PhotonicsViews 4/2022
Cover Picture: PhotonicsViews 4/2022
Editorial
Switzerland welcomes a major event
ECOC conference and exhibtion to be held in Basel, 18 – 22 September 2022
Christoph Harder (SwissPhotonics)
- Pages: 1
Contents
- Pages: 2-3
News
- Pages: 4-9
Products
- Pages: 10-11
Communications
- Pages: 12-15
Organizations & Initiatives
- Pages: 16-21
Interview
“Open the door to something better”
Prof Ursula Keller on the challenges of being a woman in STEM – in Europe and abroad
Francesca Moglia (formerly EPIC)
The first tenured woman physics professor at ETH Zurich, and a career-long campaigner for fair play and a level playing field for women in science, Ursula Keller, talks to Francesca Moglia, EPIC's former photonics technologies program manager.
- Pages: 22-25
- References
Technology Report
Harnessing the power of single photons
Generating and detecting single quanta of light energy is essential for many applications and disruptive technologies that will solve a number of challenges
Panagiotis Vergyris (EPIC)
The concept of photon counting is already a century old. However, we have only managed to harness its power over the last few decades. Generating and detecting these single quanta of light energy is essential for many applications and disruptive technologies that will solve many of today's global challenges, from super-efficient photonic quantum processors and ultrasecure communication to highly accurate sensors for biomedical imaging. Single-photon generation and detection technologies are redesigning the map of photonics applications.
- Pages: 26-29
- References
Optical Communication
Programmable photonics for optical communications: Looking at silicon photonics from a different perspective
Ana Gonzalez (iPRONICS), Jim Theodoras (HG Genuine)
As the bandwidth requirements in communication networks continue to increase unabated, wafer level photonic integration is becoming key to miniaturizing components and increasing the number of functionalities, thereby replacing bulky systems. However, a variety of challenges such as long development times and high costs of fabrication are impeding the widescale adoption of this technology in the optical communication field.
- Pages: 30-33
- References
Trends in Manufacturing
Not without my AI: Virtual chain reactions – live, in color and in person
Many industries are ready to break new ground in production with lasers. To do this, users and suppliers must reconcile digitalization and sustainability, ecology and economy. As an important means to this end, lasers can be integrated into the emerging process chains so that they interact with the entire upstream and downstream processes, saving both time and money. The more than 520 participants at the AKL'22 International Laser Technology Congress in Aachen learned how the laser community is already proactively tackling these tasks.
- Pages: 34-36
- References
Silicon Photonics
Photonic devices for future network designs: Designing a silicon photonic MEMS phase shifter with simulation
Alan Petrillo (Comsol)
Optical fiber networks, which make up the backbone of the internet, rely on many electrical signal processing devices. Nanoscale silicon photonic network components, such as phase shifters, could boost optical network speed, capacity, and reliability. To design these small but powerful devices, a team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne uses simulation to optimize both optical and electromechanical performance.
- Pages: 37-39
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Previews
Software integration for 3D lens prototyping and complex lens analysis workflows: Ansys Zemax solutions enable rapid prototyping and yield optimization for UpNano's in-house and external projects
- Pages: 40
One software and two lasers for three layers: ATSM: Optics module and control software for laser-based production of tribological multilayer systems
- Pages: 40
3D beam shaping methods for ultrashort-pulsed laser material processing: Improving process speed and enabling new industrial laser applications by 3D beam shaping
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Optical metasurfaces made by cell projection lithography: Electron beam nanopatterning with high optical quality on large areas
- Pages: 40
Optical Components and Systems
Fixed focal length or telecentric lens?
The perspective decides – concept and advantages of telecentric lenses
Boris Lange (Edmund Optics)
How do telecentric lenses work? And how exactly do they differ from fixed focal length lenses? This article introduces the peculiarities and explains why telecentric models are predominantly used in optical metrology.
- Pages: 41-43
Additive Manufacturing
Laserpore: a new machine technology for additive manufacturing of porous glass: An innovative solution developed by Ernst Abbe University, Leipzig University, ITG Wismar, and Pulsar Photonics
In the cooperative ‘Laserpore’ project, an innovative process has been developed for the first time worldwide that allows the generation of porous glass moldings which, on the one hand, have a complex and flexible geometric shape and, on the other hand, a hierarchical pore structure.
- Pages: 44-45
Laser Materials Processing
Multifunctional laser-induced nanostructuring of glass: Latest technological advances on selective glass surface processing with ultrafast laser light for antireflection, antiglare and antifogging properties
Evangelos Skoulas, Alexandros Mimidis, Antonis Papadopoulos, Andreas Lemonis, Emmanuel Stratakis (all: Biomimetic)
A comprehensive report is provided here on a single-step approach to the selective surface processing and functionalization of glass components with laser pulses. In particular, it is shown that biomimetic, self-organized, deep-subwave-length, quasi-periodic nanopillar structures can be realized using ultrashort laser light. These structures have an enormous effect on the properties of the glass, including optical and wetting. Remarkable antireflection and enhanced transmission, tunable glare as well as a strong antifogging effect of the laser processed glass are shown. Several use cases are discussed for selective glass surface functionalization, including optical fiber tips and curved optical lenses.
- Pages: 46-49
- References
Laser Cutting
Electrifying lasers for the transformer industry: How CO2 laser sources are being used for paper cutting
BR Technologies is enabling a transformer manufacturer to cut its insulation paper in a unique way by using lasers integrated into its machines. The SR 15i CO2 laser sources from Luxinar are cutting crepe paper, which is used as an insulation layer inside the electrical transformers that are sold to power grid suppliers.
- Pages: 50-51
Enhanced edge strength for augmented reality waveguide laser singulation: Edge strength is a key metric to evaluate the performance of a laser cutting process
Andreas Gaab, Tobias Roeder, Quentin Hayet, Alejandro Becker (all: Corning)
With a new enhanced nanoperforation (EnP) approach, Corning Laser Technologies can demonstrate an increase to 128 MPa B10 in edge strength (ES) for 1.8RI glass. This will help designers and manufacturers to meet the expectations of future AR applications.
- Pages: 52-55
Machine Vision
How inspection solutions ensure quality and profitability: Glass – display – smartphone: from the raw material to the final product
Technologies for ever thinner displays and vibrant display quality, outlandish shapes, and new applications open up additional market potential in consumer electronics and industrial markets. At the same time, however, they demand increasingly higher functionality and optical quality.
- Pages: 56-58
Bionic technology analyzed precisely: Ultrahigh-speed camera used in complex fundamental research
Complex fundamental research is necessary to realize future visions such as robotic humanoids with artificial joints and muscles. The Max Plank Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart, Germany, has dedicated itself to this research using a Phantom ultrahigh speed (UHS) camera for precise observation and versatile analysis of these complex processes.
- Pages: 59-61
New at the short end of the spectrum: Image processing outside the visible range
For many industrial inspection tasks, wavelengths outside of visible light are more meaningful than the light spectrum perceivable by humans. New and powerful short-wave infrared (SWIR) and ultraviolet (UV) industrial cameras as well as polarization cameras are now available for such applications.
- Pages: 62-63
Calendar
- Pages: 64
Meetings: PhotonicsViews 4/2022
- Pages: 65-68
Buyers' Guide
- Pages: 69-71
Index & Masthead
Company Index
- Pages: 73
