lfw201310 DL

www. l aser focusworl d.
com October 2013

ZnO takes photonics
into the deep UV P. 33
Optofluidic switch
routes solar lighting P. 37
Digital electronics clean
up fiber dispersion P. 40
Active isolation
controls vibration P. 51
International Resource for Technology and Applications in the Global Photonics Industry
Objective
lenses
can take
the heat p. 28
1310LFW_C1 1 10/4/13 1:14 PM
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Closing date:
December 31, 2013
Eligible to apply or to be
nominated are individuals
and project groups worldwide
with innovations whose main
development efforts
and market potential lies in
the application or generating
of laser light.
Prize money:
First prize: 30.000 C =
Second prize: 20.000 C =
Third prize: 10.000 C =
More information:
www.leibinger-stiftung.de
Awarded for Outstanding
Innovations in
Applied Laser Technology
BERTHOLD LEI BINGER
I N N O V A T I O N S P R E I S
2 0 1 4
Jury:
Stephen Anderson
SPIE - international society for optics
and photonics
Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Berlien
Evangelische Elisabeth Klinik Berlin
Dr. Hermann Gerlinger
Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
Prof. Dr. Theodor Hnsch
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann
acatech National Academy of Science
and Engineering
Prof. Dr. Ursula Keller
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Marquardt
RWTH Aachen
Prof. Dr. John Stuart Nelson
Beckman Laser Institute
Prof. Dr. Orazio Svelto
Technical University of Milan
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jrgen Warnecke
Fraunhofer Institute for
Manufacturing Engineering and Automation
Prof. Dr. Michael Zh
Technische Universitt Mnchen
1310LFW_1 1 10/4/13 1:09 PM
OCTOBER 2013
VOL. 49, NO. 10

International Resource for
Technology and Applications
in the Global Photonics Industry
October 2013 www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World 2
de pa r t me nt s c o l u mns
n e w s b r e a k s w o r l d n e w s
L A S E R S
OP T I C S
D E T E C T OR S
I MAG I NG
F I B E R OP T I C S
I N S T R UME NTAT I ON
13 Spectroscopy VCSELs benefit TDLAS
combustion measurements
14 Organic Light-emitting Diodes Platinum-rich
polymer could enable truly white OLED
17 Molecular Imaging QCLs enable mid-IR
spectral image-based molecular detection
18 IR Imaging SWIR cameras spot unwanted
activities through fog and at night
22 Swept-wavelength Lasers Akinetic all-semiconductor
swept lasers boost OCT image quality
25 Biomimetics Polymer-chlorophyll solid could
be foundation for photonic devices
9
Beam-shaping technique
generates 3D curved light
Nanopyramids enable electrically
driven amber InGaN LEDs
Draw-tower FBGs aid
esophageal manometry
10
Cryolasers target >80% power
conversion efficiency
11
Organic phosphorescent UV
photodetector is visible-blind
7 THE EDITORS DESK
Photonics is edgy
W. Conard Holton
Associate Publisher/Chief Editor
64 BUSINESS FORUM
The National Photonics
Initiative is making an
impact
Milton Chang
54 NEW PRODUCTS
61 BUSINESS
RESOURCE CENTER
62 MANUFACTURERS
PRODUCT
SHOWCASE
63 ADVERTISING/WEB
INDEX
63 SALES OFFICES
1310LFW_2 2 10/4/13 1:09 PM
3 Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com October 2013
f e a t u r e s
LFW on the Web Visit www.laserfocusworld.com for breaking news and Web-exclusive articles
28 COVER STORY
The Silverline F-Theta lens
has a focal length of 160
mm and a design wave-
length range of 1030 nm
to 1080 nm, and can be
used in microprocessing
metal sheets. (Courtesy of
Jenoptik Optical Systems
GmbH)

28 Photonics Applied: Materials
Processing
Objective lenses for laser
materials processing have
high thermal stability for
high-power lasers
Simulations of thermal and optical
properties and process enhancements
have revealed the best approaches for
manufacturing high-power laser objective
lenses that feature minimal thermally
induced focus shift or reduction in beam
quality. Peter Triebel, Lutz Reichmann, and
Helmut Bernitzki
33 Solid-state Deep UV Emitters
Detectors
Zinc oxide moves further
into the ultraviolet
Recent breakthroughs in the alloying of
zinc oxide (ZnO) with magnesium (Mg)
could offer an alternative to (Al)GaN-
based emitters/detectors in the deep UV
with reduced lattice and efficiency issues.
David J. Rogers, Philippe Bove, Eric V. Sandana,
Ferechteh Hosseini Teherani, Ryan McClintock,
and Manijeh Razeghi
37 Optofluidics
Optofluidic light switch enables
reconfigurable solar lighting
An optofluidic-switch-based fiber-optic
solar lighting system is quickly adjustable,
maintains constant output for varying
solar input, and is more efficient than
photovoltaic-powered indoor-lighting
systems. Wuzhou Song and Demetri Psaltis
40 Photonic Frontiers: Electronic
Dispersion Management
Digital electronics clean
up dispersion in high-
speed fiber systems
Replacement of in-line optical dispersion
compensation with digital signal
processing in special-purpose chips has
been key to the success of coherent
fiber-optic transmission at line rates of
100 Gbit/s and up. Jeff Hecht
44 CMOS Sensors
CMOS-based specialty imagers
reach new performance levels
Todays CMOS-based specialty imagers
have improved non-visible light sensitivity
and high-data-rate acquisition at low
power consumption levels, enabling
system-on-chip imagers that target
former CCD-only applications. Els Parton,
Jerome Baron, and Piet De Moor
47 Advances in Communications
New FSO provides reliable
10 Gbit/s and beyond
backhaul connections
With 4G cellular communications placing
increasing demands on backhaul capacity
between cell towers, a new free-space
optical (FSO) technology uses ultrashort
pulse lasers for reliable high-bandwidth
wireless communications in all weather
conditions for backhaul sweet spot
distances of 2 to 3 km. Isaac Kim, Tom
Chaffee, Robert Fleishauer, Paul Szajowski,
Alexandre Braga, David Beering, and
Daniel C. Hurley
51 Vibration Control Systems
Active vibration isolation:
Know the options
Choosing the right type of control system
and form factor are only two of the many
decisions to make when defining the
right active isolation platform for the job;
understanding the many other options
will help lead to the proper choice.
Reid Whitney
COMING IN
NOVEMBER
Hyperspectral
imaging detects
hazardous
substances
Accurately detecting and
identifying hazardous
agents such as chemical
warfare agents and volatile
organic compounds is a
priority for protecting
people in both military and
civilian environments.
Scientists at M Squared
Lasers (Glasgow, Scotland)
will describe recent work in
which active hyperspectral
imaging was performed in
SWIR and MWIR regions on
a number of agents used as
simulants for hazardous
substances.
1310LFW_3 3 10/4/13 1:09 PM
1310LFW_4 4 10/4/13 1:09 PM
www.laserfocusworld.com
laserfocusworld.online More Features, News & Products
t r e n d i n g n o w c o o l c o n t e n t
Blog: Spectral Bytes
Spectral Bytes to
stimulate your brain
Grab a byte with Laser Focus World
contributing editor and industry expert Jeff Hecht
on integrating graphene detectors
with silicon photonics, some good
news from the NIF, and more.
http://bit.ly/12N49Z6
Blog: Photon Focus
Senior editor Gail Overton attended the Stanford
Photonics Research Center Symposium held
September 16-18, 2013, and in three blogs
discusses the presentations she attended.
Keep coming back to our blog for
more hot topics, cool commentary,
and other events-related musings!
http://bit.ly/14RIfUO
Webcasts let you make new
discoveries from your desktop
Whether you are looking a primer on fiber lasers
or an overview on optical fiber-based devices
for medical applications, weve got webcasts
aplenty to meet your educational needs.
http://bit.ly/Onhs9J
Mobile your way!
You can access the latest Laser Focus World
content on iPads, iPhones, and Android phones.
Visit our mobile app page and click on the
tabs to get news at the speed of light!
http://bit.ly/SUq2zF
Focus on Detectors & Imaging
From detectors to cameras to sophisticated
3D vision systems, and from the terahertz
to the infrared and ultraviolet, Laser Focus
World covers the components, systems, and
applications of detectors and imaging technology.
Miniature monocentric camera
records details of scene while
maintaining extremely wide field
of view
A monocentric camera lens
developed by researchers at
the University of
California, San
Diego achieves the
optical performance
of a full-size wide-angle lens
in a device less than one-
tenth of the volume.
http://bit.ly/GzrsQ8
Microrobots slide, crawl, and swarm
into new applications
Whether diagnosing poor oxygen
supply in eyes,
sensing diseases
in the GI tract,
or cleaning
up dangerous
situations, microrobots
are becoming more mobile,
better communicators, and more precise.
http://bit.ly/15Ggxd0
Monolithic fiber-optic probes enable
medical imaging with OCT
Fiber-optic processing technologies
such as filament
fusion can be
used to fabricate
probes for
biomedical imaging
techniques ranging from
coherent detection via OCT to
spectroscopy using a tapered microfiber.
http://bit.ly/15Gh6DN
Our editors video chat with industry leaders
Get an insiders look with video interviews, featuring
leaders in the field, as they sit down for some tech talk
with our editorial team. Contact Conard Holton at cholton@
pennwell.com if youve got some exciting insights to share!
http://bit.ly/11i8ORN
1310LFW_5 5 10/4/13 1:09 PM
25 Gbaud QPSK Constellation
Typical QPSK Bit Error Ratio (per channel)
25 Gbaud QPSK Eye Pattern
16 QAM Constellation
1310LFW_6 6 10/4/13 1:09 PM
editors desk
W. Conard Holton
Associate Publisher/
Editor in Chief
cholton@pennwell.com
Photonics is edgy
The most rewarding aspect of working on Laser Focus World is the fact that photonics science and tech-
nology are always evolvingand we have the pleasure of writing and editing articles about the latest de-
velopments, trying to answer the questions, whats new? and what are the opportunities? Our issue
this month is no different, starting with the cover story from Jenoptik Optical Systems about objective
lenses for high-power laser materials processing (see page 28). As the researchers write, there are signifi-
cant optical challenges to be overcome as disk and fiber laser systems become more powerful, yet solid
research has resulted in better-designed and optimized lenses for the new generation of industrial lasers.
The cumulative R&D into zinc oxide (ZnO) described in an article from researchers at Nanovation (see
page 33) has resulted in a material that is enabling new capabilities for ultraviolet emitters and detectors,
which in turn will impact applications ranging from photovoltaics to displays, LEDs, and environmental
sensors. That makes the field of ZnO devices very exciting.
Advancing technology for high-speed communications is the topic of two other articles this month. In
the first, contributing editor Jeff Hecht describes how electronic dispersion compensation marks a new
stage in the evolution of very high speed optical signal transmission (see page 40). And engineers at At-
tochron show how ultrashort pulse lasers can provide reliable free-space optical communications within
4G cellular networks (see page 47).
Even more on the frontiers of photonics are articles about an optofluidic light switch for reconfigurable
solar lighting, the first tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy system incorporating VCSELs for
water vapor measurements in internal-combustion engines, quantum-cascade lasers in a new standoff
hyperspectral molecular-imaging system, and a new swept laser source to boost optical coherence to-
mography image quality. Notice how the word new keeps appearing in these descriptions of photonics
systemsits all part of living on the edge.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Stephen G. Anderson, SPIE;
Dan Botez, University of Wisconsin-
Madison; Walter Burgess, Power
Technology; Connie Chang-Hasnain,
UC Berkeley Center for Opto-electronic
Nanostructured Semiconductor
Technologies; Pat Edsell, Avanex;
Jason Eichenholz, Open Photonics;
Thomas Giallorenzi, Naval Research
Laboratory; Ron Gibbs, Ron Gibbs
Associates; Anthony M. Johnson,
Center for Advanced Studies in
Photonics Research, University of
Maryland Baltimore County;
Kenneth Kaufmann, Hamamatsu
Corp.; Larry Marshall, Southern Cross
Venture Partners; Jan Melles,
Photonics Investments;
Masahiro Joe Nagasawa, TEM Co. Ltd.;
David Richardson, University of
Southampton; Ralph A. Rotolante,
Vicon Infrared; Samuel Sadoulet,
Edmund Optics; Toby Strite,
JDS Uniphase.
EDITORIAL OFFICES
Laser Focus World
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(603) 891-0123; fax (603) 891-0574
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CORPORATE OFFICERS
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Subscription inquiries
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Susan Smith Publisher, (603) 891-9447; susans@pennwell.com
W. Conard Holton Editor in Chief, (603) 891-9161; cholton@pennwell.com
Gail Overton Senior Editor, (603) 305-4756; gailo@pennwell.com
John Wallace Senior Editor, (603) 891-9228; johnw@pennwell.com
Lee Dubay Associate Editor, (603) 891-9116; leem@pennwell.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeffrey Bairstow In My View, inmyview@yahoo.com
David A. Belforte Industrial Lasers, (508) 347-9324; belforte@pennwell.com
Jeff Hecht Photonic Frontiers, (617) 965-3834; jeff@jeffhecht.com
D. Jason Palmer Europe, 44 (0)7960 363 308; djasonpalmer@gmail.com
Adrienne Adler Marketing Manager
Meg Fuschetti Art Director
Sheila Ward Production Manager
Chris Hipp Senior Illustrator
Debbie Bouley Audience Development Manager
Alison Boyer Ad Services Manager
1310LFW_7 7 10/4/13 1:09 PM
Using Nuferns precision matched bers, NuQ ber marking
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800 750 700 650 600 550 500
Wavelength (nm)
Intensity
(a.u.)
200 mA
150 mA
120 mA
100 mA
90 mA
80 mA
70 mA
60 mA
50 mA
2
0
-2
2
0
-2
2
0
-2
2
0
-2
-2 0 2 -2 0 2 -2 0 2 -2 0 2
y
(mm)
Star-like curve Trefoil-knotted curve Archimedean spiral Ring curve
2
m
newsbreaks
Draw-tower FBGs aid
esophageal manometry
Transport of food through the esophageal tract is a highly coordinated neu-
romuscular event, and dysfunction of the pressure mechanisms and sphincter
muscles causes acid reflux (heartburn) and other diseases. Analysis of esopha-
geal pressure distributionesophageal manometryis now being assisted by
draw-tower fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) incorporated into an endoscopic pres-
sure sensor distributed along the esophagus.
An endoscopic FBG-based catheter, developed by the Institute of Pho-
tonic Technology Jena (IPHT; Jena, Germany) and Technische Univer-
sitt Chemnitz (Chemnitz, Germany), has a soft, single-layer nominal
3-to-5-mm-diameter coating that transfers esophageal pressure to an
80-to-125-m-diameter cerium- or germanium-doped optical fiber at its
core. Fiber pressure deformation translates to a change in refractive in-
dex (and corresponding changes in the optical grating period) of 30 FBGs
spaced roughly 10 mm apart. The FBGs are fabricated continuously on a
draw tower using an excimer laser (248 nm) operating at 150 mJ/pulse
that is split into two beams that superimpose and form standing waves on
the fiber to create permanent, periodic index modulations within the fiber
core. A superluminescent light-emitting diode interrogation system trans-
mits 800860 nm light to the endoscope; the signals reflected by the grat-
ings are analyzed with a CCD array at a 1 kHz sampling frequency to re-
solve the 20 s travel time of peristaltic waves and corresponding pressure
values distributed along the esophagus. Contact Martin Becker at martin.
becker@ipht-jena.de.
Nanopyramids enable
electrically driven
amber InGaN LEDs
When combined with yellow phosphors,
indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LEDs have
become the star of the lighting industry,
producing white light at high efficiencies
and long lifetimes. But InGaN itself has a
bandgap that can be varied from the UV
(3.4 eV) to the near-IR (0.7 eV) depend-
ing on the proportion of In, which means
that, at least in theory, red, green, and
blue InGaN LEDs could be fabricated and
combined to create white LED without
the use of phosphors. While long-wave-
length (yellow) InGaN
Beam-shaping technique generates 3D curved light
Algorithms for shaping coherent light beams
with pre-determined phase and intensity pro-
files along three-dimensional (3D) paths are im-
portant for numerous applications in imaging, la-
ser materials processing, and particle trapping.
However, such beams in 3D have only been gen-
erated with prescribed intensity values in simple
geometries; high intensity and phase gradients
are also needed, for example, to manipulate and induce com-
plex particle movements in optical traps. A new noniterative ho-
lographic beam-shaping technique developed by researchers at
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Madrid, Spain) and the Sa-
mara branch of PN Lebedev Physical Institute (Samara, Russia)
generates high-intensity gradient (HIG) beams with both phase
and intensity prescribed along arbitrary 3D curves.
This technique uses a spatial light modulator to encodeas
a computer-generated hologramthe desired beam. The holo-
gram is illuminated by a collimated laser beam and then focused
by a lens, yielding the target 3D light curve with both HIG and
phase gradients. This approach allows accurate generation of
3D beams, from simple circles and spirals to complex knots and
star-shaped patterns. Its performance is experimentally proven
for trapping of colloidal micron-sized particles. Contact Jos A.
Rodrigo at jarmar@fis.ucm.es.
continued on page 11
1310LFW_9 9 10/4/13 1:10 PM
To learn more about high-sensitivity optical sensors, please visit www.hamamatsu.com
USA 1-800-524-0504
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e
n
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t
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y

