Photonics West 2024

Narrow endoscopic equipment has been used in surgeries targeting small spaces and structures within the body for many decades. Advances in technology are now accelerating the development and adoption in an increasing number of clinical areas, including ophthalmology, neurology, and gastroenterology. The ability to deliver illumination, imaging, and surgical functionality through sub-millimeter-diameter endoscopes is enabling increasingly-complex and beneficial procedures while minimizing the disruption to healthy tissues. Read More.

Long-path differential optical absorbance spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) is an optical technique that provides simultaneous trace-level measurements of multiple gas species in the atmosphere. The Beer-Lambert law describes the relationship between a measured optical spectrum and an emitted spectrum, based on the absorbance cross section of each gas in the optical path, the concentration of each gas, and extinction factors related to light scattering. LP-DOAS applies this law to measure a variety of gases, down to trace-level concentrations. Read More.

Hyperspectral imaging techniques allow for spatially and spectrally encoded, pixel-by-pixel collection and processing of information across broad bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Techniques based on this principle are being applied to an expanding range of fields including, but not limited to astronomy, geoscience, agriculture, and more recently biomedical imaging and molecular biology. Energetiq’s high-brightness broadband Laser-Driven Light Sources (LDLS™) are enabling new insights into the biological sciences, especially in applications where researchers employ hyperspectral imaging to study subcellular structures on the nanoscale. Read More.

Energetiq Technology is a developer and manufacturer of ultra-bright broadband light sources for a variety of advanced applications in life and materials sciences, semiconductor manufacturing, and R&D. Energetiq’s Laser-Driven Light Sources (LDLS) are based on revolutionary technology that generates high brightness across the spectrum, with high reliability and long life. Read More.

Energetiq Technology’s Laser-Driven Light Source (LDLS™) technology is ideal for optical component testing and calibration applications. This application note will describe why scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center selected the EQ-400 LDLS to calibrate a detector on a hyperspectral telescope that will be used to examine our planet’s ocean. Read More.

The smartphone market is a fast-paced and highly competitive business in which market leaders must continually innovate with regular releases of “smarter,” more capable phones. Worldwide production of smartphones now exceeds 1.5 billion units per year. While first-to-market features are included in each new product launch, premium brands continue to focus on advancing core functionalities, such as display quality, camera image quality, and battery life. There are typically at least two ambient light sensors in each smartphone to support these core functionalities. Manufacturers must optimize their calibration process to ensure that they can meet the high demand for high performance ambient light sensors. Read More.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of millions worldwide. As of August 31, 2020, there have been over 25 million cases confirmed. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 exceeds 800,000 and continues to rise. In terms of mortality, the COVID-19 virus does not act alone. In fact, early evidence suggests that approximately 50% of the people who have passed from COVID-19 also had a secondary infection.1 These secondary infections are known as superinfections and are a complication in which an additional infection occurs on top of the primary viral infection. Superinfections contribute to the overall mortality rate associated with COVID-19, as patients are exposed to bacteria and viruses that lead to superinfections in public spaces and healthcare facilities. Read More.

The pandemic from the recent outbreak of COVID-19 calls for rapid mobilization of every possible clinical tool, including phototherapy, which has been demonstrated to be one of the most effective ways to reduce the impact of the 1918 “Spanish influenza” pandemic [1]. Evidences show that far-UVC light (207 nm–222 nm) efficiently inactivates bacteria without harm to exposed mammalian skin, since far-UVC light cannot penetrate even the outer layers of human skin or eye due to its strong absorbance in biological materials [2]. Further evidence shows that UV and blue light can inactivate several viruses, including the common flu coronavirus [3]. These findings attract more attention and efforts to further explore the clinical value of light, which is helpful to avoid another pandemic to serve as a reminder. The unique property of wavelength tunable light sources, especially with capability of tuning range covering from far-UVC to visible, makes it suitable to function as a key role in the research and development in phototherapy activities, as researchers can manipulate desired wavelength to observe the response from the virus or bacteria under test.

In this study, a TLS powered by an LDLSTM with specific design to facilitate UV output is presented. Read More.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a non-destructive metrology method used to examine nanoscale materials and is especially useful to determine the thickness of thin film substrates as well as quality monitoring and defect analysis. The technique dates to at least 1886 when the German physicist Paul Drude developed the fundamental equations and was first referred to by the term “ellipsometry” in 1945.

An ellipsometer measures the interaction of light with a sample material by measuring the change in polarization of reflected light. This technology can be used to measure multilayer film thickness, refractive index and absorption. Read More.