Photonics Spectra: lenses This is the syndication feed for Photonics Spectra: lenses. https://www.photonics.com/Splash.aspx?Tag=lenses Thu, 28 Mar 2024 21:14:44 GMT Thu, 15 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT 1800 Spiral Lens Extends Focal Length and Depth of Vision in Changing Conditions
A new, spiral-shaped lens could make consistently clear vision possible for people with lens implants or age-related farsightedness. The spiral diopter works similarly to progressive lenses used for vision correction, while foregoing the often-found distortions. Its spiral shape creates many separate points of focus, allowing the user to see clearly at different distances and in various light conditions.

In addition to advancing contact lens technologies and intraocular implants for cataracts, the spiral diopter lens could be used to miniaturize imaging systems while maintaining their optical quality.

According to the researchers, the spiral diopter lenses are superior to conventional trifocal lenses at larger apertures for...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Spiral_Lens_Extends_Focal_Length_and_Depth_of/p5/a69734 A69734 Thu, 15 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT
LaCroix Precision Optics Adds Assembly, Design Departments
LaCroix Precision Optics has added optical assembly and design departments in a move that the company said solidifies its status as a vertically integrated optics firm. According to LaCroix president Kirk Warden, the added capabilities enable LaCroix to be involved from the system and product design through the assembly phase, reducing the time that it takes to move a product to market.

LaCroix specializes in manufacturing precision optics, including spherical lenses, aspheres, achromats, windows, wedges, prisms, and custom optical coatings.]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/LaCroix_Precision_Optics_Adds_Assembly_Design/p5/a69658 A69658 Wed, 24 Jan 2024 09:08:04 GMT
UV-LED Photolithography Imparts Micro Features
Technologies like integrated signal distributing, processing, and sensing networks require basic optical elements such as waveguides, splitters, gratings, and optical switches to be miniaturized. This poses challenges, especially for curved elements such as bends and ring resonators, which require an especially high resolution and lower sidewall roughness.

There are a number of methods to achieve subwavelength high-resolution manufacturing, though they tend to be costly, complex, and time-consuming. Nanoimprint lithography is promising as an approach to efficient high-resolution manufacturing, but it requires high-quality master stamps often produced with electron beam lithography.
An illustration of the UV-LED-based microscope...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/UV-LED_Photolithography_Imparts_Micro_Features/p5/a69645 A69645 Thu, 18 Jan 2024 07:00:00 GMT
Waveguide Designs Bring Extended Reality into Sight
Here is something David Goldman, vice president of marketing for Lumus, never expected to come into the field of view of waveguides: Wine growers using augmented reality (AR) glasses to teach unskilled labor workers exactly where to prune grape vines, leading to productivity gains of up to fivefold.

Though the adoption of AR glasses in this enterprise application and others is worthy of a toast, the technology still has a long road to broad consumer adoption. Alluding to the Gartner Hype Cycle, Andreas Georgiou, a Microsoft researcher and optical engineer with Reality Optics in Cambridge, England, said the AR industry has transitioned from the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” to the “Trough of...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Waveguide_Designs_Bring_Extended_Reality_into/p5/a69599 A69599 Tue, 02 Jan 2024 09:36:29 GMT
Syntec Optics Inks Contracts Upon Public Listing Debut
Syntec’s contract for 10,000 objectives for night-vision scopes calls for the objectives to be delivered in 2023. The recipient of the objectives was not disclosed. Syntec Optics previously announced the launch of new lightweight eyepiece and objective lenses for night-vision goggles, called Viper, which Syntec began manufacturing in volume last month. The technology...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Syntec_Optics_Inks_Contracts_Upon_Public_Listing/p5/a69476 A69476 Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Virtual Superlens Passes Diffraction Limit Without Distortion
The diffraction limit enforces physical restrictions on how closely an object can be examined using traditional optical methods. Previous attempts to develop superlenses that image beyond the diffraction limit have met with extreme visual losses, to the point of making the lenses opaque.

A virtual superlensing approach developed by researchers at the University of Sydney has broken through the diffraction limit by a factor of nearly four times. The researchers’ innovative approach to superlensing could improve superresolution microscopy for fields as varied as medical imaging, archaeology, and forensics.
Researcher Alessandro Tuniz (left) and professor Boris Kuhlmey in their Sydney Nanoscience Hub laboratory. Courtesy of...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Virtual_Superlens_Passes_Diffraction_Limit/p5/a69444 A69444 Mon, 06 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT
UV-based 3D Printing Accelerates Multipurpose Glass Production
Current 3D-printing techniques for fabricating glass involve time-consuming processes that require high temperatures and considerable resources to complete.

