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DISPLAYS
Laser-based TV on the cards byChristmas 2007
Optical coherencetomography comesunder the spotlight
MEDICAL IMAGING
FIBRE ARRAYS PUTNEW SPIN ON SENSING
SMART FIBRES
September 2006 Issue 142
INSIDEEOS
NEWSLETTER
The European magazine for photonics professionals
Focus on research
optics.org
OLESep06COVER 22/8/06 13:18 Page 1
NEWS5 Business $6 m US project plans silicon-based laser within five
years • Solar concentrator start-up nets $25 m funding
10 Analysis Is consolidation the answer?
13 Editorial Something for everyone
TECHNOLOGY15 Applications Cell-piercing laser lets DNA in • Polymer
mirrors set for space test • Quantum dots improve night vision
19 R&D Coherent superposition gives lensless focusing • Liquidlenses sense and self focus
20 Patents New Scale licenses its SQUIGGLE motor to Tamron
FEATURES21 Jenoptik restructures and debuts polymer division
Jenoptik is repositioning itself to capitalize on the demand for custom and mass-produced optical products. Matthew Peach travels to Germany to speak with two of the firm’s directors.
23 Buoyant times ahead for laser processing marketJacqueline Hewett asks Arnold Mayer about his forecast and howhe sees the market evolving as more manufacturing shifts to Asia.
27 On-chip gratings improve stability of laser diodesQuintessence Photonics has written gratings into its infrared laser diodes. Paul Rudy looks at the advantages.
30 Smart fibres measure optical and thermal signalsRob van den Berg talks to the Yoel Fink group to find out more about the photosensitive fibre structures being developed at MIT.
33 Laser TV: coming to a home theatre near youGreg Niven of Novalux explains why we can expect to see laser-based rear-projection television by the end of 2007.
35 Under the spotlight: OCTOptical coherence tomography is fast becoming one of the most exciting areas in biomedical photonics. James Tyrrell discovers more about the imaging technique and the companies involved.
39 Excimer lasers provide unique processing abilityRainer Paetzel and Ruediger Hack provide an introduction to thetechnology and review key factors that buyers should consider.
EOS NEWSLETTER43 The latest news and events from the European Optical Society
PRODUCTS47 Crystal quartz waveplates • Imaging sphere • Wafer production
REGUL ARS58 People/Sudoku
EDITORIALEditor Jacqueline HewettTel: +44 (0)117 930 [email protected]
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SUBSCRIPTIONSComplimentary copies are sent to qualifyingindividuals. For readers outside registration requirements: £116/7168 ($208 US and Canada)per year. Single issue £11/715 ($19 US, Canadaand Mexico). CONTACT: IOPP Magazines, WDIS Ltd,Units 12 & 13, Cranleigh Gardens Industrial Estate,Southall, Middlesex UB1 2DB, UK.Tel: +44 (0)20 8606 7518. Fax: +44 (0)20 8606 7303
© 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd. The contents of OLE donot represent the views or policies of the Institute ofPhysics, its council or its officers unless so identified. Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH, UK.
I ssue 142 September 2006 Contents
Multijunction solar cellsget terrestrial go-ahead p6
Lensless focusing couldbenefit microscopy p19
Changing times: Jenoptikreshapes its business p21
Excimer lasers enable a widerange of applications p39
DISPLAYS
Laser-based TV on the cards byChristmas 2007
Optical coherencetomography comesunder the spotlight
MEDICAL IMAGING
FIBRE ARRAYS PUTNEW SPIN ON SENSING
SMART FIBRES
September 2006 Issue 142
INSIDEEOS
NEWSLETTER
The European magazine for photonics professionals
Focus on research
optics.org
For the latest news on optics and photonics don’t forget to visit optics.org
Cover (Yoel Fink group,MIT) 3D photosensitivefibre array. p30
OLESep06CONTENTSp03 23/8/06 10:50 Page 3
Visit us at
Photonex 2006, Stoneleigh Park, UK
18.-19. October 2006
Booth D03
document 11/8/06 11:48 Page 1
$6 m US project plans silicon-based laser within five years
NEWSBUSINESS 5 ANALYSIS 10 EDITORIAL 13
5OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
SILICON LASERS
In August, the US-based Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) commenced a research pro-ject into silicon-based lasers andnanophotonics supported by theUS Government’s Department ofDefense. The project, initially fundedwith $3.6 m (72.81 m) over athree-year term, is likely to beextended for an optional additionaltwo years for a total of $6 m.
