BERKELEY, Calif., August 1, 2008 – For the first time, scientists have discovered a way to perform high-resolution x-ray diffraction imaging of an aerogel. Sometimes referred to as “frozen smoke,” aerogels are solid nanoscale foams with a sponge-like structures that are riddled by nanoscale-sized pores. An efficient insulator, aerogels are surprisingly strong given their low density. Many porous materials are extraordinary for their properties as insulators, filters, and catalysts; they are used to produce clean fuels, to insulate windows and even clothing, to study the percolation of oil through rock, as drug-delivery...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESOCT-Based Technique Captures Details of Photoreceptor FunctionResearchers from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have developed an instrument that has measured tiny, light-evoked deformations in individual rods and cones in a living human eye. The...BioPhotonics Nov/Dec 2020 IssueScientists Develop Photocatalyst that can Turn CO2 into FuelIn a recent study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, scientists used a photocatalyst largely made of copper to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol....Photonics Spectra February 2020 IssueQuantum Dot Microscope Can Measure Electric Surface Potentials of Single AtomsA new scanning quantum dot microscopy method can measure the electric potential of a sample at atomic accuracy. It was developed by a team from Forschungszentrum Jülich, working with researchers...Photonics.com 6/18/2019Optical Sensor Based on Plasmonics Quickly Detects Hydrogen GasA new optical nanosensor could be used to quickly detect leaks when hydrogen mixes with air. Hydrogen, a clean and renewable energy carrier, is highly flammable when mixed with air. According to the...Photonics Spectra June 2019 IssuePRODUCTSNanoparticle Raman MicroscopeHORIBA Scientific has announced a nanoparticle-detecting Raman microscope, combining its own Raman microscope with CytoViva Inc.’s hyperspectral imaging microscopy module and enhanced darkfield...BioPhotonics Sep/Oct 2020 IssueNanoparticle AnalyzerThe ZetaView QUATT nanoparticle analyzer from Analytik Ltd. features a multiwavelength video tracking microscope for the rapid analysis of size, concentration, fluorescence, electrophoretic mobility,...Photonics Spectra September 2019 IssueField-Emission Scanning Electron MicroscopeThe F100 FE-SEM field-emission scanning electron microscope from JEOL USA Inc. combines electron optics with fully embedded energy-dispersive spectroscopy (ADS) microanalysis and artificial...Photonics.com 3/16/2020Nanopositioning SystemThe P-616 NanoCube nanopositioning system from Physik Instrumente LP enables fast active alignment and higher scanning speed with integrated sensors for nm-precise closed-loop control. Based on...Photonics.com 5/2/2019PHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESPhotomultipliers: Low-Light, High-Speed Specialists: Rapid detection of light calls for a sensitive detector and electronics that do not introduce additional signal noise. In fact, for very rapid detection, detector shot noise does not determine the signal-to-noise ratio. Instead, the amplifier has the most impact, which is why many designers have selected a photomultiplier tube for the high-speed or low-light-level detection of photons.The applications where rapid detection of light is a must are many. They include a wide variety: semiconductor inspection, gene sequencing, oil well logging and high-energy physics. The reasons for...Photonics HandbookDetector Arrays: Taming the Irregular Shape Problem: Devices that perform well under laboratory conditions often face hurdles in uncontrolled real-world situations. This is true for charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and thermal cameras used in machine vision applications where an object's shape, location and orientation vary. Often the culprit is the detector array.If we were to estimate the output of a CCD or thermal camera, we would typically draw an image over the detectors, aligning the image with the detector axes. We show it this way because it’s...Photonics HandbookDigital Cameras: Smaller Pixels for Higher Resolution: Reducing pixel size can increase a digital camera's performance. However, there are tradeoffs that need to be considered when going that route.In the search for ever-higher pixel counts for the digital still camera, it is clear that, if chip size remains constant, then “more pixels” means “smaller pixels.” The...Photonics HandbookUltraviolet Reflectance Imaging: Applications: Ultraviolet imaging has long been thought to be difficult and awkward by many photographers because of the difficulties encountered when using photographic film in the UV band. Digital ultraviolet imaging is becoming increasingly affordable and lends itself to a number of interesting applications that have been largely overlooked, and digital sensors are available that span the UV spectrum from 200 to 400 nm.Reflected-ultraviolet imaging is a rather mysterious area of the imaging field. There is relatively little actual UV imagery to be found on the Internet or in the literature compared to near-infrared...