In a new approach, a research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) used deep ultraviolet (DUV) light, instead of extremely high temperatures, to 3D-print glass microstructures. The micron-size, silica glass structures resulting from the team’s printing technique could be used in optics, microfluidics, medical devices, and other applications.
Researchers used this raw material to create 3D-printed glass structures no bigger than the width of a human hair. The researchers employed a light-sensitive resin based on a widely used soft polymer called PDMS...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/UV-based_3D_Printing_Accelerates_Multipurpose/p5/a69404 A69404 Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Birefringent Metasurface Aims to Transform Waveplate Tech
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have adapted their novel metasurface process, which creates a thin layer on the surface of an optic, to create an all-glass metasurface with birefringence, or dual refraction, properties. This achievement could transform waveplate technology for high-power laser systems such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF).

“This is the first demonstration, to the best of our knowledge, of an etching technique to obtain the resulting tilted pillar-like nanofeatures that will generate birefringence,” said LLNL staff scientist Nathan Ray, first author of the paper.

Birefringence is a phenomenon in which light propagates at a different speed depending on the light...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Birefringent_Metasurface_Aims_to_Transform/p5/a69401 A69401 Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Liquid Crystal Optics Support High-Performance Compact VR Display
Virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) devices are used to access applications in a growing number of fields, from entertainment to health care to manufacturing to tourism. These applications are transforming the way that people perceive and interact with digital information, and they underscore the need for near-eye displays that are both functional and comfortable for long-term use and wear.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida, the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), are working to improve the user’s experience with VR and MR by developing a way to make these devices both comfortable and high-performing.

To ensure an optimal experience with VR and MR displays, the form factor of the device must be...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Liquid_Crystal_Optics_Support_High-Performance/p5/a69379 A69379 Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Enhanced LCD Resolution Enables More Comfortable, Immersive VR
Researchers from Innolux Corp. have developed a 3.1-in. light-field liquid crystal display (LCD) featuring an ultrahigh pixel density to overcome limitations in near-eye display, such as light-field resolution issues. Light-field technology could also have applications beyond VR displays, such as in vision correction for VR systems.

Near-eye displays are vital to portable devices, providing individuals with immersive virtual reality experiences. The primary objectives in developing these displays are to create immersive experiences and ensure visual comfort. While a larger field of view (FOV) enhances immersion in virtual reality, addressing the vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC), a phenomenon that occurs when one’s eyes...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Enhanced_LCD_Resolution_Enables_More_Comfortable/p5/a69362 A69362 Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Oculi’s Smart Sensors Earn Top Prize at Luminate 2023
Oculi, developer of a smart, programmable vision sensor, took home $1 million in follow-on funding and Company of the Year honors as the winner of Luminate’s sixth cohort. Awardees, including a three-way tie for the Distinguished Graduate Award, were named Sept. 27 during the Luminate 2023 finals, held at The Theater at Innovation Square in Rochester.

Oculi, a spinout of Johns Hopkins University, is developing smart programmable vision sensors based on the company’s Real-Time Vision Intelligence developed by founder and CEO Charbel Rizk at Johns Hopkins. The OCULI SPU (Sensing and Processing Unit) is an integrated sensing and processing module designed to mimic the human eye in selectively delivering information to make...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Oculis_Smart_Sensors_Earn_Top_Prize_at_Luminate/p5/a69360 A69360 Thu, 28 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Spectrometer Aims to Further Refine Lithography
The ability to measure the size and color of the light at the same time could improve a crucial step in chipmaking — lithography — by enabling lithography machines to make smaller, faster chips. To produce the microsize chips used in most electronic devices, lithography machines need precision-engineered lenses, mirrors, and light sources.

“Traditionally, we could only look...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Spectrometer_Aims_to_Further_Refine_Lithography/p5/a69335 A69335 Tue, 19 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Photoacoustic Microscopy Method Delivers Higher Sensitivity
A multispectral, super-low-dose photoacoustic microscopy (SLD-PAM) system developed by City University of Hong Kong (CUHK) achieves significantly higher sensitivity than traditional optical resolution photoacoustic imaging.

By providing an exceptionally high level of sensitivity, SLD-PAM could help broaden the use of photoacoustic microscopy in biomedical applications. In the future, it could translate to clinical settings; for example, it could be used for ophthalmic exams where a low-power laser is preferred for the patient’s safety and comfort. Long-term monitoring of pharmacokinetics or blood flow also requires low-dose imaging to alleviate perturbation to tissue function.
(a) SLD-PAM system and (b) sensitivity...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Photoacoustic_Microscopy_Method_Delivers_Higher/p5/a69327 A69327 Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Complex Frequency Waves Counter Optical Losses in Superimaging
Superlenses made of plasmonic materials and metamaterials can image features at the subdiffraction scale. However, intrinsic losses restrict the image resolution of superlenses, hindering their widespread use.