The MIT project, titled ElectricallyPumped Silicon-Based Lasers forChip-Scale Nanophotonic Systems,is led by Lionel Kimerling, director ofMIT’s Materials Processing Centerand Microphotonics Center. Itincludes collaborators from variousUS universities: Boston, Caltech,Cornell, Lehigh, Stanford, Delawareand Rochester. The project alsoinvolves some international collab-orators from the universities ofToronto and McMaster (Canada),Catania and Trento (Italy) and FOM(the Netherlands).
“If you could put a micron-sizesilicon laser on a silicon chip thenthere are several new things that
you could do,” Jürgen Michel, prin-cipal investigator at the Micropho-tonics Center, told OLE. “You couldconnect the cores in your chip opti-cally, increasing speed and effi-ciency. By the same technique youcould connect to the memory sec-tion of the chip. The effect wouldbe faster on-chip communicationsand lower power demands.”
Michel adds that a silicon-basedlaser would also open up a new erain chip design. “Optical devices suchas lasers could be processed togetherwith transistors on the same chipusing the same toolset,” he said.
However, developing a silicon-based laser will not be easy. Siliconhas an indirect bandgap and solacks the efficient band-to-bandtransition for light emission thatmakes direct bandgap semicon-ductors such as GaAs and InP ideallaser materials.
“People have tried unsuccess-fully to get electrically pumpedlaser emission from silicon for 15to 20 years,” said Michel. “Therehave been optically pumped
Raman lasers based on silicon(such as those developed by Intel)but electrical pumping has not yetbeen achieved.”
The research partners are con-sidering two approaches to makean electrically pumped silicon laser.The first is to use nanocrystallinesilicon in combination with erbiumto produce a 1550 nm source. Thiswill be based in a dielectric matrixsuch as SiO2 or Si3N4.
According to Michel, such an
environment can be an efficientsensitizer for erbium. “We trap elec-tron-hole pairs in the nanocrystal,”he explained. “Upon recombina-tion, the energy will be transferredefficiently to an erbium ion that willthen emit light at 1550 nm. A keyis to use optical resonators toenhance the light emission. The bigquestion is whether we can achievesuccessful resonator emission atroom temperature.”
The second approach is to use agermanium layer deposited on sili-con as the active laser material. Inthis case, the germanium is modi-fied to act as a direct bandgap semi-conductor, which could create ahigh-power light source in the mil-liwatt range. Michel says that anadvantage of this approach is thatthe device could be integrated intoa fibre-optic network.
“Either way, these devices will beintegrated into a CMOS process,”concluded Michel. “We want tointegrate these optical devices onthe microchip – we want to be ableto make millions of them.”
Silicon team: left to right (front) LionelKimerling, Gernot Pomrenke, RichardSoref, Michal Lipson and Dennis Prather;(back) Harry Atwater, Philippe Fauchet,Tom Koch and Jurgen Michel, MIT.
Osram Opto Semiconductors hasannounced plans to intensify itsresearch and development workon organic LEDs (OLEDs) with theaim of applying this technology togeneral illumination, while at thesame time expanding its existingbusiness in OLED displays.
Today, OLEDs are typicallybeing used in the displays ofmobile-phone handsets and MP3players, but white OLEDs are alsobeing developed for interior light-ing applications.
Initial research findings indicatethat Osram’s white OLEDs canachieve a luminous efficacy of up
to 25 lm/W. For general lightingapplications, this places Osram’sdevices ahead of conventionallight bulbs (typically 12 lm/W)and almost on a par with halogenlamps (20–26 lm/W).
While Osram Opto continues todevelop polymer-based solutionsfor displays, it is now also focusingon small-molecule technology forillumination applications.
