Sensores

ZEISS has acquired the lithography division of Beyond Gravity, a provider of special actuators and complex mechatronic modules. Located in both Zurich and Coswig, Germany, the company plans to integrate the Coswig site into Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH and will rebrand the Zurich site to Carl Zeiss SMT Switzerland AG. The move expands the ZEISS semiconductor manufacturing technology (SMT) segment’s production and R&D capacities to meet the global demand for semiconductor manufacturing systems, according to the company.

The newly acquired lithography division of Beyond Gravity in Zurich. Courtesy of ZEISS. BOULDER, Colo. — Quantum information company Infleqtion has received $11 million in funding from the U.S. Department of...

Quantum technology companies Jij Inc. and ORCA Computing have formed a strategic partnership, under which Jij will develop algorithms to maximize the capabilities of ORCA’s photonic quantum computers. Anticipated applications include logistics delivery planning, power supply and demand planning in the energy sector, and manufacturing production schedule optimization where the capabilities of traditional computing methods are challenged.

This partnership combines the system and architecture expertise of ORCA Computing with Jij`s extensive knowledge gained through developing unique algorithms across various industries, including energy, manufacturing, transportation, communications, materials development, and construction, the...

Medical device company PhotoniCare has secured $4.6 million in a Series B funding round and formed a manufacturing partnership with Gentex Corporation to produce its OtoSight Middle Ear Scope. The company also finalized the relocation of its headquarters from Champaign, Illinois, to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Using OCT high resolution depth imaging, PhotoniCare’s OtoSight Middle Ear Scope helps to determine the presence or absence of fluid in the middle ear and to characterize the fluid type, even in the presence of significant ear wax. According to the company, the device is the first FDA-cleared device for middle ear visualization and boasts 90.6% accuracy in the detection of middle ear effusion.

The funding, led by...

With applications for lasers constantly expanding, the need to precisely monitor the lasing process to ensure optimal and repeatable performance places stringent requirements on beam-profiling mechanisms. Industry widely agrees on many of the standards that govern effective beam profiling as well as the parameters — such as power, shape, and energy — for which data is needed to determine the utility of the laser.


Courtesy of iStock.com/yuriz
Establishing a tool set to profile multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously is especially valuable now, in an age in which optics, such as metasurfaces, are increasingly prevalent, even in industry. Similarly, in the context of profiling and measuring a beam, industry has also...

The technical and commercial breakthroughs that have characterized progress in visual display technologies during the past six-plus decades have revolutionized the viewing experience. These advancements have also served to redefine our relationships with technologies, and in doing so, they have significantly influenced our societal dynamics.

Beginning with the explosion of early televisions based on cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) in the mid-20th century, then evolving into today’s sophisticated liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, each innovation along the way has reshaped entertainment, education, and communication. The Society for Information Display (SID) has been an active champion for...

As with all products for which a variety of options is available to consumers, and for which application ultimately determines consumer selection, each type of metallic coating offers its own unique set of benefits and shortcomings. By carefully selecting the proper material(s) — whether aluminum, silver, nickel, or gold — as well as the necessary enhancements, manufacturers can expand the range of applications for mirrors from high-precision scientific instruments to commercial products and beyond.

Advancements in nanotechnology, plus chemical modifications and overcoat fabrication, are extending the utility of mirror coatings into specialized applications. Fundamentally, coatings enable manufacturers to differentiate...

The range of benefits that laser texturing technologies offer, which span those in the critical areas of precision, performance, and efficiency, are direct drivers to the expansion of laser texturing’s application into multiple industries. At the same time, the evolution of laser texturing-based technologies suggests that these technologies hold great promise to continue to spur innovation and improve the performance of many widely used materials, components, devices, and finished products.


Courtesy of GF Machining Advanced Solutions.
From improved grips and adhesives to aesthetically pleasing cell phone frames and light displays, laser texturing is essential for the fabrication of devices used in numerous markets. By...

Courtesy of SPIE.
San Francisco’s Moscone Center will play host once again to the optics and photonics industries’ premiere event from Jan. 25 to 30, 2025. Photonics West 2025 will feature more than 5000 technical presentations, and show organizers are expected to welcome more than 1500 exhibiting companies from around the world. Visitors will be able to explore the long-standing BiOS Expo and Photonics West Exhibition as well as the Quantum West Expo, which was introduced in 2024.

Photonics West 2025 will offer 100 conferences across the BiOS, LASE, OPTO, and Quantum West symposia. Program highlights include the annual BiOS Hot Topics plenary, which will feature a session on sensing in the surgical field through vision...

Any athlete will tell you that their sport is a numbers game. It’s not only adding points on a scoreboard, though. Slight deviations in timing when exiting the starting blocks, for example, can mean the difference between first and second place in a 100-meter dash. And even a miniscule difference in force could turn a three-point shot into a brick. With such a wide margin of failure, it’s no wonder why coaches keep preaching the fundamentals.

But sometimes it’s the variables we can’t see that tip the balance in a competition — a fact that was recognized by researchers at the Universidad de Concepción in Concepción, Chile. Perhaps on a mission to get “swole,” the researchers...

Roel Baets’ plenary presentation at Photonics West in January reiterated a common call from the global integrated photonics ecosystem: the need for a robust PICs supply chain. Widely considered a necessity to drive sustained growth in this technology space, the PICs sector has been adamant about its supply chain ambitions, particularly as it relates to manufacturing and packaging. Baets isolated many of the underlying factors that he and other experts have used to provide evidence for the importance of establishing a dedicated PICs supply chain.

Baets wasn’t prognosticating outcomes for 2024 in his plenary. But the number of collaborations in integrated photonics and its subfields that industry and R&D launched this...

