Sensores

Relativity Networks, a provider of next-generation fiber optic technology, has raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding to address the growing demand for data centers and their power requirements. The company’s technology aims to help the data industry meet energy challenges by expanding development beyond urban cores and into locations with more than abundant power, Relativity Networks said.

The company’s hollow-core fiber (HCF) technology allows data to move faster with lower latency than conventional fiber, thereby enabling data to travel 1.5x farther without influencing latency that throw multi-location data operations and applications out of sync. While traditional fiber optic cables typically limit data centers to...

Industrial blue laser company NUBURU said late last week that it is working to execute its transformation plan as the company makes extensive changes to its board of directors. Over the past year, the company has been in and out of compliance with the New York Stock Exchange. NUBURU regained compliance last month, following a pair of agreements with S.F.E. Equity Investments SARL and Liqueous LP.

The first agreement, with S.F.E., will fund the company’s operations for 12 months in exchange for certain governance changes. These changes included the resignation of Ron Nicol, the appointment of Alessandro Zamboni as chairman, and the reinstatement of Matteo Ricchebuono as a director.

The second agreement, with Liqueous LP,...

Distributed optical fiber sensors based on Brillouin scattering are widely used to measure strain and temperature changes along optical fibers. However, noise interference and the physical properties of the sensing fibers have limited the ability to achieve high spatial resolution with these sensors.

Researchers at Yokohama National University developed a strategy to enhance the spatial resolution of distributed temperature sensing using polymer optical fibers (POFs). The new approach to POF-based Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry (BOCDR) demonstrates the successful detection of temperature changes over short distances. It could be used to develop high-resolution sensing applications for fields where short sensing...

Salience Labs, a developer of photonic solutions targeting connectivity for AI datacenter infrastructure, has closed a $30 million series A funding round. The capital will help the company to further develop its optical switches for large scale AI connectivity.
Salience Labs is developing photonic switch chips composed of an optical circuit switch and a low-loss optical fabric supported by electronic control and software for fast switch configuration, temperature and power monitoring, and conventional software interfaces. Courtesy of Salience Labs/Shabbir Bashar
"What our customers want is a photonic switch to connect their AI clusters that is compatible with existing infrastructure while delivering high bandwidth, low latency and...

Scientists have developed a detection system that could vastly improve the accuracy of human facial and activity recognition at long distances and through obstructions like fog, smoke, or camouflage.

The researchers said their sensitive lidar system can generate high-resolution 3D images with double the efficiency of similar lidar systems being developed by other research groups, and at least 10 times better image resolution.

At 325 meters, researchers were able to 3D image the face of one of their co-authors in millimeter-scale detail.

The same system could be used to accurately detect faces and human activity at distances of up to a kilometer, the researchers said.

The work is a collaboration between the...

Focuslight Technologies, a provider of high-power diode lasers and materials, has renamed its subsidiary Focuslight Singapore to Heptagon Photonics to strengthen its branding alignment. Focuslight Singapore, established following last year’s acquisition of optical component assets from ams OSRAM AG, oversees operations in Southeast Asia as part of Focuslight global operations system. Specializing in high-volume manufacturing and rapid production cycles, it serves as a global photonics foundry, providing advanced photonics process development and manufacturing services under the prominent Heptagon brand.

AACHEN, Germany — Black Semiconductor, a developer of graphene-based chip technology, has moved its headquarters to...

Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) are used to measure magnetic fields in biosensing, contraband testing, and magnetic communications. They also aid in dark matter searches and serve as promising platforms for quantum-enhanced measurements.

Accurate vector magnetometry, however, remains a challenge for OPMs due to the OPM’s inherent scalar operation. Scalar OPMs require an external reference to extract directional information. While scalar measurements are often sufficient, robust calibration of vector OPMs is increasingly important for applications requiring high accuracy as well as precision.
Artist’s depiction of a new strategy for measuring the direction of magnetic fields by exposing a cell containing roughly...

Superradiance, an optical phenomenon that occurs when quantum systems collectively emit light in a coordinated manner, enhances brightness and increases the speed of emission. Although superradiance has been extensively studied in atomic systems, it is rarely used in solid-state and molecular systems.

A multidisciplinary team from Rice University and Texas A&M University aims to leverage superradiance to improve spatial resolution and achieve high-throughput in single-molecule tracking (SMT) and superresolution imaging (SRI). These advancements could aid research in multiple areas, from materials science to nanotechnology.

“We aim to translate this quantum property into a powerful tool for imaging with potential...

The European Commission has invested €3 million ($3.1 million) to develop a quantum chip that combines electronics and light using germanium-silicon (GeSi) technology. The goal of the project is to make quantum computers faster, more efficient and scalable, allowing them to tackle challenges like drug discovery, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.

Supported by the Quantum Flagship, the ONCHIPS consortium unites leading institutions from across Europe to drive technological independence and quantum innovation.

Just as the first computers of the 1950s were impractical and unsuitable for widespread adoption due to their enormous size and limited processing power, today’s quantum computers have their own...

ZuriQ, a spinout of ETH Zurich developing trapped ion quantum computing, has raised $4.2 million to commercialize its proprietary architecture that addresses issues of scaling. The seed funding round was led by Founderful with participation from SquareOne, First Momentum Ventures, OnSight Ventures, and QAI Ventures.
(From left) ZuriQ founders Shreyans Jain, Tobias Saegesser, and Pavel Hrmo. Courtesy of Daniel Kunz.
ZuriQ’s technology changes how ions are trapped, moving from purely electric fields to a combination of electric and magnetic fields. This allows ions to move in all spatial directions like an airplane, while competitor ions move more like cars driving along roads and through junctions. As the number of ions grows,...

