As telecommunications carriers search for more bandwidth to meet the demands of an increasingly information-hungry consumer, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) will continue to grow in importance, according to officials at Lucent Technologies.Fast lasers used in time division multiplexing may...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESNSF Awards Worcester Polytechnic $425K for Autonomous Vehicle ResearchWith a three-year, $425,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), two researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are combining their work to find the key to developing...Photonics Spectra May 2018 IssueBrixon Licenses Sensor Technology From ORNLBrixon Inc. has exclusively licensed a multiparameter sensor technology from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The inventors of the integrated sensor...Photonics Spectra December 2018 IssueKeysight, FormFactor, and CompoundTek Join ForcesKeysight Technologies Inc. — a technology company that aims to help enterprises, service providers, and governments accelerate innovation — has partnered with FormFactor Inc., a provider...Photonics Spectra January 2020 IssueFractal Antenna Awarded Flat Lens Patent for Lens With Fractal MetamaterialsAntenna and embedded component developer Fractal Antenna Systems Inc. has been awarded a U.S. patent for a flat lens with fractal metamaterials to bend electromagnetic waves. Blowup of a tiny...Photonics Spectra July 2018 IssuePRODUCTSLow-PIM Coaxial Cable AssembliesCustom Low-Passive Intermodulation (PIM) Coaxial Cable Assemblies from Pasternack offer connector options to address DAS, wireless infrastructure, multi-carrier communication systems, WISP, small...Photonics.com 5/2/2019Frequency Comb LaserThe Mendocino Frequency Comb Laser from Calmar Laser is designed for optical communications and the growth of internet data traffic. The compact, 1560-nm femtosecond laser module provides a...Photonics.com 10/4/2019USB Active Optical CablesUSB Active Optical Cables from Cosemi Technologies Inc. are redesigned to support full 10-G bidirectional data for USB 3.1 Gen 2 and backward compatibility to USB 2.0. Reaching any length up to...BioPhotonics May/Jun 2019 IssuePIM-Over-CPRI SoftwareThe PIM-over-CPRI software for the BTS Master MT8220T and MT822xB hand-held base station analyzers has been announced by Anritsu Corp., allowing passive intermodulation (PIM) measurements to be made...Photonics.com 8/27/2018PHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESFiber Optics: Understanding the Basics: Nothing has changed the world of communications as much as the development and implementation of optical fiber. This article provides the basic principles needed to work with this technology.Optical fibers are made from either glass or plastic. Most are roughly the diameter of a human hair, and they may be many miles long. Light is transmitted along the center of the fiber from one end...Photonics HandbookSemiconductor Lasers: An Overview of Commercial Devices: Within only a few decades, the semiconductor laser diode has evolved into a family of robust, reliable devices, with individual conversion efficiencies of better than 60 percent, continuous output powers of several kilowatts, modulation rates of several tens of gigahertz, and wavelengths from 0.4 to beyond 2 µm. This article discusses the structures and characteristics of the most common commercial varieties.Laser diodes vary widely in their wavelengths, powers, spectra and beam quality. Yet they share two fundamental components with all other lasers: an optical amplifier and a resonator that confines...Photonics HandbookCharacterizing High-Speed Transmitters: The Emphasis Is on Waveforms: The basic fiber-based communications system consists of a laser transmitter which converts electrical data to intensity-modulated light, a fiber optic cable as short as a few meters or as long as 100-plus kilometers, and a photodetector that converts the information on the light back to an electrical signal.An indicator of how well the entire system performs is a measurement called bit-error-ratio (BER). Acceptable BERs range from one error per billion to one per trillion bits transmitted. It is rare...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 HandbookWHITEPAPERSElectrical-to-Optical and Optical-to-Electrical Converter MeasurementsAs fiber and free-space optical communication bandwidths increase, the need for very high speed optical modulators and detectors has also increased. The frequency response characterization of these...Photonics.com 2/8/2018WEBINARSHow to Accelerate Your Optics, Photonics, and Imaging Startup with LuminateSolving problems in augmented and virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, machine vision, biophotonics, and other fields requires unique skills. So does successfully launching a business. Luminate can...Photonics.com 9/6/2018Fused 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 4/4/2018An Overview of AFL’s Fiber Processing Software for 100-Series MachinesThis informative webinar will cover the shaping, prototyping and data collection capabilities of AFL’s Fiber Processing Software (FPS). Whether you are in the business of advanced fiber shaping...Photonics.com 2/7/2017CLEO 2013 - Technology TransferThis free webinar, sponsored by the Technology Transfer program of CLEO: Market Focus and Photonics Media, complements the live event, which will be held on Thursday, June 13, in the CLEO:2013...Photonics.com 5/23/2013PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSquantum noiseNoise generated within an optical communications system link that has both internal (dark current) and external (background noise, or noise in signal) components.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009subscriber loopThat portion of the telecommunications network that runs from a local central telephone to the subscriber premises.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009laser communicationsEDU.photonics.com 3/14/2016optical repeaterIn an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal, converts this optical signal to an electrical signal which is then...EDU.photonics.com 3/5/2018MEDIAFundamentally 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 3/29/2018PIC Fundamentals, Design at Heart of AIM Photonics Summer AcademyStudents from large and small size companies and bigger Department of Defense affiliates of the AIM Photonics Institute took part in the recent AIM Photonics Summer Academy at MIT. 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Quinsigamond Community College and WPI received a $4M grant...Photonics.com 2/21/2018PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESFiber Optic Cable TV NetworksDiamond Tools and Machining EquipmentTransmittersA transmitter in fiber optic communications, is a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the electronics that support it.Infrared Fiber Optic FibersCOMPANIESTeraXion Inc.TeraXion is a leader in the manufacturing of innovative photonic components that incorporate fiber Bragg gratings, low noise lasers and integrated photonics. FBGs have been the cornerstone of our...Photonics Buyers' GuideLuna Innovations IncorporatedPhotonics Buyers' GuideYelo LimitedSpecialized Products Yelo Laser Burn-In and Life-Test System: Qualification systems provide a modular tightly controlled environment in which to Burn-In and Life-Test photonics components such as...Photonics Buyers' GuideFISBA AGFISBA is a worldwide leading supplier of customized optical components, systems and microsystems. From simple lenses to complex assembly lines, we offer optical solutions to meet your most...Photonics Buyers' Guide