorganic materials such as CIGS. tolerate the traditional method of process- They used hydrazine to dissolve the ing CIGS. “Most demonstrations of flexi- copper sulfide and indium selenide to ble CIGS solar cells are done on metal form the constituents for the copper foils,” Yang explained, adding that “this indium sulfur selenide. According to Yang, creates various problems.” The low- they also can dissolve gallium, but they temperature process offers a way to fabri- left if out to simplify the material system cate CIGS on polyimide without serious for research purposes. He also said degradation, he said. gallium may be replaced by sulfur because Yang expects to see commercial prod- of cost, adding that gallium costs 500 ucts based on this method in three or times more than sulfur. four years. Not only did they find their method of [email protected]

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Flexible solar from Canada mall buildings with few electrical demands are prime targets for stand- Salone solar power units. That’s the thought behind new solar technology applied to a bus shelter on the campus of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The flexible solar design was developed by a group of researchers at the school. Silicon solar cells were custom-fabricated Researchers at McMaster for this purpose and mounted on a sheet of University in Ontario developed flexible material. Much of the development flexible strips of silicon solar cells work went into the method of connecting that have been used to power the cells “reliably and effectively,” accord- LED fixtures in a bus shelter. ing to Adrian Kitai, a professor on the faculty of engineering. The result is two produces about the same light output as a of snow on the roof, so they are not sure flexible strips, each measuring 90 ϫ 12 cm 3-W regular tungsten bulb – equivalent to what the results of such long-term shading and comprising 720 solar cells measuring a small night-light. The solar power in would be. 1 ϫ 1 cm each. Each strip can generate up storage is more than enough to run the two Building on their experience with to 4.5 W of power. The energy generated lights throughout the night, so even if it’s flexible solar design, the McMaster team during the day is stored in batteries to a cloudy day or there’s snow on the roof, members are building integrated projects, light the shelter for eight hours at night. backup power is there, Kitai explained. anticipating commercial success in the Each of the two LED fixtures that light He added, though, that the researchers not-too-distant future. the shelter uses 600 mW of power and have not yet made observations with 2 ft [email protected]

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Solar infusion in the Netherlands everal solar projects have received test factory in Arnhem to produce a hefty subsidies as part of the Joint thin, flexible foil material for solar cells. SSolar Programme (JSP), which Development of the technology began in aims to promote research into photo- 1996 with an invention made by industrial voltaic solar energy in the Netherlands. researchers at Utrecht University. Three JSP is funded by the Netherlands Organi- years ago, Nuon acquired the solar cell zation for Scientific Research and by the foil producer Helianthos and, since that Amsterdam-based company NV Nuon time, has been active in developing the Energy. technology. Several universities also are participating in the program. Utrecht University Production facility planned received funding for projects involving Once the tests are successfully com- solar concentrators based on luminescent- pleted, a production facility is planned in doped nanocrystals, on quantum-dot- Arnhem that will manufacture 1 million based thin-film silicon cells and on square meters of solar laminate a year. low-cost luminescent concentrators, and One advance demonstrated at the test fac- for another project done in conjunction tory is the ability to produce a 120-cm- with Delft University of Technology that wide laminate, four times the width of focuses on quantum-dot superlattice solar previous production. cells. [email protected] Also, Nuon Helianthos, a subsidiary of NV Nuon Energy, which recently merged A researcher working with Nuon Helianthos in the Netherlands is overseeing the sputtering process, with Vattenfall AB, a Swedish govern- which is applying the reflective back contact of the ment-owned energy group, has opened a solar cells.

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Flat Screens Go Deep – and More

BY HANK HOGAN those in display research, design, manu- That is about to change. Advances in CONTRIBUTING EDITOR facturing, applications and marketing. technology have made viewing and gener- But some of the new uses enabled by ation of 3-D content easier and less expen- he Duchess of Windsor was half the novel display technologies are any- sive than ever. That, in turn, is expected to right, at least as far as displays thing but the norm, Drzaic said. “There drive the deployment of 3-D movies, are concerned: They really never are new application areas, brand-new games, photos and television. The arrival can be too thin, as evidenced by things people haven’t seen before. 3-D sequence is expected to be in roughly that T the rise of flat screens of all va- displays would fall into that category.” order because of two intertwined require- rieties and of displays that can be virtually A look reveals recent advances in dis- ments, according to Jennifer Colegrove, anywhere. But as for being too rich, she play technology, as well as ongoing director of display technologies at Dis- was partially wrong. On the one hand, trends. Together they show what may be playSearch. The Austin, Texas-based firm displays can definitely be too expensive, in coming soon to a screen near you. tracks flat panel display markets and tech- either initial cost or ongoing energy con- nologies. sumption. However, they can never do too Soon in three dimensions As she explained when talking about much, as shown by screens that accept One of the biggest emerging trends in- the last category, “3-D TV relies on sev- input via multifinger touch. volves something that promises to bring eral factors. One, is the display technology Recent advances promise to help dis- displays into the real world. Despite what available? Another, is there 3-D content on plays on all of these fronts. Some of the can be seen on screens, the world isn’t the TV or DVD?” applications that will result from these flat. Although attempts that date back On the content side, she noted that 3-D technological innovations will be fairly decades have been made to correct this, movies already exist, with perhaps a standard, noted Paul Drzaic. He’s presi- the third dimension has been missing. Dis- dozen in the pipeline and expected to pre- dent of the Society for Information Dis- plays today present videos, still pictures miere over the next 12 to 18 months. Tele- play, the professional organization for and everything else in 2-D. vision broadcasts in 3-D, however, are so

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Polarizing glasses and liquid crystal are pushing 3-D technologies. Dynamic polarization management presents different images to the right and left eyes, producing one with depth [top right image]. This is done using a modified flat panel [below right] display and could soon be the norm for gaming systems and eventually for TV. Courtesy of iZ3D.

rare as to be almost nonexistent in the US, although there was a 3-D movie trailer shown during this year’s Super Bowl. On the technology side, 3-D displays have to present two slightly different 2-D images, one for the right eye and another for the left. The two are then interpreted by the brain as a single 3-D image. These distinct and separate images can quickly between images. The active be displayed in a number of ways, but the glasses, however, are more complex and most common for larger, shared screens is tend to be heavier and more expensive through the use of glasses. In one imple- than passive ones. mentation, the display polarizes the im- The 3-D market is at present very small, ages, and polarized material in the glasses but Colegrove thinks the technology is ensures that the proper image gets to the ready. correct eye. In another, the glasses are used as shutters, synchronized with the Fun and games changing images on the display so that Games are expected to go 3-D before each eye sees only the appropriate image. television does for a number of reasons. The first approach is more demanding One is that hard-core gamers are willing to of the display but easier on the glasses, spend money, and they tend to be early which are passive devices and can there- adopters of technology, characteristics that fore be light and inexpensive. The second make them a potential market. Another is is easier on the display, although it does the result of a decision made years ago by require that it be fast enough to switch game developers in response to another

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attempt to deliver 3-D game content. that controls the polarization and thereby will be for high-definition home entertain- “Most of the games have 3-D informa- produces images with depth. The 3-D ment, either broadcast or recorded. The tion embedded in their 2-D versions,” said monitor also has to have a brighter back- smaller ones will show up in phones and Thomas Striegler, president and CEO of light than a 2-D one because of the two other handheld devices. In that case, the iZ3D. The San Diego-based start-up com- LCD layers that must be transited instead implementation may be different because pany offers a 3-D monitor for gamers. In- of the one found in a 2-D monitor. there are other technologies than LCDs troduced last year, it uses the inherent Striegler said that a polarization ap- that could be used. characteristic of liquid crystals to dynami- proach, which uses passive glasses and not cally change the polarization on a pixel- ones with a shutter in them, offers the ad- Going deep on small screens by-pixel basis. Combined with linearly vantage of minimizing visual and mental For example, Qualcomm MEMS Tech- polarized viewing glasses, this allows left strain on the viewer. Polarization-based nologies of San Diego has a reflective and right image information to end up in techniques are used in 3-D movies, al- display technology that works by using the correct eye. though circular polarization is the focus, electrostatics to change an air gap in a mi- The monitor is about 50 percent more not the linear polarization used by iZ3D. nuscule subpixel microelectromechanical expensive than a similarly sized 2-D one, The company plans to go both big and systems (MEMS) element, thereby turning largely because it has a second LCD layer small with its monitors. The larger ones the element on or off. Different air gaps lead to different colors when the element is on. Because the company is a subsidiary of cell phone chip maker Qualcomm, it’s no surprise that its products show up in hand- sets, in part because they consume very little power when displaying unchanging pixels.

Displays will be seen everywhere, thanks to recent technical advances. A micromirror chip set, like the one shown left, embedded in a cell phone could allow virtually any flat surface to be a display, even a 3-D one. Courtesy of Texas Instruments. Displays Feat.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:12 AM Page 59

Displays will become ubiquitous input devices, like the one shown here with a 10-finger touch screen. Courtesy of 3M.

Texas Instruments of Dallas has a micromirror-based digital light processor (DLP) chip set small enough to be embedded in a cell phone. The chip works by reflecting light from a source, such as an LED. Frank Moizio, DLP emerging markets business manager, noted that the technology allows for a 20-in. projected image to be visible in ambient light. Doing so would allow the display on a cell phone to be shared anywhere there’s a suitable surface, such as a wall, with the inherent switching speed enabling high contrast, a wide color range, sharp images and more, Moizio said. “In addition, it allows for advanced features like 3-D imaging using stereoscopic techniques.” For those who don’t care about sharing images, a third 3-D variation involves These autostereoscopic approaches also more than just display information, they miniature displays mounted in the glasses don’t work as well, at present, as other also act as input devices through the use themselves. These small displays act as methods when fast-moving images are in- of touch or other means. Methuen, Mass.- virtual larger ones, thus providing the vi- volved. based 3M Touch Systems, a 3M sub- sual cues needed for 3-D imagery. There sidiary, recently released a 10-finger mul- are also ways to achieve 3-D effects with- The right touch titouch developer kit that Kelly Devin, out glasses, but today most flat panels that While 3-D may be attracting attention, marketing manager for the company, said do this are limited in size for cost reasons. another strong theme is screens that do is based on projected capacitive technol-

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ogy. She noted that the company’s multi- tems. Smaller screens, such as those found $9 billion. Of that, $4.2 billion will be touch capability does not demand a high- on cell phones, will be limited in the num- multitouch. end computer. ber of touch inputs that can be effectively There are applications, such as the “We use standard business PCs, nothing used because of finger size. kiosks used for airline check-in or special- fantastic,” she said. “To track all 10 fin- According to figures from Display- ized registers in restaurants, where single- gers at one time gives you roughly a 15- Search, the market for multitouch dis- touch is fine. Those settings are unlikely ms response time. So we’re processing the plays is expected to grow quickly. The to switch to more expensive multitouch inputs quite quickly.” total touch-screen module market stood technology. As for where multitouch displays might at an estimated $3.6 billion in 2008, with show up, classrooms are a possibility, as multitouch accounting for about 25 Boosting brightness while are conference rooms, where collaboration percent of that. By 2015, the total touch- cutting power is needed, and home entertainment sys- screen module market is forecast to be Finally, there are enhancements that promise to bring high-brightness yet thin and low-power displays to televisions and mobile devices. Some of these can be found in the backlight that sits behind every LCD. Switching to LEDs can cut power by as much as 30 percent and can result in sharper images, both courtesy of the ability to rapidly modulate the output from an LED. That same ability could prove useful in other areas, as there have been demonstrations where a modulated backlight has been used as a communication channel. One possibility would be to have the display communicate with a cell phone or computer pointed at it, like a TV remote in reverse. Other improvements involve the liquid crystals themselves. The next generation of displays could employ the polymer-sta- bilized vertical alignment material developed by Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Ger- many. Thanks to an additional polymer layer, the molecules in the display material are pre-aligned in a particular direction. As a result, contrast is improved, switching times are faster, and transmission of the light through the medium is increased. The last, in turn, means that the backlight brightness can be significantly reduced. Since the backlight is the major energy sink in an LCD, the material cuts the power consumed by such things as TVs and extends battery life in mobile devices. Roman Maisch, senior vice president of marketing and sales in Merck’s liquid crystals division, noted that the new material is already being put to use in LCD TVs. In summing up the material demands of tomorrow’s displays, he also outlined where the overall display market is head- ing, noting, “Faster switching times will be also for the future a key driver for the development of liquid crystal materials. Another factor which drives the development of liquid crystal materials is the trend for green products.” For information on projection technology, see “Pico Boom” on page 76. [email protected]