To compensate for optical loss in superimaging systems, researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) devised a way to provide virtual gain. To do so, they synthesized excitation waves of complex frequency, based on measurements at real frequencies. By illuminating materials with synthetic frequency waves, the researchers were able to implement virtual gain experimentally and retrieve subwavelength features. The multifrequency approach from HKU could provide a practical solution to overcoming the intrinsic losses of...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Complex_Frequency_Waves_Counter_Optical_Losses_in/p5/a69311 A69311 Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
How to Preserve Your Laser Optics Against UV Degradation
Ultraviolet laser optics tend to have limited lifetimes, due primarily to two processes: laser-induced contamination (LIC) and UV fatigue. LIC is caused by the deposition of unwanted material on the surface of the optic, whereas UV fatigue results from the breakdown of the optic due to cumulative exposure to UV light. Both degrade the performance of optics over time until the effects become intolerable.

Long-term experiments on UV optics at 355 nm in various environments have revealed key insights into sources of contamination and fatigue, as well as mitigation strategies and cleaning techniques that can potentially recover contaminated optics.

What is laser-induced contamination?

Contamination of optics can occur when UV...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/How_to_Preserve_Your_Laser_Optics_Against_UV/p5/a69221 A69221 Fri, 01 Sep 2023 14:44:00 GMT
Manufacturing Methods Make Freeform Optics More Accessible
From applications in ophthalmology, endoscopy, and microscopy — to use in head-up displays, lidar systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and satellites — freeform optics are enhancing the performance of existing imaging systems and are key enablers in a host of lightweight, high-performance applications.


Manufacturing freeform optical surfaces and built-in alignment features in the same process improves manufacturing accuracy and ease-of-use for end users. These alignment features are beneficial for measuring surfaces during fabrication and facilitate end-user alignment. Courtesy of Edmund Optics.
Freeform optical surfaces can be defined as surfaces with no axis of rotational invariance within or beyond the optical part....]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Manufacturing_Methods_Make_Freeform_Optics_More/p5/a69218 A69218 Fri, 01 Sep 2023 11:24:00 GMT
Basler AG Reports 41% Decline in Incoming Orders for First Half 2023
In its sixth-month report to shareholders, management cited weakened demand from the consumer electronics, logistics, and laboratory automation equipment industries in Asia and North America, as well as a lack of economic recovery in China.

“During the shutdown, the boom in consumer electronics and online ordering, as well as the need for vision inspection, led to very large capacity expansions in...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Basler_AG_Reports_41_Decline_in_Incoming_Orders/p5/a69254 A69254 Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Applications Open for the 2024 Prism Awards
Applications are open for the 2024 SPIE Prism Awards, which will celebrate its 16th anniversary on Jan. 31 during a gala evening at SPIE Photonics West. The awards, held annually by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, recognize and honor the most innovative products on the market across the wide range of optics and photonics applications.

Applications are open through Sept. 15. Photonics Media is the media sponsor for the event.

For 2024, in addition to the regular slate of awards in areas ranging from health care and sensing, to lasers and quantum, SPIE is introducing the SPIE Catalyst Award. This new recognition honors for-profit companies with specific social or environmentally focused programs that...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Applications_Open_for_the_2024_Prism_Awards/p5/a69207 A69207 Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:52:57 GMT
Epolin Names R&D Director: People in the News: 07/26/23
Epolin, a developer and manufacturer of near-infrared absorbing dyes and thermoplastic compounds, named Konstantyn Ziabrev R&D director. Ziabrev has more than 20 years of experience, most recently with Click Chemistry Tools and Fluorophobes.
Konstantyn Ziabrev. Courtesy of Epolin. PREMSTAETTEN, Austria — Optical solutions company ams-OSRAM named Juergen Rebel senior vice president of investor relations. Rebel previously worked at Infineon Technologies, in multiple senior leadership roles including senior vice president and general manager of embedded security solutions and corporate vice president of investor relations.

ENGLEWOOD, Ohio — Lightwave Logic, a developer of electro-optic polymers for data transmission,...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Epolin_Names_RD_Director_People_in_the_News/p5/a69192 A69192 Wed, 26 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Optica MRS, SPIE Name 2023-24 Congressional Fellows: People in the News: 06/28/23
Optica, the Materials Research Society (MRS), and SPIE have named the 2023-2024 Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows. Claire Cody will serve as the Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Fellow, co-sponsored by Optica and SPIE, and Marie Fiori will serve as the Optica/MRS Congressional Fellow. Cody will graduate with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Yale University this summer. Fiori holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The two will begin their terms as fellows in September. Congressional Fellows serve a one-year term as special legislative assistants for a member of the U.S. Congress or for a congressional committee. Claire Cody, Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Fellow. Courtesy of Optica.
CORNING, N.Y....]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Optica_MRS_SPIE_Name_2023-24_Congressional/p5/a69125 A69125 Wed, 28 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT