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Historical Archive (January 2003 - June 2010)
The historic archive provides access to articles published prior to SPIE's acquisition of optics.org in July 2010.

February 2008

Experiments locate light source in silicon nanocrystals 29 Feb 08

A long-standing controversy surrounding the source of light emission in silicon nanostructures has been settled by new experiments in high magnetic fields.

Petawatt laser approaches diffraction limit 29 Feb 08

Adaptive optics and dynamic wavefront control shrink the focal spot to increase the intensity of a pulsed petawatt laser.

Fibre sensor secures optical networks and pipelines 29 Feb 08

A fibre-optic acoustic sensor that can detect a person up to 10 m away could soon be deployed in many demanding security applications. Jacqueline Hewett talks to David Hill at QinetiQ to find out just how sensitive OptaSense is.

Ask the expert: metamaterials 29 Feb 08

Marie Freebody speaks to metamaterial pioneer John Pendry about potential new developments in this exciting field, as well as the hurdles that still stand in the way.

LCD and plasma screens build pressure on CRT markets 28 Feb 08

Shipments of LCD TVs overtook CRT for the first time in 2007, as yearly revenues for the complete television sector exceeded $100 billion.

Scottish universities showcase their talents 28 Feb 08

Knowledge transfer and exchange were top of the agenda as researchers from six Scottish universities met to highlight their open-door policy to interaction with industry.

Power record falls as laser emits 300 TW 27 Feb 08

The most intense laser in the world could improve radiation treatment of cancer and shed new light on ultra fast light-matter interactions.

Lightwire claims silicon photonics advance 27 Feb 08

US startup unveils details of its silicon photonics technology and announces its first product.

Scientists prevent quantum dots from "blinking" 27 Feb 08

Quantum dots can be made to emit single photons more efficiently and reliably by using a new method to suppress quantum dot "blinking".

New applications speed LED market recovery 26 Feb 08

Now much less reliant on mobile phone backlighting, the market for high-brightness LEDs is bouncing back from two years of sluggish growth.

US funds spark holey laser study 26 Feb 08

An academic collaboration with Bell Labs will initially make GaAs quantum cascade lasers, but the long-term aim is to fabricate an electrically-pumped silicon laser.

Business briefs 25 Feb 08

Featuring news from Philips, Quantel, Orbotech, Luminit, 3S Photonics, Firecomms and more.

Laser light detects disease on the breath 22 Feb 08

Scientists could soon be diagnosing disease by using laser spectroscopy to analyse the gas molecules in a patient's breath.

Ireland's optoelectronics growth shows enterprise 22 Feb 08

Ireland's economic growth was dramatic enough to earn the country the nickname of the Celtic Tiger and the photonics industry has played a strong role in this expansion. Tim Hayes went to Cork to see the innovations and technical developments that are being made there.

Qioptiq Group buys Point Source 22 Feb 08

The acquisition brings specialist fibre optic laser capability into Qioptiq's growing laser portfolio.

Tapered fibre improves laser performance 21 Feb 08

A tapered fibre that suppresses nonlinear effects as well as offering cost-effective pump light absorption could soon be deployed in high power fibre lasers and amplifiers.

Photonic crystals speed up all-optical switching 21 Feb 08

A polystyrene photonic crystal that acts as an all-optical switch boasts picosecond response time and low power requirements.

Hybrid optics offer high-end performance 20 Feb 08

optics.org speaks to Edmund Optics about the performance improvements and cost savings it is predicting from its glass-polymer hybrid optics.

Optical lattice beats atomic-clock accuracy 20 Feb 08

Researchers in the US have built a new optical clock from strontium atoms that they claim is the world’s most accurate clock to use neutral atoms.

Blue lasers to emerge intact from format war 19 Feb 08

Impressive growth for GaN laser diodes is still predicted, even if the triumph of Blu-ray leads to a change in Sony and Nichia's relationship.

Varioptic and Seiko team up on liquid lenses 19 Feb 08

Cooperation on manufacturing and marketing aims to build market penetration in camera modules and other large volume products.

