photonics

Aeluma, a semiconductor company specializing in high performance, scalable technologies for mobile, automotive, AI, defense and aerospace, communication, and quantum computing, has received approval to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market stock exchange under the ticker symbol “ALMU.” The company has also priced an underwritten public offering of its stock, which is expected to yield approximately $12 million in gross proceeds.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to expand business development efforts, advance manufacturing processes to support commercialization, and for working capital and general business purposes. In connection with the offering, Aeluma has granted the underwriter...

Empire State Development has named the 10 companies selected to participate in round eight 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 22 and will conclude in October.
To date, Luminate has invested $21 million in 73 startups. The companies in the portfolio have raised an additional $343.5 million and now share a net worth of $700 million. Courtesy of Luminate.
The selected companies:

amPICQ, a designer and developer of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for quantum communications, datacom,...

Using advanced processing techniques on raw thermal images, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) accurately tracked vital signs in a subject, including the subject’s heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature. To enhance the clarity and quality of the thermal images, the team used phasor thermography, a technique it developed for hyperspectral, high-resolution, multiparametric thermal imaging and vision.

Phasor thermography enables passive, contactless, reliable, and detailed measurement of vital signs. In the future, it could be used to identify subtle changes in the body that could be early indicators of cancer and other diseases.

Conventional thermal imaging typically does not make...

Coherent Corp. intends to sell its epitaxial fabrication facility in Champaign, Ill., as part of its ongoing initiatives to optimize its manufacturing footprint. The 65,000 sq ft campus features five G3 epi systems in 15,000 sq ft of Class 1000 ballroom-style cleanrooms. The fab is facilitized for up to 10 epitaxial tools and previously produced 2 in to 6 in indium phosphide and gallium arsenide wafers. The site comprises four buildings and a variety of fabrication and characterization equipment.

Industry leaders, policy makers, and academics meet at CORNERSTONE’s photonics roundtable event. Courtesy of the CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre. SOUTHAMPTON, England — The CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre, a...

At its 2025 Annual General Meeting this week, the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) appointed Claire Valentin, Chief Strategy Officer at Exosens, and Maria Chiara Carozza, president of Italian national research council CNR, as new members of EPIC’s board of directors.

Valentin’s expertise is expected to strengthen EPIC’s connections to high-growth photonics sectors including defense, space, medical, and industrial applications and help EPIC members to navigate commercialization and business expansion. Carrozza brings experience in optics and photonics applications in healthcare, AI and robotics, as well as expertise in academia, politics, and industry.
Maria Chiara Carrozza, president of Italy's...

Alcon, a provider of ophthalmology-focused medical devices, has struck a deal to acquire LENSAR, a medical technology company focused on laser solutions for the treatment of cataracts. The acquisition includes ALLY Robotic Cataract Laser Treatment System, LENSAR’s proprietary Streamline software technology, and LENSAR legacy laser system, building Alcon’s femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery offering.

“By leveraging our global footprint, we have the opportunity to deliver the benefits of advanced femtosecond laser technology to many more surgeons around the world and continue to improve efficiency in cataract surgery,” said David Endicott, CEO of Alcon.

Per the agreement, Alcon will purchase all...

To achieve advanced control of light polarization, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) developed a hollow-core optical fiber that can selectively guide optical vortices, depending on the helicity of the vortex.

The hollow-core fiber could be used to realize new polarizing elements in previously inaccessible spectral regions, and for chiral sensing, broadband generation of vortex beams, and optical communication.
(From left) Francesco Tani, leader of the Ultrafast and Twisted Photonics research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; researcher Christof Helfrich; and Michael Frosz, leader of the Fibre Fabrication and Glass Studio Technology Unit. Courtesy of MPL/Susanne...

CamGraPhIC, a provider of high-bandwidth optical interconnect technology and a subsidiary of 2D Photonics, has completed a €25 million (~$27 million) series A equity funding round raised through 2D Photonics. The funds will be used to support CamGraPhIC’s continued development of graphene photonics transceivers for AI and cellular data transmission applications.
2D Photonics subsidiary CamGraPhIC will use its recent funding to fuel an expansion of its workforce and manufacturing capabilities in pursuit of commercializing its graphene-based optical interconnect technology. Courtesy of 2D Photonics.
The company plans to enhance its R&D capabilities at its site in Pisa, Italy, and establish a pilot manufacturing line in...

Optical sensing technology company Neonode has appointed Daniel Alexus as president and CEO, effective March 31. Alexus has served as global head of innovation and founder of Ericsson ONE, an innovation accelerator within Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, since 2018. He has held several other senior roles at Ericsson, where he started in 2010.
Daniel Alexus. Courtesy of Neonode.
JENA, Germany — The supervisory board of Jenoptik AG has extended the contracts of Ralf Kuschnereit, responsible for the former Advanced Photonic Solutions division, and CFO Prisca Havranek-Kosicek, ahead of schedule by five years each until Dec. 31, 2030, and Feb. 28, 2031, respectively. Kuschnereit has been responsible for the Semiconductor &...

Whether used as a decoration on your charcuterie spread, as a quick snack for the peckish photonics luminary, or as a fake eyeball to gross out trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, the value of a grape should not be understated.

To expand on the fruit’s roles beyond set dressing and sustenance, researchers from Macquarie University have demonstrated how ordinary supermarket grapes can enhance the performance of quantum sensors, potentially leading to more efficient quantum technologies.

Where did these mad researchers get the idea to use grapes in their research? Well, social media of course! Specifically, viral videos showing the interaction between two grapes placed into a microwave side by side. In the videos, the...

