Photonics/Optics
Optics
Latest Stories
Briefs Unmanned Systems
Army Researchers Develop Chemical Threat Scanning on the Fly
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center researchers are developing a way to scan for chemical biological agent on surfaces on the fly. It is called Hyperspectral Threat Anomaly Detection, or HyperThreAD for short. Read on to learn more about it.
Articles Defense
Next Level Rugged Fiber Optic Interconnects: A New Era of High-Speed Data Transmission in Defense
In addition to the high level of complexity, the upcoming generation change from fifth- to sixth-generation fighter jets poses major challenges for component suppliers and accelerates the pace of technological competition. Read on to learn more.
Articles RF & Microwave Electronics
Everyday Life, Improved by Light: GRYPHON’s Photonic Discoveries
GRYPHON will leverage recent developments in nonlinear photonics and photonic-electronic integration to develop microwave sources with noise performance that meets or exceeds that of the best discrete oscillator modules. Read on to learn more about the endeavor.
Articles RF & Microwave Electronics
Space Lasers: Aiming Towards Next Leap in Global Communications
Space lasers are transforming the world. Not the far-off future of science fiction, but the universe of how data and communications flow today — everywhere from deep space missions to countless applications here on earth, including consumer internet services, military operations, and banking transactions. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Aerospace
Streamlined Microcomb Design Provides Control With The Flip of a Switch
Researchers at the University of Rochester describe new microcomb lasers they have developed that overcome previous limitations and feature a simple design that could open the door to a broad range of uses. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Researchers Demonstrate the First Chip-Based 3D Printer
Imagine a portable 3D printer you could hold in the palm of your hand. Researchers took a major step toward making this idea a reality by demonstrating the first chip-based 3D printer. The prototype chip has no moving parts, instead relying on an array of tiny optical antennas to steer a beam of light. Read on to learn more.
Technology Report Unmanned Systems
AutoSens: Nodar’s Plan to Make Park Assist Tech Better, Cheaper, Cleaner
Park assist technology seems like low-hanging fruit in the assisted and automated driving space, but anyone who’s attempted to use one of these systems might have...
News Energy
MEMS Drive Wants to Shake up Automotive Sensor
Advanced optical image stabilization (OIS) technology used in mobile phones should have a home in the automotive world. Specifically, using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to move an...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
NRL Research Physicists Explore Fiber Optic Computing Using Distributed Feedback
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers have outlined a novel contribution in fiber optics computing in a paper recently published in Communications Physics Journal that brings the Navy one step closer to faster, more efficient computing technologies.
News Data Acquisition
CES 2024: Aeva Launches 4D Lidar for SAE Level 4 Trucks
Daimler Truck announced that Aeva will supply its latest Atlas 4D lidar for the Freightliner Cascadia truck platform and collaborate with Torc Robotics to integrate the technology....
Articles RF & Microwave Electronics
Physicists Develop a New Type of Antenna
This research and demonstration presents a simple technique for a remote Rydberg-atom-based RF sensor, which was verified for distances of up to 30 m between the passive sensing unit and the base station — currently limited by the length of the hallway used in the demonstration.
Articles RF & Microwave Electronics
How Laser Communications Innovation is Finally Coming of Age and Driving Innovation in Defense
Though laser technology has advantages over radio, and those advantages are growing as innovation accelerates, what is essential to realize is that they need not be in competition.
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Spatial Calibration for Accurate Long Distance Measurement Using Infrared Cameras
All commercially available camera systems have lenses (and internal geometries) that cannot perfectly refract light waves and refocus them onto a two-dimensional (2D) image sensor. This means that all digital images contain elements of distortion and thus are not a true representation of the real world.
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Towards Greater Sensitivity: A Brief FTIR and Infrared-Based Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy Comparative Study
Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a newer IR absorption-based technique made possible by the use of tunable pulsed lasers. Rather than using a broadband (blackbody) emitter as is done with traditional IR techniques, a pulsed laser is tuned across wavelengths into an optical cavity.
Briefs Aerospace
Determining Optical Material Parameters With Motion in Structured Illumination
Ellipsometry measures the amplitude ratio and the phase difference between polarized light reflected from the surface of a film and determines the refractive index or thickness by fitting the experimental data to an optical model that represents an approximated sample structure.
Briefs RF & Microwave Electronics
Deep Image Prior Amplitude SAR Image Anonymization
Synthetic Aperture Radar images are a powerful tool for studying the Earth’s surface. They are radar signals generated by an imaging system mounted on a platform such as an aircraft or satellite. As the platform moves, the system emits sequentially high-power electromagnetic waves through its antenna.
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Free-Space Quantum Communications in Harsh Environments
The project aims to explore the possibility of all-weather secure quantum communication using macroscopic quantum states of light.
News Automotive
Owl AI’s 3D Thermal Sensors See Further into the Dark
The race to develop low-cost and effective sensors for automated driving requires all-day effort. Getting sensors to accurately identify the world around them is easiest on a clear, sunny day, but that solves just part of the problem.
Articles Photonics/Optics
Making Sense of Next-Gen ADAS Sensing
“I don’t expect [SAE] Level 3-capable vehicles to ship in significant numbers until 2030,” asserted Rudy Burger, of Woodside Capital Partners, during May’s AutoSens 2023 conference in Detroit....
INSIDER Imaging
Filtered Rayleigh Scattering Enables Laser-Optical Measurement of Turbofan Thrust
Pratt & Whitney and Virginia Tech announced a pioneering new technology for calculating thrust using lasers to enable high-fidelity measurement of key gas...
Briefs Aerospace
Overcoming Performance Limitations of Distributed Brillouin Fiber Laser Sensors
Distributed fiber sensors are a powerful tool for structural health monitoring and environmental sensing due to their ability to remotely monitor the strain at 1,000s of locations using low-cost optical fiber.
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Electro-Optic Materials Research
Here, a summary of the main lines of effort for the Electro-Optics Materials Research program including its goals and major accomplishments of the past five years.
Articles Unmanned Systems
Lidar Vs. Everybody in the Onboard Sensor Race
Despite the industrywide realization that SAE driving automation Levels 4 and 5 are not imminent and instead long-term goals, development continues on the sensors that power current and future...
Technology Report Semiconductors & ICs
Lumotive’s New LCM Underpins Next-Gen Lidar
“The future happened yesterday” is an appropriate description of the rapid pace of development in automated-driving technology. The expression may be most accurate in sensor tech where, for...
INSIDER Software
AFTC Gains New Test Capability
As weapon system designers continue to innovate for the defense of the nation, the Air Force Test Center must advance the test capabilities available to develop and prove the superiority of those systems...
Articles Photonics/Optics
Designing Multi-Channel Microwave Radio Systems Using Optical Interconnects
Imagine if it was possible to build multi-channel microwave radio systems leveraging optical rather than copper interconnects.
Articles Software
Keeping Your Silicon Cool
Onboard electronics continue to evolve rapidly. Components are smaller. Systems are more complex. The sophisticated electronics components that make up modern vehicles require precision heat dissipation for...
Briefs Photonics/Optics
Modeling Optical Time and Frequency Generation and Transfer Systems
The research was closely tied to work that was led by Nathan Newbury at NIST, and the principal goal was to support the development of advanced laser sources.
News Manned Systems
SAE International Extends Call for Abstracts, Seeks Submissions for AeroTech Conference
Engineering Events staff at SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, have extended the call for abstracts through September 21 for the...
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Improving Rocket and Flight Vehicle Testing Under Capital...
AR/AI
Advancing Automotive Manufacturing with Digital Twins
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Solving Thermal Challenges in Defense: The Role of ECUs and...