Better sensors capturing more wavelengths are enabling defense and security systems to identify threats at greater distances. To keep up with improvements, optical components must also evolve.HANK HOGAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITORFor defense and security applications, size matters. So do weight, power, and cost. These four parameters are often referred to as SWaP-C, a key concept that drives the manufacture of defense and security systems, sensors, and optical components. For the last, vendors are turning away from traditional solutions and toward novel ones. Above, Advancements in optical components, sensors, and systems make it possible to observe and locate targets under conditions of poor visibility. Courtesy of Jenoptik. “As the diameter of optics is defined by the necessary resolution, the...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESCMOS-Compatible Photodetector Spurs Possibilities in the Extended SWIRHigh-bandwidth germanium-tin (GeSn) photodetectors, developed by a team at Polytechnique Montréal to support CMOS-compatible technologies in the extended shortwave infrared (e-SWIR)...Photonics.com 5/27/2022OCT Improves Process Stability During Laser Metal DepositionResearchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, in collaboration with five industry partners, have equipped a laser metal deposition (LMD) system with an OCT system. The...Photonics Spectra May 2022 IssueChip-Based Lidar Packs the Pixels for Use in Vehicles, MoreA research team led by professor Ming Wu at the University of California, Berkeley is developing a high-resolution, chip-based lidar system that could be used in a range of devices, from autonomous...Photonics Spectra May 2022 IssueMachine-Readable Labels Identify and Track ObjectsA 3D-printing process developed at MIT creates barcodes and tags in the infrared spectrum to enable machines to track and identify objects. In place of the standard barcodes affixed to products,...Photonics.com 2/3/2022PRODUCTSGoldflex™ Ultra-efficient Broadband IR Gold MirrorAll types of optical sensing devices utilize light, which needs to be routed by mirrors. To optimize this, Goldflex™, a gold-based metallic mirror is recommended. This gold mirror offers the...Promoted Content July 2021 IssueOptical Filters from UV to Far IRPrecision manufactured optical filters and coatings optimized for specific applications for a broad wavelength range from UV to far IR. We serve diverse markets including space, science &...Promoted Content November 2020 IssueSWIR CameraLytid’s SIRIS SWIR camera is a deep cooled SWIR camera based on a Lin/Log InGaAs sensor from NIT and image processing algorithms from the French National Centre for Scientific Research. The...Photonics Spectra July 2021 IssueGlass-Bottom MicroplateThe Krystal™ Glass Bottom microplate from Porvair Sciences Ltd. is designed for whole-plate CCD imaging and laser detection applications. The device combines the optical properties of...BioPhotonics Jul/Aug 2021 IssuePHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESAcousto-Optic Devices: Charts showing the characteristics of acousto-optic scanning devices, acousto-optic figures of merit, and solutions for common problems with acousto-optic processor devices.ACOUSTO-OPTIC SCANNING DEVICES: CHARACTERISTICS MODULATORS Material Bandwidth (MHz) Rise Time (ns) Acousto Input Power (W) (Saturation) Material Wavelength Range...Photonics HandbookCleaning Optics: Choosing the Best Method: Cleaning optical elements improves performance, providing proper materials, techniques and handling procedures are used to minimize the risk of damage.Optics can be contaminated in many ways. Contamination can be kept to a minimum by returning the optics to their case after use or by covering the optics for protection from the outside environment....Photonics HandbookOptical Components: Finding Your Way Through the Maze: Optical components fall into two basic groups: transmissives and reflectives. Transmissives include lenses, filters, windows, optical flats, prisms, polarizers, beamsplitters, wave plates, and fiber optics; reflectives include mirrors and retroreflectors. The performance of all may be enhanced with certain substrates and thin film coatings.Lenses come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. They can be made of a single piece of glass or have multiple elements; their surfaces can be spherical, aspheric or cylindrical; they can be...Photonics HandbookExcimer Optics: High Power Demands High Reliability: The excimer laser’s shift to commercial applications has created a demand for higher power levels and increased reliability from the laser itself, thus creating a greater demand for industrialized optics to control, redirect, reshape, and focus the intense UV radiation produced.The first high-reflectance mirror coatings for the UV and vacuum UV (VUV) were of the Al + MgF2 type produced in the late 1950s. Coatings of this design are still used today for multigas cavity...