Laser oscillation welding is finding increased popularity in the domain of large-scale industrial production. Through extensive studies examining the welding of aluminum and steel with oscillating laser beams at the commonly used frequencies of 100 to 200 Hz, results showed that oscillation welding is more controllable, offers higher welding speeds, and leads to a reduction in weld defects. The studies have also shown that this process provides significantly reduced weld porosity, a shallower heat-affected zone (HAZ), and an enlarged joining area.

The improved weld quality can be gauged in terms of weld morphology as well as mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. This improved quality is a prerequisite for series production...

Five years since the World Health Organization declared it a global pandemic, COVID-19 remains a catalyst for targeted advancements in science and technology. The pandemic demonstrated that coronaviruses cast a wide net of opportunity for the scientific R&D community. In photonics, efforts to advance the understanding of corona-viruses diverge into many distinct areas of study. The development of systems to preempt and improve testing methods is one point of considerable progress, though many others exist.

This issue of Photonics Spectra is the 60th to be published since the World Health Organization’s March 2020 declaration. A couple hours of digital backtracking revealed that, in some context, 53 of the previous 59 issues...

A compact, solid-state, nanosecond laser system capable of generating 193-nm coherent light — a wavelength crucial for the fabrication of silicon wafers — could greatly enhance the efficiency and precision of semiconductor lithography and open new paths to advanced manufacturing techniques.

The advance comes from a team at the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and reportedly marks the first time that a 193-nm vortex beam has been produced with a solid-state laser.

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) lasers, known for their high photon energy and short wavelengths, are used in many fields, including high-resolution spectroscopy, precision material processing, and quantum technology as...

A consortium funded by the European Union (EU) is developing advanced high-resolution image sensing technology that could be used in a variety of space missions, including Earth observation, planetary exploration, and scientific research.

The three-year Technology for European iNdependence in Space Image Sensor (TENSIS) project will address the EU-based development of advanced CMOS imaging sensors. The project will aim to create a strategic, competitive advantage for European prime and equipment manufacturers and reduce the dependence on critical technologies and capabilities from outside the EU.
The three-year TENSIS project was launched on Feb. 11 at an inauguration event in consortium member Teledyne e2v's facilities in...

Imec and ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology are deepening their collaboration to advance the NanoIC pilot line at imec with state-of-the-art semiconductor technology and manufacturing expertise for sub-2nm R&D. The institute and company have agreed to extend the existing partnership, in place since 2019, until 2029. The pair have been collaborators on various projects since 1997.
An agreement formalizes the partnership between imec and ZEISS through 2029. The collaborators will advance next generation semiconductor manufacturing technologies, working via the NanoIC pilot line. Courtesy of imec. The signed agreement reaffirms joint efforts to advance technologies such as high numerical aperture extreme UV lithography. In...

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has invested €3.4 million ($3.7 million) to open a pilot line environment in Finland for medical devices. The investment into the line, to be located in Oulu, provides a state-of-the-art cleanroom and manufacturing equipment to help accelerate the market entry of innovative medical technologies.

The facility enables the production of small and middle-size prototype series of advanced electronic, photonic, microelectronic and microfluidic components, in addition to integration technologies. These technologies enable the development of comfortable-to-wear, skin-like wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of cardiovascular diseases and microfluidics biochemical sensors for...

NVIDIA’s planned commercialization of its Spectrum-X (Ethernet) and Quantum-X (InfiniBand) photonic switches signals a shift in the industry’s copper bedrock. According to PhotonDelta’s ecosystem manager Abdul Rahim, it could mark the beginning of “the golden age of silicon photonics.”

That a company of NVIDIA’s scale is introducing silicon photonics-based co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions is indicative of the technology’s maturity level — reaching a point where it is both commercially viable and technically necessary, said René Jonker, executive vice president for the edge and cloud AI division at Soitec, a designer and manufacturer of semiconductor materials.

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The FAMES Pilot Line, a dedicated semiconductor workshop, has launched an open access call for organizations such as design houses, fabless companies, foundries, material and tool suppliers, universities, and research centers to submit user requests for access to the site. Initiated by the EU's Chips Joint Undertaking and coordinated by CEA-Leti, FAMES will give users access to pathfinding and process design kits as well as education and training on FAMES technologies. The open access committee, representing the consortium’s 11 partners, will review and select applicants’ proposals during a two-month open access call available immediately. Open access calls will take place each spring through 2028, with an updated portfolio of...

Perovskites, a family of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, are efficient at converting light to electricity and relatively easy to make. They absorb certain colors of the visible spectrum effectively and can be layered with other materials, such as silicon, that absorb wavelengths the perovskites cannot capture.

But the low photostability of perovskites makes it difficult to improve their performance. Perovskite solar cells can be made from many different combinations of chemical compositions and prepared under various conditions. It is hard to predict how these factors will affect the structure and performance of the perovskite cell.

Many complex materials found in semiconductors, displays, and quantum and biomedical...

Illumination is often reduced when imaging biological samples. Low-light imaging helps researchers avoid adverse effects, like photobleaching and phototoxicity, that could damage the sample. However, use of low light can affect image quality. The challenge when minimizing illumination is to maintain image quality that is high enough to reflect the underlying biology of the sample and be used for quantitative measurements.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide investigated optical fluorescence imaging at low-light levels for quantitative microscopy of live biological samples. Their goal was to determine how ultrasensitive camera technology, including cameras that count individual photons at each pixel, could best be applied to the...