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Reflecting on the Past Applying Ancient Technologies to Modern Photonics

BY JAMIE KNAPP Unless deposited at elevated tempera- NEWPORT CORP. – CORION OPTICAL FILTERS tures, many protective thin films exhibit poor adherence to the underlying gold and ne source rarely considered when have a porous, columnar micromorphol- addressing photonics issues is our ogy, limiting their protective properties.3 Oancestors: Great technological There is a critical need, therefore, to de- discoveries from many millennia ago may velop hard, durable, replicated gold mir- Figure 1. A typical electrum trite from circa 610 BC lead to modern day solutions. rors using means that do not involve the bears the emblem of King Alyattes of Lydia. Images A recent example of this involves opti- elevation of temperature. Such a product courtesy of Newport Corp. mizing gold-based infrared reflectors com- must maintain an adequate infrared reflec- monly employed for defense and aero- tivity, particularly in the critical 1300- to space instrumentation, imaging optics and 1700-nm and 1580- to 15,000-nm ranges. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spec- To address this, one may turn to the troscopy (environmental monitoring).1 In Ancients. Mating metallurgical discoveries the latter case, light is transmitted through of almost 2600 years ago, together with the volume of air to be analyzed. The light state-of-the-art low-temperature thin-film is reflected – via gold retroreflector arrays deposition methods, allows for develop- – back into appropriate analysis instrument of the desired hardened replicated mentation, where optical absorption is infrared reflectors. Figure 2. The gold daric, named for King Darius of used to evaluate pollutant content. Open- Persia, was created after the defeat of Croesus in path environmental FTIR spectroscopy is History 540 BC. This coin bears the image of the king and was fashioned from a wear-resistant gold alloy. used to monitor CO, CO2, NO and SO2 Introduced almost three millennia ago, (absorption peaks are in the range of 1580 coins are an integral part of daily life.

to 15,000 nm). HF, HCl, H2S, NH3, CH4, From generation to generation, rulers, 570 BC, metallurgists developed a means

CO2, HCN, C2H4 and C2H2 are measured cities and states have issued a countless to divide and purify the gold and silver using tunable diode laser spectroscopy in number of coins. from raw electrum.5 Separate gold and sil- the 1300- to 1700-nm range. Around 670 BC, the ancient Greeks of ver coins – 99 percent purity – formed the In the open environment, such mirrors Ionia and Lydia – now located in modern- first “bi-metallic” currency. inevitably become soiled and dulled. day western Turkey – experimented with The resultant wealth of this Greek re- When cleaned, the soft gold surfaces are producing standardized preweighed lumps gion became too much of a temptation to damaged. Current conventional gold mir- of electrum, a natural gold and silver alloy the neighboring ancient Persians. In 540 rors, which are deposited upon polished found in local river beds.4 To minimize BC, Croesus was defeated and his empire substrates, are therefore oftentimes pro- counterfeiting, the lumps were struck with destroyed. Afterward, King Darius of Per- duced with protective overcoats – com- a chisel to expose their inner core; coun- sia began striking his new coin (Figure 2). mon thermal and electron beam-deposited terfeits were produced by metal-plating Known as a gold “daric,” this important films include silicon monoxide, zinc sul- electrum onto low-value bronze (Figure1). coin featured the king’s image, so it was fide and silicon. Such technologies man- Unfortunately, this did not slow the in- vital that it not suffer wear, as was com- date the use of elevated temperatures; e.g., novative counterfeiters who managed to mon in Croesus’ previous pure-gold is- approximately 300 °C. For conventional produce bronze-cored clones. The first sues. Persian metallurgists created an metal mirrors, these manufacturing tech- true coin, a piece of metal certified to be alloy that not only maintained the desired niques are routine.2 of a guaranteed designated monetary value visual brilliance of the coin but that sig- An alternative to costly front-surface by a recognized governmental authority, nificantly added to its hardness and wear mirrors is replication, a well-established was created by King Alyattes of Lydia in resistance. technology employed to produce high- 610 BC. The king’s official emblem of the quality mirrors at a significantly lower lion acted as a deterrent to counterfeiters. X-ray fluorescence cost. These mirrors, however, consist of a Electrum, however, suffers from a vari- To unlock the secrets of Darius’ coins, critical epoxy layer that is sensitive to ele- able alloy composition – gold content var- the nondestructive method of energy- vated temperatures above approximately ied from 45 to 55 percent. Exchange val- dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry 105 °C. Standard techniques normally em- ues from coin to coin, therefore, could (XRF) was employed. With this technique, ployed to create “hardened” gold mirrors vary. To address this, under the rule of the the sample is irradiated with x-rays, and therefore cannot be used. legendary King Croesus of Lydia, circa re-emitted x-rays have wavelengths that

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are characteristic of the sample composi- tively characterize the surface hardness ments, the moderate abrasion methods per tion.6 Using XRF, the average metallic and wear resistance of this unique alloy MIL-M-13508C were used by abrading composition of the Persian daric was against virgin gold and to spectrophoto- dry cheesecloth across a mirror’s surfaces found to be 95.1 percent gold, 2.8 percent metrically measure its infrared reflectivity. using a 1-lb force. Virgin gold suffered vi- copper and 2.1 percent silver. If improved hardness was evident, then sual damage after one test stroke; Darius’ the alloy might be an ideal candidate for alloy survived eight to 12 strokes. Alloy-replicated mirrors further surface hardening using a room- Reflectivity was measured on Perkin - Replicated mirrors were produced using temperature deposited protective film. Elmer Lambda 950 UV/VIS and Lambda Darius’ alloy. The intent was to compara- For comparative hardness measure- 983 infrared spectrophotometers. In the 1300- to 15,000-nm region, alloy mirrors were basically indistinguishable from virgin gold (>99 percent reflectivity). These alloy-replicated mirrors therefore were excellent candidates for further surface modifications.

Reactive ion plating deposition Established as a means to produce high- quality optical filters, Newport’s Stabilife Reactive Low Voltage Ion Plating (RLVIP) process was used to deposit hard adherent silicon protective films upon the alloy mirror’s surfaces.7 The process produces optical thin films possessing the physical density, amorphous microstruc- ture and optical properties approaching those of bulk materials. These homogeneous films are free of the physical pores Figure 3. and columnar structure typically seen in

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coatings created by other means. Of prime importance is that deposition takes place at room temperature.8 Using atomic force microscopy9 (AFM), Figure 4 shows the surface micromorphol- ogy of a 2-μm-thick silicon film deposited by conventional thermal evaporation at room temperature. The resultant film morphology exhibits a rough, poorly nucle- ated, nonadherent columnar porous film. Figure 5 is an AFM evaluation of a 2- μm silicon film created at room temperature by the reactive ion plating. In this case, the film is fully adherent, smooth and featureless, indicative of a fully densi- fied bulklike thin-film structure.

Protected gold alloy-replicated mirrors Figure 4. This AFM image shows the surface micro- Figure 5. An AFM evaluation of a 2-µm silicon film Replicated mirrors produced with Dar- morphology of a 2-µm-thick silicon film deposited was created at room temperature by Newport’s by conventional thermal evaporation at room tem- patented Reactive Low Voltage Ion Plating process. ius’ alloy subsequently were coated with perature. elemental silicon at room temperature using RLVIP. A film thickness of 70 nm modified replicated mirrors are indeed replicated gold alloy mirrors survived be- was employed to tune the optimal spectral well suited to critical infrared instrumenta- yond 350 strokes without visible evidence performance for the desired 1580- to tion applications (Figures 6 and 7). of any surface abrasions. 15,000-nm spectral region. A silicon film For a comparative measurement of sur- thickness of 160 nm was used for creating face hardness and abrasion resistance, the Learning from the past mirrors for the alternative 1300- to 1700- moderate abrasion methods as described in Many ancient civilizations have con- nm band. The resultant measured re- MIL-M-13508C were re-employed. In tributed to our current modern scientific flectances demonstrate that these surface- both of the above cases, RLVIP-protected understanding. Countless groundbreaking

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methods were created many millennia ago, 3. H.K. Pulker. Coatings on Glass (1984). Else- many of which still offer rare insights vier. 1984. when developing new technologies. 4. C.M. Kraay. Archaic and Classical Greek Coins In this current case, the successes of (1976). Methuen Young Books. ancient metallurgists became key in devel- 5. A. Ramage and P. Craddock. King Croesus’ Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History oping an improved cost-effective repli- of Gold Refining, Harvard University Art cated gold-based infrared reflector. The Museums, 2000. ancient Greeks and Persians were not 6. B. Beckhoff, et.al. Handbook of Practical X- merely scientific theoreticians; a multitude Ray Fluorescence Analysis (2006). Springer. of discoveries were transformed into prac- 7. J. Knapp, C. Burke and R. Filippi (1994). tical applications. “Environmentally stable optical filters for use in fluorescence chemical sensing instru- Meet the author mentation.” “Optical Sensors for Environ- Jamie Knapp is director of engineering at New- mental and Chemical Process Monitoring.” port Corp. – Corion Optical Filters in Franklin, Proceedings SPIE, Vol. 2367. Mass.; e-mail: [email protected]. 8. K.H. Gunther, B. Loo, D. Burns, J. Edgell, D. Windham and K.H. Muller (1989). References “Micro structure analysis of thin films de- 1. T.R. Minnich and R.L. Scotto. “Use of open- posited by reactive evaporation and by reac- path FTIR spectroscopy to address air moni- tive ion-plating.” Journal Vac. Sci. Technol., toring needs during site remediations.” Re- A7. mediation Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 79-92. 9. T. Bieler, Department of Chemical Engineer- 2. L. Maissel and R. Glang. Handbook of Thin ing and Material Science, Michigan State Film Technology (1970). McGraw-Hill. University, 2008.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Photonics Spectra September 2009 67 909_MolecularFeature.qxd:Layout 1 8/24/09 1:56 PM Page 68

Sensors on the Frontiers of Physics New devices manipulate light in unusual ways that Existing computer chips such can enable ultrasensitive detection, leading to as these run on electricity, but the next generation will run on photons. applications such as quantum communi cation and quantum computing.

BY DAVID L. SHENKENBERG FEATURES EDITOR

omputer chips based on light as op- found an optical force that behaves like the nanocantilever and is collected on-chip. posed to electricity have only been Casimir force found in tiny electrical ma- The nanocantilevers are of different Ctheorized, but now researchers are chines. This force is usually weak but be- lengths and therefore resonate at different actually developing computer chips that comes significant in micro- and nanode- frequencies, like keys on a xylophone. The will use light for computer functions. vices. The photonic chip will enable them system can detect particles 1⁄10,000 the size At Yale University in New Haven, to study this weak force, as well as to de- of an atom, or 0.0001 angstroms. The de- Conn., members of Hong Tang’s lab are velop applications. tection mechanism is based on the deflec- already taking development of these pho- This force is different from the radiation tion of the cantilevers. tonic computer chips a step further. They pressure that is used by optical tweezers to The system can operate with inexpen- are using light to power nanomachines move particles. “The new force that we sive LEDs as opposed to more expensive built from computer chips, and these have investigated actually kicks to the side laser systems, and at room temperature as nanomachines could have numerous appli- of that light flow,” Tang said. opposed to extreme cold – major advan- cations, including sensing molecules and tages over detectors with comparable sen- even smaller particles. Enter the matrix sitivity, according to the researchers. The photonic nanomachines are similar The researchers have used the optical In the July 13, 2009, issue of Nature to micro- and nanomachines that are pow- force to move 10 tiny cantilevers on a Photonics, they reported that the optical ered by electricity, which are formally CMOS chip. Tang said, “The significance force can be repulsive as well as attractive, called micro- and nanoelectromechanical of our CMOS platform is that our device is a feature that could be used as a routing systems, or MEMS and NEMS, respec- fully compatible with many other devices. mechanism for communication between tively. Far from a lab curiosity, MEMS de- You can cascade them, put them in parallel, devices that contain computer chips. vices have been deployed in automobile air- multiplex, scale up the production.” In particular, this device possibly could bag sensors, ink-jet printers and even the As described in the April 26, 2009, be used as a router for quantum communi- motion sensors in Nintendo Wii controllers. issue of Nature Nanotechnology, the light cation, which promises faster and more The researchers in the Tang lab have goes through the hollow bore of each efficient communication between devices

