October 2012 Vol. 26, No. 5 www.PhotonicsSociety.org Space division multiplexing: MIMO and multimode fi ber communications Optical wireless communication: DSP with LED lighting Also inside: • Highlights from Summer Topical on High Power Semiconductor Lasers • Technology Management Council – The importance of conversation Another Gen2 Product from the Leader in Polarization Control www.generalphotonics.comwww.generalpww era photootonics.comn MultifunctionMultifunction PolarizationPolarization ControllerController Speed! 20,000 More processing SOPs/s power than your old PC! Stealthy! USB, Ethernet, Low PMD, GPIB and RS-232 PDL and IL Flexible! Five Modes of Operation Bright! 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Chow et al. .9 Dichroic News . .14 6 Mirror λ MMFin MMF MMFout s EDFA • Call for Nominations: IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Distinguished Signal Module Attenuator Lecturer Awards LP01 LP • Call for Nominations: IEEE Photonics Award 11a λ p Mode Pump LP11b • Nominations for IEEE Awards Source Combiner LPmn Careers and Awards . .18 Collimating Lens • IEEE Photonics Society Awards Deadline • IEEE Photonics Society 2012 Graduate Student Fellowship recipients • IEEE Technology Management Council Membership . .26 11 • Benefits of IEEE Senior Membership Conferences. 27 • IPS Conference Calendar • ACP preview • IEEE Photonics Society Summer Topical Wrap up • OFC 2013 – Call for papers • International Semiconductor Laser Conference 2012 • Optical Interconnects Conference 2013 • IPS Conference Management • Forthcoming events with ICO participation • 2012 IPS Co-Sponsored Calendar • 2013 IEEE ITMC – Call for papers 24 Publications . 39 • Photonics Journal Flyer • Call for Papers: – JSTQE: Semiconductor Lasers – JSTQE: Numerical Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices – JSTQE: Graphene Optoelectronics COLUMNS Editor’s Column . 2 President’s Column . 3 October 2012 IEEE PHOTONICS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 1 Editor’s IEEE Photonics Society Column HON TSANG President Newsletter Staff Hideo Kuwahara Executive Editor Fujitsu Laboratories An important area of applications, driving the research Hon K. Tsang 4-1-1, Kamikodanaka, Nakahara Department of Electronic Engineering that has led to many of the advances in photonics in the Kawasaki, 211-8588, Japan The Chinese University of Hong Kong Tel: +81 44 754 2068 last thirty years is optical communications. The advances Shatin, Hong Kong Fax: +81 44 754 2580 Tel: +852 - 39438254 in fiber optic networks have sustained the exponential Email: [email protected] Fax: +852 - 26035558 growth of both the internet and today’s mobile 3G and Past President Email: [email protected] 4G networks. Although many research funding agen- James Coleman Dept of E & C Engineering Associate Editor of Asia cies today regard optical communications as a relatively University of Illinois & Pacific mature technology, and place higher priority on other 208 N. Wright Street Christina Lim Urbana, IL 81801-2355 Department of Electrical & application areas which may have more impact to soci- Tel: +217 333 2555 Electronic Engineering ety, there is still room for some quite interesting research Email: [email protected] The University of Melbourne VIC 3010 Australia in optical communications. In this month’s research Secretrary-Treasurer Tel: +61-3-8344-4486 highlights section we look at a couple of promising new Dalma Novak Email: [email protected] Pharad, LLC directions in optical communications. Spatial division 797 Cromwell Park Drive Associate Editor of Canada multiplexing is attracting interest as one of the possible Suite V Lawrence R. Chen Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Department of Electrical & approaches to increase transmission capacity even when Tel: +410 590 3333 Computer Engineering all the possible wavelengths in a dense wavelength di- Email: [email protected] McConnell Engineering Building, Rm 633 vision multiplexing (DWDM) fiber link are fully used. Executive Director Richard Linke McGill University The first paper in the Research Highlights section of this IEEE Photonics Society 3480 University St. month describes spatial division multiplexing (SDM) 445 Hoes Lane Montreal, Quebec Piscataway, NJ 08854-1331 Canada H3A-2A7 may be used in few mode fibers and the use of digital Tel: +1 732 562 3891 Tel: +514 398 1879 signal processing (DSP) techniques to recover the trans- Fax: +1 732 562 8434 Fax: 514 398 3127 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] mitted signals. Today wifi networks are a ubiquitous Board of Governors Associate Editor of Europe/ part of our daily lives. The second paper in the Research P. A n d rek so n A . K i r k Mid East/Africa Highlights section describes an interesting possible al- Y. Arakawa F. Koyama Kevin A. Williams S. Bigo J. McInerney Eindhoven University of Technology ternative to wifi for wireless networks. The approach, J. Capmany L. Nelson Inter-University Research Institute based on the modulation of visible light from light emit- M. Glick D. Novak COBRA on Communication P. J uod a w l k i s P. Sm ow to n ting diodes used for room lighting, is still in its early Technology Vice Presidents Department of Electrical infancy but already the application of DSP techniques Conferences - K. Choquette Engineering have been shown to allow useful data bandwidths to be Finance & Administration – C. Jagadish PO Box 513 Membership & Regional 5600 MB Eindhoven, achieved using of direct modulation of LEDs for general Activities – J. Kash The Netherlands lighting. In the Career’s section of the Newsletter, IEEE Publications – B. Tkach Email: [email protected] Technical Affairs – T. Koch Life Fellow Gus Gaynor shares his experience on the im- Staff Editor Lisa Manteria portance of conversation in leadership and management. IEEE Photonics Society Gus Gaynor is currently also the VP of publications for 445 Hoes Lane the IEEE Technology Management Council (TMC). If, Piscataway, NJ 08854 Tel: 1 732 465 6662 like me, you were unfamiliar with IEEE TMC, you will Fax: 1 732 981 1138 find some interesting information about the TMC in the Email: [email protected] URL after this article, for example IEEE Photonics Soci- IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying. For more information, visit http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html. ety is one of the 14 member societies in the TMC. In the Conference section, Gary Smith highlights some of the IEEE Photonics Society News (USPS 014-023) is published bimonth- talks from the summer topical meeting on High Power ly by the Photonics Society of the Institute of Electrical and Lasers held in Seattle in July. January 2013 will mark the Electronics Engineers, Inc., Corporate Office: 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10017-2394. Printed in the USA. One dollar per 50th anniversary of IEEE and we will have a special sec- member per year is included in the Society fee for each member tion in the next issue of the newsletter to commemorate of the Photonics Society. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address this anniversary. I hope you enjoy this month’s articles changes to Photonics Society Newsletter, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, and as always, we welcome any comments and sugges- Piscataway, NJ 08854. tions on we may improve the Newsletter! Copyright © 2012 by IEEE: Permission to copy without fee all or part of any material without a copyright notice is granted pro- Hon Tsang vided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct com- mercial advantage, and the title of the publication and its date appear on each copy. To copy material with a copyright notice requires specific permission. Please direct all inquiries or requests to IEEE Copyrights Office. 2 IEEE PHOTONICS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER October 2012 President’s Column HIDEO KUWAHARA Photonics Technology is Wide Ranging access megajournal spanning all IEEE fields of interest. Our Recently I read an article in a premier Japanese newspaper IPS already has Photonics Journal, the first open access journal focusing on recent rapid progress in the area of optogenetics, in the IEEE, which now will become a full OA and promote where optical signals are used to observe and manipulate the rapid publication. behavior of neurons in the brain. Recent experimental