The future of LEDS lies some way beyond the humble LED bulb. (Image: LariBat/shutterstock.com)
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
How optical designers can realise the benefits of using freeform optical elements from the R&D stage when designing for illumination applications
How solid-state light engines can meet the exact needs of many biotech and industrial applications
The science of measuring the amount, spectral and spatial distribution of light emitted by a source is generally poorly understood. Few university-level physics or engineering syllabuses review the principles of optical radiation measurement, let alone the practicalities. This is despite our interacting with light almost constantly, both in nature and in our work and leisure activities. This white paper reviews the fundamental principles of light metrology.
Freeform optical elements give optical designers new and exciting degrees of freedom when it comes to designing optics for illumination applications. These same freeform elements can also add a new layer of complexity to the design process due to added degrees of freedom.
Specifications for illumination systems for biomedical imaging and industrial metrology generally converge on spectral, spatial and temporal light output characteristics. This article describes some of the ways in which solid-state light engines consisting of arrays of solid-state light sources, a mix of LEDs, light pipes and lasers, allow for the customisation of specifications to meet application-specific lighting requirements.
When Solid State Supplies added PAX pulsed xenon light sources to its Excelitas illumination solutions, it was the latest step in a fruitful photonics partnership
Image: Trumpf Photonic Components
Launched at Photonics West, the VCSEL with stable linear polarisation and meta-optics uses only two components to create both flood and structured light illumination
This white paper provides operating lifetime projections for Lumencor’s light engines based on an analysis of service histories, cost considerations of solid-state light engines v. arc lamps, and a presentation of optical output stability data.
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