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p
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a
l

s
e
n
s
o
r
s
newsbreaks
Cryolasers target >80% power conversion efficiency
LIFE, HiPER, and ELI high-energy-class lasers all depend on
ultra-efficient laser-diode bars with the highest output pow-
ers. The laser-bar power-conversion efficiency ideally ex-
ceeds 75% (versus 65% state of the
art) at a bar power of greater than
800 W (versus 400 W state of the
art). The Ferdinand-Braun-Institute
(FBH; Berlin, Germany) is current-
ly developing laser-diode bars that
will allow these stringent require-
ments to be met by using designs
optimized for operation below the
freezing point of water.
When laser diodes are operated
at low heat-sink temperatures (be-
low 0C or 273 K), optical gain in-
creases and nonradiative recombina-
tion is reduced, thus lowering threshold. The lower threshold
current corresponds to lower carrier densities in the active re-
gion, reducing absorption and suppressing leakage effects,
leading to slope efficiency (useful photons out per electron
in) nearing 100% as the temperature decreases. However,
simultaneously the series resistance at lower temperatures in-
creases, limiting efficiency at high currents and powers. The
design challenge is to substan-
tially reduce the series resistance
while maintaining high optical
performance. To date, record
operating powers of 1.7 kW
have been achieved at -55C in
single 975 nm laser bars, where
conversion efficiency is 50%.
The group is currently experi-
menting with design and mate-
rial quality improvements, seek-
ing to enhance the efficiency at
1.6 kW to greater than 80% by
exploring novel designs with low
p-side waveguide losses. Internal gratings are also planned to
narrow the optical spectrum enabling more effective pump-
ing of the laser crystals used in LIFE, HiPER and ELI. Contact
Paul Crump at paul.crump@fbh-berlin.de.
Total pump intensity (kW/cm
2
)
Small singal gain Maximum pump effciency (%)
Higher effciency and gain for Yb:YAG at 175 K
20 15 10 5
300 K
0
10
1
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
300 K, 2-pass
175 K
300 K
300 K, 2-pass
175 K
1310LFW_10 10 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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newsbreaks
Organic phosphorescent UV photodetector is visible-blind
Scientists at Beijing Jiao Tong Universi-
ty (Beijing, China) have created an organ-
ic solar-blind UV photodetector by using
two different phosphorescent materials as
the electron donor and acceptor, termed
FIrpic and PCBM, respectively. The use of
organic materials for such devices enables
device flexibility, as well as low-cost man-
ufacture in large sheets. The researchers
realized that the choice of phosphorescent,
rather than fluorescent, materials could
lead to improved devices. Noting that or-
ganic UV photodiodes using phosphores-
cent materials were rarely discussed, they
decided to give it a try.
The devices were fabricated by coat-
ing the materials onto glass covered with
a film of indium tin oxide; a 100-nm-thick
aluminum cathode layer was then depos-
ited on top. The detectors, which had a 3
3 mm active area, were tested under a
pulsed (square-wave) UV (365 nm) source
to see their transient response; under a
-13 V reverse bias, the devices showed rise
and fall times of less than 1 s (phosphores-
cent materials tend to have slow response).
Under steadier light, the devices showed a
linear response over light intensities rang-
ing from 0.018 to 20 mW/cm
2
. Peak re-
sponsivity was 140 mA/cm
2
at 0.018
mW/cm
2
, reaching an external quantum
efficiency (EQE) of 48% and a detectivi-
ty of 2.4 1011 Jones; at higher intensities
the EQE dropped off, dipping below 20%
at 20 mW/cm
2
. The visible-blind perfor-
mance makes these detectors potential-
ly useful for measuring UV without the
need for filters. Contact Fujun Zhang at
fjzhang@bjtu.edu.cn.
LEDs have been fabricated, they have
been grown on expensive substrates with
alternate, hard-to-create crystal planes at
higher cost.
Researchers at National Chiao Tung
University and Academia Sinica, both in
Taiwan, are solving this problem by tak-
ing ordinary InGaN substrates (with the
wrong crystal orientation for long-wave-
length LEDs) and growing nanopyramids
on them, which naturally form nanocrys-
tal planes with the right orientation for
long-wavelength, electrically driven In-
GaN LEDsin this case, producing green,
olivine (greenish-yellow), and amber
(orangish-yellow) light. The pyramids are
on the order of 400 nm in size and tend
to have triangular bases. The experimen-
tal internal quantum efficiencies for the
green, olivine, and amber LEDs were
30%, 25%, and 21%, respectively; this
graph of emission spectrum as a func-
tion of driver current for the amber LED
shows the typical shift to longer wave-
lengths at lower current, reaching a true
red at low-enough values. Contact Yuh-
Jen Cheng at yjcheng@sinica.edu.tw.
Ultrafast detector continued from page 9
1310LFW_11 11 10/4/13 1:10 PM
Copyright OptoSigma, 2013. All rights reserved.
Optical Thin Film Coatings
Custom, Catalog and OEM
from Ultra Violet to Near Infrared
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Optical glass, wafers, fbers and crystals
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1310LFW_12 12 10/4/13 1:10 PM
Laser modulation frequency (Hz)
Dynamic tuning range (cm
-1
)
VCSEL
DFB laser
30,000 10,000 1000
11.14 cm
-1
-10%
-23%
8.53 cm
-1
1.04 cm
-1
2.14 cm
-1
-51%
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Technical advances from around the globe
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13
Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com October 2013
Better OCT
images
See page 22
S P E C T ROS C OP Y
VCSELs benefit TDLAS
combustion measurements
Researchers at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB;
Braunschweig, Germany), TU Darmstadt (Darmstadt, Germany),
and the University of Duisburg-Essen (Duisburg, Germany) have
developed and demonstrated the first tunable diode laser
absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS or TDLS) system incorpo-
rating vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for
water (H
2
O) vapor measurements in internal-combustion (IC)
engines.
1
The system improves over former TDLAS configura-
tions using distributed-feedback (DFB) laser diodes.
Exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) in IC engines increases
the quantity of inert gas in the cylinder by (1) returning gas
from the exhaust duct to the intake (external EGR) or (2) by
retaining residual gas burned in the cylinder at the end of the
exhaust stroke (internal EGR). This EGR greatly affects combus-
tion; exact knowledge of the amount as well as the temporal
and spatial distribution of the residual gas before ignition is
important. Measuring the most important EGR gas species
H
2
O and carbon dioxideis not possible using fluorescence
except at unrealistically high temperatures. Fortunately, both
gases have relatively high near-infrared (NIR) absorption cross
sections, allowing absorption-based detection in the NIR.
Why TDLAS?
Broadband absorption spectroscopy (BAS) and fixed-wave-
length absorption spectroscopy (FWAS) can measure these
EGR species, but have limited specificity and complex calibra-
tion routines that cannot be easily adjusted for rapid and strong
transmission losses or for strong luminous background emissions.
Alternatively, a certain TDLAS variant called direct TDLAS
(dTDLAS) can effectively correct for transmission losses (from
laser attenuation or particulates on the signal access windows)
as well as suppress luminescence from flames or hot surfaces.
Furthermore, dTDLAS can enable calibration-free concentration
measurements andimportant for high-speed engine mea-
surementshigh-resolution spectral absorption line profiles at
multi-kilohertz scanning speeds that also yield data on gas tem-
perature, pressure, and background emissions.
The researchers developed a DFB-laser-based dTDLAS instru-
ment that determined water concentration in the compres-
sion stroke of an IC engine with a time resolution of 250 s.
However, the limited dynamic range of the 30 mW telecom-
munication-type DFB used initially decreases significantly at
higher modulation frequencies and was not able to capture the
spectral absorption lines at the increased pressures seen in the
second half of the compression stroke of the engine.
VCSEL advantages
Even though the 1369.84-nm-center-wavelength VCSEL used
next in the absorption-spectroscopy setup only had a power
output between 0.17 and 0.25 mW, its high modulation band-
width and 5-8X wider tuning range (from 1368.2 to 1371.3 nm)
is advantageous for TDLAS measurements (see figure). When
the modulation frequency is increased from 0.1 to 10 kHz, the
DFB laser tuning range decreases by 50% (5% per kilohertz),
while the VCSEL tuning range is significantly higher and also
decreases by only 10% over the same modulation frequency
range. The VCSEL thus spans the full absorption line in the
desired pressure range, even with 30 kHz modulation.
In the experimental setup, the Peltier-temperature-stabilized
VCSEL is current-modulated with a sawtooth signal and coupled
into a singlemode fiber. The light exiting the fiber is then
Dynamic tuning range vs. laser modulation frequency is compared for
DFB laser (green) and VCSEL (red) sources. (Courtesy of PTB)
1310LFW_13 13 10/4/13 2:59 PM
news world
collimated and transmitted through the
engines combustion chamber. A pho-
todiode captures the transmitted signal,
which is converted to a voltage signal,
digitized, and fitted to a measured H
2
O
spectrum to determine concentration.
Scatter plots of water-concentration
values at pressures of several bar for 4
kHz modulation rates (the upper limit for
the DFB laser) showed a standard devia-
tion of 2970 ppm for the DFB laser-based
system compared to just 1155 parts
per million (ppm) for the VCSEL-based
system. Scatter diminishes significantly as
modulation rates rise to 10 kHz, illustrat-
ing the benefit of VCSEL-based TDLAS
measurements for high-pressure engine-
combustion measurements.
TDLAS offers great advantages against
other techniques, especially because there
is no need for sensor calibrations, which
are difficult in harsh environments like IC
engines, says Oliver Witzel and Volker
Ebert at PTB. Using VCSELs and their
much larger modulation depth is valuable
in high-pressure environments, and their
low power can be compensated with
fiber-coupled optical amplifiers already
available for this wavelength region. In
addition, VCSEL-based spectrometers
have the ability to capture several absorp-
tion features at once. Witzel and Ebert
add that with these qualities, VCSELs will
become an important tool for simultane-
ous temperature and concentration mea-
surements in the future. Gail Overton
REFERENCE
1. O. Witzel et al., Opt. Exp., 21, 17, 19951
(August 26, 2013).
ORGA N I C L I GH T- E MI T T I NG DI ODE S
Platinum-rich polymer
could enable truly white OLED
By inserting platinum (Pt) atoms into an
organic semiconductor, a group led by
physicist Z. Valy Vardeny at the Univer-
sity of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) has tuned
the polymer to emit light of different
colorsa step toward truly white organic
LEDs (OLEDs) for lighting.
1
Existing white-
emitting OLEDs use other techniques for
white output, such as combining a blue
OLED with a yellow phosphor (Novaled;
Dresden, Germany), or phosphorescent
approaches such as those by Univer-
sal Display Corporation (Ewing, NJ) and
Konica Minolta (Osaka, Japan).
Six types of spectroscopy used
The team of researchers from the Uni-
versity of Utah Los Alamos National
Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM), and
Nanjing University of Science and Tech-
nology (Nanjing, China) synthesized
polymers containing intrachain Pt atoms
separated by one (Pt-1) or three
(Pt-3) organic spacer units. They then
used a number of nonlinear types of
spectroscopyincluding broadband ultra-
fast, continuous-wave pump-probe pho-
tomodulation (PM), electroabsorption
(EA), and two-photon absorption (TPA)
as well as absorption and photolumines-
cence spectroscopy (which are both linear)
to characterize the polymer (see figure).
The reason for so many types: some probe
excited electronic states having either odd
or even symmetry, while others probe
those having both symmetries.
The Pt-1 arrangement emits violet and
yellow light; the other version, Pt-3, emits
blue and orange light. By varying the
amount of platinum in the polymer, the
physicists could create and adjust emis-
sions of fluorescent and phosphores-
cent light, as well as adjust the relative
intensity of one color over another. This
polymer emits light in the blue and red
spectral range and can be tuned to cover
the whole visible spectrum; as such, it
can serve as the active [or working] layer
in white OLEDs that are predicted to
replace regular light bulbs, says Vardeny.
1310LFW_14 14 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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2.5 2.0 1.5
TA
1.0
6
Photon energy (eV)
Pt-1
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4
(-T/T)
TA
Pt-3
4
2
0
2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0
12
Photon energy (eV)
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a)
b)
Triplet state
accessible
The new platinum-
doped polymers can
convert more energy to
light than other OLEDs
now under develop-
ment, Vardeny says.
This is because the
addition of platinum
to the polymer makes
accessible more energy
stored within the
polymer molecules: in
addition to the singlet
state already accessible
by conventional OLEDs,
the normally inaccessi-
ble triplet state is usable
in the new technique.
The researchers found
from their spectroscopic
studies that the lowest
singlet state in the Pt-1
arrangement was a
metal-to-ligand charge-
transfer (MLCT) state,
which lies below the
lowest excited exciton;
however, the order is
reversed in Pt-3. The
Pt-1 arrangement has
a larger intersystem
crossing (ISC) rate
(intersystem crossing is a
radiationless transition in
the state of an electron, here between singlet and triplet states).
What is needed for practical devices is actually a smaller ISC
rate, which leads to a larger fluorescence emission; thus the
Pt-3 arrangement might be better for use in white-light OLEDs.
But the crux of the researchers results is that tailoring molecu-
lar details is a good approach for finding the optimum proper-
ties for a practical photonic device based on Pt and an organic
semiconductor.
However, the polymers in the study are not yet OLEDs, as
they are pumped optically rather than electrically. Vardeny
predicts a span of about one year until the design of a plati-
num-rich pi-conjugated polymer that is tuned to emit white
light when stimulated by light, and about two years until devel-
opment of true white OLEDs. John Wallace
REFERENCE
1. C.-X. Sheng et al., Sci. Rep., 3, 2653 (2013); doi: 10.1038/srep02653.
A yellowish platinum-rich polymer in
the Pt-1 form emits light as a laser
beam hits it (a). The light appears
white because the polymer emits a
combination of broad-spectrum violet
and yellow, which combine to appear
white. The steady-state broadband
photomodulation spectra of a Pt-1 film
(b; left) and a Pt-3 film (right) show
differing peak intensities of about 2.05
eV (605 nm) and 1.65 eV (751 nm),
respectively. (Courtesy of Tek Basel,
University of Utah)
1310LFW_15 15 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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QCL at
9.25 m
QCL at
6.1 m
QCL at
9.5 m
Wavenumber (cm
-1
)
Absorbance
(a.u.)
4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000
0.8
QCL beam
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Trace serum spot
0
0
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40
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Absorbance (a.u.)
60
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17
Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com October 2013
MOL E C U L A R I MAGI NG
QCLs enable mid-IR
spectral image-based
molecular detection
Using quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) in a new standoff hyper-
spectral molecular-imaging system, Infrasign (Fremont, CA) has
successfully detected trace amounts of protein in serum over a
wide area with high sensitivity and specificity.
1, 2
While chromatography and some spectral imaging techniques
require an area to be physically swabbed to obtain a sample
for molecular detection and analysis, Infrasigns mid-infrared
imaging spectroscopy (MIRIS) system noninvasively images
over a large surface area at standoff distances from six inches to
potentially several hundred meters using optically multiplexed
QCLs and a microbolometer camera in a portable suitcase.
QCL multiplexing
To enable high sensitivity and specificity, three QCLs emitting at
6.1, 9.25, and 9.5 m wavelengths at powers of approximately
11 mW are multiplexed into a single beam using a galvanometer
mirror and beam-conditioning optics.
In applications such as surface biocontamination monitoring,
Spectroscopic image detection of proteins in human serum on
a calcium fluoride (CaF
2
) slide shows the almost invisible serum
protein spot on the slide and the outline of the illuminating QCL laser
beam (upper left), absorbance of the serum spot at 6.1 m in three
dimensions corresponding to the dark serum protein spot (upper
right), and the FTIR spectrum recorded on the human serum and
background-subtracted mid-infrared images of the serum spot
(lower graph) taken by the camera under three-QCL illumination at
9.5 m (1052 cm
-1
), 9.25 m (1081 cm
-1
), and 6.1 m (1639 cm
-1
).
1310LFW_17 17 10/4/13 1:10 PM
news world
a mid-IR laser beam is absorbed when
it is tuned to an absorption peak of the
biomolecules of interest, making the
reflected region of an image contain-
ing those molecules dark against a light
background (see figure).
A serum sample was prepared for
protein analysis by smearing 5 l of
human serum over a piece of nonab-
sorbing tape punched with a hole and
affixed to a calcium fluoride (CaF
2
)
slide. The serum was then dried and
the tape removed, leaving a stain
on the slide. From a distance of 50
cm, a mid-IR microbolometer camera
recorded the diffuse scattered signa-
ture reflected off an aluminum plate
behind the slide as each 1.5-cm-diam-
eter QCL beam independently illumi-
nated the stain. The imaged data was
then compared to spectral data from a
commercial FTIR spectrometer system.
The dried serum spot was clearly
visible as a dark spot when illuminated
by the 6.1 m QCL beam since that
wavelength is strongly absorbed by the
amide-I protein in the serum. Reduced
absorption is seen at the glucose wave-
lengths of 9.25 and 9.5 m in keeping
with the results of the accompany-
ing FTIR trace. In addition, the absorp-
tion ratio of amide-I/glucose of approx-
imately 3.12 in the FTIR spectrum is
close to the value of approximately 3.2
measured in the central pixel intensity
values of the serum spot images.
With the major source of noise being
the interference fringes in the image
caused by the front and back surfaces
of the slides, laser despeckling can
improve the limit-of-detection (LOD)
values.
Further experiments to assess the
LOD values for MIRIS involved pre-
paring serums with stepwise dilutions
and analyzing the reflected images.
The measured LOD of 3 g/cm
2
is,
to Infrasigns knowledge, the lowest
LOD reported so far in any noninva-
sive image-based molecular recogni-
tion systema value that could be
improved to several hundred ng/cm
2

with laser despeckling and improved
image-processing algorithms.
Infrasigns first explosive trace
detection product named SPOT (Sen-
sitive Picture Of Traces)recently
supplied to the Department of
Defenseis a three-QCL multiplexed
explosive trace sensor capable of
detecting trace elements of ammonium
nitrate, TNT, urea nitrate, and sugar,
says Anadi Mukherjee, Infrasign
president and CEO. This system is
capable of scanning at least a 6
6 in. area at a standoff distance of
8 ft. Gail Overton
REFERENCES
1. A. Mukherjee, Quantum Cascade Laser Ima-
ging for Molecular Recognition, Technolo-
gy Transfer Showcase presentation at CLEO:
2013, San Jose, CA (June 2013).
2. A. Mukherjee et al., J. Biomed. Opt., 18, 3,
036011 (March 2013).
I R I MAGI NG
SWIR cameras spot unwanted
activities through fog and at night
Around-the-clock surveillance in any
weather is a necessity for many military
and emergency services. Often intruders
try to disguise their actions using various
methods of camouflage that they adapt
to the prevailing situation. They exploit
atmospheric conditions such as haze,
fog, or sandstorms and may even deploy
smoke grenades.
Surrounding conditions can vary
widely, from glaring daylight of 100,000
lux to a dim twilight at dusk and dawn
to total darkness in moonless nights and
overcast skies with an illuminance of
less than 0.01 lux. Changing light inci-
dence, blinding by a low sun or moon,
and temporal and directional variances in
light intensity in urban areas caused by
1310LFW_18 18 10/4/13 1:10 PM
1310LFW_19 19 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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Weather
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CCD/
CMOS
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Weather Detection Recognition Identifcation
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1700 m 1500 m 700 m
1200 m 900 m 700 m
300 m
Thermal
LWIR uncooled
Low-light
CCD
Image
intensifer
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Camera
Overcast day
Light fog
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NIR marking
Hidden marking