Terahertz pulses image hidden art 19 Feb 08

An imaging system that uses terahertz pulses is giving scientists their first glimpse of lost paintings.

Harmonic holography promises ultrafast 3D microscopy 15 Feb 08

A new holographic technique that achieves dynamic high-contrast imaging offers a unique solution for studying biological processes at the molecular level.

Business briefs 15 Feb 08

Featuring news from Trumpf, Planar Systems, Testronic Labs, Thales and more.

INSIDE VIEW: Patent protection essential for success in optoelectronics 15 Feb 08

Companies should consider the patent issues before launching a new product, although not all of them do. Tim Hayes asks patent attorney Anna Molony to explain the steps that they should take.

Ultrafast fibre lasers offer flexible solutions 15 Feb 08

One of today's most active research areas is exploiting ultrafast fibre lasers that produce picosecond or femtosecond pulses. Frank Lison and Thomas Renner of TOPTICA provide a back-to-basics look at the technology and review the emerging applications that could benefit.

Laser turns aluminium into gold-coloured aluminium 13 Feb 08

A femtosecond laser process can create a variety of colours on a metal surface, and could lead to control of material's optical properties from UV to terahertz.

Genome analysis improves optical testing 13 Feb 08

Australian scientists have used genome analysis tools to create a technology that can identify the different sources of noise in optical signal transmission.

Passive matrix OLEDs enable cheaper mobile phone displays 12 Feb 08

Low-power driver technology developed by Dialog Semiconductor will enable low-cost, high-resolution passive matrix OLEDs to be used in mobile phone displays.

Femtosecond laser creates subsurface structures 11 Feb 08

Laser irradiation followed by selective etching can fabricate microchannels and self-assembled nanostructures in sapphire, and could lead to microreactive devices for chemical and biological measurements.

Business briefs 08 Feb 08

Featuring news from JDSU, Tessera, Corning, Flir, Pirelli and more.

Trapping on silicon links biology with photonics 08 Feb 08

Using a laser to manipulate cells on a silicon substrate could be the stepping stone towards medical applications such as drug screening. Marie Freebody finds out how Matthew Lang and David Appleyard overcame the challenges of trapping on and through silicon wafers.

Nanophotonics roadmap sets the agenda for European research 08 Feb 08

A project involving Europe's leading photonics companies and institutions has produced a roadmap that will shape future research funding in nanophotonics.

Incumbent sources resist fibre laser proliferation 08 Feb 08

Fibre lasers have gained market share in applications where they have a distinct advantage over established laser technology. But Tom Hausken of Strategies Unlimited argues that the new and difficult challenge facing fibre-laser developers is how to move into areas where the cost or performance advantage is not so obvious.

Zinc oxide nanolasers stand out 07 Feb 08

Researchers in Germany have fabricated nanorods made from zinc oxide that have been shown to emit laser light.

Rewritable 3D hologram displays for hours 07 Feb 08

A holographic display that allows 3D images to be captured, stored and updated has a promising future in medical and defence applications.

Squeezed light sets low-noise record 06 Feb 08

Reducing the quantum noise in a laser beam by a factor of ten could increase the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors and be used in quantum key cryptography.

Rofin-Sinar builds through growth and acquisition 06 Feb 08

Demand for high-power sources and growth in Asia helped the company post record-breaking first-quarter figures for sales, income and orders.

Business briefs 04 Feb 08

Including news from Rofin-Sinar, Newport, Zygo, Powerlase, and more.

Optical methods expand fluorescence microscopy 01 Feb 08

Recent technological advances in conjunction with major developments in fluorescent markers have made fluorescence microscopy an extremely powerful tool. René Hessling and Thorsten Kues of Carl Zeiss MicroImaging look at the techniques that are allowing researchers to study the structures within live cells in ever greater detail.

Ask the expert: silicon photonics 01 Feb 08

Our new "Ask the expert" feature aims to provide readers with an insight into an emerging field of optics. First up, Intel's Mario Paniccia talks about the latest advances in silicon photonics.

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