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Devices that capture light from quantum dots, like chip-scale lasers and optical amplifiers, have made their way from the lab to the commercial market. The transition for newer quantum dot-based devices has been slower due to the extreme level of accuracy needed in the alignment of the individual dots and the optics that extract and guide the emitted radiation.

When localization microscopy of quantum emitters is used to guide lithographic placement of photonic structures, microscopy and lithography measurement errors can easily occur. These errors degrade registration accuracy, limiting device performance and process yield.

To address this bottleneck, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and...

A research project undertaken by the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR) aims to overhaul an analytical tool used to evaluate laser fusion. The work is being funded by the European Union via the Just Transition Fund and by the Free State of Saxony.

Scientists on the “X-ray laser optimization of laser fusion” project (Röntgenlaser-Optimierung der Laserfusion or ROLF), led by Tobias Dornheim of CASUS, are to develop machine-learning methods to enable a reliable theoretical description of warm dense matter (WDM).

“One major issue of laser fusion is achieving stable compression with the laser blast,” said Dornheim. “It is imperative that...

To realize the potential of personalized medicine and overcome crisis situations like the recent pandemic, labs need an efficient way to isolate living cells for analysis and testing. The ability to isolate specific cell types without impairing cell vitality is also necessary to advance pharmaceutical research.

In response to this need, the Fraunhofer Institutes of Laser Technology (ILT) and Production Technology (IPT) developed an AI-assisted tool that automatically sorts and isolates living cells from samples using a high-throughput process. The technology, called LIFTOSCOPE, combines high-speed microscopy, AI-based analysis, and localization of living cells and cell clusters with laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT).
The MIR...

OpenLight, a developer and manufacturer of silicon photonic technology, has entered into a strategic partnership with Jabil to expedite manufacturing. The partnership is expected to allow OpenLight customers to fast-track the manufacturing and delivery of integrated PICs across a wide range of applications and markets, including datacom transceivers, automotive lidar, AI, ML, HPC, and healthcare.

Founded in 2022, OpenLight provides an open silicon photonics platform with integrated lasers which utilizes an indium phosphide-based modulator. OpenLight has additional partnerships with Spark Photonics, and its process design kit is available with Tower Semiconductor. The company is a joint venture of Synopsys and Juniper Networks.

Semilux International Ltd., a provider of lidar and ADB components, has started a research and development program for the development of a domestic solid-state lidar module for automotive applications. The program is sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council in Taiwan and includes collaboration with experts from the National Chung Hsing University, Turing Drive, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, among other academic institutions.

An artist’s representation of the GRACE-C satellites orbiting a topographically imaged earth. Courtesy of Exail. SAINT-GERMAIN EN LAYE, France — Aerospace and photonics company Exail has signed a €1.1 million ($1.2 million) contract with NASA’s Jet...

Lidar technology company SteerLight has received an investment from Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of automotive manufacturer Stellantis N.V. SteerLight is a producer of compact frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar systems based on silicon photonics technology. The CEA-Leti spinoff is targeting advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), an area of focus for Stellantis.
SteerLight’s frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) aims to deliver higher performance capabilities for ADAS applications. Courtesy of Stellantis. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. SteerLight also plans to address industrial and mobility applications.

Steerlight's FMCW technology provides accurate depth and velocity...

A broadband, ultrablack film from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences could enhance the performance of telescopes and have other applications in space exploration and precision optics. In tests, the film achieved an average absorption as high as 99.4%, within a wavelength range of 400 to 1000 nm.

Optical devices that require ultrablack coating for stray light suppression often exhibit significant curvature and intricate shapes, which pose challenges for existing approaches to film preparation. In space exploration applications, payload is a critical factor, and black films that can be coated to lightweight materials are essential. The coating also needs to be robust enough...

MicroLED technology developer Polar Light Technologies has named Oskar Fajerson as CEO. Fajerson has a background in product management, sales, and marketing and a degree in material physics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He has held senior positions at a wide range of high-tech companies during their growth phases, including eye-tracking company Tobii.

Oskar Fajerson. Courtesy of Polar Light Technologies. ORLANDO, Fla. — LightPath Technologies, a manufacturer and integrator of optical and infrared technologies, has named Jason Messerschmidt as vice president of sales. Messerschmidt joined LightPath Technologies from FLIR Systems, most recently serving as senior director of sales for US Industrial...

Precision optical technology manufacturer G&H has sold its Boston-based EM4 optoelectronics subsidiary to EMFOUR Acquisition Co. LLC, a subsidiary of an unnamed U.S.-based global technology company, in a deal worth up to $12 million.

EM4, which G&H acquired in 2010, is a provider of optoelectronic components and laser modules primarily for the U.S. aerospace and defense market. Previously the business manufactured and supplied fused fiber couplers, though this product line has been excluded from the sale and transferred to G&H’s Torquay, England facility.
G&H has sold its Boston-based EM4 optoelectronics subsidiary in a deal worth up to $12 million. Courtesy of G&H. The unspecified buyer will pay an...

EFFECT Photonics, a developer of integrated optical technologies, has secured $38 million in series D funding. The funding will be used to further accelerate the development and commercialization of EFFECT Photonics solutions and support ramping production to meet customer demand. The company is focused on advancing its integrated photonics portfolio which addresses size, weight, power, and cost concerns for high-speed fiber optics communications solutions. EFFECT raised $40 million in funding a year ago.