Research and developmentefforts in Regensburg, Germany,will focus on the design and imple-mentation of specific device archi-tectures for OLEDs, as well asincreasing their efficiency and lifes-pan, and also scaling the devices tolarger areas. The company is alsoestablishing the right conditions for
high-volume production.OLEDs can be constructed as
extremely thin light sources withlarge surface areas and could beused for signage and informationsystems. In the medium term,OLEDs are likely to be produced ontransparent, contoured and flexi-ble substrates and may even oneday be used as illuminated wallpa-per or for low-profile high-defini-tion wall-mounted screens.
Osram is taking part in theOLLA project (Organic LEDs forICT & Lighting Applications),which has been organized by theEuropean Union, and in the OLEDInitiative 2015 overseen by theGerman Federal Ministry of Edu-cation and Research.
Osram increasesits OLED research
OLEDS
Osram is intensifying its research anddevelopment work on OLEDs with theaim of applying the technology togeneral illumination.
Osr
am O
pto
Sem
icon
duct
ors
MIT
OLESep06Newsp05-13 22/8/06 13:38 Page 5
Solar concentrator start-up nets $25m funding
NEWSBUSINESS
PHOTOVOLTAICS
6 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
By Michael HatcherSolFocus, a start-up companybased at the Palo Alto ResearchCenter near San Francisco, US, hasagreed a $25 m (719 m) equitydeal that will secure a supply ofmultijunction solar cells.
The deal with New EnterpriseAssociates (NEA) and seed investorsNGEN Partners and YellowstoneCapital is part of a series A finan-cing round that SolFocus hopes toclose at $32 m.
“The strong financial supportand world-class team at NEA willallow us to rapidly build out our10 MW pilot production line,” saidSolFocus CEO Gary Conley. Con-ley’s technology is based on mir-rors that concentrate sunlight ontotiny triple-junction solar cells thatare based on compound materials.
As well as guaranteeing a long-term supply of the high-efficiencycells, which employ GaAs alloysand germanium substrates, thecash will be used to expand the Sol-Focus team, accelerate reliability
testing and enable pilot productionto begin.
The new SolFocus team willinclude technical expertise fromBell Laboratories legend and Nobellaureate Arno Penzias, who joinsas part of the company’s technicaladvisory board. Penzias was a keymember of the research team thatdiscovered the cosmic microwave
background – a hugely significantscientific breakthrough that con-firmed the Big Bang theory.
The equity deal is yet anothersign that the photovoltaics businessis looking away from silicon andtowards compound semiconduc-tors as a key technology for utility-scale, high-efficiency solar power.
The shortage of polysilicon mat-erial and the efficiency limits of sil-icon-based solar panels means thatcommercial terrestrial applicationsare now a very real possibility.● As OLE went to press, Boeing saidthat it has agreed to supply500 000 concentrator solar-cellassemblies to Solar Systems, anAustralian producer of renewableenergy. The assemblies, manufac-tured by Boeing subsidiary Spec-trolab, will be capable of generatingmore than 11 MW of electricity –enough to power 3500 homes.
Michael Hatcher is editor ofCompound Semiconductor(www.compoundsemiconductor.net).
BAC K L I G H T I N G
Schott has begun operating the firstof nine new melting tanks locatedat its Valasské Mezirící facility in theCzech Republic. The tanks are usedin the manufacture of glass tubesfor monitor backlighting. Schott isinvesting a double-digit million eurosum in expanding the site and 100new jobs will result. At the sametime, the move will also help securejobs in Germany that fall under thisproduct segment.
OLEDS
Cambridge Display Technology(CDT), UK, has entered newgeographical territory with the saleof inkjet printing equipment to theGenius Institute of Technology inBrazil. The Institute will use theequipment to develop its expertisein inkjet printing for polymer-organic light-emitting diodetechnology. CDT says that its Litrex70 printer is capable of printing onsubstrates up to 200 mm2 at up to120 pixels per inch.
LI Q U I D L E N S E S
Varioptic, a French developer ofliquid lenses, is to build the world’sfirst mass production line for liquidlenses with Creative Sensor ofTaiwan. The facility will be installedat Creative Sensor’s manufacturingsite in Wuxi, China, and will beginoperation by the end of 2006.Initially, Varioptic hopes to produce100 000 liquid lenses per month,ramping to higher volumes in2007. Back in April, it introducedthe industry’s first multi-megapixelautofocus liquid lens for cameraphones.