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that contain computer chips as well as ex- researchers of a stylus. odic oval holes down the length of the tremely strong encryption of computer data, Laser light and cold temperatures were strands. Connected side by side, the strands which is called quantum cryptography. used to trap the ions using techniques that reminded the researchers of a zipper found Quantum communication, cryptography have been demonstrated previously. The on a piece of clothing. The zipper strands and computing all are based on the concept fact that the ions are held above the elec- even opened up like a zipper when the sci- that quantum particles such as photons can trodes is unique. This architecture allows entists focused a laser beam down the cen- be in more than one physical state at the for greater access to the ions. ter of the strands. same time. Electricity, by contrast, is either Using the ion as a probe for electro- However, the researchers said that the on or off – one or the other, but not both. magnetic fields, the device can be used to zipper does not open as a result of the By existing in more than one state at the measure forces, especially those oscillat- beam’s path straight down the center. The same time, photons can hasten computer- ing between approximately 100 kHz and mechanism is more exotic than that. Some to-computer communication and make 10 MHz. It is about a million times more of the photons enter and circulate in the smarter computers that can come up with sensitive than the mechanical sensitivity periodic oval holes, and this circulation is complex encryption that foreign spies and of a cantilever of an atomic force micro- what ultimately opens the zipper cavity. wanton hackers cannot break. scope. Individual photons theoretically The zipper strands could be used in force could be transferred to the trapped ions sensing; for example, two molecules could Holding an ion with 95 percent efficiency for quantum be attached to opposite strands, and the Another device that can be used both cryptography, and fluorescent light emit- force required to open the strands and for sensing and for quantum communica- ted by the ions could be used in quantum thereby pull the molecules apart could be tion was developed by researchers at the computing. This device is detailed in the calculated from there. The strands also National Institute of Standards and Tech- June 28, 2009, issue of Nature Physics by could be used for photonic communication nology (NIST) in Bolder, Colo., and their senior author David Wineland of NIST and photonic circuits, as well as for study- colleagues at the University of Erlangen- and his colleagues. ing fundamental forces. Nuremberg in Germany. It can trap and Applications aside, the cavity is also a hold individual ions above three cylindri- Ripping a nanozipper marvel of physics. The force of a single cal steel electrodes with hollow bores pro- An even more exotic-looking force-sens- photon traveling straight through the cavity truding from the device. They call it a ing device was created by the Oskar Painter is comparable to a force 10 times that of “stylus trap” because the steel cylinders group at Caltech. The device consists of gravity. trap the ion, and each cylinder reminds the two nanoscale strands of silicon with peri- [email protected] Laser Surgery.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:24 AM Page 70

It’s Two, Two, Two Tools in One Technique enables simultaneous imaging and laser surgery without mechanical scanning.

BY LAURA S. MARSHALL electromechanical systems (MEMS) scan- How it works MANAGING EDITOR ners are similarly limited. And MEMS “The heart of SECOMM,” Tsia said, “is scanners in miniaturized endoscopic an optical diffractive component: a two- -dimensional spatial disperser which dif 1ف f a surgeon is about to use a probe in probes require a large probe size, up to the brain, the patient is sure to want cm, which limits their usefulness in clini- fracts the different wavelengths of incident Ithat probe to be as small as possible. cal settings. light into 2-D space, creating a 1:1 map And three University of California, Los But SECOMM doesn’t have that prob- between 2-D spatial coordinates and the Angeles (UCLA), researchers have devel- lem. optical wavelengths.” oped technology that could lead to tinier He said the 2-D spatial disperser deliv- probes that can perform both endoscopic ers broadband light for imaging and wave- imaging and laser microsurgery at the length-tunable light for laser surgery. Two same time. optical diffractive elements make this hap- The technique, called “spectrally en- pen: a virtually imaged phase array (VIPA) coded confocal microscopy and micro- and a diffraction grating. The figure below, surgery” – SECOMM for short – uses left illustrates the SECOMM design. light for both functions. And it’s the first “Both the broadband light and high- of its kind that does not require mechani- power tunable laser are coupled into the cal scanning for either. same single fiber and the same 2-D spatial Mechanical scanning is useful because disperser to perform simultaneous imaging it enables acquisition of multidimensional and high-precision laser microsurgery,” images. But it has its downsides in en- Tsia said. doscopy. The disperser transforms an incident “Fluctuations in mechanical scanning broadband light beam from a supercontin- introduce image noise and artifacts,” said uum pulse laser or an incoherent broad- recent PhD graduate Kevin Kin-Man Tsia, UCLA researchers Dr. Kevin Kin-Man Tsia, left, band light source into a 2-D spatial spec- now an assistant professor in the depart- professor Bahram Jalali, center, and Dr. Keisuke Goda have developed an endoscope-compatible tral pattern resembling a spectral shower, ment of electrical and electronic engineer- single-fiber-based device capable of simultaneous which is used to illuminate the sample. ing at the University of Hong Kong. He imaging and high-precision laser microsurgery. The sample’s 2-D spatial information is added that endoscopic probes using micro- encoded into the back-reflected “spectral shower,” which is transmitted back to the “nondispersed” – but image-encoded – beam by the same 2-D spatial disperser. The single-mode fiber re-collects the beam, allowing transmission of 2-D images of the sample, and a spectrometer detects the image-encoded spectrum. “Such imaging is essentially a confocal microscope,” Tsia noted, “as the aperture of the fiber that captures the reflection from the sample rejects the scattered light from out-of-focus axial planes.” Folding the 1-D spectral data into a 2-D matrix that represents the image allows for With the SECOMM method, a fiber combiner takes a broadband light source (for imaging) and combines it digital reconstruction of the sample’s with a wavelength-tunable continuous-wave laser followed by a fiber amplifier (for laser ablation). The 2-D image. spatial disperser generates a “spectral shower,” and the spatial information about the sample is encoded into the spectrum of the back-reflected spectral shower. The optical circulator routes the back-reflected spectral Tsia said that a high-power wavelength- shower to the spectrometer. Images courtesy of Kevin Kin-Man Tsia. tunable laser beam will follow the same

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wavelength-to-spatial-coordinate mapping scopic probe capable of both imaging and is known as STEAM, which stands for as the spectral shower performing the im- laser surgery through the use of MEMS “serial time-encoded amplified micros- aging if it is coupled with the imaging op- scanners for beam steering. “SECOMM copy.” It allows real-time imaging with up tics via a beam combiner and passes has the advantages over such endoscopic to 6 million fps, thanks to ultrashort laser through the same spatial disperser. probes,” Tsia said, “as it eliminates the pulses; “optical” image gain enables high “By tuning the wavelength of the laser,” need for mechanical scanning.” detection sensitivity. STEAM, according to he said, “the beam can be directed to any Grating-VIPA arrangements have been Tsia, can overcome the trade-off between arbitrary position on the sample to per- used in the past for demultiplexing in tele- speed and sensitivity that occurs in existing form laser surgery [ablation], without any com applications and for spectroscopy, he CCD/CMOS cameras. And its speed makes mechanical movement of the probe to added. But his team used the 2-D spatial it useful for capturing rapid biological steer the laser beam or the movement of disperser for imaging and microsurgery. processes and events such as the firing of a the sample. neuron. It also can be used with SECOMM “Hence, high-precision microsurgery A winning team for laser surgery. can be performed by computer-controlled Tsia worked on the SECOMM project In fact, Tsia said, SECOMM originated tuning of the laser wavelength according with Keisuke Goda, a postdoctoral re- from the work they did on STEAM. to a preprogrammed pattern.” searcher in the electrical engineering de- “One of the key features in STEAM is partment at UCLA, and with Bahram spectrally encoded imaging, which maps Advantages and challenges Jalali, a professor of electrical engineering the spatial information onto the spectrum of Most currently employed endoscopes at the university. an ultrashort laser pulse. We borrowed this rely on a CCD or a fiber bundle to capture These same three researchers recently idea for SECOMM and realized that laser images, sometimes combined with a scal made headlines when they developed “the surgery can also benefit from the same pel or other surgical instrument to provide fastest camera in the world.” That camera wavelength-space mapping idea.” simultaneous imaging and surgery. The two can be combined to perform si- For minimally invasive proce- multaneous ultrafast real-time imag- dures, an endoscope must be very ing and laser surgery. “This is particu- flexible, and it must have a very larly useful to monitoring the laser small diameter. “In CCD-based ablation dynamic in the tissue,” Tsia probes, the size of the chip placed at said. “The optical amplification fea- the distal tip limits the minimum di- ture in STEAM can also be applied to ameter to about a few millimeters,” SECOMM, in which the detection Tsia noted, “and their electrical ca- sensitivity can be greatly enhanced.” bles limit their flexibility.” He added that fiber-bundle technology is lim- Concept proved ited because obtaining a high pixel The next step for the SECOMM count requires a large number of project is to design and build the fibers, resulting in mechanical rigid- miniaturized SECOMM probe. This ity. Because SECOMM uses a single will consist of off-the-shelf miniatur- fiber, it is both small and flexible. ized optics, including a diffraction Right now, SECOMM is hindered grating and a gradient-index lens. by its spatial resolution – around 4 The preliminary design showed to 10 μm – and by the number of that SECOMM can be miniaturized pixels it can capture. into a submillimeter-diameter probe “Nevertheless,” Tsia said, “these with spatial resolution of 1.4 ϫ 2 are not the inherent limitations of μm, with a field of view of 280 ϫ this technique because the number 70 mm. “The present imaging tech- of pixels can significantly be in- nique can also be further extended creased by using an optical source to three-dimensional volumetric im- with larger bandwidth or a spec- aging by employing an interfero- trometer with higher spectral resolu- metric configuration, which enables tion.” the acquisition of the depth information of the sample,” Tsia said, First of its kind which will be good news for future Others have been working on de- patients undergoing delicate proce- signing similar probes in recent dures. years. A Harvard Medical School This demonstration of SECOMM’s ability to perform laser microsurgery “SECOMM can be applicable to group demonstrated a 1-D spectrally and simultaneous monitoring shows the images captured (a) before and any area where high-precision, small encoded endoscope, but the tech- (b) after performing laser ablation on a bovine tissue sample. The “L” and flexible probes are required, pattern (outlined in dots) is carved out of the tissue by tuning the wave- nique requires mechanical scanning length of the CW laser in the manner shown in the inset of the figure such as brain tumor, pediatric and to capture a whole 2-D image. An- (see arrow). The Z-axis represents the normalized reflectivity of the endovascular surgeries,” he said. other group demonstrated an endo- sample. [email protected]

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Mid-IR Tunable Lasers Probe Hydrocarbon Molecules