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSUsing Imaging Colorimeters to Correct OLED, MicroLED, and Other Emissive Displays for Production Efficiency and YieldsImaging colorimeters can improve OLED and microLED display production by ensuring visual quality of displays — measuring brightness and color uniformity at the pixel and subpixel level to correct...Photonics.com 1/14/2021Is It True That Cooled Cameras are More Sensitive than Non-cooled Cameras?The temperature has a significant impact on certain noise sources prevalent in cameras, which contribute to the total readout noise of an image sensor. When electronic devices are operated...Photonics.com 3/19/2019Health and Sanitization through UV LightingWith increased awareness and necessity for rapid disinfection methods due to the current coronavirus pandemic, ultraviolet disinfection has become a viable method to achieve it. Determining the...Photonics.com 6/30/2020Close Is Not Close Enough: Micropositioners' Role In NanopositioningWhen working at the nanoscale, every input has seismic impact on the ability to view, position, or manipulate the object of their attention. Whether the application is in single-molecule...Photonics.com 10/1/2019WEBINARSPhotonics for OphthalmologyPhotonics Media invites you to join us for our upcoming FREE digital conference, "Photonics for Ophthalmology." The event will feature several 15-minute online presentations on the use of light-based...Photonics.com 6/9/2016Biophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital ConferenceResearchers from around the world presented their latest work at “Biophotonic Imaging for Medicine: A Digital Conference.” Presentations focused on a range of light-based imaging and...Photonics.com 6/11/2015Light-Assisted 3-D Bioprinting of Micro- and Nanoscale Functional BiomaterialsFemtosecond laser nanoprinting and projection 3-D bioprinting techniques allow the direct writing of 3-D designer scaffolds used for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. These 3-D...Photonics.com 3/19/2015Developments in Optics and Optical ComponentsFree Webinar Additional Questions & Answers from the Webinar below: Speakers: Dr. Robert R. McLeod Associate Professor and Graduate Director Electrical, Computer and Energy...Photonics.com 5/29/2013PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSnanostructured glassA unique glass made up of nano-structured materials to create millimeter sized monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters which ultimately alter the way light propagates through and is...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopyA spectroscopic technique that combines the high chemical specificity of Raman scattering and signal sensitivity provided by surface plasmon resonance enhancement, with the nanoscale spatial...EDU.photonics.com 6/30/2017single-walled carbon nanotubesReferred to as SWCNTs, these cylindrical nanostructures composed of a folded sheet of graphene can be used as near-infrared markers for small animal multiplex imaging. Emitting at different...EDU.photonics.com 11/14/2016fluorescence decay systemA device, also called a fluorescence lifetime instrument, that measures decay curves of fluorescing samples. It generally consists of a gated pulsed flashlamp or a cavity dumped dye laser...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIALight Matters Extra: Weird and Strange: Quantum Photonics - 03.2018In this month's Light Matters Extra, we take you to the Quantum Photonics Laboratory at MIT run by Dr. Dirk Englund. Dr. Englund's group, the Quantum Photonics Group, is made up of postdocs and...Photonics.com 3/29/2018Photonics on the Showroom Floor and in the Lab - LIGHT MATTERS 02.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you on a brief tour of the Higgins Laboratories at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Quinsigamond Community College and WPI received a $4M grant...Photonics.com 2/21/2018Fundamentally Different Photonics - LIGHT MATTERS 03.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Trade Show in Austin, Texas, as new photonics innovations hit the show floor of the Austin Convention Center....Photonics.com 3/29/2018Flexible Sensors & Seeing through Fire & Smoke - LIGHT MATTERS 02.27.2013-Flexible Transpatent Display -SiLEDs -Holographic Imaging On this week’s show, an image sensor is totally transparent, silicon nanocrystals make colored LEDs, a holographic imager sees through...Photonics.com 2/27/2013PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESElectrically Scanned Image MicroscopesNanomaterialsSemiconductor NanotechnologyNanotechnology SoftwareCOMPANIESOhara Corporation, Western OfficeOhara manufactures precision optical glasses: strip/slab, cut/molded blanks, pressings, high homogeneity blanks, fine gobs, polished ball lenses, near-UV transmitting i-Line glass, ceramic...Photonics Buyers' GuideMeller Optics Inc.Meller Optics has been providing high quality optics to defense, medical, laser and industrial markets for over 50 years. Specializing in grinding and polishing of hard, durable materials such as...Photonics Buyers' GuidePCO-TECH Inc.PCO – three decades as Pioneers in Cameras and Optoelectronics PCO is a Pioneer in Cameras and Optoelectronics with more than 30 years of expert knowledge and experience developing and...Photonics Buyers' GuideGT Advanced Technologies, Advanced Materials GroupGTAT’s Advanced Materials Group (AMG) is the developer of the Heat Exchange Method (HEM), of crystal growth. AMG produces HEM sapphire, HEM Ti:Sapphire and HEM YAG crystals. The group has...Photonics Buyers' Guide