b)
a)
news world
street lights and traffic flows can make it
difficult to identify an attacker hiding, for
example, in a dark doorway. In a typical
surveillance application, the available
light must suffice, as any active illumina-
tion would alert intruders to impending
countermeasures.
The impact of haze and smoke disap-
pears in the short-wave infrared (SWIR)
range stretching from 0.9 to about 1.7
m. Although image capture in the SWIR
misses the color content of the visible
realm, SWIR images, which are formed
by light reflected by the objects observed,
can be interpreted as easily and directly
as those in the visible realm. An added
advantage of SWIR image sensors is their
high sensitivity and wide dynamic range.
Another highly transparent atmospheric
window exists in the long-wave infrared
(LWIR) range between 8 and 14 m. It can
be used to capture the thermal radiation
of warm objects such as animals or people.
The LWIR window has long been used for
reconnaissance tasks in the detection, rec-
ognition and identification of objects.
One drawback of LWIR reconnaissance
is that reflecting objects are not easily
recognized and depicted. This compli-
cates the interpretation of LWIR images.
Another drawback is the substantial
attenuation of LWIR in hot weather and
high humidity and its total absorption by
regular glass lenses. Thus, special glass
materials are required for LWIR cameras,
whereas SWIR cameras use conven-
tional optics. It can be advantageous to
combine both wavelength areas in one
imaging system.
For example, Xenics (Leuven, Belgium)
has developed a family of high-resolu-
tion IR camera modules called Xenics
Cores, which can be combined and inte-
grated in a common platform. These
cameras deliver parallel images that can
be overlaid and fused to a spectral com-
posite with increased content under all
weather and light conditions A high-reso-
lution SWIR camera module (XSW-640)
and thermal LWIR module (XTM-640)
are easily combined for overlay imaging.
Both are lightweight at less than 100
grams and consume less
than 2 W of power.
Singapore-based sInfra-
Red has investigated the
suitability of various sensor
technologies for such appli-
cations. As sInfraRed CEO
Raf Vandersmissen explains,
several test series were
carried out at various sites
at different times of day
and night under clear skies,
fog, and smoke. Four tech-
nologies were investigated:
a residual-light amplifier
(Gen. II); CCD and CMOS
image sensors highly sen-
sitive to visible light; an
indium gallium arsenide
(InGaAs) SWIR camera
(0.9 to 1.7 m); and an
uncooled microbolome-
ter for thermal LWIR image
capture (8 to 14 m).
Residual-light ampli-
fiers excel at clear skies
and moonlight, boosted
The suitability of various imaging technologies as
reconnaissance tools is compared (a). Test results of an
SWIR camera in different weather conditions are compared
to those of other camera options (b).
1310LFW_20 20 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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by the airglow phenomenon (an atmo-
spheric phenomenon occurring in clear
skies, which extends far into the SWIR).
Airglow centers on a wavelength of 1.6
m, which makes it even more interest-
ing for SWIR imaging. However, the stark
contrast between artificial light sources
encountered in urban environments can
blind the sensors of residual-light ampli-
fiers. The same can happen in bright
daylight.
The dynamic range of CCD and
CMOS imagers is somewhat larger;
therefore, they can also be used on
overcast days. Operating in the visible
portion of the spectrum, they tend to
degrade in haze and fog. Also, their sen-
sitivity is not sufficient on dark nights
with just starlight present.
The large dynamic range of SWIR
imagers, which suits them for many appli-
cations, is determined by three favorable
parameters: InGaAs technology offering
dynamic, overdrive-resistant exposure
control, atmospheric transparency despite
haze and smoke, and the exploitation of
airglow illumination. At this wavelength,
moonlight and airglow are comparable in
terms of their power measured in photon
units. Thus, an SWIR camera will reach its
limits at nighttime and overcast skies with
no airglow present.
LWIR cameras are much less sensi-
tive to the reflected light of objects since
they respond to the thermal emissions of
self-radiating objects; they are usable on
moonless nights and under overcast skies,
although on hot days their performance
is affected by high atmospheric humidity.
Vandersmissen notes that in a second
test series sequence undertaken by sIn-
fraRed and a customer, the performance
of these different technologies was quan-
tified and compared to establish the
validity specifically of SWIR cameras
for reconnaissance purposes. The SWIR
camera tested was equipped with an
InGaAs sensor array of 640 512 pixels
and 20 m pixel pitch. It was thermoelec-
trically cooled and was fitted with a 100
mm SWIR lens.
Quantitative results under four typical
weather conditions are summarized in
Fig. 1b. The SWIR sensor ranks highly in
comparison to its competitors: uncooled
thermal LWIR sensor, CCD camera, and
residual-light amplifier. SWIR takes first
place six times, and second place six
times as well. There is no other camera
technology reaching a better position,
notes Vandersmissen.
Vandersmissen points out that
among the specific capabilities of SWIR
imagers is hidden marking. This tech-
nique identifies friendly personnel to
protect them against the much-dreaded
friendly fire. Its recognition perfor-
mance is shown in the two lowest lines of
Fig. 1a. John Wallace
1310LFW_21 21 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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world news
In vivo OCT human skin measurements with
20 m isotropic resolution are taken using a
1550 nm akinetic laser; a 3D reconstruction of
the dataset is shown with a portion of the data
removed to reveal the internal structure of the
skin. (Main image credit: Medical University of
Vienna; Inset image credit: Insight)
S W E P T- WAV E L E NGT H L A S E R S
Akinetic all-semiconductor swept
lasers boost OCT image quality
Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
image quality continues to improve
thanks to advances in detection systems
and improved light sources such as wave-
length-tunable vertical-cavity surface-
emitting lasers (VCSELs). But a different
light source that eliminates the mechan-
ical tuning of VCSEL and external-cavity
lasers is rapidly gaining momentum, as it
could offer superior OCT image quality
and potentially lower-cost manufacture:
akinetic all-semiconductor swept laser
sources from Insight (Lafayette, CO).
1
Nearly all swept-wavelength light
sources use mechanical means to move
optical filter elements or microelectro-
mechanical systems (MEMS) mirrors to
tune the output wavelength; unfortu-
nately, these mechanical elements can
exhibit hysteresis, cause cavity instabili-
ties, or introduce extraneous reflections
that produce noise and limit OCT imaging
quality in swept-source OCT (SS-OCT)
systems. Akinetic means absence of
movement; an all-semiconductor akinetic
laser is electrically tunedthe only
moving parts are photons and electrons.
In OCT, a long coherence length facil-
itates increased working distances and
allows for volumetric imaging of larger
tissue features and greater distance vari-
ation between probe-light output and
the tissue (see figure). Because the Ver-
nier-tuned distributed Bragg reflec-
tor (VT-DBR) design of Insights akinetic
laser (with a 2-mm-long semiconduc-
tor laser cavity) produces a very narrow-
band output and its small size reduces
cavity length variations, the cavity
has high finesse and minimized time-
based shifting of the center wavelength,
enabling a long coherence length on the
order of 220 mm even at sweep repeti-
tion rates of hundreds of kilohertz.
In some OCT systems, multiple
1310LFW_22 22 10/4/13 1:10 PM
reflections can contaminate images. To
reduce unwanted signals in OCT images,
Insight is implementing user-adjusted
coherence length.
For a 1310 nm akinetic laser sweeping
over a 100 nm range, sweep rate can be
programmed from 4000 up to 400,000
sweeps per second; akinetic tuning tech-
nology has even been tested up to sweep
rates of one million sweeps per second to
reduce blur from movement and increase
measurement resolution. In addition, the
akinetic laser automatically linearizes the
sweep over optical frequency, regardless
of sweep rate or tuning range.
Axial point-spread function (PSF) quan-
tifies the linearity of a lasers sweep and is
an important contributor to image quality
possible in an SS-OCT system. The PSF
is defined as the power spectrum of the
interferogram produced by the OCT
interferometer with a single reference
reflector. A PSF with low side lobes and
correspondingly low background noise
creates an image with excellent contrast
and detail. Depending on the interfer-
ometer configuration, typical PSF values
for the akinetic laser are 5570 dB to the
noise floor for the background signal and
4560 dB for the side lobes, enabling sen-
sitivity values of approximately 95 dB.
The mode-hop-free 0.5 pm wavelength
repeatability of the akinetic laser contrasts
sharply with typical values of hundreds of
picometers for MEMS swept lasers and
swept VCSELs, facilitating shot-noise-lim-
ited, phase-sensitive OCT without an
external reference and related data pro-
cessing. And the side-mode-suppression
ratio of the akinetic laser is roughly 45
dB compared to approximately 30 dB for
mechanically tuned lasers.
Finally, because the akinetic laser is all
semiconductor and benefits from volume
production, akinetic lasers should cost just
$2,0003,000 as the semiconductor price
drops over the next several years. The
only drawbacks to the technology are that
wavelength ranges are presently limited to
standard, popular semiconductor regions
like 1310 nm and 1550 nm (though 1060
nm lasers are in development for ophthal-
mic OCT), the upper limit of sweep rate
is roughly one million sweeps per second,
and coherence length limit is around 2 m.
Better images are a direct result of
a more linear, lower noise, and faster
swept laser without moving parts, says
Michael Minneman, CEO at Insight.
Professor Wolfgang Drexler from the
Medical University of Vienna adds,
Swept-source technology from Insight
has the potential to revolutionize OCT in
the future, especially regarding ease of
use, flexibility, and unique OCT perfor-
mance. Gail Overton
REFERENCE
1. M. Bonesi et al., Akinetic swept-source with
centimeters coherence length for high speed
OCT, European Conferences on Biomedical
Optics 2013, Hot Topics Postdeadline Session,
Munich, Germany (May 14, 2013).
1310LFW_23 23 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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B I OMI ME T I C S
Polymer-chlorophyll solid could be
foundation for photonic devices
Dye-doped polymeric materials have
great potential for use in photonic devices
such as organic LEDs (OLEDs) and
organic photovoltaics. But straightfor-
ward approaches to creating these mate-
rials have run into some problems, includ-
ing aggregation of dye molecules, which
leads to upper limits to doping levels and
optical densities that are too low for use
of these materials in thin films. An alter-
native design approach is biomimetics,
or using structures and substances from
nature as a design cue.
Researchers from Aalto University
and the University of Helsinki, both in
Finland, are developing polymeric nano-
structures that take advantage of the
ultimate natural photonic material: chlo-
rophyll.
1
The researchers use chlorophyll
that they extract from green plants such
as spinach and cyanobacteria, then place
them in polymer matrices. The proper-
ties of modified chlorophylls can be con-
trolled by altering the pigments volume
and concentration in these matrices. For
example, the interaction between the
molecules is dependent on the distance
between molecules, which has a great
influence on the excitation dynamics.
If molecules are too close to one another,
the absorbed energy is able to spread
between them very easily, much in the
same way as the waves caused by a drop
of water falling into a bucket of water die
away in the larger water mass, says Ilkka
Tittonen, a professor at Aalto Universitys
Department of Micro and Nanosciences.
Chlorophyll naturally accomplishes
three things: light absorption, excitation
energy transfer, and charge separation.
Because the distances between chromo-
phores are important to these processes,
these distances should be properly con-
trolled in an artificial environment (such
as polymer). In green plants and algae,
chlorophyll is held in a protein scaffold
in which the molecules have seemingly
random orientations; however, in green
sulfur bacteria, chlorophyll molecules are
formed into planar arrangements via self-
assembly (see figure). This arrangement is
easier to imitate in the lab, and also leads
to strong exitonic coupling between the
moleculeswhich leads to quantum effi-
ciencies close to 100% for energy transfer.
The Aalto University researchers chem-
ically altered natural chlorophyll extracted
from algae so that the molecules more
easily create large assemblies in solution
and solid-state thin films. They used a
commercial polymer without further puri-
fying it. The resulting material was then
analyzed in the lab via nuclear magnetic
resonance, small-angle x-ray scattering
(SAXS), brightfield transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), and UV-visible and
1310LFW_25 25 10/4/13 1:10 PM
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fluorescence spectroscopy (to deter-
mine the absorption and fluorescence
spectra). The SAXS data indicate a hex-
agonally packed cylindrical structure for
the polymer itself; when the chlorophyll is
added, the structure changes, becoming
planar and finely layered.
Increasing the proportion of chloro-
phyll in the polymer produced less fluo-
rescence, showing that the exitonic reac-
tions between the chlorophyll molecules
were taking effect. Time-resolved fluores-
cence measurements showed shorter life-
times with higher concentrationsand
pinpointed the concentration at which the
highly efficient exitonic reactions kicked in,
which was at between 0.5 and 1.0 wt%.
In this way, the researchers identified
how light response alters as molecule
density increases in structures in which
molecules are bound to polymers with
noncovalent bonds. The benefits of this
type of solution include low cost, ease
of production, and strong sensitivity to
light stimulus. Nanophotonics and so-
called functional materials are possible
applications for structures based on
chlorophylls. These could be used for
instance in organic solar cells, LEDs, and
lasers.John Wallace
REFERENCE
1. V. Pale et al., J. Mater. Chem. C, 1, 2166 (2013).
In plants, chlorophylls are bound to protein scaffolds (a). Although the structure looks
chaotic, it is optimized for the photosynthetic process. At the other extreme is the
chlorosomal structure within sulfur bacteria, which live deep in the ocean. Because the
amount of light is low, the chlorophyll in sulfur bacteria forms an orderly self-assembly
chlorosomal structure (b) that functions without a separate protein complex and enables
nearly lossless energy transfer. Scientists cannot, as of yet, synthetically create equivalent
structures. A synthetic polymer structure (c) reaches a happy medium in which the systems
supramolecular structure can be controlled. (Courtesy of Aalto University)
O
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
*
* Zn
N
O
N
N
N
Zn
N
O
O
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
O
O
H
N N
N
N
Zn
Zn
Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H
Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H Mg
N
N
N
N
O
O
H
Mg
N
a)
b)
c)
1310LFW_27 27 10/4/13 1:10 PM
Focus position cold optics
W
0