BY ANGUS HENDERSON Figure 1. Methane LOCKHEED MARTIN ACULIGHT absorption strength vs. wavelength (HITRAN nfrared laser spectroscopy is a database: www.cfa.harvard. powerful technique that allows edu/hitran/). unique identification of chemical species as well as study of their I properties. Measuring absorption as a function of wavelength enables chemists to obtain spectra of compounds that are a unique reflection of their molecular structure. The wavelength region between 3.0 and 3.7 μm (2750 cm−1 and 3300 cm−1 in frequency) is particularly important because it contains virtually all the characteristic stretching frequencies of molecules containing carbon-hydrogen bonds. The color center lasers. These use alkali halide strength of the fundamental absorptions in or oxide crystals as gain media, and they this so-called “C-H stretch” region can be provide output in the 2.4- to 3.6-μm range. orders of magnitude higher than overtone They operate at cryogenic temperatures absorptions of the same molecules in the with typical output powers of tens of mil- near-infrared (<2-μm wavelength). For ex- liwatts and are pumped using a krypton ample, the absorption of methane at 3.3 ion laser. Although the color center laser μm is more than 100 times stronger than has provided substantial capability for in its overtone band at 1.65 μm (Figure 1). spectroscopy, the size, complexity and dif- As a result, narrowband tunable lasers op- Figure 2. Aculight Argos OPO modules consist of a ficulty with maintenance have been sub- erating in the C-H stretch region can be quasi-monolithic resonant OPO cavity mounted on a stantial drawbacks, and they are no longer pump laser pointing unit. Here the fiber laser colli- used to perform highly sensitive detection mator is shown being inserted into the pointing unit. available commercially. of hydrocarbon species, as well as more fundamental investigations of molecular region, with emission wavelengths below CW OPOs fill the 3- to 4-µm gap structure and chemical reactions. 2 μm. Titanium-sapphire and dye lasers1 In addition to lasers directly emitting Such sensitive hydrocarbon molecule provide high power (watts) and wide tun- within the 3- to 4-μm region, widely tun- detection could enhance capabilities in ability (hundreds of nanometers) in the able emission in this range is also possible many applications. Potential applications 400- to 1000-nm range. External-cavity by nonlinear frequency conversion of for mid-infrared laser-based detection of diode lasers provide widely tunable, lower more mature near-infrared sources. Prod- organic molecules include analysis of power output (milliwatts) covering wave- ucts based on difference frequency genera- human breath for medical diagnostics, de- lengths up to approximately 2 μm. Above tion between two distributed feedback tection of impurities in industrial process 4 μm, external cavity quantum cascade diode lasers have been offered commer- gases (e.g., in semiconductor wafer manu- lasers2 now are being offered commercially. These devices typically produce facture), airborne natural gas pipeline leak cially and are opening up new possibilities submilliwatt output and tuning of approxi- detection and monitoring industrial green- for spectroscopy in the long-wavelength mately 100 nm per device.4 house gas emissions. Implementation of infrared “fingerprint region.” Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), these techniques is showing promise, as However, in the 3- to 4-μm range, there by contrast, provide a pathway to much new mid-infrared laser sources are proving are as yet no commercial semiconductor wider tuning and higher power output in themselves useful and robust spectro- sources that provide wide tunability. Al- this spectral region. Although the first CW scopic tools in the research laboratory. though interband cascade lasers show OPOs have been commercially available promise,3 currently the growth of this kind since 2000, the emergence of fiber lasers Lasers for spectroscopy of semiconductor material remains chal- as pump sources has transformed OPO ca- Currently, mature tunable laser technol- lenging. To date, the most capable tunable pabilities. The most important advance is ogy exists primarily in the near-infrared lasers in this spectral region have been that the pump power level is sufficient to

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Figure 3. Shown is a depletion spectrum of methanol, recorded using a helium nanodroplet spectrometer in combination with a CW OPO. The inset shows the wavelength meter reading for part of the computer-controlled scan, made up of overlapping 50- GHz mode-hop-free scans. After acquisition, data is re- constructed and plotted via a LabView program. Courtesy of the University of Georgia.

operate the OPO as a singly resonant os- cold 0.4-K helium nanodroplets. Low- cillator, where only one of the three inter- temperature helium droplets provide a acting wavelengths is resonant. This al- unique environment in which to probe the lows straightforward monotonic tuning. structural properties of the isolated mole- Lockheed Martin Aculight’s Argos, cules. The group is using an Aculight launched in 2007, is the first truly singly Argos CW OPO system in combination resonant CW OPO product. The Argos with a helium nanodroplet instrument to systems provide multiwatt output powers make the spectroscopic measurements. at both signal and idler wavelengths, The researchers have added additional linewidth of <1 MHz and mode-hop-free controls to a standard OPO system, allow- tunability of >50 GHz. They are config- ing them to collect wide-range spectra. ured as quasi-monolithic resonant cavities Synchronizing the fine- and coarse-tuning (Figure 2) with a keyed fiber input colli- control mechanisms via a PC allows the mator acting as a connector to a pre- OPO to collect high-resolution spectra aligned OPO module. Three interchange- over hundreds of nanometers (Figure 3). able OPO modules tune from 1.46 to 3.9 These wide scans allow the group to μm. The fiber-coupled pump source and investigate the evolution of the infrared monolithic OPO design make the system spectra of hydrocarbon molecules after turnkey, so no “tweaking” is required to they undergo reactions with various metal maintain alignment. As a result, these clusters within the helium droplets. Reac- OPO systems are finding wide application tions between metal clusters and molecu- in major research laboratories around the lar species such as methane, ethylene and world for a variety of spectroscopic inves- acetylene show up as qualitative changes tigations. in the infrared spectra. Full automation of the OPO’s tuning enables exceptionally Applications in chemistry wide, high-resolution measurement of the At the University of Georgia in Athens, entire C-H stretching range (approxi- Gary Douberly’s research group uses high- mately 300 nm) characteristic of hydro- resolution infrared laser spectroscopy to carbon molecules in about 3 h, with no study novel molecular species isolated in user intervention.

Figure 4. Shown is an École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) surface science apparatus. The molecular beam exits the aperture (left), traverses the alignment tool (center), where laser excitation takes place, and col- lides with the single crystal metal surface mounted in the center of the sample holder (right).

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Figure 5. (left) This graph shows methane spectra calculated from a Hitran database. The arrow indicates the 13C peak used for measurements. (right) This chart illustrates the photoacoustic spectra of laboratory air. Courtesy of Radboud University.

At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de conversion in automobiles and semicon- of methane with a nickel catalyst. The Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, profes- ductor growth in the electronics industry. OPO prepares a beam of methane mole- sor Rainer Beck and his research group In Beck’s laboratory, researchers are cules in a specific excited state. To pre- are studying chemical reactions between studying the effects of laser excitation in serve the molecules in this state, the gas molecules and solid surfaces. such processes. The results of these exper- preparation is performed under collision- Processes in surface chemistry such as iments provide stringent tests for theoreti- free conditions in a molecular beam (Fig- heterogeneous catalysis and chemical cal models of gas-surface chemistry. ure 4), whereby the absorption feature is vapor deposition are important in many in- The group is currently using an Acu- reduced to less than a few megahertz in dustrial implementations, such as catalytic light Argos CW OPO to study the reaction width. The high spectral resolution and

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high power of the OPO allow vibrational These same attributes also make OPOs 2. E. Takeuchi et al. (January 2009). Quantum- transitions to be excited into saturation promising for in-the-field applications in cascade lasers: applications multiply for ex- (Figure 4) where approximately 50 percent industry, medicine and sensing. ternal-cavity QCLs. Laser Focus World, pp. of the molecules are in a single quantum 83-86. state. The wide tunability of the OPO Meet the author 3. G. Wysocki et al. (Nov. 20, 2007). Dual interband cascade laser-based trace-gas sensor makes it a highly versatile source for this Angus Henderson is a principal scientist at for environmental monitoring. Applied Op- study, and the researchers anticipate using Lockheed Martin Aculight. He can be reached at [email protected]. tics, pp. 8202-8210. it in the future to extend their studies to a 4. Scherer, James J. (Oct. 1, 2007). Nonlinear variety of molecular species and absorp- References optics: quasi-phase-matched DFG lasers for tion features. 1. F.J. Duarte, ed. (1995). Tunable Lasers sensing enter the market. Laser Focus World, Handbook. Academic Press, pp. 167-291. pp. 103-106. Applications in chemical sensing Professor Frans Harren leads the Life Science Trace Gas Facility at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The group has developed state-of-the-art laser-based trace gas detectors that are used for research in areas from plant phys- iology to medicine and human health. Har- ren and his colleagues use a variety of lasers combination with sensitive detection schemes, including photoacoustic spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The team’s recent experiments have challenged the findings of a published study that asserted that emission of significant amounts of methane from plants may play a significant role in the global atmos- pheric concentration of this powerful greenhouse gas. By growing plant samples in the presence of carbon dioxide molecules based on the stable isotope of carbon 13C, any methane emitted by the plants could be identified by the presence of this isotope in the methane molecule. Researchers performed trace methane detection with the photoacoustic technique using a singly resonant CW OPO pumped by a diode- pumped solid-state laser operating at approximately 3.24 μm (Figure 5). The 13 OPO’s high power level allowed a CH4 detection limit of three parts per billion to be attained using the OPO spectrometer. This is well below the naturally occurring 13 level of CH4 in the atmosphere. Monitor- 13 ing the CH4 level showed that there was not a statistically significant level of methane emission from the plants, contra- dicting the original published finding.

Looking ahead It appears likely that, with time, new types of semiconductor lasers may emerge as the lowest cost pathway for laser emission in the 3- to 4-μm region. However, the high power, wide tuning and robust physical characteristics of OPOs, especially those pumped by fiber lasers, make these sources important spectroscopic tools in today’s research laboratories.

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This diagram shows the internal components that Pico make up Microvision’s PicoP engine, including laser diodes and a microelectromechanical systems chip. Courtesy Boom of Microvision Inc. Pocket projectors are poised to explode, but will lasers or LEDs be the pre-eminent light source?

BY MELINDA ROSE SENIOR EDITOR Pico projectors are driven by three LBS systems use optics to combine major technologies: digital light process- RGB (red, green, blue) laser beams and iny projectors, known as pico or ing (DLP), liquid crystal on silicon then guide them with a mirror to create an pocket projectors, are on the cusp (LCoS) and laser beam steering (LBS). image. Tof becoming the next big thing as Texas Instruments (TI) of Dallas pio- they shrink to sizes practical for embed- neered the DLP projection system in 1987. Show me the market ding into ever-smaller cell phones and DLP technology is driven by a small chip With the worldwide economy in a other mobile devices as well as head-up containing up to 2 million hinge-mounted slump, diode makers are looking to sell displays for the military and auto indus- micromirrors. The chip switches each mir- their product however they can. The tries. As these projectors continue to ror on and off several thousand times per worldwide mobile phone market, with one shrink, a battle is growing between LEDs second, generating light or dark pixels. billion units sold last year, is an attractive and lasers to become the pre-eminent pico “DLP can work with lasers or LEDs and one: Even a 2 percent slice translates to light source. is poised to take advantage of either LED sales of 20 million to 30 million diodes. The lamps first used as light sources for or laser technology,” said Frank J. Moizio, Pico projector prototypes with a resolu- tabletop projectors or rear-projection tele- DLP emerging markets manager at TI. tion similar to a DVD were featured at the visions are large and power hungry, and “DLP products today ship with lasers.” Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas they generate enormous amounts of heat, One such product is the 65-in. laser TV, in 2008 and 2009 and have been trickling so manufacturers have turned increasingly LaserVue, from Mitsubishi Electric of onto the market. to LEDs and, more recently, to lasers as Tokyo, which appeared on the market in The MPro110 from 3M of St. Paul, better choices. October 2008 for $7000. Mitsubishi said Minn., has an LED light source and LCoS the lasers give the TV about twice the imager. The Pico, a handheld projector color range of other high-definition TVs, made by Optoma Technology of Milpitas, while consuming as much as 75 percent Calif., and featuring TI’s DLP, began ship- less power than LCD and plasma ping at the end of 2008. panels. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. of Seoul, LCoS uses liquid South Korea, unveiled its Show, the first crystal instead of smart phone to include a pico projector, at mirrors to con- the Consumer Electronics Show in Janu- trol the amount ary. Show also features TI’s DLP and is of light each currently available only in South Korea. The Show, the pixel receives. According to industry analyst iSuppli first smart phone to Its light source Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., the market for include a pico projector, has shifted in recent pico projectors will explode by nearly currently is sold only in South Korea. Courtesy of Samsung years from high-intensity lamps to LEDs, 6000 percent over the next four years, Electronics Co. Ltd. but lasers also can be used. growing from fewer than 50,000 units this