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERS100% Customized Super Precision Glass Substrate and PartsFor over 65 years, Fujitok has supplied customized precision glass substrates, aspheric lenses, and prisms with cutting-edge polishing technology. We cover various materials like optical glass, fused...Photonics.com 3/26/2021Fabricating Low Loss GeO2 Thin Films for Planar Waveguides Such as Photonic Integrated CircuitsHigh quality GeO2 thin films that exhibit low loss and low surface roughness were produced by Intlvac’s Nanochrome IV PARMS system, proving that ion assisted AC dual sputtering is an effective...Photonics.com 9/1/2020Are You Facing any Problems Securing Optical Parts?You need just a couple of pieces for trial. You need to achieve an exact specification. You need to keep the same quality in every order. You cannot find the best fit material for your design. You...Photonics.com 7/13/2021Characterization of Dry Electrolyte Polishing ProcessThe preservation of the form is demonstrated by complementary form measurements using Ai Focus Variation technique. S neox Five Axis is a versatile metrology tool that perfectly suits our measurement...Photonics.com 12/10/2021WEBINARSAchieving the Best Thermal Imaging Performance for Unmanned Airborne Systems — Per Unit Gram, Volume, Watt (and Dollar)There is an ever-increasing need for smaller, lighter, and more powerful imagers — thermal imagers in particular — as the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) business (also known as unmanned...Photonics.com 11/1/2018Developments 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 5/29/2013Flat Optics Based on Metasurfaces: Molding Wavefronts and Surface WavesMetasurfaces based on subwavelength patterning have major potential for realizing arbitrary control of the wavefront of diffracted light by achieving local control of the phase amplitude and...Photonics.com 2/26/2015The Unique Challenges of Coating Laser CrystalsLaser crystals are used as the gain media for solid-state lasers and are critical for enabling a wide variety of applications ranging from laser materials processing to medical lasers. Like most...Photonics.com 1/11/2022PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSadaptive opticsOptical components or assemblies whose performance is monitored and controlled so as to compensate for aberrations, static or dynamic perturbations such as thermal, mechanical and acoustical...EDU.photonics.com 3/24/2016massive opticsOptical components exceeding 24 in. in diameter. The components are usually glass, acrylic or polystyrene and are used for virtual image systems in simulators and collimators.EDU.photonics.com 3/24/2016integrated opticsA thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009blocking shaperA convex, concave or flat cast iron form that is used to shape a soft mold block of optical components.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIAAbout AlluxaGet a tour of our factory and the inside scoop on everything Alluxa has to offer.Photonics.com 9/30/2019What Is a Beamsplitter? - OPCO Laboratory Inc.For 40 years, OPCO Lab has been producing beamsplitters, optical components that split light into two, that are used across a range of products and industries.Photonics.com 11/11/2020Capasso Lab’s Planar Metalens: Changing the Future of Optics - LIGHT MATTERS 06.27.2016In an exclusive interview with Photonics Media, renowned scientist Federico Capasso shares his research findings that a new metasurface lens material could ultimately replace traditional optics in...Photonics.com 6/27/2016Laser 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 5/22/2013PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESLaser OpticsPlastic OpticsA plastic optic is the integration of plastic materials into optical applications. When the materials are refined into lenses, prisms, and mirrors, they serve the purpose of glass optics at a lower...White-Reflectance CoatingsOptical Design and Engineering ServicesCOMPANIESMLD Technologies LLCExperts In Thin-film Coating Design We practice a design-before-quote approach to help customers refine specifications and minimize technical risk. We understand how coated optical elements...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' GuideFOCtek 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' 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' Guide