Fiber output: M
2
= 1.2
Focus shift induced by laser
W
0

Fiber output: M
2
= 3.4
0.04
-0.03
-0.01
0.06
-0.20
0.15
0.20
-0.25
P H O T O N I C S A P P L I E D : M A T E R I A L S P R O C E S S I N G
Objective lenses for laser materials
processing have high thermal
stability for high-power lasers
PETER TRIEBEL, LUTZ REICHMANN, and HELMUT BERNITZKI
The latest high-power continuous-
wave (CW) disk and fiber lasers
emitting in the 1030 to 1070 nm
wavelength range provide multiple
kilowatts of energy for many sophis-
ticated processes; the small spot siz-
es and high intensities of these lasers
enable high-speed materials process-
ing. These highly efficient processes
are very sensitive to changes in perfor-
mance of the system optics, such as an
energy-dependent focus shift.
Effect of thermal lensing
on optical performance
Focusing high-power lasers with high
beam qualities (M
2
<1.5) has some
implications for
the optical sys-
tem. Absorption
of the beam by
even a single op-
tical element in
the system will
result in a ther-
mal shift of the beam focus position.
In addition to the deleterious ef-
fect of the focus shift itself, the beam
quality itself decreases.
1
A sophisticat-
ed model can simulate the thermal be-
havior of such a lens system; a model
calculation (see Fig. 1) shows an in-
crease in the M
2
of a laser beam from
1.2 to 3.4 due to optical absorption by
a focusing lens. This increase is the re-
sult of a higher-order wavefront dis-
tortion induced by the absorption-in-
duced change in the phase profile of
the lens, caused by the change in re-
fractive index as a function of tem-
perature (dn/dT). Methods to avoid
this temperature-induced focal shift
can be added to a pre-existing focus-
ing system and are often used in scan-
ning and high-speed applications.
Lower absorption by
improved manufacturing
The discussed approach to minimize
focus shift is to further decrease the
optical absorption of the lens, both
within the lens and at its surfaces.
Along these lines, an extensive test
program for characterization and
identification of feasible optical ma-
terials was carried out at Jenoptik.
Tested optical materials (including
fused silica and various sorts of op-
tical glasses) were selected to show
lowest absorption coefficients in a
wavelength range between 1030 nm
and 1070 nm.
To characterize the test-set comp
onents, different absorption-measure-
ment methods were used and com-
pared. The reference method is the la-
ser-induced deflection (LID) method
developed by the Insti-
tute of Photonic Tech-
nology (IPHT) in Jena,
which relies on a high-
power pump beam to
cause thermal pertur-
bations and a low-pow-
er probe beam to mea-
sure them.
2
The absorption val-
ues measured by the
various methods (see
Fig. 2) were analyzed
Simulations of thermal and optical properties
and process enhancements have revealed
the best approaches for manufacturing high-
power laser objective lenses that feature
minimal thermally induced focus shift or
reduction in beam quality.
FIGURE 1. The
effects of thermal
lensing on focal shift
and the modeled
beam profile are
shown. The beam
quality M2 with
and without the
thermally induced
focal shift is 3.4 and
1.2, respectively.
1310LFW_28 28 10/4/13 1:10 PM
Polish
I
0.1
Absorption in
ppm/surface
Our
best
Our
best
State-of-
the-art
100
10
1
0.1
Polish
II
A on
Su3001
B on
Q1
B on
Su3001
C on
Su3001
D on
Su3001
D on
Su3001
mod
1.6
37
4.4
2.9 3.1
2.7
1.8
a) b)
0 7 14
Focus position
21 28
Time (min.)
36 43 50 57
Thermal focus shift (mm)
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
600 W
2 kW
4 kW
0.03 mm =
0.016x zR (LLK02)
0.09 mm =
0.05x zR (LLK02)
along with a LID wavefront measure-
ment using a 400 W single-mode pump
fiber laser at 1070 nm wavelength. The
results show clear evidence for better per-
formance resulting from improvements
in the optical polishing process, as well
as by lowering the optical coatings ab-
sorption. The values of the absorption of
the best polished surface are below 0.1
part per million per surface (ppm/sur-
face) compared with
state-of-the art val-
ues of 1.6 ppm/sur-
face. The absorption
values of the antire-
flection coating are
below 2 ppm/surface,
compared with state-
of-the-art values of
37 ppm/surface.
Application
to production
lenses
The knowledge
gained from these
tests was applied to
improve design and
optimize Jenoptiks
Silverline F-Theta
lens series (see Fig.
3), minimizing the
focal shift of the
lenses. These lenses
are designed for ap-
plications at wave-
lengths from 1030 to
1080 nm and 515 to
540 nm and are suit-
ed for use with high-
power (up to 5 kW)
fiber and disk la-
sers as well as short-
pulse lasers with
picosecond or fem-
tosecond pulse du-
rations. Short-pulse
laser applications at
wavelengths of 532
and 1064 nm at high
pulse energies in-
clude the processing
of chemically hard-
ened glasses and sap-
phire materials.
The lenses, which
are diffraction-
limited, showed a
FIGURE 2. These absorption values were measured with laser-
induced deflection (LID), a technique where the wavefront distortion
caused by a high power pump beam is characterized by optical phase
measurement. These results were used to improve the polishing of
optical surfaces and lower the absorption of optical coatings.
FIGURE 3. A Silverline
F-Theta lens (a) has a focal
length of 160 mm and a
design wavelength range
of 1030 nm to 1080 nm,
suited for microprocessing
applications. The lens can
be used in microprocessing
metal sheets (b).
FIGURE 4. Focal shift values in terms of Rayleigh ranges and
relative shift of the focal position were measured for an F-Theta lens
with a 160 mm focal length. The beam is from a TruDisk laser by
Trumpf Laser (Schramberg, Germany) coupled into a 200 m fiber,
with the power varying between 600 W and 4 kW. The measurement
was performed using a Primes Focus Monitor by Primes (Pfungstadt,
Germany) while measuring the beam waist and location on each
power level separately.
1310LFW_29 29 10/4/13 1:10 PM
1310LFW_30 30 10/4/13 1:11 PM
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MATERI ALS PROCESSI NG cont i nued
measured focus shift (see Fig. 4) of less
than 0.05 of the Rayleigh range (which
is a measure of the beam-waist position
in accordance to beam-waist length).
The maximum measured focal shift
was less than 100 m, which enables
exceptionally consistent focusing over
the entire scanning area of the lens. In
experimental and practical use, these
results confirm an extremely stable
thermal behavior after irradiation with
high brilliance lasersfor example, a
4 kW multimode fiber laserwithout
the need of refocusing or active cooling.
The optical properties of objective lens-
es (brand name Silverline lenses) can be
used and customized for different high-
brightness laser applications with high
imaging quality; e.g. micromachining
applications (glass and sapphire cut-
ting). Besides the results shown for the
10301070 nm wavelength range, the
demonstrated approach of lowering the
absorption is to broaden to 515540
nm, with respect to several microma-
chining applications as well
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the German Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) for funding
the project BriPro (FKZ13N1111) and the com-
pany Trumpf Laser GmbH for providing the
measurement data as well as the discussions
on the achieved results.
REFERENCES
1. F. Abt, A. He, and F. Dausinger, Focussing
of high power single mode laser beams,
ICALEO, 202 (2007).
2. C. Mhlig and S. Bublitz, Opt. Eng., 51, 12,
121812 (Sept. 14, 2012).
Peter Triebel is product manager, Optics for
Laser Material Processing and Health Care &
Life Sciences; Lutz Reichmann is manag-
er, Mechanical Design of Optics; and Helmut
Bernitzki is senior expert, all at Jenoptik Op-
tical Systems GmbH, Jena, Germany; e-mail:
peter.triebel@jenoptik.com; www.jenoptik.
com/en-optical-systems.
1310LFW_31 31 10/4/13 1:11 PM
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1310LFW_32 32 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Number of publications
30 40 50 60 70
Year
80 90 10 00
1000
100
10
1
SOLI D-STATE DEEP UV EMI TTERS/DETECTORS
Zinc oxide moves further
into the ultraviolet
DAVID J. ROGERS, PHILIPPE BOVE, ERIC V. SANDANA,
FERECHTEH HOSSEINI TEHERANI, RYAN MCCLINTOCK, and MANIJEH RAZEGHI
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a remarkable,
multifunctional semiconducting ma-
terial with a direct, wide bandgap en-
ergy (E
g
~ 3.4 eV), intrinsically high
transparency over the whole visi-
ble range, and a resistivity that can
be tuned from semi-insulating right
through to semi-metallic by dop-
ing.
1
It also presents one of the high-
est piezoelectric responses of any
semiconductor and has a relative-
ly high thermoelectric figure of mer-
it. Moreover, it has been judged to be
biocompatible and has been approved
for human consumption (in products
such as vitamin pills) by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration.
These distinctive properties have
led to a number of industrial applica-
tions for ZnO. A recent Nanomarkets
(Glen Allen, VA) study estimated that
the ZnO-based optoelectronics mar-
ket was already worth over half a bil-
lion dollars in 2010 and forecast to
grow to more than 2.3 billion dollars
by 2017, at which point over 65% of
the market is to be made up of emerg-
ing applications: predominantly pho-
tovoltaics, displays, light-emitting
diodes (LEDs), and sensors (gas, ul-
traviolet [UV] light, and biological).
In photovoltaics, ZnO
is currently displacing in-
dium tin oxide for use as
a transparent conducting
electrical contact due to
recent improvements in
conductivity obtainable
with aluminium-doped
ZnO, combined with processing, cost,
and toxicity advantages.
2
For display applications, the greatly
superior electron mobilities and cur-
rent on/off ratios that can be obtained
with ZnO-based transparent thin film
transistors have opened up the poten-
tial for replacing amorphous silicon
select field-effect transistors in both
active-matrix organic LED and liquid-
crystal-based displays/screens.
ZnO benefits
The emerging potential of ZnO for UV
emitter and detector applications is the
result of a long, concerted, and fruit-
ful R & D effort that culmi-
nated in more than 7000 pub-
lications in 2012 (see Fig. 1). In
the early years, the research fo-
cused principally on the crystal
structure and the basic physical/opti-
cal properties. The upturn in output
from the early 1990s was most proba-
bly triggered by the burgeoning techni-
cal and commercial success of gallium
nitride (GaN) in optoelectronic devices.
A link was made between ZnO and
GaN because they are very similar ma-
terials with the same wurtzite crystal
structure, comparable lattice-con-
stants/bandgaps, and high cohesive-en-
ergies/melting points (see table). There
are some important differences, how-
ever. In particular, ZnO is considered
to be a potentially superior material for
use in LEDs and laser diodes because
of its much larger exciton binding en-
ergy (60 meV) compared to 21 meV for
GaN (thermal energy at room tempera-
ture is about 25 meV). This means that
we can expect brighter and more robust
excitonic-based ZnO emitters.
Furthermore, wet etching is possi-
ble for ZnO with nearly all dilute acids
Recent breakthroughs in the alloying
of zinc oxide (ZnO) with magnesium
(Mg) could offer an alternative to (Al)
GaN-based emitters/detectors in the
deep UV with reduced lattice and
efficiency issues.
FIGURE 1. The
number of annual
publications vs. year,
according to a search of
the www.scopus.com
database for the term ZnO
in the abstract, title, or
keywords.
1310LFW_33 33 10/4/13 1:11 PM
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SOLI D-STATE DEEP UV EMI TTERS/DETECTORS cont i nued
and alkalis (greatly simplifying device
processing), whereas GaN requires hy-
drofluoric (HF) acid or plasma etching.
Zinc oxide is also relatively abundant
(unlike Ga), so ZnO cost is low. Finally,
high-quality ZnO films can be grown
more readily on mismatched substrates
(due to the particularly compliant na-
ture of ZnO), and bulk ZnO substrates
have better availability than their GaN
equivalents.
Another upturn in ZnO-related publi-
cations after the year 2000 can be asso-
ciated with several key findings, includ-
ing the demonstration of stimulated
excitonic emission at temperatures
higher than 550 K, reports of p-
type doping, and the emergence of
ZnO as an important nanomateri-
al (see Fig. 2). A Thomson-Reuters
market survey, published in 2010,
recorded more publications dedi-
cated to nanostructured ZnO than
to carbon nanotubes. This is pri-
marily due to the multifunctional
nature of ZnO, the ease of fabricat-
ing nanostructures by various tech-
niques (including wide-area, low
cost chemical growth), and the ex-
tremely large family of nanostruc-
ture types that can be obtained.
LEDs and lasers
In spite of the potential of ZnO-based
LEDs, their commercialization has been
hampered by issues of simultaneously re-
ducing intrinsic n-type doping and incor-
porating/activating sufficient acceptors.
The native donor compensation is usual-
ly associated with defects inherent to ox-
ygen-deficient ZnO (O vacancies and Zn
interstitials) plus unintentional impurity
incorporation (hydrogen, in particular).
Since 1999, however, there have been
a multitude of reports of p-type doping.
3
These efforts have used a wide range of
growth techniques, substrates, and accep-
tor doping approaches with a variety of
group-I, -IV, and -V elements, co-doping,
and impurity/defect complexes, respec-
tively. The most commonly reported ac-
ceptor dopants are nitrogen (N), arsenic
(As), phosphorus (P), and antimony (Sb).
And native acceptor defect doping (with
Zn vacancies and O interstitials) has been
targeted through oxidant-rich growth.
FIGURE 2. A scanning electron microscope (SEM)
image shows two facing surfaces of silicon wafers
coated with commercially available arrays of self-
forming, vertically oriented ZnO nanostructures
grown by pulsed laser deposition.
A comparison of selected properties of ZnO and GaN
Materials
Crystal
structure Lattice parameters
Room-temperature
bandgap Cohesive energy Melting point Exciton-binding energy
a () c () (eV) (eV) (C) (meV)
ZnO Wurtzite 3.249 5.207 3.37 1.89 1975 60
GaN Wurtzite 3.189 5.185 3.39 2.24 2500 21
1310LFW_34 34 10/4/13 1:11 PM
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8
Bandgap (eV)
Lattice parameter ()
AlN
GaN
InN
MgO
ZnO
CdO
www. fermi oni cs. com Fermionicss
4555 Runway St. Simi Valley, CA 93063 Tel (805) 582-0155 Fax (805) 582-1623
Opto-Technology
There have been many dem-
onstrations of blue and near-
UV ZnO homojunction LEDs
as well, and state-of-the-
art performance (70 W at
30mA) can be compared to
that of GaN-based LEDs in
the mid-1990s.
4
Issues to be
addressed include an asymme-
try in the n- and p-type carrier
concentrations, relatively low
p-type mobilities, and poor
electrical contacts.
There have also been many
reports of low-threshold,
high-gain UV lasing from
ZnO-based materials and de-
vices under optical pumping,
including room-temperature UV pho-
tonic crystal lasing and random lasing
from self-forming laser cavities.
5
Whats
more, patterned ZnO-based microcavi-
ties have shown promise for use as low-
threshold surface-emitting polariton
lasers. And recently, there have been re-
ports of electrically pumped ZnO la-
sers, although relatively low doping lev-
els limit the performance.
Deep-UV emitters and detectors
Alloys of GaN with aluminum
(Al
x
Ga
1-x
N) have been widely explored
for emission and detection of UV light (see
Fig. 3).
6
This material system is plagued
by several problems, however, including
large dislocation densities, low n-type and
p-type doping efficiency, low conductivity,
and lattice/thermal expansion mismatch-
es that lead to cracking. As a result, effi-
ciency falls off dramatically with increas-
ing Al content, and there has been limited
success in demonstrating solar-blind UV
photodetectors (SBPDs; i.e., in the 240
290 nm range) with low background sig-
nals and high quantum efficiencies.
Alloys of ZnO with magnesium
(Mg
x
Zn
1-x
O) have been explored as an
alternative to (Al)GaN and are now com-
mercially available.
7
The Mg ion has a
similar radius to that of Zn, so there are
less strain and efficiency drop-off con-
cerns than for (Al)GaN.
The commercialization of (Mg)
ZnO-based UV devices will most prob-
ably begin with detector applications
rather than emitters because photode-
tector technologies that do not require
p-type doping (such as photoconductors,
Schottky diodes, metal-semiconductor-
metal devices, and surface acoustic wave
devices) have already been demonstrated.
UV photodetectors are envisioned
for detection of weak UV signals in
FIGURE 3. E
g
vs. lattice constant is shown for wurzite (Al,In)GaN and (Mg,Cd)ZnO. UV bandgap engineering
of ZnO (up to 10.6 eV) can also be achieved effectively by alloying with BeO. There are toxicity and handling
issues in this case, however.
1310LFW_35 35 10/4/13 1:11 PM
applications such as flame/chemical/bi-
ological-agent detection, UV astronomy,
next-generation missile warning/guid-
ance systems, hostile fire identification,
environmental monitoring, and non-
line-of-sight communications. To mini-
mize false alarms and background clutter,
many of these systems operate in the so-
lar-blind SB portion of the UV spectrum.
While (Al)GaN-based detectors work
well in the near-UV, current commercial
SB detection systems are usually based
on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with
cesium telluride (Cs
2
Te) photocathodes.
These have a detection tail out to 325
nm, which overlaps with the solar UV
spectrum, making these sensors not tru-
ly blind to solar background radiation,
however. Thus filters and complex op-
tics are usually required to achieve true
SB status. State-of-the-art PMT detec-
tors have a peak detective quantum ef-
ficiency of 15%. In addition, the high-
voltage vacuum tubes are bulky, fragile
(mechanically and electricallyhigh
flux can physically damage the internal
electron multiplication grids), expensive,
and require high operating voltages.
Solid-state SBPDs promise perfor-
mance, size, and cost advantages com-
pared to PMTs. Such arrays have no
moving parts, are intrinsically radia-
tion hard, and potentially offer higher
quantum efficiency, higher selective sen-
sitivity, extended lifetimes, lower noise,
and lower-power requirements. Direct-
gap semiconductors also offer very sharp
cutoffs (<10 nm per decade) compared
to existing photocathodes (around 25
nm per decade). This allows them to
be made significantly more solar blind
while maximizing the capture of the SB
portion of the UV emission.
For fabricating (Mg)ZnO-based SB-
PDs, Mg content should be at least 45
at %, but many studies have found that
phase segregation of rock-salt phase
MgO appears when Mg content is over
36 at %. Recently, however, single-phase
wurtzite layers with Mg concentrations
over 49 at % were prepared through
strain engineering at the substrate inter-
face by means of buffer layers (ZnO and
strontium tin oxideSrTiO
3
or bulk
ZnO substrates).
8-10
Furthermore, it has been reported that
Mg alloying facilitates the task of p-type
doping. Two main reasons are put for-
ward for this. First, the addition of Mg
in ZnO shifts the conduction band edge
to a higher energy, which increases the
activation energy of the donor states and
thereby reduces the n-type background
electron concentration.
11
Second, the
Zn vacancy (acceptor) concentration
has been observed to increase with Mg
concentration, which boosts the incre-
ment of hole concentration and p-type
conduction.
12
Another intrinsic advan-
tage compared to (Al)GaN is the even
greater resistance of (Mg)ZnO to ioniz-
ing radiation and high-energy particles.
Current (Mg)ZnO-based SBPD re-
search has recently extended to nano-
structures. These offer higher crystal
quality, non-polar core-shell junctions,
better compatibility with silicon, very
wide-area low-temperature chemical
growth on mismatched substrates, an
advantageous size-related blue shift, re-
duced device processing (inter-digit pat-
terning can be circumvented), plus in-
trinsic antireflection advantages. Indeed,
ZnO nanowire-based UV PDs have been
widely reported in the literature, and
such devices have already shown larger
gain bandwidth compared to bulk de-
vices, very high photoconductive gains
(up to approximately 10
8)
, single-pho-
ton sensitivity, and Schottky barrier con-
tacts, which eliminate long transients
and thereby boost response speed.
(Al)GaN-based deep-UV solid-state
emitters and detectors have shown
cracking and disappointing efficiencies,
so (Mg)ZnO-based alternatives are be-
ing investigated as possible substitutes.
This effort has been boosted by re-
cent advances in strain engineering at the
substrate interface, which have allowed
stabilization of single-phase wurtzite
(Mg)ZnO with up to 49% Mg.
Moreover, the p-type doping issues
of unalloyed ZnO (associated with na-
tive donor defect compensation and in-
sufficient acceptor concentrations) are
significantly reduced in (Mg)ZnO be-
cause of the higher activation energy of
the donor state and the increase in zinc
vacancy acceptor density with Mg con-
tent. For detector applications, p-type
doping is not a requisite, however, and
nanostructured (Mg)ZnO-based devices
have already demonstrated the promise
of improved performance, simplified pro-
cessing, wider areas, and lower cost com-
pared to their thin-film (Al)GaN-based
equivalents.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Carlos Lee (direc-
tor general of the European Photonics Indus-
try Consortium; Paris, France) for his support
in this work, professor Seong-Ju Park of the
Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology
(GIST; Gwangju, Korea) for useful exchanges
on the state-of-the-art in p-type ZnO doping
and Professor Jose-Luis Pau of Universidad
Autnoma de Madrid (Madrid, Spain) for dis-
cussions on the state-of-the-art in nanostruc-
tured UV photodetectors.
REFERENCES
1. D. J. Rogers et al., Proc. SPIE, 7605, 76050K-1
(2010).
2. D. J. Rogers and F. Hosseini Teherani,
Encyclopedia of Materials Science & Technology,
1-5, Elsevier, Oxford, England (2010).
3. J.-C. Fan et al., Prog. Mater. Sci., 58, 874 (2013).
4. K. Nakahara et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 97, 013501
(2010).
5. A.-S. Gadallah et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 102,
171105 (2013).
6. M. Henini and M. Razeghi, III-Nitride
Optoelectronic Devices, Chapter 1, Elsevier,
England (2004).
7. D. J. Rogers et al., Proc. SPIE, 8626, 862601
(2013).
8. S. Fujita et al., Phys. Status Sol. B, 241, 599 (2004).
9. W. Yang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 82, 3424 (2003).
10. Q. Zheng et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 98, 221112
(2011).
11. P. Wang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 202102
(2006).
12. Y. F. Lee et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 91, 232115
(2007).
David J. Rogers is CTO, Philippe Bove is
COO, Eric V. Sandana is an engineer, and
Ferechteh Hosseini Teherani is CEO at
Nanovation, 8 route de Chevreuse, Cha-
teaufort, 78117 France; email: rogers@nano-
vation.com; www.nanovation.com. Ryan
McClintock is an associate professor and
Manijeh Razeghi is Walter P. Murphy profes-
sor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
and director at the Center for Quantum Devic-
es at Northwestern University, 633 Clark St.,
Evanston, IL 60208; www.northwestern.edu.
1310LFW_36 36 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Photovoltaic
technology
for lighting
1 m
2
solar cell
drives 200 W fuorescent lamp
Photovoltaic Electric lighting End use
Solar indoor
lighting system
1 m
2
sunlight collector
equals 3000 W fuorescent lamp
Light transmission End use
OPTOFLUI DI CS
Optofluidic light switch enables
reconfigurable solar lighting
WUZHOU SONG AND DEMETRI PSALTIS
Reconfigurable solar lighting sys-
tems for indoor illumination could
provide a new way to conserve ener-
gy that would otherwise be used for
conventional lighting. To further this
goal, we have demonstrated a com-
pact, electrically tunable optofluid-
ic light switch that could help pave
the way to convenient solar lighting
schemes.
Benefit of solar lighting
Sunlight was once the primary source
of interior light for buildings in the
daytime. However, as the cost, con-
venience, and performance of electric
lamps were improved, the sun was,
in many cases, displaced
as our primary method for
indoor lighting. In partic-
ular, public and commer-
cial buildings rely on elec-
tric lights to a large degree,
making them minimally
dependent on natural
daylight. Today, one of
the largest uses of elec-
tricity in commercial
buildings is in indoor
lighting.
1
To evaluate how sun-
light can be efficiently
used for illumination, we can consid-
er two alternative solar energy systems
for indoor illumination (see Fig. 1). In
the first system, photovoltaic technol-
ogy is used for indoor lighting. Solar
cells capture sunlight and convert it to
electricity with an efficiency of up to
20%. Then the electricity is convert-
ed back to light with an efficiency of
20%. As a result, at most only 4% of
the solar energy is delivered as useful
illumination energy.
In the second scheme for solar in-
door lighting, the sunlight is cap-
tured on the building roof, concen-
trated, and routed with optical fibers
to indoor overhead lamp fixtures with
an estimated 20% transmission loss.
Considering the fact that only visible
light that occupies about 50% of the
spectrum contributes to indoor light-
ing, the overall efficiency for illumi-
nation is about 40%, which is signif-
icantly higher than the photovoltaic
method.
As another important benefit, nat-
ural sunlight contains the full visible
spectrum and lets us see the world in
its natural colors. To use sunlight for
indoor illumination not only is a way
of conserving energy, but also creates
a comfortable and healthy indoor en-
vironment, keeping our minds alert
and our bodies in balance.
Reconfigurable solar lighting
In a broad sense, solar lighting in the
form of windows and skylights has
been used for centuries. However, this
lighting method lacks many valuable
features that are available from elec-
tric lighting, including: (1) minimal
An optofluidic-switch-based fiber-
optic solar lighting system is quickly
adjustable, maintains constant output
for varying solar input, and is more
efficient than photovoltaic-powered
indoor-lighting systems.
FIGURE 1. Two
different approaches
for indoor illumination
via solar energy are
compared. (Courtesy
of SEAS)
1310LFW_37 37 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Optical fber
Infrared light
UV light
Solar concentrator Air purifcation
Solar cell
Solar cell
Indoor lighting
Optofuidic
switch
Optofuidic
switch
Optofuidic
switch
Indoor plant
Indoor lighting
OH
OH
UV
CO
2
Organisms
Purifed
air
H
2
O
Scattering of light
a)
Off
b)
On
c) Off
d) On
OPTOFLUI DI CS cont i nued
space occupation; (2) independence from
building structure; (3) illumination well
into the interior of the building; (4) con-
stant illumination level; and (5) illumina-
tion control (on/off, intensity).
To address the limitations that exist,
we proposed a reconfigurable optoflu-
idic solar lighting system for indoor il-
lumination and energy conservation.
2