Marvell Technology has expanded its strategic relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The companies reached a five-year, multi-generational agreement, which includes collaboration across multiple AWS products and the use of AWS cloud infrastructure. The expanded agreement covers a broad range of data center semiconductors from Marvell, a developer of data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, including the supply of custom AI products, optical digital signal processors, and data center interconnect optical modules.

In an announcement, Marvell said that in leveraging AWS’s capabilities, the company will parallelize additional design tasks, empowering its engineering teams with greater infrastructure resources and...

The U.S. Senate has introduced the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, a bill that would authorize $2.7 billion in federal funding to accelerate quantum R&D at federal science agencies for the next five years. The act provides a significant expansion of the program’s national infrastructure and extends its duration from the original 2029 deadline to December 2034.

The bill would refocus the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) from basic research to practical applications and establish up to three new National Institute of Science and Technology quantum centers focusing on quantum sensing, measurement, and engineering. It would also create five new National Science Foundation Multidisciplinary Centers for Quantum...

In collaboration with academic and commercial partners from across the Northeast, AIM Photonics and Cornell University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering will lead research efforts on the Quantum Ultra-broadband Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (QUPICS) project through the Northeast Regional Defense Technology (NORDTECH) Hub.

The project, supported by ~$8.5M in expected funding, will focus primarily focus on the development of an accessible 300-mm foundry fabrication platform for quantum photonic technologies extending from optical wavelengths in the UV through the IR. QUPICS is among four major NORDTECH projects recently selected for funding by the Department of Defense (DoD) that aim to significantly...

Earlier this fall, more than 700 industry leaders from the photonic chip and semiconductor industry convened in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The forum, PIC Summit Europe 2024, was one of the largest events to date focused strictly on the integrated photonics industry in Europe.


Eelko Brinkhoff, CEO of PhotonDelta. Courtesy of PhotonDelta.
The scale of interest in the summit indicates both the rapid growth of integrated photonics and its use cases, as well as the crossroads at which the industry — collectively — finds itself approaching. Though this sentiment and the many subthemes that it underscores are not themselves contentious, the summit did spark debate. Areas of focus included how leaders from across business,...

Ensuring that air quality is safe for humans and other forms of life is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world today. The average person will inhale ~79,250,000 gallons of air in their lifetime. Simply walking a city street, a person will likely inhale millions of potentially harmful particles, potentially with each lungful of air.

Although the toxicity of the air around us has been a known issue for centuries, global energy demands are growing, and the effect of air pollution on the environment and public health is reaching a crisis point. Across the energy sector, businesses are grappling to reduce pollution stemming from their operations. Governments around the world are enacting increasingly strict legislation. As...

Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired from his position and stepped down from the board of directors. The board has formed a search committee to find a successor and has named executive vice president and CFO David Zinsner and CEO of Intel Products Michelle Johnston Holthaus as co-CEOs in the interim. Gelsinger’s career at Intel spanned over 40 years.

Pat Gelsinger. Courtesy of Intel. FREMONT, Calif. — The OIF Forum’s members have elected the 2024-2025 board of directors and officers. Mike Klempa of Alphawave Semi and David Stauffer of Kandou Bus have been elected to the board with Ian Betty of Ciena, Mike Li of Intel, and Cathy Liu of Broadcom being reelected. Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity will continue to...

Seven early-stage startup companies have been selected to compete for a top prize of $10,000 at the 15th annual SPIE Startup Challenge at Photonics West on Jan. 28. The SPIE Startup Challenge is a competitive entrepreneurial platform for new businesses that utilize optics and photonics for innovative products or applications. Participating teams compete for sponsored prizes, in addition to gaining increased visibility with potential investors and exposure to potential collaborators or partners.

Cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500, provided by Startup Challenge Founding Partner Jenoptik, will be awarded to the top three finalists. The SPIE Startup Challenge is also supported by lead sponsor Hamamatsu and supporting sponsor...

Akhetonics has raised €6 million ($6.3 million) in funding, which the company said it plans to use to deliver its first-generation hardware to pilot customers. The startup is developing a full-stack all-optical general purpose processor that brings together photonic hardware and components, software tools, and an in-house design automation tool. The solution’s low latency, deterministic execution, and immunity to electromagnetic interference make it useful for customers in aviation, defense, and networking, according to the company.

“Many companies that claim to use 'optical computing' actually take a hybrid approach, incorporating electronics in their processing,” said Michael Kissner, CEO of Akhetonics....

SCHOTT AG has appointed Torsten Derr CEO, effective Jan. 1. Derr, who has served as CEO of SGL Carbon since 2020, succeeds Frank Heinricht, who will retire after leading the company for 11 years.
Torsten Derr. Courtesy of SCHOTT AG. Derr began his career at Bayer AG as an R&D manager for plastics. He then joined specialty chemicals company LANXESS AG, where he held various leadership roles, including head of commercial and supply chain excellence and CCO. In 2016, Derr moved to the company’s subsidiary, Saltigo, where he managed the fine chemicals business until joining SGL Carbon.

Per his appointment, Derr will also serve as chairman of the supervisory board for SCHOTT Pharma, a SCHOTT subsidiary.

Known for their energy efficiency, LEDs are also opening up completely new possibilities for applications beyond lighting. By using a neuron network of microscopic LEDs for the AI of tomorrow, a research group at Technische Universität Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig)’s Nitride Technology Centre (NTC) aims to make future computers more powerful and energy efficient.

Miniaturization, scalability, and energy efficiency are crucial for the development of more powerful hardware for AI applications. The NTC research group at TU Braunschweig, along with collaborators from Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences and ams OSRAM, are taking a different approach to building computers using microLED technology. The researchers are...