INSIDER

Imaging

Libera Space Instrument Continues Unbroken Record of Earth’s ‘Energy Budget’

Sometime next year, a new NASA instrument designed and built in Colorado will get an eagle-eye view of Earth. The instrument, known as Libera, will circle the...

Articles

Materials

Aerospace Aluminum Laser Welding: Advancing Material Performance for the Future of Flight

Together, microsecond pulsing, alloy-specific pulse shaping, core-and-ring beam modulation, and controlled oscillation provide far greater precision than CW welding. Read on to learn how.

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Materials

Using Ultrabright X-Rays to Test Materials for Ultrafast Aircraft

This might seem like an obvious statement, but designing an aircraft that flies at five to seven times the speed of sound is difficult. Paradoxically, materials for...

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

Could Metasurfaces Be The Next Quantum Information Processors?

Optics researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have created specially designed metasurfaces — flat devices etched with nanoscale light-manipulating patterns — to act as ultra-thin upgrades for quantum-optical chips and setups. Read on to learn more.

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Unmanned Systems

AFWERX Tests Alternative Navigation System on Osprey MK III

A bright orange dart drifted in the air at approximately 1,000 feet. The cloudless, bright blue skies practically swallowed up the 7-foot, 50-pound unmanned aerial system as it...

Application Briefs

Photonics/Optics

A New Record for Optical Power Beaming

DARPA recognized the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory during their POWER Phase 2 Industry Day, for contributions to the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay program, which shattered existing records for optical power beaming over distance. Read on to learn more.

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Design

German Satellite's Multispectral Camera Improves Weather Forecasting Data

The German Space Agency is planning the launch of the Metop-SGA1 satellite of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)...

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Photonics/Optics

Fiber Deep Upgrade Improves Cyber Resilience for JBPHH

An Air National Guard fiber cable installation team is implementing the 'Fiber Deep' project on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. This project aims to save up to $10 million by...

Articles

Photonics/Optics

Are Defense Satellites Ready for Space-Based Laser Communications?

The Department of Defense is developing technology for satellites to communicate via lasers. Laser communications could transmit data faster and more securely than traditional radio frequency communications. Read on to learn more.

Application Briefs

RF & Microwave Electronics

Breakthrough in Long-Haul Laser Communication Capabilities

BlueHalo announced the successful milestone demonstration of its two-terminal long-haul, multi-orbit laser communication system. The achievement marks a significant breakthrough in the development of space-based laser communication technology with far-reaching implications for national security and commercial sectors. Read on to learn more.

Articles

Photonics/Optics

Microcomb Chips Could Improve Accuracy of GPS Systems

The optical atomic clocks that exist today are bulky and require complex laboratories with specific laser settings and optical components, making it difficult to use them outside lab environments, such as in satellites, remote research stations, or drones. Now, a research team has developed a technology that makes optical atomic clocks significantly smaller and accessible for more widespread use in society. Read on to learn more.

Articles

Weapons Systems

AI Automates Drone Defense With High Energy Lasers

To counter the rapidly mounting threats posed by the proliferation of inexpensive uncrewed autonomous systems, or drones, Naval Postgraduate School researchers and collaborators are applying AI to automate critical parts of the tracking system used by laser weapon systems. Read on to learn more about it.

Application Briefs

Manned Systems

GOKBERK C-UAS Testing

Turkish defense company Aselsan completed testing of its mobile laser counter unmanned aircraft system platform GÖKBERK against first-person view drones in March. Previously proven effective against rotary- and fixed-wing kamikaze drones, GÖKBERK has now demonstrated its capabilities for detecting, autonomously tracking, and eliminating FPV drones across multiple test scenarios. Read on to learn more.

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.

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Microsoft, PsiQuantum Designing Quantum Computer Prototypes for DARPA US2QC Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Microsoft and PsiQuantum to move to the final design stage of its Underexplored Systems...

Briefs

Physical Sciences

Atomic Fountain for Research in Quantum Sensing Nears Completion of First Phase

Dr. Frank Narducci, Chair of the NPS Department of Physics, and his Ph.D. student U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jens Berdahl, are nearing completion of the first phase of construction in what will be a superlatively precise atomic-based instrument. Read on to learn more about it.

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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Using Squeezed Light to Develop Sensors That Defy Defense Limits

Raytheon’s BBN Technologies is developing next-generation, compact, low-power, deployable photonic sensors that will provide users with better awareness of environmental...

Articles

Photonics/Optics

This Laser Clock Could Transform Satellite Navigation Accuracy

A new laser clock from the German Aerospace Center has achieved a record level of accuracy for optical clocks with gas cells: in 30 million years, it would be off by just one second. Read on to learn more about it and what it could mean for satellite navigation accuracy.

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

Photonics/Optics

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

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.

Briefs

Photonics/Optics

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.

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Aerospace

Navy, Marine Corps Test New Laser System for Precision Aircraft Painting

A new capability at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) is streamlining the aircraft painting process, allowing the depot to decrease maintenance turnaround time and...

INSIDER

Photonics/Optics

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...

Articles

Photonics/Optics

Image Sensors and Cameras Based on Colloidal Quantum Dots for Defense Applications

This article reports on the image sensor technology and the VS20 camera product developed at Emberion. The article describes the image sensor design comprising the sensor stack based on a p-i-n photodiode implementation with PbS QDs sandwiched between thin-film hole transport (HTL) and electron transport (ETL) layers as well as the CMOS ROIC architecture and pixel front-end interfacing the photodiode stack.

Briefs

Electronics & Computers

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.

Articles

Manned Systems

NASA’s Optical Communications Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles

This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future, enabling higher-data-rate communications of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

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.

Application Briefs

Test & Measurement

Quantum Sensing Atomic Gyroscope

The Defense Science Board identified three areas of quantum technology that will be most relevant to the DoD's technological superiority: sensing, encryption, and communications.