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year to more than three million in 2013. Sunnyvale, Calif., published a paper in Sanju Khatri, principal analyst for sig- Applied Physics Letters describing an nage/projection at iSuppli, said tiny dis- electrically pumped 500-nm-emitting plays have been a major obstacle, prevent- diode based on its blue technology. In ing smart phones and small laptops from May, in an Applied Physics Express paper, becoming primary platforms for comput- Nichia Corp. of Tokushima, Japan, said it ing and Internet access. had created a 515-nm device. (At press “The growth potential for embedded time, Osram Opto announced it achieved a pico projectors will be limited during the direct-emitting green indium GaN laser at next few years due to challenges in areas 515 nm.) including power consumption, size and A green laser emits from an oscillator. Courtesy of Then in July, Sumitomo Electric Indus- manufacturing,” she said. “As these issues Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. tries Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, announced that are resolved, pico projectors will appear in it had created the first direct-emitting green many more mobile electronics devices.” brightness needed for pico projectors. laser at 531 nm. The company said it over- That might make microprojectors the The company introduced the red diodes came a problem with GaN semiconductors hot accessory, possibly as soon as this at Laser World of Photonics in Munich in (used commercially for blue LEDs), in Christmas. The upside: You could soon June, saying they appear much brighter which the material’s luminance efficiency project bigger versions of the photos or than 660 nm or even the commonly used rapidly declines as the wavelength in- videos from mobile devices onto virtually 645-nm diodes at the same output power. creases, by developing a GaN crystal that any surface without having to download Blue (450 to 480 nm) diodes showed up inhibits the efficiency drop. The result was them first. The downside: There may be about 15 years ago and are used now in room-temperature pulse operation of a no escaping a slide show of Uncle Phil’s Blu-ray disc players. In January at Photon- laser diode emitting in the pure-green two weeks in Branson, Mo. ics West 2009, Osram Opto Semiconduc- region at 531 nm. Sumitomo has applied Self-contained pico projectors now are tors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany, for 60 patents on the technology. about the size of a garage-door opener, but announced a blue laser with a wavelength Spectralus Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., the trend is to embed them into portable of 450 nm and an output of 50 mW that it is reporting this month at the Eurodisplay things, such as a cell phone, an MP3 said is the smallest in its class. 2009 conference on its developments in player or a digital camera. green laser efficiency. In June, it an- Pico projectors with laser light sources It ain’t easy beamin’ green nounced a milestone in shrinking green are expected on the market sometime this One hurdle that laser makers have had lasers: an eight-pin butterfly package for year as consumers demand smaller de- to overcome is with the green wavelength, its 100-mW green laser. It also said that vices. Diode manufacturers have been which stretches from 520 to 570 nm, with the lasers demonstrated 30 percent optical- busy building diodes that lase at shorter 532 considered optimal for displays. to-optical (808- into 532-nm wavelength) and shorter wavelengths because the Green lasers have been achieved conversion efficiency levels. shorter the wavelength, the less power through frequency conversion of infrared The company said in a statement that it they use and the brighter the image is to lasers but have been unable to directly is preparing a mass-production package the human eye. emit green light. Recently, engineers have tailored for pico and embedded projectors “We are still planning to begin initial been inching closer to pure green emitters for the fourth quarter of 2009. shipments of SHOWWX later this sum- by producing wavelengths in the blue- Microvision signed a supply deal with mer,” said Matt Nichols, director of com- green spectrum. Corning Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., in May munications for the Redmond, Wash.- In February, researchers at Rohm Co. for its G-1000 synthetic green lasers and based Microvision. SHOWWX is a Ltd. in Kyoto, Japan, said they had pushed an agreement with Osram Opto for its blue handheld pico projector driven by the a gallium nitride (GaN) diode to the and green lasers, to ensure an ample sup- laser-based PicoP display engine. (For longest recorded wavelength yet produced, ply of diodes as it prepares to begin com- more information on projection technol- 499.8 nm, but said their technique is not mercial production of the SHOWWX. ogy, see “Microdisplays: Coming Soon to suitable for mass production. Later that Nichols said he expects quantities to be an Eye Near You?” September 2008, p. month, Osram Opto Semiconductors Inc., in the thousands for the remainder of this 68, and, in this issue, “Flat Screens Go whose North American headquarters is in year, constrained more by supply than by Deep – and More,” p. 56.)

Seeing red High-power red laser diodes emitting at 660 nm are standard in devices such as recordable DVD players, but that wavelength appears relatively dark to the human eye, making the diodes ill-suited for compact projectors equipped with RGB lasers. Mitsubishi Electric said it solved that Shown is Microvision’s problem with its new red series – diodes pico projector, the SHOWWX. that emit at 638 nm – which provide the Courtesy of Microvision Inc.

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demand, with production ramping up to expensive than lasers. They have been likely take advantage of this and use more than 100,000 next year. criticized for a lack of brightness under lasers.” normal lighting conditions and for having Alexander Mönchmeier, senior product Lasers vs. LEDs limited focus. marketing engineer of opto components Laser diode makers say using lasers Moizio said the first pico prototype for Mitsubishi Electric, said that, over the means that the projected images will be DLP shown in 2007 used a pico DLP chip next three to five years, laser diode mak- focus-free, will deliver a wide range of and three lasers. “Feedback from cus- ers will work to overcome problems such bright, vibrant colors, and will consume tomers and the market were that lasers as thermal expansion and price to integrate less power, while downplaying their major were too expensive and had associated RGB onto one submount. Red lasers are disadvantages, speckle noise – black dots speckle and safety issues. It was the very inexpensive, about $10 to $15 apiece, that make the image appear grainy – and choice of brands and manufacturers to use because they are made in high quantities – cost. LEDs instead of lasers, due to their matu- about 15 million a month – for the DVD LED manufacturers have been making rity, safety and cost.” market. But blue lasers are expensive, as inroads into increasing the power, bright- If lasers can exceed LEDs in terms of high as $1000 for one. ness (HB-LEDs) and efficiency of their cost, performance and safety, he added, He said that having an RGB engine- products, which are long-lived and less “DLP customers and manufacturers would driven pico projector could add about 15 percent to the cost of an already expensive multimedia phone. “Demand from the consumer may be there, but what price are they willing to pay?” Mönchmeier asked.

The next big thing for little things Nikon Corp. of Tokyo is expected to ship its first camera equipped with a pico projector, the Coolpix S1000PJ, this month. Featuring an organic LED screen, Nikon’s Coolpix S1000PJ, hitting the market this month, is the first camera equipped with a pico projector. it is being touted as one of the first combi- Courtesy of Nikon Corp. nation digital cameras and LCoS pico pro-

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jectors and is expected to retail for about In the coming months, the red and green $430. laser modules will be tested for display Light Blue Optics (LBO), a startup in application feasibility. The goal is to cre- Cambridge, UK, recently secured another ate devices featuring the technology over $15 million in funding for its holographic the next two to five years. laser projection technology. With its sys- Late last year TI began selling a DLP tem, a diffraction pattern of the desired Pico projector development kit, called DLP 2-D image is calculated using patented Discovery, that allows developers to incor- holographic algorithms, then shown on an porate DLP into emerging applications. LCoS microdisplay. When illuminated by “The open source community is using coherent laser light, the desired 2-D image the Pico kit in a variety of interesting is projected. Three techniques, two propri- ways: for example, 3-D optical measure- etary, are used to remove speckle and im- ment systems and augmented reality over- prove the image. lay of information,” said Arun Chhabra, LBO’s “cool” factor lies in its ability to business development manager of DLP turn the projected image into a touch Embedded at TI. Based on feedback from screen via an infrared beam – invisible to developers, he said, “We plan to introduce Light Blue Optics’ laser technology turns the the eye, superimposed over the projected projected image into a touch screen. Courtesy of kits that are targeted at more specific ap- image – and a sensor that detects when Light Blue Optics Ltd. plication areas” to accelerate experimenta- and where the image is touched. tion-to-development time. LBO announced in June that its first as mobile projectors, head-up displays and “Stay tuned over the next six months product will be released to OEM cus- rear-projection TVs. The €16.2 million pro- for exciting developments on this front,” tomers in the fourth quarter of 2009. gram, a consortium of 23 companies and he added. The WWW.Brighter.Eu (World Wide research institutions, began in 2006 with Microvision also is working with OEMs Welfare: High Brightness Semiconductor €9.7 million in European Union funding. to design products that embed its PicoP, Lasers for Generic Use) Project aims to It is scheduled to end in January 2010. which is about the size of an Andes choco- push the limits of current laser diode tech- Over the course of the project, Brighter late mint. Those products might be intro- nology toward high brightness for health announced a series of firsts in lab-based duced in 2010 or 2011, Nichols said. care, telecommunications and displays such records for red, infrared and green lasers. [email protected]

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Northern Lights: The Photonics Industry in Canada

BY LAURA S. MARSHALL ford, managing director of the Centre for with more than 250 workers; most are MANAGING EDITOR Photonics, part of the Ontario Centres of subsidiaries of US corporations, he Excellence (OCE), which supports re- reported. Small and medium enter- anada is a pretty big place: Its sur- search commercialization and connects prises employ nearly 20 percent of face area is 9,984,670 km2, which academe with industry. “The industry sec- workers, while startups employ Cmeans that only Russia and Antarc- tor is mature and successful, including only 4 percent. tica are bigger. And photonics is pretty big globally competitive large firms, nimble The Ontario Photonics Industry in Canada, too. small and medium enterprises, and a small Network (OPIN), in which both The country is strong in a wide variety but vibrant start-up community.” Wilford and Fielding play key roles, of photonic areas, according to a January The Ottawa area, traditionally the focal works to promote photonics through 2009 survey by the Canadian Photonics point of Ontario photonics, is home to various initiatives, from offering spon- Consortium (CPC). These include research communications companies such as Nor- sorships to enable members of the industry capability and infrastructure; industry- tel, JDS Uniphase Corp., Cisco Systems to attend trade shows to compiling and academic cluster activity, especially in On- Inc. and Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc. “This distributing promotional materials on tario and Québec; systems integration; op- created a strong ecosystem focused on photonics in the province. tical communications; image sensors and communications,” said John Fielding, a On the academic side, Ontario is home vision systems; short-pulse laser technol- director of business development at OCE. to university groups and world-class ogy; and emerging biophotonics capability. But that all changed in the early 2000s, research institutes such as the Canadian Canadian photonics technologies are when the telecom bubble burst. “One of Photonics Fabrication Centre in Ottawa, used worldwide in defense and security; the effects of the bubble,” he said, “was which Fielding described as a unique-to- health and medicine; manufacturing; that the technical and entrepreneurial Canada photonics fabrication facility that energy and lighting; communications; people took their communications expert- allows companies to do small fabrication consumer goods; environmental protec- ise and applied it to other technology sec- runs. tion; sensing and measurement in the oil, tors [including] biomedical, photovoltaics, “Ontario has developed a strong capa- gas, paper and forestry industries; and industrial photonics and lighting.” bility in biophotonics, principally at the even entertainment. Today, Ontario’s photonics industry is University Health Network in Toronto,” The nearly 400 photonics companies fairly balanced across six market sectors, Wilford said. The network’s Laboratory in Canada employ a total of more than according to Fielding: information and for Applied Biophotonics (LAB), he said, 20,000 people, collectively generating communications technologies, health and has partnered with the Centre for Biopho- close to 4.4 billion CAD per year, accord- life sciences, defense and security, lighting tonics Science and Technology at the Uni- ing to the CPC report. Approximately 85 energy and environmental photonics, in- versity of California, Davis. “LAB is a percent of that revenue comes from dustrial photonics, and the entertainment unique model – embedded within exports, and 50 percent of those exports and consumer segments. And although Canada’s largest research hospital com- head to the US. there is still significant activity in Ottawa, plex and seamlessly integrated with its In a country with so much space, clus- the industry distribution has spread to biomedical research, clinical trials and ters are only natural. The province of other cities, such as Toronto and Waterloo. medical delivery capacities.” Ontario is known for biophotonics, In Ontario, 41 percent of all photonics according to the CPC, while Québec is jobs are in the research-and-development Québec known for sensing, although both regions area, according to a March 2009 report Ontario isn’t the only photonics hot spot have plenty going on in all photonics dis- authored by Wilford. Nearly a third of in Canada. Industry and research are ciplines. Activity is more scattered in the jobs are in manufacturing, with the rest booming in Québec as well. Most of the western provinces. almost evenly divided between adminis - companies are located in Montréal and tration and small-/medium-business de - Québec City; a few others can be found in Ontario velopment. the Sherbrooke and Gatineau areas. “Ontario has a strong track record of More than three-quarters of photonics “The key factors driving the photonics excellence in photonics,” said Don Wil- employees work for large companies industry in the province of Québec,” said

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Dr. Michel Têtu, an emeritus professor trometer maker ABB and laser beam test- “The photonics industry in Québec from Université Laval in Québec City, ing equipment manufacturer Gentec-EO. province is mainly small and medium en- “are the availability of highly qualified The Centre d’optique, photonique et terprises which are very diverse, covering technical personnel, the presence of laser (COPL) is Canada’s largest univer- many application domains,” said Robert world-class research centers and institutes sity research center in optics/photonics. Corriveau, president and CEO of the working closely with industry, the proxim- As a strategic cluster of optics/photonics Québec City-based Canadian Institute for ity to key markets in the US and Canada, researchers from a number of Québec Photonic Innovations (CIPI), part of the a dynamic business environment and a province universities, COPL strives to national Network of Centres of Excel- strong commitment from governments to perform both fundamental and applied lence. CIPI fosters interaction among support the industry. research; to support industry; and to train Canadian scientists from universities, Québec City, the provincial capital, has the next generation of optics/photonics government and industry through research taken special care to home in on photonics scientists. Other Québec research institu- and networking programs. in its quest to build a tech-centered cre- tions with wide-ranging interests include More than 100 companies in the ative economy. the National Optics Institute, a design and province generate nearly 5000 jobs; in Local economic development agency development firm based in Québec City, 2007, 1685 of those jobs fell into the Pôle Québec Chaudière-Appalaches works and the Defence R&D Canada facility in research category. Sixty-nine percent of closely with Montréal-based Investisse- Valcartier, Québec. Québec photonics companies employ ment Québec as well as area companies and institutions to ensure the success of photonics-related endeavors. Pôle does it all, from facilitating the formation of research and business partnerships between local entities to hosting events and conferences to promoting the area as a desirable spot for expanding foreign companies. Nonprofit photonics advancement group Québec Photonic Network (QPN), of which Têtu also is president and CEO, serves as a networking and information hub, working to bring together companies, government departments and organizations involved in the area’s optics-photonics industry. Pôle and the QPN have a big job because there is so much going on with photonics in Québec. The Pavilion of Optics and Photonics (POP), which opened in 2006 at Université Laval in Québec City, is the “We have a strong history in optics and home of the Centre d’optique, photonique et laser and the administrative office of the Canadian Institute for photonics research activities dating back Photonic Innovations. Courtesy of Pierre Bolduc. to the late forties, Têtu said. Research centers strive to innovate at the basic research and industrial levels; so do major companies such as test and measurement leader Exfo, health science and optoelectronics market powerhouse PerkinElmer, spec-

Québec City is a hot spot for photonics innovation in Canada. POP is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratory systems and devices. Courtesy of Pierre Bolduc.