This system can make full use of sun-
light, while maintaining the advantag-
es of electric lighting in terms of conve-
nience, low space occupation, luminous
stability, and illumination control.
The main idea is to couple sunlight
into the fiber by using a solar concentra-
tor installed on the roof of the building
(see Fig. 2). The sunlight is then direct-
ed into each room for interior illumina-
tion, where the light flow is dynamically
controlled by tunable optofluidic switch-
es. This system can take advantage of
the full sunlight spectrum. Because only
the visible portion of the sunlight con-
tributes to indoor illumination, both the
infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) por-
tions of the concentrated light can be ex-
tracted for other applications if desired.
For example, IR light can be directed to
a thermoelectric generator; the UV por-
tion of the sunlight can be extracted for
photocatalytic air purification; and ex-
cess visible light can be further used for
electricity generation by using solar cells
when the sunlight is overabundant.
Optofluidic light switch
The optofluidic switch plays a key role
in the reconfigurable solar lighting sys-
tem. The switch has two main functions.
First, the illumination level can be man-
ually controlled by the end users in each
FIGURE 2. A fiber-optic solar lighting system with optofluidic switches is reconfigurable in real time and more efficient than photovoltaic-
powered indoor-lighting systems. (Courtesy of SEAS)
FIGURE 3. The optofluidic switch is based on an electrically switchable optically scattering periodic structure in an oil film (a). The
optofluidic switch is seen in its off and on states (b). (Courtesy of SEAS)
1310LFW_38 38 10/4/13 2:05 PM
LightMachinery
www.lightmachinery.com
Pulsed CO2 Lasers
LightMachinery is stretching the
capability of TEA pulsed CO2
lasers adding; wavelength
tunability, high speed, short pulse,
SLM operation. Our TEA CO2
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Wire stripping
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OPTOFLUI DI CS cont i nued
lighting terminal. Second, since the sun-
light intensity fluctuates due to weather
conditions, optofluidic switches can re-
spond in real time, hence keeping a con-
stant illumination level at each lighting
terminal. Low cost, compact size, high
reliability, and low power consumption
are the primary desirable features for
such an optofluidic switch.
We recently demonstrated for the
first time a compact tunable optofluidic
switch based on the electrophoresis effect
and scattering on the surface of an opti-
cal waveguide. The working principle of
the optofluidic switch can be seen in Fig.
3. The main body of the device is a glass
substrate coated with a transparent elec-
trode, which is covered by a thin layer of
dielectric transparent oil. Comb-shaped
electrodes are arranged as an array of
strips perpendicular to the light-propa-
gation direction. Here, the glass substrate
functions as a multimode slab optical
waveguide. Without applying voltage to
the electrodes, the surface of the oil film
is smooth, and the light propagates along
the waveguide without leakage.
However, upon applying voltage
across the electrodes, these interdig-
itated strip electrodes create a highly
nonuniform periodic electric-field pro-
file. The oil film experiences dielectro-
phoretic force and surface deforma-
tion, which further induce scattering of
the guiding light propagating along the
waveguide.
3
The amount of the scattered
light depends on the amplitude of wrin-
kling at the oil surface, which can be
controlled by the voltage applied across
the electrodes.
A comparison of the experimentally
observed off and on states in the op-
tofluidic switch is seen in Fig. 3b. When
the applied voltage was off, there was
a slight light leakage at the edge of the
glass waveguide due to the roughness
of the side wall. When 800 V was ap-
plied, strong light leakage was observed
from both the top and bottom sides of
the waveguide, and the leaked light pow-
er was controlled by the applied voltage.
We also found that the orientation of
the device has negligible effect on the
switching performance, which indicates
that the thin oil film was stable enough
even when the substrate was tilted or
turned upside down. A modulation fre-
quency of 2 Hz was achieved and should
be adequate for active light control in
most solar lighting applications.
Low power consumption is anoth-
er important feature of the optofluidic
switch. When the switch is turned on
by applying 800 V, the electrical power
consumption is only 41 W. Ideally, the
device should achieve even lower power
consumption if the dielectric oil is fur-
ther purified.
This optofluidic switch can be easi-
ly extended to larger scales by enlarg-
ing a single device or assembling many
of them. In addition to the use of recon-
figurable solar lighting for indoor illu-
mination, the optofluidic switch could
be integrated with an optofluidic reac-
tor in which light illumination is direct-
ed onto microalgae or a photocatalyst
could be arbitrarily controlled by the
electrical signal.
4
Moreover, many such
optofluidic switch units could be inte-
grated onto a single panel for an indoor
display or light decoration. We expect
such optofluidic switches could pave the
way for various solar lighting applica-
tions that would promise a novel way for
energy conversation as a complimentary
method to photovoltaic technology.
REFERENCES
1. L. M. Fraas et al., Appl. Opt., 22, 578 (1983).
2. W. Song and D. Psaltis, Lab Chip, 13, 2708
(2013).
3. C. V. Brown et al., Nat. Photon., 3, 403 (2009).
4. D. Erickson et al., Nat. Photon., 5, 583 (2011).
Wuzhou Song is currently a postdoctoral fel-
low at the School of Engineering & Applied
Sciences (SEAS), Harvard University, Cam-
bridge, MA; email: wsong@seas.harvard.edu.
Demetri Psaltis is a professor and dean of
the engineering school at cole Polytechnique
Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
1310LFW_39 39 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Dispersion
Initially, both polarizations of a pulse
are in phase with each other
Polarization-mode dispersion causes one
polarization to lag behind the other
Mixing of polarization
modes causes pulses to
spread out in both
polarizations
PHOT ONI C F RONT I E R S: E L E CT R ONI C D I S P E R S I ON MA NAGE ME NT
Digital electronics clean up
dispersion in high-speed
fiber systems
JEFF HECHT, contributing editor
If you havent paid close attention to
the cutting edge of fiber-optic trans-
mission lately, you may have missed
a seismic shift in design of high-per-
formance fiber systems. Electronic
digital signal processing has replaced
optics in a fundamentally optical
task, controlling the signal-degrad-
ing dispersion of light signals along
the length of a fiber.
Optical dispersion has long been
managed by assembling transmis-
sion systems from two or more types
of fibers with different characteristic
dispersion to keep total dispersion
low and uniform across the operat-
ing wavelengths. That delicate bal-
ancing act could manage chromatic
dispersion for wavelength-di-
vision multiplexed (WDM)
systems using narrow-line la-
sers at optical channel rates
to 2.5 or 10 Gbit/s. However,
transmitting at higher rates
of 40 or 100 Gbit/s required
much tighter control of chro-
matic dispersion, plus man-
agement of polarization-mode
dispersion (PMD), which had
posed few problems at
lower speeds. Developers
turned to new optical
transmission formats and
powerful new digital pro-
cessing electronics to tack-
le dispersion.
The dispersion problem
Three types of dispersion affect fiber-
optic systems:
1. Modal dispersion aris-
es from differences in
light propagation times
between different fiber
modes; it is easy to avoid
by using singlemode fiber.
2. Chromatic dispersion
arises from refractive-in-
dex variation as a function
of wavelength both in the
glass (material dispersion)
and in the fibers wave-
guide structure (waveguide
dispersion). The two add
to give chromatic disper-
sion, measured in picoseconds per
nanometer of source wavelength per
kilometer of fiber. Wavelengths with
high refractive index lag behind those
with lower refractive index, causing
chromatic dispersion that depends
both on the fibers characteristic dis-
persion and on the length of fiber
traveled. Waveguide dispersion de-
pends on the fibers refractive-index
profile, allowing designers to tailor
Replacement of in-line optical
dispersion compensation with digital
signal processing in special-purpose
chips has been key to the success of
coherent fiber-optic transmission at
line rates of 100 Gbit/s and up.
FIGURE 1. Small amounts
of birefringence in a fiber add
up to produce a small phase shift
between orthogonal polarizations
in a fiber, which varies over time.
Episodes of high polarization-
mode dispersion (PMD) can
cause service outages. (From
Jeff Hecht, Understanding Fiber
Optics, Pearson/Prentice-Hall)
1310LFW_40 40 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Double
the Ffhc|ency of
your A||gn|ng
ond Cement|ng
Process w|th
OptiCentric
Cementing is a
flexible production system that
significantly improves the
cementing speed and quality
Doubles the throughput
compared to conventional
processes
Increased cementing accuracy
better than 2m
Adaptable to the following
production processes
Lenses are directly cemented
on a centering arbor
Cererled |erses are lxed
with bell clamping method
on turning machine
Opt|Centr|c

Cement|ng
dispersion properties of special disper-
sion-compensating fibers to offset those
of standard transmission fibers.
3. PMD arises from fiber birefringence,
which delays one polarization mode with
respect to the other (see Fig. 1). Strictly
speaking, PMD is the differential group
delay between the two orthogonal polar-
izations. Birefringence in standard trans-
mission fibers is small, so PMD went un-
noticed until data rates reached gigabits
per second. Unlike chromatic dispersion,
PMD depends on forces applied to the
fiber, so it varies with time and depends
on the field environment. Total instan-
taneous PMD along a length of fiber is
measured in picoseconds. The time-aver-
aged characteristic value for a particular
fiber PMD is given in picoseconds times
the square root of fiber length. Excessive
PMD increases bit error rates and can
cause transient service outages.
Electronic dispersion
compensation
Early fiber-optic systems used electro-
optic repeaters that regenerated as well
as amplified received signals. When op-
tical amplifiers were introduced, spe-
cial in-line fibers provided dispersion
compensation and other distortion was
corrected in switches or other terminal
equipment. Dispersion-compensating
fibers could balance chromatic disper-
sion reasonably well across the erbium-
fiber-amplifier band for multi-gigabit
data rates, but as data rates increased the
system tolerance for pulse spreading de-
creased with the square of the data rate.
Electronic dispersion compensa-
tion was first demonstrated in the ear-
ly 1990s. The upgrade of channel rates
from 2.5 Gbit/s to 10 Gbit/s later in the
decade increased interest in electronic
compensation because the factor-of-four
increase in speed reduced dispersion tol-
erance by a factor of 16. The first dem-
onstrations of electronic dispersion com-
pensation at 10 Gbit/s came at the end
of that decade, with an analog to digi-
tal converter digitizing photodiode out-
put with 3- or 4-bit resolution for subse-
quent processing.
1,2
The compensators
used the Viterbi algorithma standard
signal-reconstruction techniqueand
application-specific integrated circuits
(ASICs) to regenerate the original sig-
nal, reducing inter-symbol interference
and opening the eye pattern of disper-
sion-corrupted signals.
After more analysis, the first proto-
type ASIC chips for dispersion com-
pensation at 10 Gbit/s were produced
in 2004. However, their attraction was
limited because those systems used de-
tection, which loses phase and polar-
ization information, limiting the pro-
totype chips to correcting only two or
three bit intervals of pulse spreading.
3

Moreover, in-line compensation allowed
10 Gbit/s systems to transmit a few tens
of kilometers.
However, electronic technology was
advancing rapidly, and electronic disper-
sion compensation was essential for the
next step in channel speed, to 40 Gbit/s.
Pulse spreading caused by chromatic
dispersion increases with the square of
the bit rate, so fiber that could trans-
mit 10 km at 10 Gbit/s could send 40
Gbit/s only about 3 km. Moreover, elec-
tronic processing is a dynamic process
that reacts to changes in PMD over time,
unlike in-line dispersion control. That
combination and the steady improve-
ment in electronic processing tipped the
scales toward electronic compensation
at 40 Gbit/s.
Systems operating at 40 Gbit/s relied
on direct detection, but instead of binary
amplitude modulation used differential
phase-shift keying (DPSK), with the re-
ceiver including an interferometer to de-
tect a phase shift. One variation is dif-
ferential quadrature phase-shift keying
(DQPSK), a four-level code with 90-de-
gree phase shifts. Another uses polar-
ization modulation and phase-shift-key-
ing to create a multi-level code. These
multi-level codings improved dispersion
tolerance at 40 Gbit/s, but electronic pre-
compensation at the transmitter and
post-compensation at the receiver were
needed to meet transmission distance re-
quirements. By 2007, electronic disper-
sion compensation was being used in 40
1310LFW_41 41 10/4/13 1:11 PM
Frequency (GHz)
Amplitude (dB)
150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
Frequency (GHz)
Amplitude (dB)
150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
Spectrum
+/- 35 GHz
50 GHz channel
Spectrum
+/- 35 GHz
50 GHz channel
ELECTRONI C DI SPERSI ON MANAGEMENT cont i nued
Gbit/s systems and was replacing opti-
cal compensation at 10 Gbit/s.
4
But the
cutting edge had moved to 100 Gbit/s.
The 100 Gbit/s challenge
Direct detection was not feasible at 100
Gbit/s, where chromatic dispersion had
100 times the impact it did at 10 Gbit/s,
and PMD tolerance was only 1.5 ps rath-
er than the 15 ps at 10 Gbit/s. Those
problems forced a switch to coher-
ent transmission using higher levels of
phase-shift keying to squeeze more bits
into the data stream.
Developers had tried coherent trans-
mission in the 1980s, but abandoned it
because they could not find a practical
way to frequency-lock the local oscil-
lator to the received carrier signal. By
the mid-2000s, digital ASICs were ca-
pable of recovering the carrier from the
received signal for use in a coherent re-
ceiver. Crucially, coherent receivers pre-
serve phase and polarization informa-
tion that enhances electronic dispersion
compensation. Multiple A-D convert-
ers digitize the analog receiver output
for digital dispersion compensation.
Chromatic dispersion can be inverted
and mitigated without penalty by lin-
ear digital filtering. Digital processing
also can invert the differential mode de-
lay caused by PMD.
5
Coherent transmission at 100 Gbit/s
also required other innova-
tions. Spectral filtering of trans-
mitter output, using power-
ful A-D converters, improves
spectral efficiency, and togeth-
er with the subcarrier modula-
tion technique shown in Fig. 2
can squeeze 100 Gbit/s into a
standard 50-GHz WDM op-
tical channel. Powerful hard
decision forward error correc-
tion can constrain bit error rate
to the 10
-15
or 10
-16
levels re-
quired by carriers.
The first 100 Gbit/s coherent
systems were deployed in 2009,
and the ambitious technology
has been a solid success. A key
advantage for carriers is that
electronic compensation makes
the systems dispersion agnostic,
so they can add 100 Gbit/s co-
herent systems to previously in-
stalled singlemode fiber cables
without changing existing in-
line dispersion compensation.
The new coherent systems also
can send traffic over new ca-
bles containing only standard
singlemode fiber, with no in-
line compensation.
Those added capabilities do
not come for free. Development
of a dedicated ASIC costs tens
of millions of dollars, and the
designs have to be updated as
FIGURE 2. A raw 100 Gbit/s coherent signal (top) is
spread across a wide band that stretches well beyond
a standard 50 GHz optical channel (solid red lines
and has a central peak covering 70 GHz (dashed red
lines). Spectral filtering with powerful A-D processors
strongly attenuates frequencies outside the central
50 GHz channel and reshapes the center of the signal
band. It also improves signal-to-noise ratio at the
instant of sampling, but requires tighter control of the
sampling time. (Courtesy of Ciena)
1310LFW_42 42 10/4/13 1:11 PM
100G client
OTU4
parallel
electrical
10x11.2G
Optical line
Dual pol
I-Q TX
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detectors
PM-QPSK
~120 Gb/s
ASIC receive path
CD
compensator
Adaptive
equalizer
Carrier
phase
recovery
ASIC
equalization
FEC
ADC
ADC
ADC
ADC
Y
I
Q
I
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X
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decoder
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FIGURE 3. A PM-QPSK transceiver based on standardized specifications for 100 Gbit/s
coherent systems. The transceiver at left includes a dual-polarization QPSK transmitter,
hybrid coherent detectors, and signal-processing ASIC shown at right. The flow chart
at bottom right shows the sequence of ASIC operations. After A-D conversion, signals
pass through a chromatic dispersion compensator, an adaptive equalizer; carrier phase is
recovered; and forward-error correction is applied before delivering the electronic output.
(Courtesy of Acacia Communications)
new chip geometries become available.
That led the Optical Internetworking
Forum (Fremont, CA) to develop stan-
dard specifications for modules like
the 100 Gbit/s polarization-modu-
lated QPSK (PM-QPSK) transceiv-
er from Acacia Communications
(Maynard, MA) shown in Fig. 3 along
with flow charts.
6
Outlook
Electronic dispersion compensation
marks a new stage in the evolution of
optical technology; the use of electronic
technology to compensate for optical im-
pairments. This hybrid approach plays
to the strengths of both technologies
electronics for signal processing and op-
tics for signal transmission.
That combination will become in-
creasingly important as data rates con-
tinue to climb. At the OFC 2013 post-
deadline session, a team from TE
SubCom (Eatontown, NJ) reported
transmitting a total of 106 channels at
200 Gbit/s, each through 10,290 km of
fiber. By detecting pairs of 200 Gbit/s
channels simultaneously in single wide-
band receivers, they transmitted 53 400
Gbit/s channels through 9200 km. In ad-
dition to compensating for dispersion,
they used digital back-propagation to
compensate for optical nonlinearities.
7

