Sensores

Oriole Networks, a startup focused on light-based technology for AI systems and data centers, has raised £10 million ($13 million) in seed funding. The 2023 spinout of University College London (UCL) founded by George Zervas, James Regan, Alessandro Ottino, and Joshua Benjamin holds intellectual property licensed through UCL’s technology transfer company, UCLB.

(From left) Joshua Benjamin, George Zervas, James Regan, and Alessandro Ottino. Courtesy of Oriole Networks. “AI computational needs are increasing by 10 times every 18 months. This leads to distributed training and inference across large numbers of xPUs,” said George Zervas, Oriole's CTO. “Collective data movement across the servers in the data...

Keysight Technologies has made an offer to acquire Spirent Communications in a deal worth £1.16 billion ($1.46 billion). The offer represents an increase over VIAVI Solutions’ $1.3 billion offer earlier this month. Keysight said that Spirent’s board of directors has unanimously withdrawn its recommendation to accept VIAVI’s offer and intends to accept the proposal from Keysight.

With Spirent’s offerings, Keysight added that it expects to address new serviceable available market opportunities of up to $1.5 billion. Keysight anticipates greater efficiency post-integration by leveraging its existing administrative and sales infrastructure and through consolidation of office space, equipment, and other...

A group of networking, semiconductor, and optics companies have formed the Linear Pluggable Optics Multi-Source Agreement (LPO MSA) to develop the specifications for networking equipment and optical modules required to enable a broad ecosystem of interoperable LPO solutions. Founded by Semtech Corporation, NVIDIA, Intel, and Broadcom, these specifications target the industry-wide challenge of reducing the power, cost, and latency of high-speed optical interconnects while improving the reliability. The initial target of the MSA is an optimized optical interconnect with LPO modules on both ends of the link. This will define the electrical and optical requirements to ensure interoperability between multiple vendors of networking equipment and...

Empire State Development has named the 10 companies selected to participate in round seven of the Luminate NY accelerator program, investment fund, and competition. Each finalist will receive an initial investment of $100,000 and will have the chance to compete for up to $2 million in follow-on funding upon completion of the program.

The cohort will begin on April 8, 2024, and conclude in September.
To date, Luminate has invested $18 million in 63 startups. The companies in the portfolio have raised an additional $260.1 million and now share a net worth of $675 million. Courtesy of Luminate.
The selected companies:

AI Optics, Inc., developer of a handheld imaging technology that integrates AI to provide a new standard of...

Celestial AI, creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology platform, has raised $175 million in a series C funding round. The funding round will enable Celestial AI to execute multiple large-scale customer collaborations focused on commercializing its Photonic Fabric technology platform.

Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric is an optical connectivity solution that enables the disaggregation of compute and memory, which allows each component to be effectively leveraged and scaled. The technology delivers over 25× greater bandwidth and memory capacity while reducing latency and power consumption by up to 10× compared to existing optical interconnect alternatives and copper.

The technology is designed...

The massive amount of data processing required to image whole-brain activity makes real-time analysis and closed-loop research in neuronal dynamics extremely challenging. Yet, real-time analysis of large-scale brain imaging is crucial to understanding how the brain functions.

Inspired by the data processing techniques used in astronomy, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a big data processing system for neuronal activity. Known as the FX system, it operates in real-time to analyze large-scale, whole-brain neuron activity and facilitate the closed-loop study of brain functions. In addition to supporting closed-loop neuroscience research, the FX system enables whole-brain, optical interface-mediated virtual...

Researchers at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) have developed a method to efficiently produce nearly perfect entangled photon pairs from quantum dot sources, paving the way for secure quantum communications.

“The combination of a high degree of entanglement and high efficiency is needed for exciting applications such as quantum key distribution or quantum repeaters, which are envisioned to extend the distance of secure quantum communication to a global scale or link remote quantum computers,” said Michael Reimer, professor at IQC and Waterloo's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Previous experiments only measured either near-perfect entanglement or high efficiency,...

Coherent established capability for 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer fabrication in the company’s Sherman, Texas, and Järfälla, Sweden, wafer fabs. Coherent is in the process of qualifying several existing products on its 6-inch InP platform. The company expects to transition the bulk of its production from 3-inch InP to 6-inch InP in the next few years to leverage the benefits of larger wafer size, higher yield, and improved performance that will be required to provide a sustainable competitive advantage in its communications and sensing markets.
Coherent established the world’s first capability for 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer fabrication. Its expanded capacity significantly reduces die cost for InP...

Luna Innovations appointed Richard Roedel as interim executive chairman and interim president. The appointment follows the announcement that current president and CEO Scott Graeff is retiring. Roedel has served as chairman of Luna’s board since 2010. The company has begun a search for a new president and CEO, and appointed Mary Beth Vitale to serve as lead independent director during Roedel's service as executive chair. Graeff's departure, after more than 20 years at the company, comes after Luna announced earlier this month that it would delay sharing the results of its fourth quarter and FY23 financial results. On March 12, the company announced that it is reviewing "certain transactions" for which revenue was recognized in...

An updated roadmap developed by PhotonDelta and MIT’s Microphotonics Center envelopes insights from more than 400 organizations to provide a clear path forward for the global integrated photonics industry. The roadmap was launched today during the Executive Forum at OFC 2024.

Produced over the last three years, the second edition of the Integrated Photonics System Roadmap – International (IPSR-I) identifies key technology gaps for volume manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and provides a detailed analysis of the challenges that the industry needs to address, including insights into wireless communication and 3D imaging.

The document is segmented into 13 parts, spanning silicon photonics,...

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) scientists are leading a pair of photonics-related projects under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) Accelerate Innovations program. The initiatives aim to develop and extend the capabilities of existing superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), and enable large-scale particle sensors with 3D integrated circuits to process much smaller, much faster signals at a higher level of precision, respectively.

The Fermilab projects are among 11 DoE national lab projects awarded a total of $73 million in funding over a two-year period. The funding aims to speed the transition of new technology from lab to industry.

SNSPDs, the subject of the first...

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...