EFFECT has formalized industry collaborations with partners including Jabil Photonics, Credo, and Fabrinet. The series D round was led by Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund and backed by Dutch pension funds PMT and PME,...

Representatives from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), and Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA) gathered Wednesday at Berkshire Innovation Center to discuss the metalens technology benefitting from a previously announced grant from MassTech.

The grant is establishing an open-access manufacturing and design/testing facility at UMass Amherst equipped with nanoimprint lithography equipment used to manufacture metalenses at a significantly lower cost compared to semiconductor processes.

Northeastern University, Springfield Technical Community College, and Berkshire Community College are also partners in the collaboration.

“The innovation out of...

Recognizable industry leaders from across various locations in Europe's quantum photonics ecosystem are uniting in a quest to achieve a demonstrable quantum advantage. Under the umbrella of the Eurostars project "SupremeQ," ORCA Computing, Pixel Photonics, Sparrow Quantum, and the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) have formalized a collaboration to accelerate the development and commercialization of photonic quantum computing technologies.

The project aims to address challenges in quantum computing including system engineering for scale, high acquisition and operation costs, as well as the need for specialized expertise.

Specifically, the collaborators will draw upon full-stack photonic quantum computing system architecture from ORCA...

Quintessent, a developer of heterogeneous silicon photonics and quantum dot laser technology, has closed on just over $11.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round. According to company CEO and co-founder Alan Liu, the funding will be used to expand the company's staff and accelerate the development of scalable optical interconnects build on the company's multiwavelength comb laser, among other technologies.

Quintessent seeks to address infrastructure bottlenecks for data centers and computing technologies by implementing advanced materials, device/circuit design, and link architecture in order to reduce power consumption and required component count. The company previously formalized a collaboration with Tower Semiconductor...

Many technologies — from communications, to radar and sensing, to positioning and navigation — rely on low-noise microwave signals for precise timing and synchronization. Advances in these technologies intensify the demand for stable, low-phase noise microwave sources.

Although photonic lightwave systems provide advantages over conventional electronic approaches for generating low-noise microwaves, the large size and power consumption of photonic systems restrict their use to laboratory environments.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, the University of...

The Association for Advancing Automation’s (A3’s) Automate trade show is starting off its new annual status at McCormick Place in Chicago, returning to the city after several years in Detroit. Taking place from May 6 to 9, Automate, the largest robotics and automation trade show in North America, features the latest advancements in robotics, machine vision, AI, motion control, and related automation technologies.


Automate will be held at McCormick Place in Chicago from May 6 to 9. Courtesy of A3.
“Over the past several show cycles, Automate has grown substantially,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “What’s more, the pace of change in automation is staggering — attendees and...

Fiber, as a wearable material, offers breathability, flexibility, and resistance to wear, making it an ideal substrate for wearable devices. Using mature textile technology, color-changing fibers can be integrated into clothing to serve as an interface between humans and computers. The use of light-emitting, color-changing fiber as an interface for communications, navigation, healthcare, and Internet of Things is expected to grow.

Inspired by photochromic fibers that exhibit fluorescence effects and polymer optical fibers that emit light when coupled with an external source, scientists from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Nanjing University created a multicolored, uniformly luminescent, photochromic fiber. They...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has opened the Quantum Diamond Lab at its Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The lab will be devoted to studying and refining the processes involved in using plasma to create diamond material for quantum information science applications. The Quantum Diamond Lab contains chemical vapor deposition machines which use plasma to create diamond material infused with other elements, allowing scientists to create qubits for quantum computing.

(From left) PPPL senior strategic advisor Emily Carter, PPPL CEO Tim Meyer, PPPL managing principal research physicist Alastair Stacey, and director for the office of the vice president for PPPL Brandon Thorne. Courtesy of PPPL. LEUVEN, Belgium —...

Mammalian brains are known to be comprised of densely interconnected neurons, but a remaining mystery in neuroscience is how tools which capture relatively few components of brain activity have enabled scientists to predict behavior in mice.

To better capture and understand neural activity in mice, professor Alipasha Vaziri and his team at The Rockefeller University used large-scale recordings and light-beads microscopy (LBM), a volumetric, two-photon imaging technique developed by the Vaziri lab in 2021. LBM increases imaging speed by eliminating the “dead-time” between sequential laser pulses, when no neuroactivity is recorded, and by removing the need for scanning.

LBM breaks one laser pulse into 30 sub-pulses...

Fusion energy technology developer Tokamak Energy is working on laser measurement technology crucial to controlling the extreme conditions inside future fusion power plants. The company is testing a laser-based dispersion interferometer system at its Oxford, England, headquarters and expects install the system on its ST40 fusion machine later this year.

Tokamak Energy’s approach to fusion employs a tokamak, a device that uses a magnetic field to confine and control a plasma. The device features a spherical design, pioneered by company co-founder Alan Sykes in the 1980s, that is designed to improve efficiency, plasma stability, and cost-effectiveness.
Tokamak Energy is testing a laser-based dispersion interferometer system to...

A microcomb developed by researchers at Stanford University could provide the basis for wide-spread adoption in everyday electronics. The frequency comb device is small, energy-efficient, and highly accurate. With further development, the team envisions applications in handheld medical diagnostic devices and widespread greenhouse gas monitoring sensors.

Since their development, frequency combs have been utilized for high-precision measurement applications, such as timekeeping and spectroscopy. However, the technology has required bulky, expensive, and power-hungry equipment, which has limited their use to laboratory settings.

The researchers found a workaround for these issues by integrating two different approaches for...