Those are important steps toward higher
speeds using superchannels that inte-
grate coherent signals on multiple carri-
ers across a broad band. In May, a team
from Bell Labs (Holmdel, NJ) reported
using a powerful new technique called
phase conjugation of twin waves to fur-
ther reduce nonlinearities, transmit-
ting a 400 Gbit/s superchannel a record
12,800 km.
8
And in August 2013, Sprint
(Overland, KS) and Ciena (Hanover,
MD) reported field tests of 400 Gbit/s
transmission on cables carrying live traf-
fic in Silicon Valley.
9
Those are impres-
sive demonstrations of the power of the
new hybrid approach.
REFERENCES
1. L. Mller et al., Electron. Lett., 35, 24, 2092
2093 (1999).
2. H. Blow et al., Electron. Lett., 36, 2, 163164
(Jan. 2000).
3. H. Blow, F. Buchali, and A. Klekamp, J.
Lightwave Technol., 26, 158 (Jan 1, 2008).
4. K. Roberts, Electronic Dispersion
Compensation Beyond 10 Gb/s, OFC, paper
MA2.3 (2007).
5. K. Roberts, A. Borowiec, and C. Laperle,
Opt. Fiber Technol., 17, 387394 (2011);
doi:10.1016/j.yofte.2011.06.007.
6 C. Rasmussen et al., Real-time DSP for 100+
Gb/s, OFC, paper OW1E (2013).
7. H. Zhang et al., 200 Gb/s and Dual-
Wavelength 400 Gb/s Transmission over
Transpacific Distance at 6 b/s/Hz Spectral
Efficiency, OFC, PDP5A.6 (2013).
8. X. Liu, A. R. Chraplyvy, P. J.Winzer, R.W.
Tkach, and S. Chandrasekhar, Nat. Photon.,
doi:10.1038/nphoton.2013.109 (May 26,
2013).
9. S. Hardy, Sprint, Ciena test 400G fiber-optic
network link, Lightwave (Aug 2013); www.
lightwaveonline.com/articles/2013/08/sprint-
ciena-test-400g-fiber-optic-network-link.html.
1310LFW_43 43 10/4/13 1:11 PM
a)
b)
CMOS SENSORS
CMOS-based specialty imagers
reach new performance levels
ELS PARTON, JEROME BARON, and PIET DE MOOR
Complementary metal-oxide semicon-
ductor (CMOS) imagers have largely
replaced charge-coupled device (CCD)
imagers in smartphones and digital
cameras due to lower costs and higher
integration capability. But for medical
applications, microscopy, space appli-
cations, and machine vision, CCD im-
agers are still dominating the market;
that is, the market share of CMOS in
these fields is estimated at only 10
15% due to performance issues.
In response, imec researchers are
developing CMOS imagers that are as
good as and even better than CCD im-
agers for high-end applications. More
specifically, up to 1000X increases in
speed and sensitivity to wavelengths
beyond the visible region exemplify
the accomplishments to date.
Optical layer innovations
In a specialty imager, optical layer
optimization is paramount to perfor-
mance. Antireflective coatings maxi-
mize the penetration of light into the
sensitive silicon by minimizing the re-
flectance at the imager surface. When
detecting nonvisible ultraviolet (UV)
light, the designer needs to consider
the absorption of light in the dielec-
tric materials in the layers
above the silicon, as well as
the very shallow penetra-
tion of UV light into silicon.
For the detection of ex-
treme ultraviolet (EUV)
light, we use a very thin bo-
ron (B) passivation coating
that has minimal absorp-
tion and also provides stable opera-
tion of the imager under high radia-
tion doses. This technology enables,
for example, dose monitoring in ad-
vanced lithography equipment.
Hyperspectral filters offer added di-
mensions to CMOS imagers for appli-
cations in industrial inspection, anti-
counterfeiting, food quality control,
and medical applications such as skin-
cancer screening. Imec researchers
have developed a hyperspectral imag-
er by integrating a group of 100 spec-
tral filters, arranged in the shape of a
wedge, on top of a commercial CMOS
imager. The result is a compact and
fast hyperspectral camera made with
mass-producible and fully CMOS-
compatible process technology.
The integrated spectral filters are
narrowband Fabry-Prot interfer-
ence filters. The Fabry-Prot filter is
typically made of a transparent lay-
er (cavity) with a mirror at each side.
The length of the cavity defines the
central wavelength of the optical fil-
ter, and the reflectivity of the mirrors
defines the full-width half-maximum
(FWHM) of the filter.
Using these filters, dif-
ferent hyperspectral imag-
er designs can be realized.
As an example, a line scan
hyperspectral imager can
record a full three-dimen-
sional (3D) data cube for a
linear moving object. The
hyperspectral filters can be
processed in principle on
any image sensor to match
the specifications required
for different applications.
Todays CMOS-based specialty
imagers have improved non-
visible light sensitivity and high-
data-rate acquisition at low power
consumption levels, enabling
system-on-chip imagers that target
former CCD-only applications.
FIGURE 1. For a
stitched-image wafer
(a), different sub-blocks
are combined (b) to
create imagers with
different sizes.
1310LFW_44 44 10/4/13 1:12 PM
GenEle_LFW_1308 1 7/23/13 11:28 AM
Similarly, the spectral range can be tuned,
and currently an extended spectral range
of 4001000 nm is under development.
A better read-out circuit
Using our expertise in analog-to-digital
converters (ADCs), we have developed
new imager designs that enable fast read-
out of large imagers with low power con-
sumption. Next-generation high-resolu-
tion televisions will feature eight times
more pixels and will be read out at a
speed of up to 120 frames/s.
In traditional imagers, the pixels are
read out per column and then the data
is multiplexed to one ADC. If instead
one ADC per imager column is used,
the digitalization is parallelized, result-
ing in a higher frame rate with lower
power consumption. We recently dem-
onstrated a column-based, 12-bit ADC
using a sigma-delta architecture. This
design allowed read out of an 8 Mpixel
imager at a speed of 60 frames/s.
In terms of circuitry integration, our
embedded CCD (eCCD) technology
combines the best of both worlds: the
electro-optical performance of CCDs
in combination with the complexity
and the speed of CMOS readout elec-
tronics. By adding a CCD module to
our 0.13 m CMOS process flow, we
have both CCD-like pixels and CMOS
readout electronics in one device. One
of the critical parameters for proper op-
eration of the CCD pixels is the submi-
cron spacing (approximately 150 nm)
between the electrodesa parameter
achieved through advanced lithogra-
phy. The eCCD module enables custom
design depending on application needs
and is compatible with backside illumi-
nation (BSI).
One eCCD application example is
time delay integration (TDI) imagers.
The charge transfer in the CCD pixels
results in a noiseless transfer and inte-
gration synchronized with the moving
scenesomething that is very difficult
to achieve using CMOS imagers. eCCD
technology also enables imaging at ex-
tremely high speeds (up to 1 billion
frames/s); in this case, a large number
of images (around 100) are stored inside
the pixels using CCD elements as ana-
log memories. After acquiring 100 im-
ages at very high speed, the pixels can
be read out in a similar way as in a tra-
ditional imager. This burst-mode imag-
ing is used in scientific applications such
as fluid dynamics.
Building the best pixel
In a typical front-side-illuminated imag-
er, the light enters the optical layers and
passes through the so-called back-end-
of-line consisting of metal and dielectric
layers, before reaching the light-sensitive
silicon. Since the back-end-of-line mate-
rials reflect and even absorb part of the
light, a good way to reach high quantum
efficiency (QE) is to enable BSI.
1310LFW_45 45 10/4/13 1:12 PM
Integration complexity
Imager
system
performance
Front side-illuminated
Hybrid backside-illuminated
Area 3D-integrated
Backside-illuminated
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CMOS SENSORS cont i nued
In BSI imagers, the silicon substrate
is removed, and the light directly enters
the imager from the backside. These BSI
CMOS imagers require advanced wafer
bonding, grinding, chemical-mechanical
polishing, selective wet etching, and laser
annealing. In a BSI imager, there is a di-
rect transition from air to silicon (without
the back-end-of-line layers in between)
and, therefore, the fill factor is 100%
and the QE enhanced. Also, contrary to
frontside illuminated imagers, BSI imag-
ers are sensitive to UV light.
Another method we are exploring is
the use of dedicated substrates for fabri-
cating improved CMOS specialty imag-
ers. For example, by using a thick layer
of sensitive silicon, near-infrared (NIR)
response can be increased since for NIR
wavelengths the penetration depth of
photons is rapidly increased. However, this typically leads to
worsening pixel crosstalk; that is, a degradation in the effec-
tive imager resolution. To counteract this crosstalk effect, one
solution is our use of special substrates with a graded dopant
concentration that guides the charges created by the absorbed
photon towards the nearest pixel. Another solution is to iso-
late pixels using a trench, which prevents the charges from
moving to a neighboring pixel.
In order to manufacture large-area imagers, two different
technologies can be used.
As the mask area typically allows maximum chip sizes of
about 2 2 cm
2
, a special technique called stitching is re-
quired for the realization of larger imager devices (see Fig. 1).
In this case, sub-blocks (different components of the imag-
er) are repeatedly printed on the wafer to develop small and
large imager devices.
Another technology is butting: individual imager chips
are mounted closely together to form one big imager de-
vice. However, since the imagers cannot be mounted with-
out leaving a gap between, a non-sensitive area is creat-
ed. This so-called dead area can be minimized using 3D
stacking technology in which wire bonds are replaced with
through-silicon vias (TSVs) that allow a vertical input/out-
put connection structure that largely minimizes the dead
area. Large-area imaging is useful for such applications as
X-ray medical imaging.
Finally, 3D integration also enables complete new imager
architectures; for example, having backside-illuminated pix-
els on the first wafer and readout circuitry on the second. This
hybrid backside illuminated imager architecture enables more
flexible integration by dissociating the processing of both lay-
ers to enable smart and/or high-speed imagers (see Fig. 2).
Els Parton is scientific editor; Jerome Baron is product marketing
manager, imaging; and Piet De Moor is program manager, optical
sensors at imec, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium; email: els.
parton@imec.be; www.imec.be
FIGURE 2. Imager system performance improves as integration complexity increases when
moving from front-side or backside-illuminated imager designs to face-to-face bonded backside
illuminated imagers with two active layers (hybrid backside illuminated imagers) and finally to
three-layer imaging stacks using through-silicon vias (TSVs) for faster and/or smarter imagers.
1310LFW_46 46 10/4/13 1:12 PM
9.6 Kbit/s
2G
TDMA
GSM
CDMA
40115 Kbit/s
384 Kbit/s
2.5G
GPRS
EDGE
3.6 Mbit/s
7.214.4 Mbit/s
3G
UMTS/
WCDMA
HSPA(+)
50 Mbit/s
100 Mbit/s
4G
LTE
WiMAX
Internet speeds to mobile devices
rapidly increasing
ADVANCES I N COMMUNI CATI ONS
New FSO provides reliable 10 Gbit/s
and beyond backhaul connections
ISAAC KIM, TOM CHAFFEE, ROBERT FLEISHAUER, PAUL SZAJOWSKI,
ALEXANDRE BRAGA, DAVID BEERING, and DANIEL C. HURLEY
Cellular carriers face a growing
challenge to increase the backhaul ca-
pacity between cell towers to keep up
with the rapidly increasing number of
mobile users employing 4G technolo-
gy to access the Internet. The only vi-
able backhaul options for a full 4G
network include deploying fiber-op-
tic cables (which can be very time con-
suming and expensive), or installing
wireless free-space optical (FSO) tech-
nology between cell towers.
Unfortunately, FSO signals can
degrade due to the presence of fog
and turbulence, which
has prevented lega-
cy FSO systemsthat
used continuous-wave
(CW) lasersfrom
reaching the 2 to 3 km
backhaul link range.
1,2

However, experiments
by Attochron with new
FSO systems incorpo-
rating ultrashort pulse
(USP) lasers show much better perfor-
mance and can provide 1 Gbit/s back-
haul capacity today and 10 Gbit/s and
higher in the future without having to
deploy fiber-optic cables.
The backhaul bottleneck
As individual mobile Internet down-
loads increase from 2G speeds of 10
kbit/s to 4G speeds of 100 Mbit/s, the
added outbound traffic places a tre-
mendous strain on the cellular tower
backhaul (see Fig. 1).
3
Most cell towers
depend on slower microwave backhaul
connections that realistically top out at
100 Mbps, restricting how many us-
ers can be connected at 4G speeds (see
Fig. 2). If a faster wireless technology
can be deployed between cell towers,
the number of 4G users can increase
along with a corresponding increase
in carrier revenues (see table).
A 20 Gbit/s fiber-optic connection
to a cellular tower allows up to 200
mobile users to individually down-
load from the Internet at full 4G,
100 Mbit/s speeds. However, former
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg claimed
on the June 22, 2009 Charlie Rose
Show that fiber optics will reach no
more than 30% of a carriers foot-
print. JDSU marketing experts esti-
mate that of the one million cell tow-
ers built by the end of 2014, 50% will
require more capacity than any non
fiber media can provide, and carriers
will not be able to afford fiber optics
leaving 500,000 cell towers without a
viable backhaul solution. The cost-ef-
With 4G cellular communications
placing increasing demands on
backhaul capacity between cell
towers, a new free-space optical (FSO)
technology uses ultrashort pulse
lasers for reliable high-bandwidth
wireless communications in all weather
conditions for backhaul sweet spot
distances of 2 to 3 km.
FIGURE 1. Individual
mobile Internet access
and download speeds
have progressed as mobile
networks have evolved
from 2G to 4G. Data rates
displayed above and
below show a range for
that protocol. Individual
mobile user download
speeds will approach 100
Mbit/s in a full 4G network.
1310LFW_47 47 10/4/13 1:12 PM
Carrier core
network
Cell tower A
Fiber optics
(10100 Gbit/s)
Microwave link
(100 Mbit/s)
Cell tower B
Continuous-wave (CW)
USPL
ADVANCES I N COMMUNI CATI ONS cont i nued
fective wireless alternative to fiber-optic
cables is FSO technology.
4, 5
Free-space optics
Legacy FSO systems work well in clear
or hazy weather at distances up to 1.5
km, but the presence of fog can reduce
effective link distances to 200 m.
5
And
while one option to improve visibility is
to make the light brighter, this is not pos-
sible because the light then becomes un-
safe to the eyes.
6
Using flashing or strobe
lights is another option; USP lasers be-
have similarly, but the pulses of light
flash on a much shorter time scaleas
short as a few femtoseconds.
7
Infrared photography reveals qualita-
tive differences between a CW laser and
a USP laser both in the near-field and at
1.25 km (see Fig. 3). Experiments per-
formed by Attochron (and supported in
part by Lockheed Martin Corporation)
at a 500 m wireless testing facility at
the U.S. Armys Picatinny Arsenal in
Dover, NJ, demonstrated that USP la-
ser-based FSO systems have an up to 25
dB increase in receive power over a legacy
CW FSO system in fog (see Fig. 4). Other
classified military research has observed
25 to 30 dB gains using an Attochron-
specified USP laser in foggy conditions.
These new USP FSO systems output
a passively mode-locked 100 fs pulse at
1550 nm, with an average output power
of 50 mW with a 1 Gbit/s repetition rate.
The stream of ultrashort pulses is mod-
ulated externally to produce the gigabit
Ethernet signal. In Picatinny Arsenal ex-
periments, a single 3 in. telescope was
used on the transmit side and a similar
3 in. telescope was used on the receiver
side (see Fig. 5).
FSO signals are also subject to atmo-
spheric scintillation that can cause re-
ceive-power fluctuations and fading
and burst errors for longer link distanc-
es (similar to a star twinkling at night).
8

We measured an increase in receive pow-
er of up to 15 dB in clear-air turbulence
using a USP laser over a CW laser. These
empirical observations correlate well to
theoretical work done by G. P. Berman
and colleagues at Los Alamos National
Laboratory.
9
This product design will incorporate
four transmit apertures that allow more
transmit power while maintaining eye
safety. Multiple transmit apertures fur-
ther reduce atmospheric scintillation be-
cause the four paths will independently
sample slightly different portions of the
atmosphere. These four paths will have
different fluctuation patterns, and the
summation of these four signals into the
receive aperture will have fewer overall
fluctuations.
10
The receive telescope will
be 8 to 12 in. in diameter and incorpo-
rate fine-steering mirrors for tracking.
In preliminary testing of our proto-
type USP laser-based FSO systems, the
FIGURE 2. Cell towers are presently connected to their core network by fiber-optic cables,
copper wires, or wireless microwave links. Unfortunately, most cell towers depend on slow
microwave connections (such as cell tower B). As more 4G mobile devices try to access the
Internet from these microwave-connected cell towers, microwave speeds realistically max
out at 100 Mbit/s and this capacity or pipeline must be shared with all of the mobile users
connected to that cell tower.
FIGURE 3. Qualitative differences between
a CW laser and a USP laser are shown by
infrared photography. The false color photo is
at the fiber end (start of transmission) and the
black and white photo is at the receive end
1.25 km away. Notice the improvement to the
pattern using the USP laser as the transmitter.
Mobile users accommodated by various backhaul technologies (maximum numbers)
Number of mobile users for each backhaul technology
(by network; individual download speed)
Backhaul technology Backhaul speed (2G; 10 kbit/s) (2.5G; 200 kbit/s) (3G; 5 Mbit/s) (4G; 100 Mbit/s)
Copper 10 Mbit/s 1,000 50 2 0.1
Microwave 100 Mbit/s 10,000 500 20 1
Fiber optics 20 Gbit/s 2,000,000 100,000 4,000 200
Free-space optical 10 Gbit/s 1,000,000 50,000 2,000 100
NOTE: Maximum number of users are shown; actual number will be slightly less due to network overhead.
1310LFW_48 48 10/4/13 1:12 PM
7:07 7:08 7:09 7:10 7:11 7:12 7:13 7:14
2.5
-30
Time
25 dB
Signal power (dBm)
USP laser
CW laser
USP laser
stabilizes
Visibility (km)
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
25 dB additional margin improves link
availability at 1 Gbit/s to 99.5% at 3
km; pulse modulation techniques now
in development will further increase the
bandwidth to 10 Gbit/s and beyond.
Pulse-shaping efficiencies
Pulsemodulation techniques manipu-
late the laser pulse shape before trans-
mission to achieve greater transmission
efficiencies and optimize various desir-
able propagation effects. Binary phase
shift keying (BPSK) pulse modulation
has been used in satellite laser commu-
nication to increase overall bandwidth to
6 Gbit/s.
11
Fiber-optic systems use BPSK,
quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK),
and 16-quadrature amplitude modula-
tion (16-QAM) to increase bandwidth
from 10 to 400 Gbit/s.
Since the USP is much narrower in
time (100 fs), it has much broader spec-
tral content than CW laser pulses in
conventional fiber-optic systems. Our
pulseshaper technology decompos-
es the bandwidth of a single USP laser
into many discrete spectral bins that
can be independently modulated, and
then recombined to produce a new sin-
FIGURE 4. Quantitative measurement of a
25 dB difference in receive power between
a USP laser and a CW laser at 550 m range
is shown during high-attenuation conditions
(visibility less than 125 m).
1310LFW_49 49 10/4/13 1:12 PM
b)
10 cm
a)
gle pulse with a modified temporal shape.
12
For example, by
using 10 spectral bins, each with its own signaling, a 1 Gbit/s
signal can be increased to 10 Gbit/s. Modulating 100 spec-
tral bins will result in 100 Gbit/s overall.
Of course, the modulation and demodulation of these
shaped USPs will require very fast digital signal processing
(DSP). Fortunately, these DSP capabilitieswhich have been
used in 100 Gbit/s and higher fiber-optic systemsare now
available on an optical chip and will be incorporated in the
USP FSO systems.
These advanced modulation schemes will extend wireless
backhaul capacity to 10 Gbit/s and even 100 Gbit/s between
cell towers. This will greatly speed the deployment of full 4G
networks by cellular carriers and even be sufficient for future
5G cellular networks.
13

