A University of Delaware (UD) research team has designed an integrated photonics platform using metasurfaces. To limit the loss of data, the team fabricated a high-contrast transmitarray (HCTA)-based metalens on a silicon-based chip programmed with hundreds of tiny air slots to enable on-chip parallel optical signal processing. The 1D metalens has a numerical aperture up to 2.14, which can focus light to within 10 µm with less than 1 dB loss. Computational tasks based on Fourier transformation (FT) can be performed by cascading multiple layers of the HCTA-based...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESHybrid Metalens Supports Miniaturized Optics for EndoscopyResearchers at Boston University and Harvard University, with colleagues from the Misr University for Science and Technology in Egypt and the University of Waterloo in Canada, developed an...BioPhotonics Jan/Feb 2022 IssueMetalens Uses Heat Rather Than Motion to Shift FocusA new metalens design developed by researchers at MIT, which is able to change its focus without tilting or moving forward or backward, may find use in miniature heat scopes for drones, ultracompact...Photonics Spectra May 2021 IssueMetalens Design Uses Millions of Holes to Focus Light into Single PointResearchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) developed a metalens that uses deep narrow holes, rather than tall pillars, to focus light to a single...Photonics Spectra January 2022 IssueSTMicroelectronics Makes Metasurface Tech from Metalenz Available to Consumers: Week in Brief: 06/10/22S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that ON Semiconductor will replace IPG Photonics in the S&P 500. IPG Photonics will replace Yelp Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400. SANTA CLARA, Calif....Photonics.com 6/10/2022PRODUCTSFiber Optic PyrometerThe PSC-GRF11N pyrometer from Process Sensors Corp. is a fiber optic, two-color device designed for lower starting temperature measurements beginning at 300 °C. Four temperature ranges are...Photonics.com 8/30/2021Laser Propagation SystemThe latest Ophir® M2 BeamSquared® laser propagation system from MKS Instruments Inc. automatically and accurately measures the propagation characteristics of continuous wave and pulsed lasers...Photonics.com 11/2/2021Lidar Receiver SubsystemfanSINKS™ heat sinks from Advanced Thermal Solutions Inc. are designed for component sizes ranging from 27 to 70 mm2. The wider size range accommodates hot semiconductor components,...Photonics.com 11/4/2021Six-axis Hexapod Robotic StageThe H-811 vacuum-compatible miniature six-axis hexapod robotic stage from Physik Instrumente LP provides high-performance and high-accuracy motion in a small package. With a load capacity of 5...Photonics.com 11/29/2021PHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESAspheric Lenses: Design Considerations: This first of two articles will cover design and manufacturing options for aspheres; the second will include more detail on manufacturing and testing processes. These articles will provide the tools optics designers need to tailor their designs to the appropriate manufacturing process and to optimize the cost of component fabrication.Aspheric surfaces are powerful tools that combine the optical corrections of multiple lenses into a single element (Figure 1) and affect performance in ways that spherical optics cannot. For example,...Photonics HandbookSilicon Photonics: Light Is the Ultimate Medium for High-Speed Communications: Thanks to innovations with heterogeneous material integration and multiphotonic layer stacking, silicon photonics will drive optical solutions to high volumes and low costs.Silicon photonics is widely considered a key enabling technology for further development of optical interconnect solutions needed to address growing traffic on the internet. From the first submarine...Photonics HandbookThin-Film Coatings: A Buyers' Guide: The vast majority of optics used in precision scientific, industrial, biomedical, and military applications incorporate thin-film coatings on their surfaces. Therefore, it’s useful for almost anyone involved in the specification and purchase of optical components to have some familiarity with the typical performance characteristics, trade-offs and limitations of various coating types, as well as some knowledge of the capabilities of common thin-film production technologies. This article provides an objective overview of both these topics.What are thin-film coatings? The purpose of any optical thin-film coating is to modify the transmittance and reflectance properties of the substrate material to which they are applied. Most coatings...Photonics HandbookPlastic Optics: Specifying Injection-Molded Polymer Optics: The versatility of polymer optics opens new doors for optical designers who understand the whys and hows of specifications.The use of precision polymer optics is becoming an increasing necessity today as products demand sophisticated light handling components to achieve desired results. Polymer optics can be thought of...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSCharacterizing the temperature-induced evolution of the shape and texture of a silicon waferUsing Linkam’s precision temperature control chamber with Sensofar’s Linnik objective lens eliminates these problems and allows accurate measurement of 3D topographic profiles of nanoscale materials....Photonics.com 12/10/2021New Telecentric Optics with Liquid Lenses TechnologyAnyone familiar with telecentric optics knows very well that the depth of field can be a problem when using high-magnification lenses. Most of the time you either end up using oversized optics or...Photonics.com 10/25/2021Surface Characterization of Tribological Coatings: Wear Properties, Thickness and RoughnessWith the S mart 3D profilometer, it is possible to more precisely measure the volume loss of the wear tracks after the friction and wear tests, since it measures the real shape of the wear track....Photonics.com 12/10/2021Recent Research Using Meadowlark Optics Spatial Light ModulatorsThis ever-evolving collection of recent research using Meadowlark Optics Spatial Light Modulators offers a brief overview of specific applications in which Meadowlark Optics’ Spatial Light Modulators...Photonics.com 9/4/2020WEBINARSActive Metasurfaces for High-performance, Ultracompact Optical SystemsTian Gu outlines the opportunities enabled by and challenges of employing metasurface flat optics in optical systems that are traditionally bulky and complicated. Leveraging a low-loss,...Photonics.com 4/27/2021Photonics Spectra Spectroscopy Conference 2022: April 12 - 13Discover the latest trends in spectroscopy. Join us April 12-13, 2022 at the Photonics Spectra Spectroscopy Conference! The publishers of Photonics Spectra invite you to attend a free virtual...Photonics.com 4/12/2022Achieving Ultralow-Loss Photonics Array AlignmentTwo- and three-dimensional photonics arrays are commonly used for coupling light in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). With increasing demand for ultralow-loss transmission in applications such as...Photonics.com 4/26/2022Compact Metadevices for Flat Optical ComponentsInverse-design is a new paradigm that enables engineers to tap into vast parameter space for designing novel photonic and optical devices, including compact metadevices. Inverse-design approaches can...Photonics.com 11/7/2018PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSlow-loss fiberOptical fiber that transmits a greater percentage of input light than does high-loss step-index fiber. Low-loss fiber requires higher purity materials and a more sophisticated drawing process and...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009adiabatic laser colorimetryMethod for studying absorption coefficients of low-loss materials, in which a sample is allowed to come to thermal equilibrium with its surrounding blackened enclosure. The sample is irradiated with...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009inside vapor-phase oxidation (IVPO)A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is externally applied by a burner that traverses the tube. The oxidizable vapors in...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009fiber-linked array image formatter (FLAIR)A wide-field multiobject spectroscopy system used in astronomy, in which a bundle of low-loss optical fibers positioned on the target images is rearranged at its other end into a linear array along...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIAFundamentally 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 3/29/2018Capasso Group Revolutionizes Flat LensesResearchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a single flat lens that can focus the entire visible spectrum of light in the same spot and in...Photonics.com 7/5/2018Light 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 2/21/2018PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESOptical MaterialsOptical materials are materials that, by virtue of their optical characteristics, are used in optical elements.Pitch Polishing CompoundsA pitch polishing compound is a pitch for polishing mixed with other materials to give it the right viscosity so that it will follow the fine-ground lens surface and yet maintain contact at all times.Germanium CrystalsMagneto-Optic GlassCOMPANIESFOCtek Photonics Inc.FOCtek provides customers with all types of custom manufactured lenses, Precision Optical Components, Polarizing Optics, Prisms, Filters, Coatings, Optical Systems, Crystals, Nonlinear Crystals,...Photonics Buyers' GuideLaCroix Precision OpticsOptics that Defend, Build, Cure and Discover The LaCroix name is synonymous with quality precision optics. Since 1947, three generations of family leadership have placed LaCroix Precision Optics...Photonics Buyers' GuideOhara 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' GuideShanghai Optics Inc.Shanghai Optics is a leading manufacturer of advanced optical components and optical assemblies. Shanghai Optics is an unparalleled custom optical solution provider offering custom optical design and...Photonics Buyers' Guide