In a traditionally male-dominated industry, Jessica Rowbury looks at the representation of women in the field of optics and photonics
During a plenary session at Photonics West, SPIE CEO Dr Eugene Arthurs paid tribute to his friend Charles Townes, the inventor of the maser, who passed away on 27 January. Jessica Rowbury reports on Towne' life
Greg Blackman investigates the latest miniature and wearable sensing technology, including 'smart' textiles incorporating fibre optic sensors to give data on movement
Tom Eddershaw looks at the advances being made in portable spectroscopy equipment for taking readings in the field
Free space optical communication was recently demonstrated from the Moon, and in 2020 could be used to transmit data from Mars. Jessica Rowbury reports from a conference at Photonics West where laser communication was discussed as a means to revolutionise data transmission to and from space
Professor Paul Shore led the team that micromachined the complex mirrors within James Webb’s mid-infrared instrument. He chats about the technical lessons learnt
EMF invested a great deal of time and effort in developing a coating system for producing long-lasting diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings on chalcogenides at scale
The properties of chalcogenide glass optics have opened up a number of use cases in infrared optics applications and beyond. This article assesses how some of the associated manufacturing and handling challenges of this material can be overcome
Image credit: Yury Zap/Shutterstock.com
We detail the commercial offerings from some of the main players in optical mirrors
Image credit: Mia Stendal/Shutterstock.com
Shining a light on the latest products and solutions in the diode laser space
Optical technologies offer researchers a powerful new toolkit to explore the structure and function of the brain. (Image: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com)
Advances in optical fibres and microscale LEDs are furthering neuroscientists’ understanding of the brain
The nulling interferometry devices under development at Caltech’s Exoplanet Technology Laboratory cancel out starlight to help detect and identify foreign worlds. (Credit: Shutterstock/Dotted Yeti)
Nemanja Jovanovic, lead instrument scientist at Caltech’s Optical Observatory and Exoplanet Technology Laboratory, on emerging astrophotonic technologies on his radar
Robert Smith is a professor at the University of Alberta and historian to JWST since 2002
As James Webb Space Telescope beams back images from the edge of space and time, space historian Robert Smith recalls some of the decisions made to bring the $10bn NASA project to fruition. David Stuart reports