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Consumer Research 2% 4% Other 3%

Health Care & Life Energy & Environment Sciences 18% 15%

Information & Defense & Security Communication Technologies 12% 20%

Manufacturing 26%

Source: Canadian Photonics Consortium

fewer than 50 employees, according to a The prairie provinces – Alberta, May 2007 report produced by the QPN; Saskatchewan and Manitoba – have 95 only 3 percent employ more than 300. But photonics companies, employing almost companies with more than 300 employees 3000 people among the three of them. In offer 27 percent of the jobs; companies British Columbia, there are 50 companies, that employ more than 100 and fewer than creating more than 2000 jobs. 300 workers make up 38 percent of the And even the Atlantic provinces, which job market. are made up of Nova Scotia, New Bruns - Corriveau said that, because Québec’s wick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward photonics companies tend to be smaller, as Island, have a total of eight companies opposed to mass-production companies, that employ more than 300 people among “they were less affected by the economic them. Collectively, the prairies, the Atlan - crisis.” tic provinces and British Columbia gener- Québec has a striking spirit of coopera- ate 796 million CAD, far less than the 3.6 tion between researchers and businesses – billion CAD raked in by Ontario and even those competing for the same fund- Québec. There do not appear to be any ing and the same customer base seem to photonics companies in the Northwest have little difficulty pooling resources to Territories, the Yukon Territory or develop photonic solutions. Nunavut. “Québec City is spread over a relatively Several glimmers of photonics activity small area with a tightly knit society. So outside Ontario and Québec are occurring the members of the scientific and engi- at institutions such as the University of neering community know each other Alberta in Edmonton and the National or/and they have common contacts. The Research Council’s National Institute of same can also be said for the commercial Nanotechnology, which also is in Edmon- community and others,” Têtu said. “That’s ton and is affiliated with the university. probably why we can more easily partner There also are photonics groups and on a collaborative effort. This being said, projects at other universities, including the we also recognize that the market is inter- University of Victoria in British Columbia, national, and the competition is interna- the University of British Columbia in tional. So we have to join efforts to face Vancouver and the University of Calgary the challenge of being competitive at the in Alberta. The University of Saskatche - international level.” wan in Saskatoon is home to the Canadian Light Source, the national center for syn- Elsewhere in Canada chrotron research. Other regions of Canada are a little less Because Ontario and Québec have done organized than Québec and Ontario in so well with the cluster model, the CPC has their efforts to take advantage of photon- encouraged the other provinces to develop ics, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a focused plan and a dedicated cluster to glimmers of activity. support and promote photonics innovation.

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Education cause of building up the number A number of Canadian universities have of Canadian photonics engineers and photonics groups or centers. Algonquin technicians and of attracting younger College in Ottawa offers diploma and students to science and technology bachelor’s degree programs, while Laval careers. students can earn a master’s degree in biophotonics. McMaster University in Outlook and goals Hamilton, Ontario, has a bachelor’s degree As big as photonics is in Canada, there in applied engineering in photonics, and is always room for growth. the University of Waterloo in Ontario The CPC has outlined some strategies offers a certificate in education for pho- for general success: Photonics companies tonics professionals. Brock College in St. should be more proactive about reaching Catharines, Ontario, even offers a graduate out to customers, to ensure the develop- certificate in lasers. ment of photonic solutions that will fit Around the world, photonics as a field their needs. Clusters and national photon- has been suffering from a general lack of ics organizations should establish informa- trained engineers and technicians, and the tion portals to facilitate knowledge CPC reports that this is the case in Canada exchange between companies and re- as well. “Apart from the university educa- searchers. Canadian technology should be tion, there is not much exposure to pho- increasingly commercialized, perhaps via tonics for students at the primary- and interagency programs using alternative fi- secondary-school levels,” Têtu noted. nancing and technology transfer methods, But organizations such as the Ontario to ensure that technological developments Photonics Education and Training Associ- are exploited to the maximum. R&D ef- ation, which was founded by another OCE forts, the group advised, should focus on director of business development, Marc areas of strategic importance to Canada. Nantel, and the QPN have adopted the [email protected] Photonics in Canada: By the Numbers Province/Region Companies Employees Revenues Québec 104 4750 600M CAD Ontario 117 10,200 3.0B CAD Prairies 95 2990 330M CAD British Columbia 50 2010 430M CAD Atlantic 8 310 36M CAD Totals 374 20,260 4.4B CAD

Source: “Making Light Work for Canada,” Canadian Photonics Consortium

Niagara College’s Welland campus in Ontario has a photonics lab with a cleanroom for laser research. Courtesy of Niagara College.

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TeamPatent: A building block for developing a patent application

new online patent application dated service provider that will help when line. Clients can create a user name and a drafting program may provide in- applying for a patent. password-protected account that keeps all Aventors with an easy-to-use appli- “While filing patent applications using documents secure, and all communication cation developer that automates much of MSWord and a drawing program such as on the server is encrypted. The Web ad- the process. Visio or Canvas, I’ve found the process in- dress is www.teampatent.com. Professional patent filers and inventors credibly expensive, tedious and archaic,” The first step of the process is to either can now set up their applications quickly in he said. To overcome these problems, he integrate an existing application document an application skeleton that organizes and devised an economical, motivating word into an application skeleton or to build one associates claim terms, part numbers and processor. from scratch on the Web site. Inventors drawings. The program, called TeamPatent, “TeamPatent has streamlined my work are prompted to include the title of the enhances productivity and quality by reduc- flow,” said Barry Rabin, CEO of Sage product, an abstract and summary, any ing errors, by reducing the cost of employ- Technology & Development LLC and a federally sponsored research, prior art, ing an attorney to assess the finished appli- developer of four patents using the sys- claims, advantages of the product and de- cation and by eliminating the need for a tem. He said it has allowed him “to focus scriptions of figures. draftsman to interpret the drawings. on the technical aspects of creating a new Images can be uploaded into the sys- Formulated in 2005 by Rocky Kahn, an patent application rather than having to tem, and a drawing editor enables users to experienced patent filer, the system was worry about the tedious tasks of format- place call-outs – numbered labels to iden- made available to the public in April. ting the document or worrying about tify specific components – for each indi- Kahn, who heads TeamPatent LLC, has whether claim terms have been properly vidual part. By clicking on a call-out, written 23 patents, including a modern op- supported.” users can move from a drawing to the tical mouse for a handheld solid-state part reference located in the text. A part- scanner. He believes that the program, Design scheme manager pane, which shows a complete which is funded by the National Science There is no software to be downloaded list of all components, allows for easier Foundation, is due for an easier and up- because the program works entirely on- detection of a component within the text and drawings. After incorporating the text, the system automatically identifies part and figure references by marking them blue for valid, supported items, or red for invalid, incon- sistent items. When a part reference is red, it may mean that two part names conflict – e.g., coil 15 and heater 15 – letting users know that they can rename or renumber one of the references. If both items are the same part – e.g., optical amplifier 15 and amplifier 15 – the user can change the name of one of the items to make them synonymous. Other facets of the site include a claims outline for easier reading and editing, a figure manager for viewing all drawings and part references, and a preview menu that illustrates what the final application will look like. When the application is completed, inventors can export the file into MSWord or Adobe Acrobat as a pdf Visitors to TeamPatent LLC’s Web site can examine their patent application before using the company’s drafting version. program. Presented is a specifications pane (left), which comprises a detailed report of an uploaded drawing Once an inventor has learned how to of the invention (in this example, a massager). A figure manager pane (top right) shows the actual drawing of use it, it can really speed things up, ac- the referred description, and a part manager (bottom right) lists each part called out in the drawing. Part references that are valid – having supported and consistent names – are automatically displayed in blue, while in- cording to Erin-Michael Gill, a former valid terms are in red, notifying the user to rename or renumber the components. patent examiner and author of the IP man-

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agement blog e^(ip) at www.gillip.com. the entire time the application is being an- “But, it does take some time. You’re not alyzed, enabling last-minute changes and just going to walk into it and use it as a simultaneous follow-up with collaborators normal text editor.” in separate locations. “TeamPatent allows multiple inventors to participate more Collaborators at work fully throughout the process,” Gill said. Once an application has been developed, it’s time for an attorney to review Upgrades the text, which can be a long and expen- Kahn plans to extend TeamPatent’s edi- sive process. Being able to establish in- tor for third-party developers, including consistencies or errors and to precisely de- those who handle academic papers, elec- note a relationship between a part and the tronic medical health records, user manu- location in which it appears in the claims als and software wire frames. beforehand enable faster evaluation and He hopes that TeamPatent will become lower cost. a vital application processor for inventors Gill said professional patent drafting around the world, with the US and foreign can cost from $300 to $900 an hour. “The patent and trademark offices using the site more time that [inventors] spend on tools to reduce the time needed to examine like TeamPatent, fleshing out their inven- patent applications. tion, improving the description, carefully “At some point, it will be considered mapping it to the drawings and getting malpractice not to run a patent filing their application ready for a patent profes- through a system like TeamPatent,” he sional, overall the application should cost said. significantly less to prepare.” Amanda D. Francoeur Inventors will have access to their files [email protected]

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BRIGHT IDEAS High-Speed Cameras Cameras in the HX series introduced by Baumer Ltd. capture 1.3-megapixel images at rates of up to 500 fps and are suitable for use in ultrafast machine vision applications. The CMOS cameras produce 1280 ϫ 1024-pixel resolution and can deliver up to 120,000 fps by restricting image data to one, two or three regions of interest within the full frame. They support the Camera Link standard and offer multiexposure capability and a data transfer rate of up to 680 MB/s. Available in monochrome and color versions and housed in a compact and lightweight aluminum housing, the cameras have a dynamic range of up to 90 dB. Baumer [email protected]

Nanopositioning Stage The PK line of X-Y nanopositioning and nanoscanning stages unveiled by piezosystem jena Inc. offers 100 ϫ 100-mm clearance, flatness, parallel kinematics and configurability. Measuring 15 mm high, the stages achieve sub- nanometer positioning accuracy. Actuation can be performed with any of the company’s PX or nanoX elements, and the stroke range goes up to 700 µm. Built with a frame-in-frame support, the stage has an inner frame that is suspended in the outer one, resulting in dual guidance. The stages have two kinds of optionally integrated metrology, and the company offers a number of options for materials, including nonmagnetic. piezosystem jena [email protected] Frame Grabber The Xcelera-CL LX1 Base frame grabber announced by Dalsa Corp. is for use with Camera Link Base cameras. The company says that the board is easy to set up and use, delivers reliable image acquisition and offers extensive software support. Designed for the PCI Express x1 interface, the frame grabber can acquire images from a variety of multitap area- and line-scan, color and monochrome cameras. Camera Link is supported up to 85 MHz, and the device is Power Over Camera Link-compliant. The included Sapera Essential software features 1-/2-D bar codes, optical character recognition, pattern finding, color and blob analysis, and lens correction tools. Dalsa [email protected]

