Issues

Browse our previous issues below, or browse and search for specific features or analysis & opinion.

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December 2021/January 2022

Image credit: bogdanhoda/Shutterstock.com

Feature

Diamonds are forever

11 January 2022

Tiny nanodiamonds are being used to dramatically optimise the calibration of optical microscopes, Matthew Dale finds

 

After the test disk is placed inside the chamber, some fine tuning is required to ensure they are horizontal and perfectly centred (credit: Caltech)

Feature

Making waves in cosmic ripple detection

7 January 2022

LIGO scientists have developed a new mirror coating that could dramatically increase the observatory's detection rate of gravitational waves

LLNL optical engineers Justin Wolfe (left) and Simon Cohen are seen through the 'r' filter (credit: Garry McLeod)

Product focus

Look to the skies

6 January 2022

A telescope, described as one of the world’s newest, has been completed following a project undertaken by researchers to develop some very specialist optical filters

Magic cinema/Shutterstock.com

Product focus

Watch this space

6 January 2022

Advances in optical prisms are being used to help researchers gain a greater understanding of space and astronomy

November 2021

(Image: BigPixelPhotos/Shutterstock.com)

Feature

Sourcing skills for next-gen factories

6 December 2021

Manufacturing firms must help inspire young engineers as production plants embrace digital technologies, Matthew Dale finds

The future of LEDS lies some way beyond the humble LED bulb. (Image: LariBat/shutterstock.com)

 

Feature

LEDs: filling the world with white light

6 December 2021

As nations turn to LED lighting to save energy and cut emissions, industry players are still chasing efficiencies and searching for the elusive, right light, reports Rebecca Pool

Electronics quality checks made using laser triangulation. (Image: Sick)

Product focus

Lessons when working in 3D

1 November 2021

We ask four experts to give their advice for 3D imaging best practices

Sydney Institute for Astronomy researchers have developed a new type of wavefront sensor that leverages a ‘photonic lantern’ and deep learning. (Norris et al.)

Product focus

Lighting the way for astronomy

1 November 2021

Researchers have developed a wavefront sensor using a ‘photonic lantern’ that could optimise humanity’s viewing of the cosmos

At Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers integrate the gamma ray and neutron spectrometer into the Psyche spacecraft. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Product focus

Psyched for launch

1 November 2021

A gamma ray and neutron spectrometer was recently installed on the ‘Psyche’ spacecraft, which will launch next year to probe a distant asteroid and uncover clues about the origins of our solar system

October 2021

Feature

A good turn

19 October 2021

Keely Portway looks at the latest advances in diamond turning, including new properties and functions for optics

August/September 2021

FormFactor's fast photonic wafer probers enable rapid tests through faster photonic alignment than previously possible. (Credit: FormFactor Inc)

Feature

Testing and alignment seek to scale up manufacture

7 September 2021

Integration, automation, collaboration, customisation and designing for testing and manufacturability will help component and system makers lower costs and increase production, finds Andy Extance

June 2021

May 2021

Imec is using a high harmonic generation laser with anamorphic mirrors to explore high NA EUV challenges

Feature

Chipmakers look to EUV lithography’s next generation

13 May 2021

Semiconductor manufacturers want the next big thing: to adopt high numerical aperture lithographic processes using extreme ultraviolet light to print smaller circuits. Andy Extance finds out more

 

Analysis and opinion

It’s all in the data

10 May 2021

Carlos Lee, Epic’s director general, talks with Ben Rubovitch, co-founder and CEO at DustPhotonics, a supplier of optical technology for silicon photonics

April 2021

Feature

Covid-19 impacts doctors' trust in point-of-care tests

8 April 2021

With huge opportunities for light-based diagnostics and therapeutics to combat disease, successful clinical translation depends on funding robust trials – and greater trust between developers and end-users, finds Jessica Rowbury 

This image shows perovskite photovoltaics in the background with individual perovskite crystals shown as the colourful units. (Credit: CUBE3D Graphic)

Product focus

Souped-up solar absorption with perovskites

26 March 2021

Perovskite solar cell design delivers efficiencies to rival those made of silicon

March 2021

Amplitude Laser supplies ophthalmic surgery instrument producers

Feature

Boosting ultrafast lasers’ medical benefits

22 March 2021

Picosecond and femtosecond lasers are moving beyond ophthalmology into applications including cancer screening and therapy, finds Andy Extance

Symetrie’s NanoPos is a miniature hexapod of 68mm height for positioning and adjustment of precision components in six degrees of freedom, with a 10nm resolution.

Product focus

An exact science

26 February 2021

Some of the latest positioning solutions for photonics equipment on the market

February 2021

The EUV source at Fraunhofer ILT’s Excimer facility delivers 40W at 13.5nm

Feature

EUV technology to become more accessible for SMEs

16 February 2021

Keely Portway discovers how lasers are being used to advance Moore’s law, and how this technology could become more accessible to SMEs

Feature

Photonics’ quantum quest

11 February 2021

Keely Portway looks at some of the latest developments in quantum science, and what they could mean for the commercial space

The shape of modern optical components is becoming increasingly complex, which can make them more difficult to coat.

Product focus

Functionalising complex shaped optics

21 January 2021

Dr Kristin Pfeiffer, Pallabi Paul, and Dr Adriana Szeghalmi have developed conformal coating processes for functionalising strongly curved optics

December 2020/January 2021

A rendering of the experimental setup used. Light is reflected down to the nanostructure of molybdenum disulfide (yellow and teal lattice) and PZT (blue and green). Wavelengths reflecting from the surface are captured by the top detector as transmitted wavelengths pass through the PZT to the bottom detector. (Image: Hong et al.)

Product focus

Smaller, more versatile optical filters on the horizon

6 January 2021

Researchers could spur the development of smaller, more versatile optical filters that are especially adept at playing a trick of the light

Analysis and opinion

Ready to recruit remotely?

16 December 2020

Filling technical positions is difficult any time, but the pandemic poses further challenges. Jessica Rowbury reports on a panel discussion where experts gave tips to organisations recruiting during this period

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