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  • Volume 59, Issue 12

    • Volume 59, Issue 12

    First Light Imaging
    Detectors & Imaging

    Drone-enabled solution to PV inspection

    Peter Fretty
    Nov. 10, 2023
    Combining a line laser, SWIR camera, and drone technology provides PV plant operators with a contactless solution to improve their ongoing inspection processes.
    (Photo credit: Dr Giovanni Bressan, Senior Research Associate at UEA)
    Optics

    Quantum light can ‘see’ quantum sound within molecules

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Nov. 8, 2023
    U.K. researchers discover the quantum mechanical interplay between vibrations and photons—which may demystify interactions between light and matter at the molecular scale.
    Optics

    Encoding quantum information in states of light

    Nathanaël Cottet
    Nov. 7, 2023
    How can photonics light the way and play a key role in quantum computing?
    FIGURE 3. 4D image of a dividing cell that was detected by Aivia in a feedback loop with LAS X from Leica Microsystems.
    Bio&Life Sciences

    How AI and other microscopy advances answer complex life science questions

    Luciano Lucas
    Nov. 7, 2023
    Microscopy enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) will improve life sciences research and development across key therapeutic categories. Promising developments include autonomous...
    Photo 66529240 © Iuliia Kvasha | Dreamstime.com
    Dreamstime Xxl 66529240
    Executive Forum

    When business and geopolitical worlds collide

    Patricia Panchak
    Nov. 3, 2023
    Photonics professionals face a changing—and challenging—competitive landscape driven not only by emerging technologies.

    More content from Volume 59, Issue 12

    (Photo credit: Werner Slocum/NREL)
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers Tim Silverman and Nicole Luna look over data generated by PLatypus, which was connected to a photovoltaics system on the Flatirons campus.
    Detectors & Imaging

    Photoluminescence imaging tool inspects solar cells for invisible damage

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Nov. 2, 2023
    Solar cells inside a photovoltaic module can crack during hail events or other extreme weather without breaking the glass—which effects their power output—but a ‘PLatypus’ tool...
    (Photo credit: Stephan Spangenberg)
    Birgit Stiller in the lab working on an optoacoustic project.
    Optics

    Optoacoustics unveils thermodynamic surprise: Negative pressure within liquids

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Oct. 31, 2023
    While exploring whether light and sound waves can monitor the thermodynamic behavior of completely sealed liquid-core optical fibers, researchers make a discovery that may lead...
    (Image credit: Kyoko Kitamura)
    Conceptual image of a distorted photonic crystal and photonic crystal.
    Optics

    Photonic crystal lattice distortion produces pseudogravity effects

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Oct. 30, 2023
    Researchers achieve photonic crystal in-plane beam steering within the terahertz range—which has wide-ranging implications for the realms of optics, materials science, and 6G ...
    (Courtesy of PhotonDelta)
    Ewit Roos at the PIC Summit Europe 2022.
    Executive Forum

    Ewit Roos to leave PhotonDelta, join PhotonVentures

    John Dexheimer
    Oct. 24, 2023
    With the announcement, the co-founder and CEO of the European integrated photonics accelerator reflects on the two organizations’ progress to date and plans for the future.
    (Courtesy of Grégory Moille, Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland)
    FIGURE 1. Dissipative Kerr solitons are now being used to create chip-based optical frequency combs with high output power.
    Lasers & Sources

    What happens when you throw a weak laser into a frequency comb?

    Justine Murphy
    Oct. 20, 2023
    The result? Experimentation showed another way to build effective optical frequency combs.
    (Courtesy of Civan Lasers)
    The 500 W, single-mode, continuous-wave 532 nm green laser, based on coherent beam combining, has broken the world’s beam quality and power record for this type of laser.
    Lasers & Sources

    Brighter, bolder, world-record-breaking laser signals a paradigm shift

    Justine Murphy
    Oct. 19, 2023
    A new green laser based on coherent beam combining brings more to the table than its traditional counterparts.
    FIGURE 1. Group in the lab: Prof. Elad Koren, Dr. Assael Cohen, Dr. Vladimir Kleiner, Chieh-li Liu, Prof. Erez Hasman, Dr. Kexiu Rong, Dr. Xiaoyang Duan, Vladi Gorovoy, and Dror Reichenberg.
    Lasers & Sources

    Technion team achieves coherent, controllable atomic-scale spin-optical laser

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Oct. 17, 2023
    Spin-optical light sources combine photonic modes and electronic transitions—and provide a way to explore the exchange of spin information between both electrons and photons.
    (Image credit: Professor Ana C.M. Rodrigues/CeRTEV)
    Making specialty glass in the laboratory by quickly cooling the glass melt on a cold metal slate (melt-quenching).
    Optics

    Niobium oxide plays a ‘network former’ role within silicate glass structures

    Sally Cole Johnson
    Oct. 12, 2023
    By combining nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and computational modeling, researchers explore the role of glass intermediate oxides—often a key ingredient of specialized...