WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 6, 2017 — NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which will look for signs of past life on Mars, will use smart methods originally developed to find the oldest life on Earth. A concept image of the Mars 2020 Rover. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech. The 2020 mission builds on the successes of prior rovers to make coordinated measurements that could detect signs of ancient life – or biosignatures – in their original spatial context. These techniques, known as spatially resolved biosignature analysis, derive from geochemical analysis of early life on Earth. "Previous missions to Mars have used a...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESNASA Puts Psyche Mission Launch on HoldNASA will delay the launch of its Psyche asteroid mission, an operation that is designed to explore a metal-rich asteroid and test optical communication technologies. Due to the late delivery of the...Photonics.com 6/30/20222021 Prism Awards Honor Photonics InnovationsEarlier today during the Prism Awards, SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Photonics Media recognized top optics and photonics products on the market. A 32K-resolution...Photonics.com 3/3/2021Porotech to Unveil Dynamic Pixel Tuning for Micro-LEDs: Week in Brief: 05/06/22VIGO Photonics opened its first office in the U.S., in St. Petersburg, Fla. The North American headquarters is headed by Scott Riggi and will serve as the primary interface for customers in the U.S.,...Photonics.com 5/6/2022Photonic Instruments, Components Driving (and Steering) NASA’s Mars RoverNumerous photonic devices and applications are contributing to the pursuit of microbial life on Mars, or, more accurately, the quest to determine if, among other novel possibilities, such lifeforms...Photonics.com 8/19/2020PRODUCTSUncooled IR DetectorThe BXP-25E uncooled IR detector from Opto Diode Corp. is designed for fire and flame detection. The high-performance, lead selenide detector offers peak sensitivity between 3.6 and 3.8...Photonics Spectra August 2021 IssueCMOS SensorThe Apx60 high-resolution CMOS sensor from Atik Cameras Ltd. is built for the industrial, scientific, and OEM sectors. The large device employs 61 MP over a 43.3-mm diagonal sensor. With no amp...Photonics.com 11/24/2021C-Mount CCD CameraThe Eagle 1-MP C-mount CCD camera from Raptor Photonics Ltd. is air-cooled to -80 °C. Using a back-illuminated CCD with 1056 × 1027 pixels and a 13 × 13-μm pixel pitch, the...Photonics Spectra April 2022 IssuePicosecond Microchip LaserThe QSL103A Picosecond Microchip Laser from Thorlabs Inc. is a passively Q-switched system producing 500-ps pulses centered at 1030 nm. The μJ-level pulse energies produced at kHz-repetition...Photonics.com 5/4/2021PHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESSWIR Imaging: An Industrial Processing Tool: Short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging with InGaAs-based cameras is well suited to nondestructive identification of materials, their composition, coatings, and other characteristics.Imaging has long been used in industrial processes to measure, monitor, control, or otherwise manage the production of goods. The challenge to the process designer is to develop a tool that captures...Photonics HandbookHyperspectral Imaging Spectroscopy: A Look at Real-Life Applications: Spectral imaging has grown from an expensive research-oriented technique to one that is applicable for a wide range of scientific and industrial applications. This article looks at real-life systems, the arrangement of the instrumentation and examples in process control and monitoring.Hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy has developed dramatically from a large, complex, remote-sensing satellite- or aircraft-based system into a rugged, compact, economically priced imaging and...Photonics HandbookAspheric 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 HandbookOptical Delay Lines: Key to Time-Resolved Measurements: To obtain an accurate means of creating reliable delays in any time-resolved spectroscopy or dynamic experiment, several factors about the delay line stage must be considered to reduce or eliminate errors associated with linear stages.One of the most critical elements of any time-resolved spectroscopy and dynamics experiment is the optical delay line. A typical optical delay line consists of a retroreflector or folding mirrors on...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSFrom Hyperspectral Data to a Working End-user Application in the IndustryThis white paper covers the past challenges of using hyperspectral imaging in industrial, machine vision applications. Newer technology is not all created equally and this paper aims to guide the...Photonics.com 3/16/2022Novel Hyperspectral Cameras for Low Light ApplicationsThe white paper presents HERA, a novel hyperspectral camera, and a series of results obtained in different applications (agri-tech & food, plastic sorting, remote sensing, and microscopy). The HERA...Photonics.com 3/2/2022What Is the Modulation Transfer Function?This whitepaper describes Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) in depth. It covers MTF measurements compared with the ideal diffraction limit, how MTF can be used to compare objective lens performance...Photonics.com 2/1/2022Automated Solutions for SAE Standard HUD MeasurementHead-up display (HUD) technology is one of the largest growth areas in the automotive market, and standard measurement criteria are rapidly being defined to evaluate augmented projections for visual...Photonics.com 1/14/2021WEBINARSEuropean Photonics Manufacturing Services Funded by ECThis event is supported by the European initiatives presented and is moderated by EPIC, the European Photonics Industry Consortium. The European Commission is helping companies access the...Photonics.com 6/30/2021KEYNOTE: Exploring Mars with Curiosity and PerseveranceNASA is operating two 1-ton rovers on the red planet. Curiosity, which landed in 2012, is a mobile laboratory equipped with a remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument (ChemCam),...Photonics.com 4/12/2022Label-Free Imaging of Drugs and Tissues in Biomedicine Using Pharmacokinetic Tomography and Stimulated Raman Scattering MicroscopyConor Evans introduces pharmacokinetic (PK) tomography — 3D quantitative imaging of drug uptake within tissue — using stimulated Raman scattering microscopy. He presents machine...Photonics.com 4/13/2022Fused Silica Selection: Solutions for Price vs. PerformanceFused silica is a key material in a multitude of optical applications, including high-power laser systems, spectroscopic instrumentation, astronomy and telecommunications. In this webinar, presented...Photonics.com 4/4/2018PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSphotoconductive antennaPhotoconductive antenna (PCA) is a semiconductor element that generates or detects high-frequency electromagnetic signals. Compact PCAs based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) or indium gallium arsenide...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018multianode microchannel array detectorA photon-counting instrument for use in both space-borne and ground-based photometric and spectroscopic instrumentation. This style of detector is composed of opaque photocathodes for photon to...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018hyperspectral imagingMethods for identifying and mapping materials through spectroscopic remote sensing. Also called imaging spectroscopy; ultraspectral imaging.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009electro-optic Fabry-Perot spectroscopyThe spectroscopic analysis of interference patterns using an electronic imaging tube with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to record the fringes.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIALaser Munich Wrap-up & Kepler goes Kaput - LIGHT MATTERS 05.22.2013-Laser Munich Wrap-up -Kepler goes Kaput -Nanoantenna Sensing This week on Light Matters: The space telescope Kepler goes kaput, nanoantennas improve infrared sensing, and I share my final...Photonics.com 5/22/2013Light Matters Extra: Taking Photonics Innovations from the Lab to the Operating Room - 01.2018In this month's Light Matters Extra, we give you an in-depth look at the relationship between researchers and scientists at the University of California Davis, and surgeons and clinicians at nearby...Photonics.com 1/18/2018Photonics 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 2/21/2018Supporting the Photonics Industry from the Laboratory - LIGHT MATTERS 01.2018On this month's episode of Light Matters, we take you to central Massachusetts as Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Quinsigamond Community College take on a comprehensive joint photonics laboratory...Photonics.com 1/18/2018PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESAutocorrelatorsAn autocorrelator is a signal-averaging device that improves signal-to-noise ratio by comparing a sampled signal with a time-delayed form of itself.Linear ArraysA linear array is a solid-state video detector consisting of a single row of light-sensitive semiconductor devices, used in linear-array cameras.Photon Imaging DetectorsPhotoacoustic Spectroscopy EquipmentPhotoacoustic spectroscopy equipment is a method for obtaining the optical absorption spectra of solids, semisolids, liquids and gases. PAS is inherently insensitive to reflection or scattering from...COMPANIESOZ Optics LimitedEstablished in 1985, OZ Optics is a leading worldwide supplier of fiber optic components, test equipment and sensors. OZ Optics manufactures its products in three locations, Ottawa (Canada),...Photonics Buyers' GuideAvantes BVPhotonics Buyers' GuideCascade Optical CorporationCascade Optical Corporation has more than 35 years of expertise in custom vacuum-deposited thin-film coatings, specializing in IAD, low temp, low stress coatings for laser crystals and fiber optics....Photonics Buyers' GuideReynard CorporationReynard Corporation has been a premier supplier of custom optics and thin-film coatings to a global customer base since 1984. Reynard focuses on manufacturing the highest quality products with...Photonics Buyers' Guide