Microscope System Carl Zeiss MicroImaging Inc. has launched the second generation of its Axio Imager microscope system for use in materials microscopy applications. The optical system provides information about the sample in bright- and dark-field, and in confocal and differential in- terference contrast techniques. The M2m and Z2m models have motorized focus and reflected-light beam paths, and the latter offers automatic component recognition. All models feature the ability to combine reflected and transmitted light, access to the luminous field and aperture diaphragms in the reflected- light beam path, exchangeability of the fine-drive knob and the fine-drive disk, and a redesigned transmitted-light beam path for homogeneous illumination, even at low objective magnifications. Carl Zeiss MicroImaging [email protected]

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Safety Controller tracks the Internet protocol address, the host can wafer thickness from 150 to 300 µm. Up to name and the Internet service provider being 1800 solar cells can be processed per hour. used after the camera has been lost or stolen Jenoptik Laserdiode and then connected to the Internet. It also is [email protected] used for asset management when multiple cameras are deployed in the field. When track- Joulemeter Probes ing is activated, each time a camera is connected to a computer with Internet access, an e-mail is sent to the owner with a link to an updated location report. Flir Systems [email protected]

Sick Inc. has unveiled the FX3 Flexi Soft modu- Cooled Camera lar safety controller. Designed for adaptation to The Alta U16M high-performance cooled cam- safety applications for small- to medium-size era system from Apogee Instruments Inc. has a machines, the controller is expandable from 12 16-megapixel full-frame sensor with a 4096 ϫ to 144 inputs/outputs. It is software-program- 4096 array size. The system offers microlensing mable and offers features to increase the and blooming gates, making it useful for appli- response time of the machine as well as an cations in astrophotography, sky surveys, radiol- enhanced functional interface. Hardware and ogy, and optical and nondestructive testing. It software configuration for the system is done has 32 MB of camera memory and a USB 2.0 Spectrum Detector Inc.’s two new models of the using a drag-and-drop feature. interface, and it can be cooled to between 45 “delta” joulemeter probes are compatible with Sick and 70 °C below ambient, depending on the its delta-DPM USB-based digital power module. [email protected] housing selected. The dynamic range is 79 dB, Model DPJ-25-OB features a black absorbing and anti-blooming is >100ϫ. ActiveX drivers coating for flat spectral response across the Camera Tracking Software are included with each system. spectrum, while model DPJ-25-DC has a fast, Apogee Instruments diffuse metallic coating and is capable of pulsed [email protected] measurements at >40,000 pps. Both versions have an aperture diameter of 23 mm and a Laser Processing Machine spectral range of 0.25 to 15 µm. Jenoptik Laserdiode Spectrum Detector GmbH’s Lasers & [email protected] Material Processing Div. has released PQS Lasers the Jenoptik-Votan The 1064-nm pas- Solas 1800, a laser sively Q-switched system that drills (PQS) laser within 1 s up to series from 100 tiny through Teem Pho- holes into crys- tonics SA talline solar cells for has applications in back-side contacts marking hard materials and via metal or emitter wrap-through technology. in biophotonics. Users have the ThermaTrak, introduced by Flir Systems Inc., is Available as a stand-alone system or as a mod- option to vary the lasers’ average out- a high-tech service for locating missing or ule for integration into existing production envi- put power. The SNP-400P provides 400 mW of stolen infrared cameras and thermal imagers. ronments, it has a disk laser that creates <10- average power, the SNP-30E delivers more than Developed with GadgetTrak Inc., it uses recov- µm holes without microcracks or debris. The 30 µJ per pulse, and the SNP-7PW, 21 µJ per ery software that pinpoints the geographic lo- laser beam is delivered by a scanner, with posi- pulse and 350 mW. cation of lost, stolen or missing cameras. The tioning accuracy of ±10 µm. Wafer sizes of 100, Teem Photonics ThermaTrak software embedded in the camera 125 and 156 mm can be accommodated, as [email protected]

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Temperature Control ILX Lightwave Corp. has released the LDT- 53500 series laser diode thermoelectric chillers. The two models available offer 185- and 370-W cooling capacities as well as temperature control over the range of Ϫ5 to 45 °C. The heat exchanger design and optimized PID control loop constants provide temperature stability of ±0.1 °C at the water outlet. The devices are equipped with multiple interlocks, a removable front panel, external temperature sensing and a USB interface. ILX Lightwave [email protected] Epoxy Compound The 20-3001 NC noncrys- tallizing epoxy potting and encapsulating resin introduced by Epoxies Etc. is a low-viscosity system that forms a bubble-free glasslike finish when cured. Containing no sol- vents or fillers, it is available in black or clear and in 50-, 75-, 200- and 400- ml dual-barrel syringes, or in quarts, gallons and 5-gallon pails. Mix ratio by volume is 1:1 and by weight, 100:83. Operating temperature is from –50 to 150 °C, and tensile strength is 5700 psi. Epoxies Etc. [email protected] Bright Ideas.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:33 AM Page 89

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Spectrophotometer Majantys has unveiled the Probe4Light, a handheld spectrophotometer for spectral and color characterization of LEDs and other light sources. It comprises a miniaturized spectrometer-based sensor and all necessary electronics, and it connects to a PC through a USB port. The Windows software graphical user interface provides access to the spectrum and to color parameters such as color coordinates, dominant wavelength, correlated temperature and color rendering index. Spectral range is 360 to 830 nm, measurement time is adjustable from 1 ms to 1 s, and focal length is 20 mm. Majantys [email protected] Evaluation Kit The 2D MEMS EVK (evaluation kit) released by Opus Microsystems Corp. is a flexible control board for the company’s 2-D MEMS scanning mirror that lets users evaluate mirror performance by setting up scanning frequencies, duty ratios and phase difference of driving signals through an RS-232 graphical user interface. Maximum input current is <100 mA, maximum power consumption is <500 mW, operating temperature is

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from 10 to 40 °C, output frequency is from 320 Fiber Inspection to 50,000 Hz, output duty ratio is 10% to 50%, A system for inspection of fibers between 100 and output duty ratio resolution is 1%. The kit and 1000 µm in diameter has been released by measures 86 ϫ 60 ϫ 13.7 mm. Arden Photonics Ltd. The VF-20 Trio has three Opus Microsystems user-selectable settings with 150-, 500- and [email protected] 1000-µm-diameter fields of view and operates in “inspect” and “interferometric” modes, elimi- DC/DC Converters nating the need for separate inspection equipment for checking end-face quality and flatness. Analog and digital outputs enable use with a video monitor or computer, and the system also is suitable for use with Vytran and other splicer holders. Arden Photonics [email protected]

Murata Power Solutions has expanded its Assembly Platform Okami family of nonisolated point-of-load DC/DC converters with four 10-A and four 16-A output current surface-mount modules. The OKY-T/10 and -T/16 modules are available with either positive or negative on/off logic control, as are the OKY2-T/10 and -T/16 devices, which also feature a sequence/tracking function whereby the output voltage will track an input signal to enable power sequencing. Input voltage ranges from 8.3 to 14 VDC, and output voltage is programmable from 0.75 to 5.5 VDC. The converters are fully compatible with distributed-power Open Standards Alliance specifications. Optocap Ltd. has announced its turnkey pack- Murata Power Solutions aging platform for fiber coupling of optoelec- [email protected] tronic devices. Available are 14-pin butterfly

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packages and TO-cans, and polarization-main- taining, single- and multimode, polycrystalline and high-temperature fibers. A high-quality an- tireflection coating with a variety of lens designs maximizes coupling efficiency. The platform provides solutions for devices including distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, superlumines- cent diodes, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, photodiodes and quantum cascade lasers. Optocap [email protected] XGA LVS Display

The CyberDisplay XGA LVS display manufactured by Kopin Corp. and driven by the proprietary A251 driver application-specific integrated circuit produces full-color 1024 ϫ 768-pixel resolution and has 3.75 ϫ 11.25-µm color dots. It is suitable for use in emerging high-end applications such as virtual reality and 3-D high- definition gaming. The images shown in the 0.57-in.-diagonal display can be magnified by optics to provide large cinemalike pictures. Kopin [email protected]

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Video Decoding redistribution induced by applying an external The VDA- voltage, resulting in operating speeds of up to 1164 video 1 MHz. Wavelength range is from 532 to 4000 decoding nm, beam diameter is <1 mm, and deflection accelerator angle is 10° ±5°. Applications include laser pro- manufactured cessing, 3-D measurement, optical communica- by Matrox tions and recording, displays, imaging, sensing, Graphics Inc. printing and copying. is designed NTT Advanced Technologies for use in [email protected] workstations running Video Management Sys- tem software, and it supports simultaneous de- Green Laser coding of multiple video streams at multiple res- The Lasiris olutions from a variety of cameras and codecs. Green Power- It comprises an information processing video Line 532-nm decoder board and a full high-definition (HD) laser manufac- quad-output board. The former offloads video tured by Stock- decoding from the host CPU, enabling it to erYale Inc. has focus on access control, system configuration a thermoelec- and situation management. The output board tric system and displays multiple individual streams in native fan that main- resolution at full frame rates on up to four HD tain a constant laser diode temperature to im- displays. prove wavelength, power and pointing stabili- Matrox Graphics ties. Available with 50, 100, 150 and 200 mW [email protected] of output power, it is suitable for use in hot steel and glass inspection, positioning, and re-

Beam-Steering Scanner search and development. The TEM00 beam has Along with a KTN scanner chip, NTT Advanced a Gaussian profile and typical M2 of 1.6. Technologies has introduced a KTN (potassium Polarization ratio is 4:1, bore sighting is <3 tantalite niobate) module that is a fully ad- mrad, and operating temperature is from –20 justable multidirectional beam-steering scanner. to 45 °C. The 2 ϫ 3 ϫ 6-cm scanner contains no moving StockerYale parts because the deflection stems from electron [email protected]

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Metrology Systems Lehighton Electronics Inc. has enhanced its 1800 series devices for characterizing solar cells, flat panel displays, wafers up to 450 mm in diameter and coated glass panels. The systems are suitable for in-line integration into the manufacturing of solar products, semiconductors, architectural and automotive glass, microwave food susceptors and plastic substrate products. Sen- sor heads are used for in-line monitoring, and automated conveyor models monitor the unifor- mity of indium tin oxide, transparent conductive oxide, thin films and other coatings on noncon- ductive substrates. Optional statistical process control software provides a warning when uni- formity or sheet-resistance measurements are out of the desired range. Lehighton Electronics [email protected] Fiber Lasers Rofin-Baasel UK Ltd. has announced the FL series high-power fiber lasers. The FL x75 and FL 010 output 750 and 1000 W, respectively. The beam can be coupled with 50- to 600-µm-diameter fiber optics, resulting in beam quality of 2.5 to 30 mm ϫ mrad. The lasers can be used to weld small parts with low thermal distortion

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and minimal heat-affected zones, and steel and Mirror Switch aluminum can be joined with welding depths of several millimeters. The optional beam switch and energy-share modules enable a single laser to be used in up to four work cells. Rofin-Baasel [email protected] Diode Laser Coherent Inc. has introduced a high-power 640-nm red The QuickSwitch 6288 is a microelectromechan- diode laser ical systems-based fiber optic mirror A/B switch module for designed by Electro Standards Laboratories. The use in flow device enables users to access two separate de- cytometry vices on ports A and B via connection through and drug the common port by manual front-panel push discovery. The single-emitter-based turnkey button or over RS-232 serial data remote con- Cube 640-100 produces 100 mW of continu- trol of the switch. If power is lost, the 1300-nm ous-wave output in a 1-mm-diameter beam switch will default to the A position and con- with M2 <1.5. The company says that the laser tinue to transmit data. It supports a gigabyte delivers a higher scan rate and a better signal- data rate and is transparent to data format and to-noise ratio than HeNe models. Maximum speed. All fiber optic ports are duplex multi- output wavelength is 644 nm, ensuring high mode ST with a fiber size of 62.5/125 µm. LEDs transmission through the laser emission band- display the switch position and power status. pass filters used in cytometry instruments and Electro Standards Laboratories good blocking by commonly used detector fil- [email protected] ters. USB, RS-232 and analog interfaces facilitate system integration. Optical Coatings Coherent New optical thin-film coatings from Deposition [email protected] Sciences Inc. can be deposited on materials in-