Blackbird Robotics has appointed Rüdiger Brockmann as the company’s CEO, taking over for Karl Christian Messer who has held the position since 2017. Brockmann has over 30 years of experience in the industry and laser sector, having held various top management positions in large groups as well as mid-sized companies.

Rüdiger Brockmann (left) and Karl Christian Messer. Courtesy of Blackbird Robotics. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Optical interconnect technology platform Celestial AI has added Lip-Bu Tan to its board of directors. With more than 40 years of deep-tech expertise as well as extensive board experience, Tan is the founder and chairman of Walden International, a global venture capital firm, as well as a founding...

Prophesee, a developer of neuromorphic vision systems, and Eoptic, an advanced imaging and optics systems integration specialist, have launched a collaboration aimed at integrating high-speed event detection into Eoptic’s prismatic sensor module. The partnership combines Eoptic’s Cambrian Edge imaging platform and Prophesee’s event-based Metavision sensors to provide solutions with low-latency processing, high-speed object tracking, and energy-efficient visual analytics. Through the joint effort, the companies are targeting critical industries including defense, industrial automation, robotics, and autonomous systems.

Prophesee’s event-based Metavision sensors, integrated into the Cambrian M-Series, enable...

Omnitron Sensors, a developer of MEMS-based sensor technologies, has secured over $13 million in Series A funding. The investment will help the company to expand its engineering and operations teams and accelerate the mass production of the company’s first product, a MEMS step-scanning mirror for multiple markets.
Omnitron Sensors co-founder and CEO Eric Aguilar. Courtesy of Omnitron Sensors. According to Omnitron, its technology enables optical cross-connects in AI data centers, optical subsystems in long-range lidar for autonomous navigation, see-through displays in extended reality headsets and eyewear, and precision laser spectrometry for methane gas detection. The company said that its fabrication intellectual property...

A robust, scalable method to introduce chirality into the band structure of semiconductors could advance photonic technologies that rely on controlling light polarization, like displays, sensors, and optical communications, by giving scientists simultaneous control over light, spin, and charge.

Chiral materials are often created through exciton-coupling, a process where light excites nanomaterials to form excitons that interact and share energy with each other. Historically, exciton-coupled chiral materials were made from organic molecules. Creating chiral materials from inorganic semiconductors has proven challenging due to the precise control needed over nanomaterial interactions.

Researchers from Cornell University,...

Lumentum Holdings has named Michael Hurlston president, CEO, and a director of the company, effective Feb. 7. Hurlston succeeds Alan Lowe, who has served as the company’s president and CEO since 2015. Lowe will continue as a member of Lumentum’s board of directors and will serve as an advisor to the company.

Hurlston joins Lumentum from Synaptics, where he served as president and CEO and a member of the board of directors since joining the company in 2019. Prior to Synaptics, Hurlston served as CEO and a member of the board of Finisar Corporation, which was a leading optical communications company acquired by Coherent (previously II-VI) in 2019. He also served in a variety of management roles at Broadcom and its...

It is unlikely that anyone who has read the Z136.1: Safe Use of Lasers Standard, or any of the application standards stemming from it, is unfamiliar with standard operating procedure (SOP). By definition, SOP is a formal written description of the safety and administrative procedures to be followed in performing a specific task. In laser safety, SOP typically applies to the laser system operation and alignment.

Unlike the fluorescent bulb, for example, SOP has not evolved over the years even as it is foundational to laser safety. And while it may be logical that the essence of SOP be unchanged, there are nuances to consider, as is true of other laser safety procedural elements. Knowing when an SOP is required is critical to...

Polymer refractive microlenses are the core technology in many micro-optical modules, which themselves are critical enabling technologies for an expanse of optoelectronic systems, including those found in cars, smartphones, and wearables. Microlenses in ambient light sensors, diffractive optical elements for structured light generation, and high-precision surface relief gratings in diffractive waveguides — which enable emerging technologies such as 3D sensing and augmented reality glasses — are just some of the functionalities that these refractive optics enable. In the automotive sector specifically, this class of micro-optical modules is used in ultracompact microlens-enabled projector beam headlights and other lighting...

The 50th iteration of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) will take place this year at San Fransisco’s Moscone Center, moving north from its longtime residence in San Diego. From March 30 to April 3, the conference is expected to host more than 13,500 participants from more than 80 countries while featuring more than 600 exhibiting global companies.

The live event’s multitude of highlights and displays will revolve around three exhibition hall theaters, showcasing expert presentations on hot topics such as market watches and data center hyperscaling. As a hallmark of OFC, showcases will place an additional focus on how the latest technology innovations are being used at the conference itself.
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Celestial navigation is a dying art in our world. Sure, summer camp counselors might instruct their younger adventurers that they can locate north by correctly identifying the North Star, Polaris, while on a nighttime hike in the woods. But let’s be honest — no kid forcibly enrolled in this excursion is willingly taking woodland strolls at night for fear of a rogue bear or an encounter with something more supernatural that could be hiding in the shadows.

The stars used to be the primary source of navigation. From sailing to the New World to traveling across great swaths of indistinguishable terrain, if an intrepid adventurer, merchant, or refugee found themselves off track or misdirected with a map, they could always count...

Semiconductor technology company VueReal has secured $40.5 million in Series C funding. The funding will allow the company to scale its production capabilities and expand its global ecosystem to support the integration of micro-LEDs into commercial production.

VueReal’s MicroSolid Printing technology supports cost-effective high-volume micro-LED by efficiently transferring LEDs from wafer to backplane. The technology targets consumer electronics, automotive, and healthcare industries. The method supports the production of micro-LED displays and other micro semiconductor devices.

Last year, VueReal made plans to double its manufacturing space and established partnerships with RiTdisplay and Toray Engineering. Additional...