By Dominic Siriani | Posted: 10 February 2013
Looking over the advance version of the CLEO 2013 conference program, I couldn’t help but notice an interesting trend in the “Semiconductor Lasers” invited speakers list: all of the topics cover what I’ve considered to be “unconventional” semiconductor lasers. Photonics crystals, diamond emitters, plasmonics, polariton lasers, and quantum cascade lasers typically don’t come to my mind when I think of semiconductor lasers. I sat back and contemplated this.
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By Dominic Siriani | Posted: 29 January 2013
Diode lasers found their place in the world many years ago. Early on, they let us listen to our CDs and later watch our DVDs. They are in our little laser mice and our room-sized supercomputers. They are largely responsible for the telecom boom, putting the internet at our fingertips, and so help me reach all who read this blog. Like the transistor that preceded it, the diode laser has established itself as a cornerstone of modern technology. So this begs the question: what’s next?
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By Frank Kuo | Posted: 22 October 2012
It is an understatement when we describe nature as the most talented painter. In fact, she is not only the greatest artist, but also the most renowned scientist, in essentially all aspects. Her scientific achievements are found everywhere. For example, today, much of our knowledge in the field of bio-photonics is just a re-discovery of what she has done (Another interesting topic which relates the evolution to optical science can be found here).
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By James Van Howe | Posted: 6 September 2012
What do front man for the Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am, and ultrafast optical pulses have in common? They are both playing crucial role on the newest Mars rover mission. On August 28, Will.i.am’s song “Reach for the Stars” was the first musical composition to be transmitted to Earth from another planet, in this case from Curiosity, twelve days after its Seven Minutes of Terror landing, complete with state-of-the-art supersonic parachute and sky-crane. I’m still a bit shocked at this science fictionesque feat of impressive engineering seeming to border on hubris. Really, a sky-crane? Really?
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By Frank Kuo | Posted: 28 August 2012
If you think metamaterial has only “invisible cloak” and/or “negative index of refraction” in her hat, think again. Researchers from the school of engineering and applied science at Harvard utilize a powerful feature of the metamaterial to create ultra-thin and flat lens that is diffraction limited. They also create a flat axicon as another example when pioneering in this field (A quick glimpse on the Axicon: A lens with a flat surface on one side, and a conical shape on the other, has the ability to focus a Gaussian beam into a Bessel beam at the focal region, and create hollow ring beam shape in the far field).
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By Staff | Posted: 16 August 2012
Many of us have heard the popular expression “curiosity killed the cat.” The saying is used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. However, less widely known is the rest of the phrase. In full, it reads “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.”
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By James Van Howe | Posted: 14 May 2012
Flying back home from San Jose I couldn’t help wonder with excitement if our field is on the verge of a “transistor moment.” Maybe it was just my CLEO conference euphoria coupled with high-end caffeine from Cafe Frascati still in my system. However, I feel like something big is going to happen, particularly in the field of photonic circuits and nanophotonics.
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By James Van Howe | Posted: 10 May 2012
Make sure to stretch your legs if you want to move from session to session in this frenzy of fantastic photonics research (say that five times fast). Tonight from 8:00-10:00 pm marks the crème de la crème of contributed papers to CLEO.
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By James Van Howe | Posted: 10 May 2012
The panelists from Tuesday’s 2:00 pm Market Focus, Defense: Laser Interrogation for Standoff Detection of Hazardous Materials, presented the audience with a difficult problem to which the U.S. Department of Defense is allocating many resources and substantial funding:
How can you accurately detect threats from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosives (CBRNE) from a safe stand-off distance to protect or warn those in harms way?
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By Frank Kuo | Posted: 10 May 2012
I am pretty sure you have loaded up your crazy mind with a big chunk of knowledge on Wednesday. Plenary session, a whole day of exhibition, and enthusiastic poster session guarantee everyone finding its own corner. What excites me the most is to see the interplay between different research fields. Like all of us today, I am happy to learn that photonics also finds its applications at each corner of the science.
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