photonics

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Rochester recently connected their campuses with an experimental quantum communications network using two optical fibers. The Rochester Quantum Network (RoQNET) uses single photons to transmit information about 11 mi along fiber-optic lines at room temperature using optical wavelengths.

“Our focus is on distributed quantum entanglement, and RoQNET is a test bed for doing that,” said Stefan Preble, a professor in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering at RIT.
RIT and University of Rochester have collaborated to develop the Rochester Quantum Network, using single photons over fiber-optic lines to transmit information more securely. Courtesy of RIT....

Laird Thermal Systems has rebranded as Tark Thermal Solutions, following the expiration of a licensing agreement for use of the Laird brand name. Tark Thermal Solutions’ portfolio will continue to comprise thermoelectric coolers and assemblies, temperature controllers, specialty pumps and liquid cooling systems, among other solutions.

The company, which appointed current CEO Max Kley to the position last month, serves industries including medical, analytical, industrial, transportation, data center, and telecommunications markets as a partner in the development and production of active thermal management solutions. Laird acquired the company Tark, Inc., a supplier of pumps and cooling solutions for the medical and industrial...

PVA TePla, a provider of high-tech solutions for materials and measurement technology, has acquired DIVE imaging systems GmbH, a provider of light microscopy systems for analyzing surfaces and layer thicknesses. The integration of DIVE expands PVA TePla’s portfolio with additional technologies for high-precision, fast, and non-destructive inspection. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

DIVE was founded in 2023 as a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS (Fraunhofer IWS). The company’s hyperspectral vision technology, supported by AI, enables precise and non-destructive material analysis of key components for the production of microchips and fuel cells. The technology can be used...

Photonic computing company Xanadu has formed a collaboration with materials engineering firm Applied Materials to develop a 300-mm high-volume-compatible process for building superconducting transition edge sensors (TESs). These TESs are a core component of photon-number-resolving detectors (PNRs), which are key elements that enable the qubit state preparation process in Xanadu's photonic quantum computers.

Xanadu, the company said, is shifting its focus towards reducing optical loss throughout different components to achieve fault tolerance. It is also looking ahead to when its quantum computer will be ready to be scaled up to a full-fledged quantum data center. Such scaling will require mass semiconductor manufacturing capabilities...

ams OSRAM revealed plans to sell a portion of its business during its first-quarter 2025 earnings call. The company said that it is currently in talks to sell unspecified assets, with the aim of generating more than €500 million ($565 million) in capital to reduce the company’s debt.

According to company CFO Rainer Irle, the LED semiconductor and sensor technology developer and manufacturer is currently looking at several options and speaking with potential buyers. Those talks, Irle said, will determine which portion of the business will be sold.

“It is clear that if you want to get proceeds north of €500 million that you have to also something that is valuable,” ams OSRAM CEO Aldo Kemper said during...

G&H, an original equipment manufacturer in optics, photonics, and life sciences, has opened its Innovation Hub for Life Sciences in Rochester, N.Y. Through this addition, the company said, it is leveraging its experience delivered through the G&H | ITL facility in Ashford, England to bring the same offering to the North American life science market.
G&H’s Life Science and Innovation Hub in Rochester, New York. Courtesy of G&H.
The G&H facility in Rochester is designed to bridge the gap between R&D activities and full-scale production, reducing time to market for myriad life science applications. By housing research, prototyping, and high-volume manufacturing under one roof, G&H aims to provide...

Photona Group, the parent company to LASER COMPONENTS, acquired 100% of the shares in FOC&T GmbH, a fiber technology manufacturer. Per the acquisition, Lars Mechold, authorized signatory and technical director at LASER COMPONENTS Germany, will become managing director of FOC&T GmbH and will take over for founder and executive director Anton Pautz who will continue to be available to the company as a consultant in his retirement.

PHOTONICS INDUSTRIES EUROPE, BV in Zevenaar, Netherlands. Courtesy of Photonics Industries International Inc. ZEVENAAR, Netherlands — Solid-state laser manufacturer Photonics Industries International Inc. established a European subsidiary, PHOTONICS INDUSTRIES EUROPE, BV. The subsidiary aims to...

Researchers at Purdue University’s College of Engineering have created two imaging technologies that could be developed and commercialized for applications such as medical imaging, autonomous navigation, surveillance, microscopy, and advanced manufacturing. The patent-pending technologies, the CT-Bound and MetaHDR, were created by separate research teams led by Qi Guo, assistant professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In computer vision, boundary detection is necessary in applications like autonomous navigation, manufacturing, and medical imaging. While boundary detection has been studied since the early days of computer vision, accuracy of even the current best algorithms remains...

Two-photon absorption (TPA), a technique that is widely used in optical nanoprinting, cannot achieve high speed and high resolution at the same time. High light intensity boosts printing speed in TPA, but degrades resolution and risks damaging materials. Low light intensity preserves resolution, but significantly slows the printing process.

To encompass both high speed and high resolution in TPA, researchers at Jinan University, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed few-photon two-photon absorption (fpTPA). The technique, for implementing TPA under ultralow photon irradiance using a single, tightly focused femtosecond laser pulse, enabled the researchers to achieve efficient two-photon absorption even under...

A consortium of 12 European partners, coordinated by imec, has been selected in the framework of the European Chips Act to develop the EU Chips Design Platform. Funded by the Chips Joint Undertaking, the platform will facilitate access to advanced semiconductor design infrastructure, training, and capital for fabless semiconductor startups, small and medium enterprises, and research organizations.

The EU Chips Design Platform will enable fabless companies to access the resources they need quickly and efficiently via a cloud-based virtual environment. By providing the necessary resources, the initiative aims to democratize and foster semiconductor innovation across Europe, specifically for chip design.
Representatives of the 12...

