From a new smartphone microscope that can noninvasively detect and quantify bodily infection, to the “reinvention” of optical gyroscope technology, and from visualizing light’s duality to light-reflecting flexible film and growing nanowires for more efficient and tunable lasers, 2015 has been a year of advancement, innovation and celebration of the International Year of Light. As 2015 wraps up, the Photonics Spectra staff searched the Photonics.com archives to find the top most viewed articles of the year, providing updates on researchers’ work and progress. Enjoy this trip down a well-lighted memory lane.Flexible Film Creates Colors from Reflected Light June 2015 A team at the University of Central Florida’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) in June developed an ultrathin, color-changing film that reflects rather than emits light. This could potentially change the clothing we wear, in addition to enhancing displays. A National Geographic photograph of an Afghan girl is used to demonstrate the color-changing abilities of the nanostructured reflective display. Photo courtesy of University of Central Florida. The researchers created the film using a simple and...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESLEDs and Optical Filters Expand Live-Cell Imaging CapabilityThe light source of a wide-field fluorescence microscope is often overlooked by scientists who perform live-cell imaging experiments. However, innovations such as transistor-transistor logic (TTL)...BioPhotonics Mar/Apr 2022 IssueSPIE Names 2023 Society Award WinnersSPIE’s Awards Committee has named the recipients of its annual awards, recognizing achievements and service in photonics research, education, and industry. The awards span a broad range of...Photonics Spectra March 2023 IssueLight Trap Provides Near Perfect AbsorptionMaximizing light absorption is essential for photovoltaics and many other photonic applications. It is also difficult, especially when the light is being absorbed by a thin layer of material that...Photonics Spectra January 2023 IssueLighting Advancements Add Muscle to Machine VisionCourtesy of iStock.com/MotoEd. After years of investment and research, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are cheaper and brighter than ever before, and they consume less power. With reliability...Photonics Spectra June 2022 IssuePRODUCTSTunable Laser SystemThe Tunable Laser System from Spectrolight Inc. is an all-in-one tunable light source system that enables precise selection of a broad spectral range from 410 to 1650 nm and easy bandwidth adjustment...Photonics.com 3/9/2023Laser IlluminatorsThe FLTT series of high-power laser illuminators from Frankfurt Laser Co. is based on high-quality VCSEL chips and an optical design. With an optical output power of up to 25 W, it is possible...Photonics Spectra November 2021 IssuePolarization Filters and DiffusersPolarization filters and diffusers for the Meganova ring light have been announced by autoVimation GmbH. Two linear, crossed polarization filters completely eliminate light reflections into the...Photonics Spectra February 2022 IssueColor CameraThe EoSens 21CCX12-FM color camera from Mikrotron GmbH combines 5120 × 4096-pixel resolution with the CoaXPress 2.0 interface to deliver 230 fps at full resolution. The scalable interface...Vision Spectra Spring 2023 IssuePHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESDigital Still Cameras: The Changing Face of Imaging: The digital camera reflects a sea change in the compact camera market. While the 20th was the century of film cameras, the 21st belongs to the digital camera.The digital camera represents an integration of optics, mechanics and electronics consisting of three layers (Figures 1a, b and c). The top and the middle layers are printed circuit boards (PCBs),...Photonics HandbookCamera Resolution: Combining Detector and Optics Performance: Most image-quality discussions center on resolution, which is thought to uniquely determine system performance. Resolution, however, is a more complex concept.Camera resolution depends upon the optical blur diameter and the detector size. Schade combined these to create an equivalent resolution that is a function of Fλ/d where F is the focal ratio,...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 HandbookNano-Optics: New Rules for Optical Components: Operating in the nano-realm offers designers a host of new opportunities. Understanding what to expect in this miniature world is key to successful nano-optic component design.When physical structures get very small — on the order of molecular or atomic sizes with one or more dimensions on the nanoscale — their behavior and interactions with energy, including...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSFISBA READYBeam™ - Compact Powerful Laser SourceThe FISBA READYBeam™ is our answer to customers' increasing demand for compact, powerful, and reliable multicolor laser source that can be easily integrated into existing set-ups. The multicolor...Photonics.com 12/2/2022Visualizing Light Guide Performance Using Photorealistic RenderingDiscover the power of light guides with our free whitepaper! Learn about total internal reflection, surface features, and performance parameters with ease. Elevate your expertise and stay ahead in...Photonics.com 2/14/2023Plano Optics - Complex Components and AssembliesWe offer custom prisms, polygons, windows, mirrors, and wedges from one source. FISBA not only has the complete production chain in-house, we can also develop entire systems built-to-spec or support...Photonics.com 12/2/2022Characterization 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 12/10/2021WEBINARSExpanding Implementation of Fast Optimization Technology for Photonics, Optics, and Quantum Manufacturing ApplicationsAlignment time is the largest contributor to the cost of silicon photonics and optical assemblies. New industrial automation technology dramatically shortens the time required to optimally align...Photonics.com 5/10/2022Techniques in Biophotonic ImagingFREE WEBINAR Sponsored by: Hamamatsu & Applied Scientific Instrumentation Additional Questions & Answers from the webinar are below: Dr. Kimani C. Toussaint Jr. Quantitative...Photonics.com 3/21/2013Photonics Spectra Conference 2022: January 10 - 13Photonics Media will host its second annual Photonics Spectra Conference Jan. 10-13. The virtual event will comprise four technology tracks — Lasers, Optics, Sensors and Detectors, and Imaging...Photonics.com 1/10/2022Computational Microscopy, Sensing and Diagnostics for Telemedicine and Global Health ApplicationsAdditional Questions and Answers from the Webinar are below: With more than 6 billion cell phone users in the world, the majority of them in developing countries, there are opportunities for...Photonics.com 6/5/2013PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSphotonicsThe technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and...EDU.photonics.com 3/22/2016integrated 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 9/8/2009Geometrical opticsThe area of optics in which the propagation of light is described by geometrical lines (or rays) governed by Fermat's Principle. Geometrical optics is useful as long as the objects in which the light...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018adapter1. In optics, the housing, usually cylindrical, that contains the lenses and iris diaphragm of a camera. 2. In fiber optics, a device for coupling two connectors.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 3/29/2018Light Matters Extra: Optics & Photonics Technology Program, STCC - 09.2017In this month’s Light Matters Extra, we take you to the Springfield Technical Community College campus and introduce you to Professor Nick Massa, who has been teaching Optics and Photonics there for...Photonics.com 9/28/2017Photonics 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 2/21/2018Light 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 BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESLaser OpticsMicroscope AccessoriesOptical ScannersAcousto-Optic ScannersCOMPANIESFOCtek 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' GuideExcelitas Technologies Corp.Excelitas Technologies® Corp. is a leading industrial technology manufacturer focused on delivering innovative, market-driven photonic solutions to meet the illumination, optical, optronic,...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.ISO 9001 & ISO 13485 certified and D&B DUNS # 113515303 Shanghai Optics is an unparalleled custom system solution provider offering advance precision custom optical design, engineering,...Photonics Buyers' Guide