Laser Focus World Newsletter

FOCUS ON > Ultrafast lasers

May 5, 2009

INDUSTRY NEWS
(VIDEO) Michael Lebby speaks out on OPTOmism From May 18-20, 2009, in Santa Clara, CA, OPTOmism will consist of a day-long Executive and Investor Forum featuring more than 30 industry leaders, followed by a two-day Technical Conference with over 70 senior technical leaders--ALL hot topics that explore Green Photonics.
Bookham/Avanex merger creates "Oclaro" entity Bookham and Avanex merged into a new market entity called "Oclaro", now one of the largest providers to the long-haul and metro telecom markets, and the fourth largest provider of optical components and subsystems to the fiber optics market.
LLE scientists discuss efforts to harness fusion power Scientists from around the world met at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) to discuss how to improve experiments using the laboratory's OMEGA laser, an important tool in the pursuit of sustainable nuclear fusion as a source of energy.
Fianium and Point Source each win a 2009 Queen's Award Two British photonics companies, Fianium (Southampton) and Point Source (Hamble), have each won a 2009 Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade. The award is widely regarded as the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a British company and is the U.K.'s top award for business performance.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS
(VIDEO) World's first hard-X-ray laser achieves first light The world's brightest X-ray source came to life last week at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Menlo Park, CA). The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) offers researchers the first use of high-energy X-ray laser light produced in a laboratory.
"World's fastest camera" uses new imager to capture 6 million fps Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a novel, continuously running camera that they say captures images roughly a thousand times faster than any existing conventional camera, including CCD and CMOS types.
Smiths Detection handheld spectrometer identifies suspicious substances Integrated security solutions provider Smiths Detection (Danbury, CT) launched its HazMatID Ranger worldwide, an FTIR chemical spectrometer designed for handheld, backpack, or robot portability, with touch-to-sample operation.
Lasers 'make waves' in the brain Brain waves known as gamma oscillations are believed to be crucial to consciousness, attention, learning, and memory. For the first time, MIT researchers and colleagues have found a way to induce gamma waves by shining laser light directly onto the brains of mice.

NEW PRODUCTS

Color correction filters are ideal for LED lighting design
Abrisa has introduced new color correction filters for energy-efficient LEDs, ideal for interior and architectural lighting design where the harsh light of white LEDs is unwanted or the customer may require brighter color saturation or subtle diffusion. Color correction using dichroic LED filters is a convenient solution in applications that involve a variety of colors or customized lighting tasks.
Abrisa; Santa Paula, CA

Integrating-sphere light source spans wide light-output range
Gigahertz-Optik's model ISS-8K-100-VAHP integrating-sphere light source boasts uniformity within the 19-mm-diameter light output port area, equal to or better than 98% within 90% of the port diameter. It is based on an 80-mm-diameter integrating sphere made from ODM98--Gigahertz-Optik's optically diffuse material that offers greater than 98% white-diffuse reflectance throughout the visible and NIR spectral range. Gigahertz-Optik; Newburyport, MA

LumaCore connects large-core optical fibers
Molex LumaCore-based interconnects can incorporate Polymicro's large core, optical fibers. By adding the capability to terminate Polymicro Technologies' large-core optical fibers with specialty coatings in the LumaCore line, Molex can deliver a solution that withstands extreme operating conditions for sensing, high-power delivery, illumination, and aerospace applications.
Molex; Lisle, IL

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FOCUS ON: Ultrafast lasers
New tools compress and shape ultrafast pulses Researchers can manipulate femtosecond laser pulses as never before, benefiting applications from biological imaging to terahertz spectroscopy and quantum reaction control.
Femtosecond fiber laser enables reliable wafer-level processing Wafers singulated by a high-repetition-rate femtosecond fiber laser at high scan speeds show significantly higher breakage strength than those processed by a nanosecond laser.
Ultrashort pulses write sharp, tiny features and perform microsurgery Sharply focused femtosecond pulses create strong nonlinear effects inside solids that can alter the properties of materials on subwavelength scales, writing waveguides and gratings, and creating voids. They also are used in biomedicine.
Defining ultrafast fiber lasers is a tricky business Ultrafast lasers have long been confined to a sleepy corner of the laser market, reserved for the most exotic R&D applications. Now, not only does it seem that every laser supplier is offering an ultrafast laser, but a great many of them are offering ultrafast fiber lasers, and now two even offer ultrafast thin-disk lasers.