REFERENCES
1. W. K. Pratt, Laser Communication Systems, J. Wiley & Sons, New York,
NY (1969).
2. I. I. Kim et al., SPIE Opt. Eng., 37, 31433155 (1998).
3. NGMN Alliance, Guidelines for LTE Backhaul Traffic Estimation (2011).
4. T. H. Carbonneau and D. R. Wisely, Opportunities and challenges
for optical wireless; the competitive advantage of free-space
telecommunications links in todays crowded marketplace, Proc. SPIE,
3232, 119128 (1998).
5. I. I. Kim, Lightwave, 26, 1921 (2009).
6. American National Standard for Safe Use of Lasers (ANSI Z136.11993),
the Laser Institute of America, Orlando, FL (1993).
7. J. M. Hopkins and W. Sibbett, Sci. Amer., 283, 7279 (2000).
8. I. I. Kim et al., Measurement of scintillation for free-space laser
communication at 785 nm and 1550 nm, Proc. SPIE, 3850, 4962 (1999).
9. G. P. Berman et al., J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys., 44, 5540255421 (2011).
10. I. I. Kim et al., Scintillation reduction using multiple transmitters, Proc.
SPIE, 2990, 102113 (1997).
11. B. Smutny et al., 5.625 Gbit/s optical inter-satellite communication link
verified in-orbit, Proc. Ka and Broadband Communications Conference,
Matera, Italy (2008).
12. See http://bit.ly/14Pu7KC.
13. P.E. Mogensen et al., LTE-Advanced: The path towards gigabit/s
in wireless mobile communications, Wireless VITAE 2009, 147151,
Aalborg, Denmark (May 2009).
Isaac Kim is CTO, Tom Chaffee is founder and CEO, Robert
Fleishauer is VP of atmospheric R&D, Paul Szajowski is Consultant,
Optical Sciences, Alexandre Braga is USPL sciences advisor, David
Beering is VP laser SATCOM business development, and Daniel C.
Hurley, Jr., is VP Washington, DC affairs at Attochron, PO Box 1036,
Lexington, VA 24450; email: tc@attochron.com; www.attochron.com.
Tell us what you think about this article. Send an e-mail to LFWFeedback@
pennwell.com.
FIGURE 5. The
hardware (a) of
an Attochron USP
laser-based FSO
system is visualized
in an artists
concept (b).
1310LFW_50 50 10/4/13 1:12 PM
Time
Incoming vibration and
cancellation signal transposed
Frequency (Hz)
Transmissibility
Amplitude
a) b)
25 20 15 10 5
10
1
0.1
0.01
Cancellation signal
Incoming vibration
Zero net effect
Transmissibility of 10 at 5 Hz,
equivalent to 1000% amplifcation
of input vibrations
Transmissibility of 1 at 6 Hz,
no amplifcation or reduction
Transmissibility of 0.1 at 10 Hz,
equivalent to 90% reduction of
input vibrations
Transmissibility of 0.01 at 25 Hz,
equivalent to 99% reduction of
input vibrations
VI BRATI ON CONTROL SYSTEMS
Active vibration isolation:
Know the options
REID WHITNEY
Active vibration isolation systems for
photonics applications use a combina-
tion of sensors and actuators whose
functioning is controlled by articulat-
ed algorithms to attenuate vibrations.
The algorithms are stored in either an
external or internal controller that
acts as the central command for the
system. The sensors detect vibrations
along specific directions (x, y, and z)
in the platform and send this infor-
mation to the control-
ler. The controller in
turn sends a signal to
the transducers, which
act on the platform to
reduce the sensed vi-
brations (see Fig. 1).
Most sensors found
within active isolation
systems are capable of
detecting parameters
such as displacement,
velocity, and accelera-
tion. These systems of-
ten use a combination
of passive and active
isolation technologies.
The passive-isolation
component of the plat-
form attenuates vibra-
tions within the high-
er frequency range (100
Hz and above), whereas
the active-isolation com-
ponent focuses on the
lower frequency range
(0 to 100 Hz) to attenuate
the natural low-frequen-
cy resonance found with-
in passive isolation systems. In addi-
tion to reducing such resonances, most
active isolation systems are capable of
canceling translational and rotational
modes of vibration in all six degrees
of freedom.
Feedback vs.
feed-forward control
There are two primary categories that
describe active isolation systems: feed-
back and feed-forward control sys-
tems. A feedback control system con-
tinuously monitors the platform it is
controlling and modifies its output ac-
cording to the vibration data retrieved.
In a feedback active-control system,
the forces causing the vibrations (aris-
ing from the environment, experimen-
tal devices, and so on) are measured,
and the control system sends out-of-
phase signals to the transducers in a
feedback loop to reduce measured am-
plitudes. These feedback control sys-
tems are reactive, modifying the iso-
lating behavior of the active-isolation
system based on the input measured.
In contrast, a feed-forward con-
trol system is anticipative in nature
wherein the control system responds
in a predefined way to control the in-
Choosing the right type of control
system and form factor are only two
of the many decisions to make when
defining the right active isolation
platform for the job; understanding
the many other options will help lead
to the proper choice.
FIGURE 1. Active vibration isolation performance, represented in a graph, depicts the inverse,
out-of-phase force applied by an active vibration isolation platform to provide a vibration-neutral
surface (a). Transmissibility graphs are used as performance benchmarks for vibration isolation
systems, demonstrating a platforms ability to amplify or reduce vibrations across a broad frequency
spectrum (b). Transmissibility as a function of frequency is one of the most important attributes to
evaluate when reviewing a systems vibration isolation performance.
1310LFW_51 51 10/4/13 1:12 PM
VI BRATI ON CONTROL SYSTEMS cont i nued
put vibrations. This type of control system is deployed when
the behavior of the controlled variable (for example, forces)
is well understood. In these active-isolation systems, feed-for-
ward control loops are used to attenuate onboard vibrations
(for example, large moving stages). The feed-forward system
already has information about the stage motion and applies
the necessary forces to counter the vibrations.
Advantages of active isolation
An active isolation system has two main advantages over a pas-
sive isolation system: low-frequency isolation and increased
stiffness. To achieve increased low-frequency vibration iso-
lation, an active isolation system cancels low-frequency reso-
nances via its closed-loop design. Resonance occurs when the
frequency of the force input matches the natural frequency of
the system, leading to high amplitudes of oscillation at those
frequencies. Tall buildings, as well as buildings built near sub-
ways, waterways, or on reclaimed land, often have resonanc-
es below 10 Hz and can oscillate dangerously if mounted on
a passive system. Generally, when evaluating vibrations, the
amplitudes of oscillation at lower frequencies tend to be high-
er than those observed at higher frequencies.
Active isolation systems are approximately 100 times stiffer
than passive pneumatic isolation systems. The stiffness charac-
teristics of an active isolation system offer much greater direc-
tional and positional stability for an instrument or application.
This added stiffness also allows for a more stable setup, which is
helpful when a laser beam is directed off the isolation platform.
Options for active vibration isolation
Active vibration isolation systems have many options that vary
depending on the manufacturer of the system and the intend-
ed use of the platform; some examples follow:
Automatic load adjustment. This is a unique feature often
found in compact desktop vibration isolation platforms. This
option automatically adjusts the system configuration based
on the load and its distribution over the platform, removing
any need for installation procedures or persistent maintenance
over the lifetime of the platform. Automatic load-adjusted plat-
forms are valuable in laboratory environments where multi-
ple users are operating an instrument, or if the weight and/or
weight distribution fluctuate over the operation of the platform.
Low-frequency compensation. Complementary perfor-
mance-upgrade systems can also be used in conjunction with
active isolation systems. A separate feed-forward low-frequen-
cy sensor can be paired with a feedback isolation platform, en-
abling the platform to provide better low-frequency isolation
performance. These feed-forward sensors have high sensitiv-
ity in the low-frequency vibration range, more effectively at-
tenuating vibrations within this range and providing sub-hertz
vibration isolation when well executed.
Signal monitoring. Active isolation systems are constantly
sensing vibrations as they operate, which allows the user to
externally monitor the vibration noise and vibration isolation
performance of the platform. External monitoring systems are
often available as a simple upgrade that connects through the
controller of the vibration isolation platform.
Shaker. The actuators of an active isolation system are most
commonly used to attenuate vibrations from the environment;
however, these actuators can also be used as shakers that can
input forces (vibrations) into a system. These are typically low-
er-amplitude devices, but the shake is superimposed on the iso-
lated system and is therefore independent of the environment.
Considerations in choosing an
active-isolation system
Cost. Due to their more complex and technical design, active
isolation systems are often more costly than passive isolation
systems. The array of sensors and actuators embedded in each
system, along with the various control systems monitoring the
signals, require complex processing systems that can elevate the
price of each active vibration isolation platform. Passive vibra-
tion isolation systems have a simpler design that does not require
electrical components or carefully calibrated sensors. They can
provide isolation for applications or environments with no low-
frequency (less than 5 Hz) requirements for isolation.
1310LFW_52 52 10/4/13 1:12 PM
1-855-4ALLUXA
www.alluxa.com
High Performance
Priced Right
Optical Filters
FIGURE 2. Active vibration-isolation systems come in a
variety of form factors and sizes. These systems, which
have sub-hertz active vibration isolation in all six degrees
of freedom, are used in interferometry, metrology, high-
resolution microscopy, and other optical applications.
(Courtesy of Herzan)
Installation. The amount of time re-
quired for installing an instrument or
application onto a platform is a func-
tion of the form factors of the particular
type of active vibration isolation system
supporting it. Some active isolation sys-
tems are broadband (work over a wide
range of frequencies) and do not require
tweaking of the control loop during the
installation, whereas other systems are
tuned for a specific payload and weight
distribution. Advantages of not having
to tune a platform during installation
or after changes have been made to the
platform give end users the opportuni-
ty to focus on their research rather than
their isolation system.
Form factor. Active isolation systems
come in a variety of sizes and load ca-
pacities, being able to support loads
from less than one to thousands of ki-
lograms (see Fig. 2). Passive isolation
systems generally use pneumatic air
isolation pucks to isolate vibrations.
The volume of air used for isolation in-
creases nonlinearly as the desired isola-
tion frequency lowers. Active isolation
systems are typically more compact
than passive systems because they do
not need large volumes of
air to isolate vibrations at
lower frequencies. Another
choice to be made is wheth-
er to integrate the control
unit into the platform itself
or to use an external con-
trol unit that connects via
cabling. Platforms incor-
porating internal control
systems are often more
compact than external
control systems; however,
external control systems
often allow for a modular,
scalable platform setup.
Low-frequency perfor-
mance. When choosing an
active vibration isolation
system, it is important to
consider the low-frequen-
cy performance of the plat-
form and whether it is ca-
pable of achieving the same
vibration isolation performance for all
translational and rotational modes of vi-
bration. Manufacturers may represent
the performance of the platform based
only on the axis for which it provides the
most attenuation, which at times can be
misleading. It is recommended to request
the performance for all axes in which the
platform attenuates to better determine
its overall effectiveness.
Active leveling vs. active vibration
isolation. An important distinction to
be aware of is the difference between
active leveling and active vibration
isolation systems. Active leveling sys-
tems use passive isolation technology
(such as air), but have automatic lev-
eling included to compensate changes
in the load. The product will thus be
marketed as an active-isolation prod-
uct, whereas in fact the platform is a
passive-isolation product. The distinc-
tion between active leveling and active
vibration isolation is something to keep
in mind when considering which vibra-
tion isolation platform to purchase.
Reid Whitney is director of sales and market-
ing at Herzan, Laguna Hills, CA; email: reid@
herzan.com; www.herzan.com.
1310LFW_53 53 10/4/13 1:12 PM
L A S E R S
O P T I C S
D E T E C T O R S
I MA G I N G
F I B E R O P T I C S
I N S T R U ME N T AT I O N
New products
Would you like to be included? Please send your
product description with high-resolution digital
image to: lfwnewproducts@pennwell.com
3D measurement
The Nexview profiler, a
3D imaging and mea-
surement system, is opti-
mized for noncontact
surface metrology of an
extensive variety of sam-
ples and surfaces from
the very smooth to the
very rough. It provides
sub-nanometer vertical
resolution at all magnifications. Its Mx software pro-
duces high-fidelity surface topography maps for mea-
suring roughness, flatness, angles, films, and steps.
Zygo
Middlefield, CT
www.zygo.com/nx
Pulsed fiber laser
A pulsed fiber laser, IFL-20P-LM-P, provides peak
output >35 kW in 500 ps pulses at 1060 nm. It gives
a flat 1215 kW peak power output across 110 ns
pulse durations, pulse energies >100 J, and repeti-
tion rates from single-shot to 1 MHz. Average output
power fluctuation is <5% between 12C and 55C.
iLuma Photonics
Shenzhen, China
sales@ilumaphotonics.com
Cementing station
The OptiCentric Cementing Station automatically
aligns and cements lenses to each other to
increase accuracy and throughput. It is equipped with
a high-precision chuck in which a centering arbor
is clamped for attaching lenses onto the arbor. The
residual centration error between both lenses in a
doublet is typically better than 2 m.
Trioptics GmbH
Wedel, Germany
info@trioptics.com
ZnSe lenses
Zinc selenide plano-con-
vex lenses are available
in diameters of 12.7,
25.4, and 50.8 mm with a variety of focal lengths.
They come uncoated or with an 812 m AR coat-
ing that has <0.5% reflection from 7.5 to 13.5 m,
designed for thermal imaging applications. They have
a usable transmission range from 600 to 1600 nm.
Edmund Optics
Barrington, NJ
sales@edmundoptics.com
1310LFW_54 54 10/4/13 1:13 PM
9&6(/V
For Illumination
Highest Efficiency >62%
Surface Mount
Low cost-High volume
www.princetonoptronics.com
Our VCSEL Key Differentiators:
High power (10~1000W) from a
single chip, 6kW from a module
LED like surface mount packaging
High temperature operation to 95
0
C
650, 680,780, 808, 830, 976, 1064,
1550nm- other custom wavelengths
2kW-808nm
VCSEL side
A 15W
VCSEL Red
Laser Array
Applications:
Red VCSELs for pointing and
illumination applications
IR Illumination (works like LEDs, but
with very high efficiency at high
temperature)- for short to long
range imaging
Solid-state laser pumping (chips,
high power modules for end and
side pumping)
Sensor applications, single mode
devices (1 to >100mW) and arrays
high volume available
VCSEL side
pumping
module
www.princetonoptronics.com
sales@princetonoptronics.com
(609) 584-9696 ext. 107
1kW power
VCSEL
Illuminator
Optical spectrum analyzer
The OSA20, a diffraction-grating-
based optical spectrum analyzer, oper-
ates from 1250 to 1700 nm and uses a
touch-sensitive display. It offers scans
of up to 2000 nm/s, a 20 pm wave-
length resolution bandwidth, and sam-
pling every 2 pm. Wavelength accuracy
is within 20 pm over the telecom C
and L wavelength bands.
Yenista Optics
Lannion, France
info@yenista.com
Picosecond laser
ThePicoBladepicosecond laser
formicromachining features pulse-
on-demand and fast A/D modula-
tion pulsecontrol, up to50 W average
power, and pulse repetition ratesfrom
single-shot to 8 MHz and above. The
unibody housingincludes a detachable,
long, flexible umbilical cable; horizontal
orvertical laser mounting, and optional
hands-offwavelengthconversion for
green or ultraviolet output beams.
Time-Bandwidth Products AG
Zurich, Switzerland
info@tbwp.com
Displacement gauge
The os5500 displacement gauge uses
fiber Bragg grating technology to mea-
sure displacements of up to 450 mm
between two points on the surface of a
specimen or structure over long periods
of time. It is designed for easy attach-
ment to various substrates and makes
measurements on metal, concrete,
rock/stone and other surfaces.
Micron Optics
Atlanta, GA
info@micronoptics.com
Femtosecond oscillator
The Griffin-10 single-box femtosec-
ond oscillator is designed for second-
harmonic generation, terahertz, and
pump-probe users. It delivers >1.4 W
at 800 nm in pulses of <25 fs. It pro-
vides computer control of the spectrum
between 750 and 840 nm and offers a
fast warm-up time.
KMLabs
Boulder, CO
www.kmlabs.com
Illuminator
A high-power illuminator, model
PR-HPIL-4800-W808, has output
of 4800 W at 808 nm from multiple
vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
1310LFW_55 55 10/4/13 1:13 PM
New products
arrays for high-speed photography of
fast events. The VCSELs provide low
speckle and a flat-top beam profile.
Other modules offer various power
levels for CW, QCW, or pulsed illu-
mination at wavelengths such as 830,
976, 1064, and 680 nm.
Princeton Optronics
Mercerville, NJ
sales@princetonoptronics.com
UV spectrometer
The Model 234/302 spectrometer
measures vacuum ultraviolet spectral
emission. The compact 200 mm focal
length device has adjustable slits, and
operates at f/4.5, for data collection
from UV radiation and emission spectra
in the 100190 nm range simultane-
ously, in near real time, with subnano-
meter spectral resolution, using cooled
CCD detectors.
McPherson
Chelmsford, MA
mcp@mcphersoninc.com
Tunable laser
The FLS-2800 Benchtop ITLA tunable
continuous-wave laser source offers
narrow linewidth and high-resolution
tunability. It is designed for applications
including coherent/orthogonal fre-
quency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
transmission and WDM network emu-
lation. It comes in single- or dual-laser
configuration, with each laser con-
trolled independently. The front-panel
knob allows the wavelength and power
to be quickly and precisely adjusted.
EXFO
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
www.exfo.com
Spatial light modulators
Spatial light modulators (SLMs) from
RealLight use both translucent and
reflective liquid crystal micro-display
technology to dynamically modify the
amplitude and/or phase of incident
light and manipulate each individual
pixel in real time. Users can connect PC
video/graphics or program the SLMs
to behave like gratings, lenses, diffrac-
tive optical elements, apertures, masks,
information processors, and encryptors.
Electro-Optical Components
Santa Rosa, CA
info@eoc-inc.com
Picosecond laser
The Polaris i200 is a 1064 nm, 10 ps,
200 W laser with repetition rates up to
1 MHz, an M
2
<1.5, and programmable
burst mode operation. It is designed for
high-speed production processes such
as cutting, drilling, micromachining,
cleaning, and ablation.
AMS Technologies
Martinsried, Germany
www.amstechnologies.com
Piezo stage
The PZ 250 SG Z-axis piezo elevator
stage for precise positioning of probes
and components under a microscope
provides motion up to 250 m in
closed loop and 350 m in open loop
without mechanical play. Varying foot-
prints allow integration into different
microscopes. Threaded holes allow
mounting of probes and components.
Piezosystem Jena
Jena, Germany
info@piezojena.com
Optical scanners
The QS-7 OPD moving magnet
galvanometer-based optical scanner
uses ceramic ball-bearing motors and
high-strength
magnets for a
small package
size. When
combined with
low-resistance/
low-induc-
tance coils, it
provides a
40% increase
in scanning
speed with optimized thermal charac-
teristics. A high-output position detec-
tor generates four times the output
signal for high signal-to-noise ratio.
Nutfield Technology
Hudson, NH
sales.info@nutfieldtech.com
Positioning drives
Hybrid linear positioning drives use
maintenance-free thermo-plastic
1310LFW_56 56 10/4/13 1:13 PM
High power Beam Analyzer
up to 5kW
Real time monitoring
of power (>5Hz)
Beam size at the
focal point
X-Y beam positioning
Data transfer via
RS232 and 485
Scan to watch the video
New products
nuts. The Nema-8 model LS2018 (20
mm flange) delivers a force of 40 N
and a step resolution of 0.005 mm.
The Nema-14 model LS3518 (35 mm
flange) delivers 140 N and resolution of
0.01 mm. Screw lengths of 75 or 150
mm are standard. Custom lengths are
available.
Nanotec Electronic
Medford, MA
www.nanotec.com
Fixed focus lenses
The Owl-IR F1.0 fixed focus objec-
tive lenses for long-wave infrared are
designed for high-resolution focal-
plane array formats over the 8 to 14
m spectral range. The lenses have low
f-number and good color correction,
along with internal features that reduce
stray light. Standard focal lengths are
18, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mm.
LightWorks Optical Systems
Murrieta, CA
www.lwos.com
Infrared laser diodes
Continuous-wave laser diodes provide
single TE
00
mode output power up
to 160 mW and multimode output of
700 mW at 2100 nm. The diodes have
wall-plug efficiency >20% and beam
shape with fast-axis divergence angle
below 46.
Brolis Semiconductors
Vilnius, Lithuania
info@brolis-semicon.com
Light meter
The BTS256-E light meter provides
all necessary illuminance, color, and
spectral data to fully qualify solid-state
lighting and any other type light source.
Its sensor includes a precision photo-
metric photodiode and diode array
spectrometer to reduce uncertainty. An
electro-optical shutter for dark-signal
pixel offset compensation increases
the highly linear dynamic range of the
CMOS diode array detector.
Gigahertz-Optik
Newburyport, MA
www.led-measurement.com
LED wafer measurement
The LumiMap Electroluminescence
System provides electrical and optical
measurements on epitaxially grown
wafers for high-brightness LEDs. It
measures forward and reverse IV char-
acteristics, spectral intensity, wave-
length, and spectral width measure-
ments on 26 in. wafers, with a wide
range of current settings.
Bruker Nano Surfaces
Camarillo, CA
www.bruker.com
1310LFW_57 57 10/4/13 1:13 PM
New products
Thermal camera core
The MIR640 thermal camera core is a
17 m, 640 480 pixel, uncooled ther-
mal camera core that captures video in
daylight or at night through fog, smoke,
dust, and haze. It can switch between
frame rates of 60 and 30 Hz. The 1.7
in.
3
, 1.4 oz module includes sensor,
image processing, USB controls, and
standard video interfaces.
BAE Systems
Nashua, NH
www.baesystems.com
Laser driver
The M02077 laser driverfor small
form-factor pluggable optical transceiv-
ers supports data rates up to 3.1 Gbit/s
in a 4 4 mm package. The program-
mable laser driver, integrated with a
limiting amplifier, includes on-chip elec-
trically erasable programmable read-
only memory for storing calibration
constants and performance settings
that supports >1 million write cycles.
Mindspeed Technologies
Newport Beach, CA
www.mindspeed.com
Seed laser
The Mendocino 805 nm laser for seed-
ing Ti:sapphire lasers has a selectable
wavelength between 795 and 815 nm,
average output power >20 mW, pulse
width under 100 fs, beam quality of
M
2
<1.2, and pulse stability <1% rms.
A customized user-tunable version is
available in the 780900 nm range.
Calmar Laser
Sunnyvale, CA
sales@calmarlaser.com
Spectrometer
The waveScan USB spectrometer pro-
vides standard spectral resolution of
0.2 nm over the range from 200 to
2600 nm, with resolution of 0.1 or 0.5
nm in certain wavelength regions. It
has a fast data refresh rate for use as
an alignment tool for optical systems.
Control software displays and stores
measured spectra on a standard PC.
APE GmbH
Berlin, Germany
www.ape-berlin.com
Medical laser diode
A single-emitter laser diode, the BAL-
980, provides output up to 18 W at
980 nm for medical and industrial uses.
The diode has efficiency of 0.9 W/A. It
comes in a 25 25 12 mm package
with integrated lenses and weighs 30
g. It is optimized for coupling to a 200
m fiber.
eagleyard Photonics
Berlin, Germany
www.eagleyard.com
Ultrafast PCIe data
acquisition board
The AD12-2000x2 uses a proprietary
low-noise, low-distortion DC-2 GHz
front end, has 40 ns trigger latency,
8 GB on-board memory, and can be
driven from either a fixed internal clock
or an external clock. The PCIe 12-bit
dual-channel 2/4GSPS ADC board
accepts rapidly swept sampling clocks
over the 0.32 GHz range, for base-
band or direct-IF sampling, spectros-
copy, radar, and OCT applications.
Ultraview
Berkeley, CA
www.ultraviewcorp.com/ad12-2000
CO
2
laser systems
The Laser Fusion is a CO
2
system
designed for engraving and cutting
on a variety of materials, while the
FiberMark Fusion was designed for
industrial applications on bare metals
and engineered plastics. Both systems
include a 32 20 in. engraving table,
joystick control, job management soft-
ware, industrial brushless servo-motors,
and a temperature sensor with an
emergency stop.
Epilog Laser
Golden, CO
www.epiloglaser.com/fusion_laser_
series.htm
Ultra-narrow punch
beam lenses
New ultra narrow punch beam lenses
provide a 3 angle beam. They are
1310LFW_58 58 10/4/13 1:13 PM
DE (+49) 36 41 66 88 0
US (+1) 508 634 - 6688
info@piezojena.com
Piezo Stages
Positioning Technology
www.piezosystem.com
Z-Elevator Stage for Probe Alignment
Nanopositioning Microscopy Z-Stage
Standard microscopy
probe adapters
High scanning accuracy
Low prole design
ccop copyy
cccuracy
n
New products
total internal reflection (TIR) lenses with center beam candle
power (CBCP) of 150 cd/lm and spot efficiency >89%. Light
coming from the LED source is collimated into a narrow
beam, maximizing useable lumens in the target area. They
are also suited for lighting applications requiring enhanced
focal depth.
Khatod
Milan, Italy
www.khatod.com
Laser power sensor
A new meterless laser power sensor measures points deep
within instruments and between closely spaced components.
The PowerMax
USB Wand UV-VIS
sensor has a
10-mm-diameter
silicon detector,
mounted on the
end of a 6-in.-long
wand that is 0.2 in. thick at its end. It measures average
power of lasers from 325 to 900 nm, and senses powers
from 100 W to 300 mW.
Coherent
Santa Clara, CA
www.coherent.com
Donut-shaped diffractive
optical vortex element
A new donut-shaped diffractive optical vortex element made
by Holo/OR and distributed
by Laser Components has an
outside profile that is square,
while the inside is round. This
ensures homogenous mate-
rial removal in laser mate-
rial processing. A typical
laser beam has the highest
beam intensity at its center;
the vortex element redirects
the power to the edges to achieve a higher efficiency in the
overall system.
Laser Components
Hudson, NH
www.laser-components.com
Fiber-coupled, multi-single-
emitter module
New fiber-coupled, multi-single-emitter modules deliver 25
W output power. The 450 nm, 400 m, 0.22 NA, fiber-cou-
pled module was developed for cinema projection and medi-
cal applications. It offers a modular design to allow further
scalability to higher powers.
DILAS
Mainz, Germany
www.dilas.com
Spectroscopy software
The ParticleFinder module for the LabSpec 6 Spectroscopy
Suite locates and identifies any particulate matter where
automated molecular analysis is needed. It leads the ana-
lyst through the process of locating particles, generating
size/shape statistics, selecting candidate particles based on
1310LFW_59 59 10/4/13 1:13 PM
New products
size/shape parameters, and acquiring
Raman spectra.
Horiba Scientific
Edison, NJ
www.horiba.com/scientific
Optical profilometer
PLu neox optical profiling system uti-
lizes a dual-technology sensor head
that combines both confocal and
interferometric techniques, making it a
flexible tool for obtaining noninvasive
measurements of the micro- and nano-
geometry of bullet surfaces for forensic
science investigations. A forensic-spe-
cific software extension was designed
for the systems SensoMAP software.
Sensofar-Tech
Terrassa, Spain
info@sensofar.com
Evaluation board
The FL591FL evaluation board has
been introduced for assessment of the
FL500 laser diode driver and other pro-
totyping laser electronics systems. It is
used in handheld, portable, and space-
constrained applications. An enable
input connects to a safety interlock or
temperature controller to disable the
output if it exceeds a safe operating
temperature.
Laser Physics
Milton Green, England
info@laserphysics.co.uk
20-element photodiode
The new 20-element AXUV20ELG fea-
tures a 22-pin, dual in-line package with
100% QE. It is used for bolometry and
electron detection, providing EUV-UV
and UV-VIS-NIR photon responsivity.
It has an active area of 0.75 4.1 mm,
a sensitive area of 3 mm
2
per element,
and a stable response after exposure to
high energy radiation.
Opto Diode
Newbury Park, CA
www.optodiode.com
Spectroradiometer
The SR-4500 is a portable, UV/VIS/NIR
spectroradiometer with three thermo-
electrically cooled photodiode arrays.
With a spectral range of 3502500
nm, it provides stable measurement for
radiometric calibration transfer over a
wide temperature range. Designed for
on-site calibration/recalibration and
certification, it includes the DARWin SP
Data Analysis software package.
Spectral Evolution
Lawrence, MA
www.spectralevolution.com
Nanoscale optical
tweezer system
The NanoTweezer system from
Optofluidics, with system design and
manufacturing guidance from Avo
Photonics, includes a microscope flow
system that sits on top of a microscope
platform, removable waveguide chips
that insert into the flow system, and
a benchtop control unit. The system
uses a 1060 nm laser beam to capture
nanoscale objects floated in fluid, such
as individual cells, viruses, single bacte-
ria, nucleic acids, metal nanoparticles,
carbon nanotubes, and some proteins.
Photonic resonator chips create a minis-
cule aperture in the near-field, allowing
the beam to attract particles as small
as 5 nm.
Optofluidics
Philadelphia, PA
www.optofluidicscorp.com
Fluorescence filter
cube online tool
The FluoScout online tool determines
the appropriate filter cube or filter set
for particular fluorescence micros-
copy needs. The tool matches the light
source, fluorophores, and filter cubes
necessary for particular work to maxi-
mize efficiency of excitation and emis-
sion of the fluorophores. The spectrum
range is shown as a colored bar as a
reference for the visible range of light.
Fading in and out of single spectra or
zooming to see more details are pos-
sible, and transmission and emission
can also be quantified.
Leica Microsystems
Wetzlar, Germany
www.leica-microsystems.com/
fluoscout
1310LFW_60 60 10/4/13 1:13 PM
Business
Resource Center
Optics / Coatings Manufacturing
1324 E. Valencia Dr. Fullerton, CA 92831
www.latticeoptics.com
T: 714-449-0532, F: 714-449-0531
latticeoptics@gmail.com
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FOCUS ON
PRODUCTS
How does that play into next-gen Internet?
PICs will enable datacenters to increase the ability to meet the bandwidth
demand and the needs of software-defined-network in datacenters and will
also enable many new areas. This technology is being developed, and it is
not obvious the U.S. will lead this revolution. A related problem is that band-
width demand is soaking up wavelengths in wavelength division multiplex-
ing (WDM) systems, and soon that avenue for bandwidth expansion will
be at an end. Spatial multiplexing may be able to increase the bandwidth by
another factor of 100, but this is still a research area.
Any other areas where photonics will make a big impact?
Healthcare is another area where photonics can play a big part. Better and
quicker diagnostics, and being able to access data from the cloud anywhere,
would increase our medical capability significantly. It is interesting to note
there is now an X Prize for the first group to develop a handheld device that
can diagnose 15 diseases. Imagine the impact such a device would have in
Africa, or even in rural America. I bet the device that wins will be heavily de-
pendent on optics and photonics.
Another grand challenge in the NRC report is to have renewable energy,
photovoltaic or solar cell, competitive in pricing with fossil fuels by 2020.
Why shouldnt we succeed, given solar cells are electronics in nature? Think
how the price of anything electronic has come down while capability goes up
continuously. Why shouldnt we expect the price of solar cells to become the
cheapest way to generate electricity?
What have the leaders of industry done or can do to strike the
iron while its hot?
OSA and SPIE have provided administrative leadership, public relations fund-
ing, and support of an ad hoc committee organized around NPI, including APS,
IEEE/Photonics Society, and LIA. There has been significant industry partici-
pation with 20 representatives in subcommittees from companies in each of
these five areas highlighted here. We need the leaders of Fortune 500 compa-
nies that use optics and photonics to tell government leaders what is required
to keep R&D research centers and advanced manufacturing in the U.S. We
can succeed as EU stakeholders have succeeded in doing so with Photonics21.
My hot button is that in the photonics community is incoherent (pardon
the pun). There could be more nurturing and cooperation and resources
sharing between academia and industry, and between companies. The gov-
ernment will probably have to take a leading role to synergize this collabo-
ration. Maybe NPI can have a positive influence there.
As I said earlier, government can be an honest broker so companies wont
feel their IP would be threatened. This is especially true in the area of next-
gen Internet since this is a major project with many companies and universi-
ties working on a focused goal. This can also be true for PICs. Maybe it can
also be true for some health-oriented optical device development.
How can I, a photonics engineer, contribute to the NPI or in some
way get involved?
Spread the message. Even before you get in touch with your representatives
in Congress, make your friends and neighbors aware of the role of optics and
photonics in their lives and in our high-tech economy. If average voters know
how important photonics is, their congressman will get it.
BUSINESS FORUM continued from page 64
1310LFW_61 61 10/4/13 1:14 PM