LASER-TEC is the Center for Laser and Fiber Optics Education, founded in 2013 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and headquartered at Indian River State College in Florida. It was established to help meet the goals of educating and sourcing domestic talent in the areas of optics and photonics. As a service to students, recent graduates, and prospective employers, Photonics Spectra runs a profile of one of the LASER-TEC colleges each month.

For more than 15 years, Indian River State College (IRSC) has offered associate-level degree and certificate programs relevant to lasers, photonics, fiber optics, and solar energy. More than 350 technicians have graduated and are working in the laser and photonics industries throughout the...

If you were given a nickel for every time an invention was created for industrial purposes, only to become an iconic and best-selling children’s toy, you might have just two nickels … which isn’t a lot, but it is still odd that it happened twice.

The first toy to receive this treatment was Play-Doh, whose original purpose was to serve as a wallpaper cleaner before being marketed as a moldable putty that taught kids that they could be great sculptors (at least of rolled snakes or simple boulders). The second, the Slinky, has its origins in the defense sector as a tension spring, developed by a naval mechanical engineer while at work. While these are two of the most famous examples of a grown-up industry coming to...

For those who have found the early spring news cycle inconducive to light reading, it is understandable if you missed last month’s release of Invest-NL’s report that scrutinizes the Dutch and European semiconductor sector. The 134-page report from the Netherlands-based deep tech firm identifies and exposits the core themes shaping the growth trajectory of this industry.

Certain elements of the report, which is available in English, will be familiar to Photonics Spectra readers; many similar reports taking stock of the U.S. and European chip sectors were published in the lead-up to the CHIPS and Science Act and European Chips Act, and updated perspectives continue to be published in their aftermath. Invest-NL focuses on the...

Courtesy of Messe München.
LASER World of PHOTONICS (LASER Munich) returns to Munich from June 24 to 27, relaunching after an off year in 2024. The trade show and fair convenes industry players and leading companies, spotlighting photonics components, systems, and applications.

Event organizers are anticipating more than 40,000 visitors from over 70 countries for the fair’s 27th iteration.

LASER Munich’s program will include four forums offering a comprehensive program. Session topics range from those in integrated photonics, biophotonics, and laser materials processing to laser optics and test and measurement tools. The biophotonics and medical engineering forum will offer attendees access to panels...

Cognex has named Matthew Moschner, currently president and COO, as the planned successor to CEO Robert Willett, who will retire June 27. Moschner, who was appointed president and COO earlier this year, has also been appointed a director of the company.
Matthew Moschner. Courtesy of Cognex.
Moschner joined Cognex in 2017 and has held key roles across the company's product and engineering teams. In 2022, he was promoted to vice president of ID Products & Platform Engineering to help grow the company’s barcode reading portfolio and to lead the company’s strategic technology and product planning process. Moschner also managed Cognex's integration of Moritex, which was the largest acquisition in the company’s...

Health technology company Azalea Vision has raised €9 million ($10.3 million) in the first closing of its series A funding round. The funding will support the execution of Azalea Vision's first-in-human pilot clinical trial, which the company said is a key milestone in establishing the safety and performance of its medically intelligent ocular technology platform. The company is seeking investigational device exemption approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with plans to continue clinical trials, and further advance commercialization efforts.

Azalea Vision also appointed Robert Dempsey chairman of the board. Dempsey has more than 30 years of experience in the eyecare industry, including in executive positions.
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Silvaco, a provider of software and technology for semiconductor design and digital twin modeling, has acquired Tech-X Corporation, a provider of multi-physics simulation software used in photonics, electromagnetics, and plasma dynamics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“By leveraging our [technology computer-aided design] foundation, we are expanding further into fast multi-physics transistor-level simulation from device to wafer-scale geometries, for photonic components, processes, materials, and plasma modeling,” said Babak Taheri, CEO of Silvaco.

The combination of Tech-X’s multi-physics simulation tools with Silvaco’s Victory technology computer-aided design platform is expected to allow the...

The concept of diode lasers was born early in the age of laser technology and has come a long way. From a fragile, liquid nitrogen-cooled laboratory device, it has evolved into an integrated, highly energy-efficient laser system. Today, laser diodes are the fundamental solution in most laser materials processing devices. They also drive the internet, enable quantum research, and are a prerequisite for any laser fusion scheme. Diode lasers have been a central technology to several Nobel Prizes and even experienced their own technology bubble when the internet boom swept stock markets around the year 2000.


Courtesy of Noda Lab.
One might think of such a technology — whose products are sold as commodities — as mature....

Liquid crystals are undoubtedly most widely used in display technologies. But beyond this context, the ability of liquid crystals to avoid certain critical size limitations that affect most solid crystals enables their usefulness for applications in precision optics. Their use in flat panel displays such as television screens and computer monitors, in fact, demonstrates that liquid crystals do not face these size limitations. This allows them to be particularly effective as optical devices, enabling users to take advantage of important properties of laser light.


Liquid crystal spatial light modulators (SLMs) enable precise spatial beam control. Spatial patterning attenuates laser beam hot spots and eliminates the potential for...

Considerable advancements during the last decade have begun to reveal the critical role of integrated photonics for the successful construction and scaling of quantum systems. Broadly, these industry- and R&D-led efforts are defining the possibilities of this technological space. As support for future quantum technologies continues to grow, so does the anticipation that advancements in this area will soon transition into commercial realities.


Two reticles of arrays of photonic crystal cavities. Courtesy of AIM Photonics and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL/Rome, N.Y.).
At the same time, widely accessible capabilities that can be easily leveraged by the quantum community have yet to be realized. Growth of the industrial base...