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cluding Ultem, Zeonex and a variety of polycarbonate plastics. They operate from the visible through the infrared and are suitable for use in LED lighting, medical devices, unmanned aerial vehicle optics and photovoltaic solar systems. The coatings include bandpass filters, dichroics, high reflectors and various metals. Proprietary MicroDyn sputtering deposition technology yields high-performance multilayer thin-film coatings for optics, microelectromechanical systems and other thin-film nanotechnologies. Deposition Sciences [email protected] IR Right-Angle Prisms Edmund Optics Inc.’s infrared right-angle prisms are used to achieve a 90° light path bend. They are available in three substrates. Calcium fluoride provides good transmission

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from 190 nm to 7 µm and is suitable for appli- good electrical insulator. Post curing at 90 to cations throughout the ultraviolet, visible and 125 °C for 30 min yields a glass transition tem- infrared regions. Germanium’s high index of re- perature of >120 °C. fraction suits applications in the 3- to 12-µm re- Master Bond gion, and zinc selenide features high transmis- [email protected] sion from 1 to 16 µm. The uncoated prisms are suitable for use with well-collimated light Micropositioning System sources. The calcium fluoride prisms are avail- The Hexapod able in 12.7-, 25.4- and 38.1-mm sizes. The from Newport germanium and zinc selenide ones are supplied Corp. is a six- in 12.7 and 25.4 mm. axis microposi- Edmund Optics tioning system [email protected] driven by six ac- tuators that ac- UV-Curable Epoxy commodate the Master Bond requirements of Inc.’s UV22 parallel kine- nanosilica- matic systems. The antifriction-coated spherical reinforced joint design provides high rigidity and load ca- UV-curable pacity. The XPS electronic controller masters the epoxy system synchronized transformations from Cartesian cures rapidly input coordinates to the motion of the Hexapod upon exposure kinematic members. It features instrument- to UV light at grade input/output, hardware-based input trig- room tempera- gers, event triggers, high-speed on-the-fly data tures. The <50-nm filler provides high abrasion acquisition and fast transmission control proto- resistance and optical clarity, low shrinkage, col/Internet protocol communication. It has a good physical strength and viscosity of 4000 cy- freely definable virtual pivot point that offers cles per second. The tensile strength of the flexibility in relocating the pivot point and the cured epoxy is >4600 lb/sq in. (psi), and its entire coordinate system through advanced tensile modulus is >500,000 psi. The single- motion algorithms. component system requires no mixing, has a Newport low coefficient of thermal expansion and is a [email protected]

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HAPPENINGS

PAPERS ODF’10 (April 19-21) Yokohama, Japan microelectromechanical systems, silicon and organic photonics, and Deadline: abstracts, October 20 semiconductor and solid-state laser technology in applications such as Papers are encouraged for the Seventh International Conference on automotives, biophotonics and image processing. Contact SPIE, +1 (360) Optics-photonics Design & Fabrication, which is collocated with Lens Expo 676-3290; [email protected]; www.spie.org. 2010. Organizers of ODF’10 will accept a limited number of original papers for presentation. Subject areas to be considered include simula- Speckle 2010 (September 6-9) Rosario, Argentina tion, photonic crystals, near-field optics, thin films, biomedical optics, Deadline: abstracts, November 15 and optical components and systems. Contact Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Proactive Both novice and senior researchers involved in speckle and its applications Inc., +81 78 332 2505; [email protected]; www.odf.jp are invited to present their current work at this international conference. Recent theories, techniques and data analysis approaches as well as the SPIE Photonics Europe (April 12-16) Brussels, Belgium various applications of the speckle effect in areas such as optical testing, Deadline: abstracts, November 9 materials science and experimental mechanics are among the areas to be Organizers of SPIE Photonics Europe invite researchers to contribute their considered. Contact Guillermo Kaufmann, Instituto de Fisica de Rosario, recent findings in areas including sensors, nanometrology, metamaterials, [email protected]; www.speckle2010.com.ar.

OCTOBER [email protected]; www.semiconeuropa.org. Optical Sensing and Imaging (COSI); Femtosec- OFS-20: 20th International Conference ond Laser Microfabrication (LM); and Signal Re- on Optical Fiber Sensors 2009 (Oct. 5-9) 11th Asian Symposium on Information covery and Synthesis (SRS). Contact The Optical Edinburgh, UK. Contact Jenny Bremner, OFS-20 Display (Oct. 7-10) Guangzhou, China. Society, +1 (202) 416-1907; [email protected]; Secretariat, Institute of Physics, +44 20 7470 Contact ASID ’09 Secretariat, c/o Biyun Chen, www.frontiersinoptics.com. 4908; [email protected]; www.ofs20.org. +86 20 8411 0916; [email protected]; www.asid09.org.cn. Image Sensors 2009 (Oct. 12-14) San Diego. OPTO 2009 (Oct. 6-8) Paris. Contact Nadège Contact Derek Mitchell, IntertechPira, +1 (207) Venet, GL Events, +33 1 44 31 82 57; nadege. Frontiers in Optics 2009/Laser Science XXV 781-9615; derek.mitchell@pira-international. [email protected]; www.forum4s.com. (Oct. 11-15) San Jose, Calif. Collocated with com; www.intertechpira.com. the Fall OSA Optics & Photonics Congress, SEMICON Europa 2009 (Oct. 6-8) Dresden, which includes the meetings Advances in Opti- High Power Diode Laser & Systems Meeting Germany. Contact Kelli Torres, SEMI Global cal Materials (AIOM); Adaptive Optics: Methods, (Oct. 14) Coventry, UK. Contact Barbara Neat, Headquarters, +1 (408) 943-6979; Analysis and Applications (AO); Computational Enlighten Meetings Administration, +44 1372

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h HAPPENINGS

750 555; [email protected]; www. Renata Lengui, UKIP Media & Events Ltd., +44 xmarkmedia.com. 1306 743 744; www.testing-expo.com.

Photonex 2009 (Oct. 14-15) Coventry, UK. Second International Workshop on Contact Laurence Devereux, Xmark Media Ltd., Theoretical and Computational Nano- +44 1372 750 555; [email protected]; www. Photonics (TaCoNa-Photonics) (Oct. 28-30) photonex.org. Bad Honnef, Germany. Contact Dmitry N. Chigrin, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Third Boston Workshop on Advanced TCSPC +49 202 439 1452; [email protected]; Techniques (Oct. 15-16) Boston. Contact www.tacona-photonics.org. Becker & Hickl GmbH, +49 30 787 56 32; [email protected]. International Conference on Optics & Photonics (ICOP-2009) (Oct. 30-Nov. 1) Neuroscience 2009 (Oct. 17-21) Chicago. Chandigarh, India. Contact N.S. Mehla, +91 172 Contact Society for Neuroscience, +1 (202) 265 9951; [email protected]; www.csio.res.in. 962-4000; [email protected]; www.sfn.org. Sixth International Symposium on LEDs 2009 (Oct. 20-22) San Diego. Contact Multispectral Image Processing & Pattern Brian Santos, IntertechPira, +1 (207) 781-9618; Recognition (Oct. 30-Nov. 1) Yichang, China. [email protected]. Contact Fa-xiong Zhang, +86 27 8754 0131; [email protected]; www.mippr.cn. MOC ’09: 15th Microoptics Conference (Oct. 25-28) Tokyo. Contact Registration Desk, Event NOVEMBER & Convention House Inc., +81 3 3831 2601; Introduction to Illumination Design Using [email protected]; www.moc2009.com. LightTools Course (Nov. 2-4) Pasadena, Calif. Contact Optical Research Associates, +1 (626) PECS ’09: Ninth International Symposium 795-9101; [email protected]; www.opti on Photon Echo and Coherent Spectroscopy calres.com. (Oct. 26-31) Kazan, Russia. Contact Vitaly V. Samartsev, [email protected]; www.osa.org. ICALEO 2009 (Nov. 2-5) Orlando, Fla. 28th International Congress on Applications of Lasers Automotive Testing Expo 2009 North & Electro-Optics. Contact Laser Institute of Amer- America (Oct. 27-29) Novi, Mich. Contact ica, +1 (800) 345-2737; www.laserinstitute.org.

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98 Photonics Spectra September 2009 909AdIndex.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 11:01 AM Page 99

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p PEREGRINATIONS

An Artist’s Secrets? Projection and Photoluminescence

confirm his attempts to block a snapshot composition on the canvas before it vanished, or to assemble more figures together in a sort of patchwork,” Lapucci said, adding, “To fix the poses of his models, he always traced some scoring.” Lapucci said that there is a “Venetian white” paint that was available in the 17th century that was made of 50 percent lead white and 50 percent barium sulfate. “Its use by the Venetian artists and by Caravaggio could be connected to the camera obscura and should be viewed in this new perspec- tive: as a fluorescent material which allowed the artist to paint in the dark within the camera obscura,” Lapucci said. Light-sensitive and photoluminescent substances were mentioned in the field of natural science by Giovan Battista Della Porta, a 16th-century Italian scholar, scientist and playwright, according to Lapucci. These photoluminescent substances could be magnesium, silver, mercury or arsenic, in combination with chlorine, sulfur and iodide. She added that salts of these substances could be vaporized, nebulized or mixed to the priming components (usually based on gypsum, animal glue, oil or pigment). She said that nondestructive tests have been used to try to identify these substances in the artwork but that these tests are lim- ore than 200 years before the camera was invented, ited: X-ray fluorescence, for example, identifies only heavy Italian Renaissance artist Caravaggio (1571-1610) metals and cannot recognize iodide, arsenic or sulfur. Memployed photographic techniques to develop his “X-ray fluorescence did not find magnesium in Caravag- renowned light and shadow paintings, according to Roberta gio’s artwork, and only a small amount of silver, but it did Lapucci, a teacher and researcher at Studio Art Centers detect mercury everywhere,” Lapucci said. International (SACI) in Florence, Italy. Lapucci said that, consequently, it can be supposed that There is evidence to suggest that the 16th-century artist mercury is located in the priming layer. However, to position and his contemporaries to some extent experimented with mercury with certainty, cross sections (requiring destructive optics – including lenses, the concave mirror and the camera testing) or a new kind of analysis would be needed – a sort of obscura – as aids in their creative process, Lapucci said. Car- x-ray fluorescence that scans for the presence of the element avaggio, for example, is known to have worked in a darkened micron by micron to understand where the mercury is located room and to have illuminated his models through a hole in the and, consequently, whether the artist exposed the primed can- ceiling, and he did not use preliminary drawings, she added. vas to mercury vapors (such as mercury iodide), or mixed the Lapucci’s recent research, which she presented at the Brera materials with the priming components, or applied these Museum in Milan in February 2009 and at the Collegio Ghis- materials over the priming as jelly emulsions. lieri in Pavia in January 2009, both in Italy, provides evidence Caren B. Les that Caravaggio may have projected images onto a canvas [email protected] and used photosensitive materials to fix their outlines. The process may have helped him to better portray the relation- Shown is an ships between the models in a dramatic scene. x-ray image of By the use of photosensitive materials such as mercury Caravaggio’s salts, a permanent image could be produced within the dark- painting The ened studio, which functioned as a camera obscura, Lapucci Beheading of St. John the said. “After the projection of the image, a luminous mono- Baptist and chromatic simulacrum could remain visible on the canvas, cross-section similar to a black-and-white photograph, for about 40 min- analyses taken utes to two hours – only in darkness; a light exposure could from the artwork. have made it vanish,” she explained. “During this time, within the darkened room, the painter could have fixed, with Background: Art historian Roberta Lapucci noted that there is a higher than a luminescent white paint, a monochrome (brown priming average number of left-handed models in works painted by Caravaggio and white paint) sketch of the projected figures.” during an early stage of his career. This observation suggests that he may have been unable to reverse the projected image from left to right with the “To trace the main shapes of the highlights in his composi- system he used at the time, she said. The photo represents Caravaggio’s tion, Caravaggio used a lead white sketch, which seems to painting of St. Catherine.

100 Photonics Spectra September 2009 909_Nusil_PgCVR3.qxd:Layout 1 8/19/09 10:05 AM Page CVR3

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