Manufacturers
Product Showcase
The FISBA Beam Twister
The FISBA
Beam Twister
(FBT) is an
innovative
beam shaping
element for
generating
an almost
symmetrical
beam profile
of laser diode bars. The FBT unit consists of a FAC lens
with a beam rotating lens array for nearly diffraction limited
collimation and best symmetrization. With the corresponding
focussing optics (also produced by FISBA) the laser power
can be coupled with an efficiency of more than 80% out
of a fiber with 400 micron diameter (NA 0.22) and more
than 70% out of a fiber with 200 micron diameter (NA 0.22).
Customized designs on pitch, fill factor, wavelength etc. are
available upon request.

www.fisba.com
TracePro Illumination Design,
Optimization, and Analysis Software
TracePro is award-
winning opto-mechanical
software used for
design, optimization and
analysis of illumination
systems. With its
intuitive CAD interface
and powerful features
like 2D/3D interactive
optimizers, TracePro
offers a sophisticated
and powerful optical
design environment combined with a short learning curve
to accelerate product time-to-market.
Discover why design engineers choose
TracePro for illumination systems design.
Try a free trial today!
www.lambdares.com
Photon NanoScan 2 Scanning Slit
Laser Beam Profiler
Ophir Photonics,
global leader in
precision laser
measurement
equipment
and a Newport
Corporation
brand, introduces
NanoScan 2,
an updated
version of their
scanning slit
beam profiler. As
a NIST-calibrated laser beam profiler, NanoScan 2 measures
continuous wave (CW) and pulsed lasers across the entire
spectral range, from UV to far infrared, measuring beam
sizes from microns to centimeters at laser powers from
microwatts to kilowatts, generally without attenuation.
www.ophiropt.com/photonics (866) 755-5499
High Power 13 to 17 nm Multimode
and Single Mode Lasers on Sub-Mount
SemiNex now offers up to 6.2 watts of multimode CW
power and up to 630mW of single-mode CW optical
power in popular B and C Sub-Mount packages. These
high performance lasers come in standard wavelengths
of 1310, 1320, 1450, 1470, 1550, 1625 and 1650nm with
custom wavelengths throughout the 1300 to 1700 nm range.
SemiNexs industry leading slope efficiency lowers typical
electrical and cooling requirements. See the SemiNex
website for further details or call to discuss high power IR
laser diode requirements.
(978) 326-7700 info@SemiNex.com www.SemiNex.com
1310LFW_62 62 10/4/13 1:13 PM
ADVERTI SI NG SALES OFFI CES
Advertiser index
MAIN OFFICE
98 Spit Brook Road, LL-1, Nashua, NH 03062-5737
(603) 891-0123; fax (603) 891-0574
Publisher
Susan Smith, (603) 891-9447
susans@pennwell.com
Sales & Marketing Executive Assistant
Patricia Wharton
(603) 891-9174; patriciaw@pennwell.com
Digital Media Sales Operations Manager
Tom Markley
(603) 891-9307; thomasm@pennwell.com
Ad Services Manager Alison Boyer-Murray
(918) 832-9369; fax (918) 831-9153
alisonb@pennwell.com
Director, List Sales Kelli Berry
(918) 831-9782; kellib@pennwell.com
NORTH AMERICA
AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, IN, KY, LA, MD, MI, MS,
MO, NY, NC, NJ, OK, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV, E. Canada
Jeff Nichols, National Sales Manager
(413) 442-2526; fax (413) 442-2527
jeffn@pennwell.com
CA, ID, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY, W. Canada
AnneMarie St. John,
(949) 489-8015; fax (949) 489-8037
annemarie@pennwell.com
AZ, CT, CO, IA, IL, KS, MA, ME, MN, MT, ND, NE, NH,
NM, OH, RI, SD, TX, VT, WI
Katrina Frazer, (603) 891-9231; fax (603) 891-0574
katrinaf@pennwell.com
INTERNATIONAL
France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Russian Federation
Holger Gerisch
49-8856-8020228; fax 49-8856-8020231
holgerg@pennwell.com
United Kingdom Jim Ajayi
44-0-1992-656657; jima@pennwell.com
Hong Kong/China Adonis Mak
852-2-838-6298; fax 852-2-838-2766
adonism@actintl.com.hk
India Rajan Sharma
91-11-686-1113; fax 91-11-686-1112
rajan@interadsindia.com
Israel (Tel Aviv) Dan Aronovic
972-9-899-5813; aronovic@actcom.co.il
Japan Masaki Mori
81-3-6721-9890; masaki.mori@ex-press.jp
Taiwan Diana Wei
886-2-2396-5128 ext. 270; fax: 886-2-2396-7816
diana@arco.com.tw
For all other international sales, please contact:
Susan Smith, Publisher (see contact info. above)
This ad index is published as a service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.
Send all orders & ad materials to: Ad Services Specialist, Laser Focus World, 1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa OK 74112
Laser Focus World Copyright 2013 (ISSN 1043-8092) is published 12 times per year,
monthly, by PennWell, 1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa OK 74112. All rights reserved. Periodicals
postage paid at Tulsa, OK 74101 and additional mailing offces. Subscription rate in the USA:
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$27 via International Air. Single copy rate for March issue which contains a Buyers Guide
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portions of our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products
and services that may be important for your work. If you do not want to receive those offers
and/or information, please let us know by contacting us at List Services, Laser Focus World,
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GST No. 126813153 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40052420
Laser Focus World is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted.
Bulk reprints can be ordered from Katrina Frazer, PennWell, Laser Focus World,
98 Spit Brook Road, LL-1, Nashua, NH 03062, tel. (603) 891-9231; fax. (603) 891-0574,
Attn. Reprint Dept.; katrinaf@pennwell.com.
Alluxa ......................................................53
Argyle International, Inc. ........................25
Berthold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH ........... 1
Bristol Instruments, Inc. ................... 18, 31
Castech, Inc. ........................................... 14
Continuum ...............................................24
Discovery Semiconductors, Inc. ..............6
Diverse Optics .........................................30
Duma Optronics Ltd. ............................... 57
Edmund Optics........................................ 11
Fermionics Corporation ..........................35
Fisba Optik AG ........................................62
G-S Plastic Optics ...................................42
Gentec Electro-Optics, Inc. ....................45
Hamamatsu Corporation ........................ 10
IDEX/CVI ..................................................16
IDEX/SEMROCK ......................................20
Incubic ....................................................26
IPG Photonics Corporation ..................... 19
IXYS Colorado .........................................49
Lambda Research Corporation ..............62
LightMachinery, Inc. .........................31, 39
Master Bond, Inc. ...................................46
Nanoplus GmbH ......................................23
Newport Corporation ........................22, 27
NM Laser Products, Inc. .........................52
Nufern .......................................................8
OFS Specialty Phontonics ......................34
Ophir-Spiricon Inc. ...................... 15, 17, 62
OptoSigma Corporation .......................... 12
Photonics Consortium ............................32
Pico Electronics, Inc. ..............................43
Piezosystem Jena GmbH ........................59
Princeton Optronics, Inc. ........................55
Reynard Corporation ..............................29
Santec USA Corp. ...................................50
Seminex Corp. .........................................62
Spectrogon US, Inc. ................................ 21
Stanford Research Systems ...................C4
Thin Film Center, Inc. .............................. 21
Trioptics GmbH ........................................ 41
Trumpf, Inc. ...............................................4
Xian Focuslight Technologies Co., Ltd. ..25
Zygo Corporation.....................................C2
1310LFW_63 63 10/4/13 1:14 PM
BusinessForum
MILTON CHANG of Incubic Management was president of
Newport and New Focus. He is currently director of mBio Diagnostics
and Aurrion; a trustee of Caltech; a member of the SEC Advisory
Committee on Small and Emerging Companies; and serves on
advisory boards and mentors entrepreneurs. Chang is a Fellow of
IEEE, OSA, and LIA. Direct your business, management, and career
questions to him at miltonchang@incubic.com, and check out his
book Toward Entrepreneurship at www.miltonchang.com.
The National Photonics Initiative
is making an impact
MI LT ON CH A NG
I would like to update you from
time to time on the development
of the National Photonics Initia-
tive (NPI), given this is an indus-
try-changing development. Here,
I interview Dr. Paul F. McMana-
mon of Exciting Technology, who
co-chaired the authoring commit-
tee of the 2012 National Research
Council (NRC) report Optics and
Photonics: Essential Technologies
that recommended the NPI.
The initiatives purpose is to fos-
ter collaboration among industry,
academia, and government seek-
ing to raise awareness of photon-
icsthe application of light. It
will also drive U.S. funding and
investment in five key photonics-
driven fields critical to U.S. com-
petitiveness and national security:
advanced manufacturing, com-
munications and information
technology, defense and national
security, energy, and health and
medicine.
The NRC report has brought
awareness of the importance of
our field to the highest levels of
government. The Executive Office
of the President has chartered a
Fast-Track Action Committee on
Optics and Photonics (FTAC-OP)
co-chaired by the Department of
Commerce and NSF, with par-
ticipation by DOD, HHS, DOE,
NASA, the Office of Management
and Budget, and the Office of Sci-
ence and Technology Policy.
Whats in the NRC report that got the public
excited about optics and photonics (OP)?
Few people realize how ubiquitous optics and
photonics are in our lives and in driving our
high-tech economy. Many important businesses
such as Google, Facebook, and General Motors
are not optics companies, but depend heavily on
optics and photonics in ways that are invisible
to most people. For example, lasers are involved
in processing almost every part of a smartphone,
and when we do a search, we use an optical
network to transport the signal. There are over
1,000,000 laser-driven interconnects in a typical data center to enable the
search.
What is FTAC-OP likely to recommend?
I hope emphasis will be placed on ways for multiple government agencies to
work together and on ways the government can act as an honest broker to en-
able companies and universities to work collaboratively to develop technology
critical to the U.S. and to the world.
Which technology areas do you think will get the most attention?
Advanced manufacturing. I hope one of the advanced manufacturing centers
in the initiative mentioned in President Obamas State of the Union address
can cover optics and photonics in support of the other centers, and in time for
that to migrate into all the advanced manufacturing centers.
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Maybe we can get a consortium of com-
panies to work on PICs. That technology will have a significant impact on the
next-generation Internet and could determine who controls cyberspace. It is
important for the U.S. to step up and implement a plan before we fall behind
other countries.
continued on page 59
1310LFW_64 64 10/4/13 1:14 PM
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?

The ONLY event dedicated to enabling product development
and market success of optics- and photonics-based devices
and systems for life sciences.
Essential outlet for showcasing optics- and photonics in
commercial bioinstrumentation.
Brings together diverse members of the life sciences.
Powered by an outstanding Advisory Board and led by
Barbara Goode, Editor-in-Chief of BioOptics World, and
Conard Holton, Editor-in-Chief of Laser Focus World
A GROWING ADVISORY BOARD WILL HELP SHAPE
CONFERENCE CONTENT
Robert R. Alfano, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Science and
Engineering and Director of Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy
and La sers, City College of the City University of New York
Thomas M. Baer, PhD, Executive Director, Stanford Photonics
Research Center; Co-Founder, Arcturus Bioscience, Inc.
Robert Chimenti, Sr. Strategic Applications Engineer,
Innovative Photonic Solutions
John Dexheimer, President, LightWave Advisors, Inc.
Thomas J. Dudley, Assistant Director, Photonics Center,
Boston University
Ken Kaufmann, PhD, VP of Marketing, Hamamatsu Corp.
Robert J. Nordstrom, PhD, Program Director, Cancer Imaging
Program, National Institutes of Health National Cancer Initiative.
Aydogan Ozcan, PhD, Associate Professor, head of
Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory, UCLA; Founder, Holomic LLC
Rick Plympton, CEO, Optimax Systems Inc.
Jrgen Popp, PhD, Scientific Director of the Institute of Photonic
Technology and chair for Physical Chemistry at the
Friedrich-Schiller University Jena.
Dale Wahlstrom, President and CEO of LifeScience Alley (LSA)
and BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota.
OWNED AND PRODUCED BY: MANAGED BY:
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maryd@pennwell.com | C: 603-809-6041 | O: 603-891-9118
AMONG THE ROUGHLY 40 EXHIBITORS EXPECTED ARE:
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LD Controller
500 mA dual-range current source
Ultra-low drift (10 ppm/C)
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High stability (0.0005 C/C)
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36 W output power
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Precision Laser Diode Controller ...
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The new LDC501 Laser Diode Controller is the ideal
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With a dual-range 250 mA/500 mA current source and
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com October 2013

VOL. 49, NO. 10

Thin FiIm Center

Laser Cavity | TrueM2

2V to 10,000 VDC Outputs

2V to 10,000 VDC Outputs

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?

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