IN BRIEF
Until now, commercial deployment ofmulti-junction solar cells based oncompound semiconducting material hasbeen restricted to satellites.
Spec
trol
ab,
US
Synova, a Swiss developer ofwater-jet-guided lasers, hassecured CHF10 m (76.3 m) for thedevelopment of internationalmicromachining centres. Accord-ing to the firm, the new funds wereput up largely by Swiss banks.
With more than 50 full-produc-
tion machines at 30 different cus-tomer sites, the company says thatit is committed to developing local-ized sites that support its LaserMicroJet systems.
“This funding comes at a pivotaltime for Synova,” said its CEO,Bernold Richerzhagen. “Our micro-
machining centres will allow us toserve our global customer base aswe further penetrate not only thesemiconductor market, but alsoburgeoning, precision-centric sec-tors such as print-head MEMS, harddisk drives and OLEDs.”
Synova’s first centre, serving theSilicon Valley area, US, is due toopen in January 2007.
Synova gets CHF10m to drive expansion LASER CUTTING
OLESep06Newsp05-13 22/8/06 10:55 Page 6
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Light Blue Optics receives$2.5m to expand business
NEWSBUSINESS
MINI-PROJECTORS
8 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
L E N S T E S T I N G S Y S T E M S www.image-science.co.uk
MTF - EFL Distortion - Field Curvature
Light Blue Optics (LBO), Cambridge,UK, a developer of miniature pro-jection technology systems, hasbeen awarded $2.5 m (71.9 m) inseed funding. Venture capital firm3i led the round, which alsoincluded investment from NESTA,the Cambridge Capital Group andlocal “business angels”.
LBO says that the market couldbe worth an estimated 60 millionunit sales per year by 2010.Founded in 2004, the companyhas developed a novel, patentedlaser projection technology, calledPVPro, which uses laser-lightsources and diffractive techniques.
Prototypes have been developedwhich occupy just 60 cm3, aboutthe size of a mobile phone. Thecompany claims that its technol-ogy will power a new generation ofcompact, efficient and robust digi-tal projectors.
“We offer an elegant solutionthat meets the needs of a rapidl ygrowing market,” explained Nic
Lawrence, co-founder of the com-pany. “PVPro has enormouspotential in a range of businessand consumer applications suchas stand-alone projectors, gamesconsoles, mobile phones, mediaplayers and head-up displays.”
The new investment will enableLBO to accelerate its product devel-opment plans by expanding itsinternal engineering team andbuilding relationships with its
strategic customers and develop-ment partners.
“We are very excited to be back-ing LBO. The business has the fea-tures we look for in an early-stagestart-up, including a talented andcreative technical team, world-class technology and large marketopportunity,” said Laurence Gar-rett, 3i partner. “At 3i, we prideourselves on investing in cutting-edge early-stage technology com-panies that have the potential to bemarket leaders.”
3i has worked closely with LBOduring the course of the invest-ment process and, as well as pro-viding a source of funding, hashelped to strengthen the com-pany’s management team.
Chris Harris, formerly presidentof Plasmon, US, and currently act-ing as the 3i “entrepreneur-in-res-idence”, has been working closelywith LBO over the past few monthsand now joins the company asinterim CEO.
LIBSOcean Optics, a manufacturer ofminiature fibre-optic spectrometers,is to extend its collaboration withNew Wave Research, a producer ofhigh-performance, compact lasersystems and modules. The twocompanies have formed apartnership to develop andmanufacture a series of advancedlaser-induced breakdownspectroscopy (LIBS) productsfollowing their successfulcollaboration on a high-speed,turnkey LIBS system known as LIBS-ELITE. The set-up incorporatesOcean Optics’ high-resolution fibre-optic spectrometers and New WaveResearch’s laser-ablation platform.
LOW-T E M P E R AT U R E SYS T E M S
Janis Research Company, US, hasappointed Elliot Scientific todistribute its full range of cryogenicequipment in the UK and Ireland.Janis has supplied cryogenicequipment for research,characterization and industrialapplications since 1961.
RE M O T E S E N S I N G
Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD),a supplier of field-portablespectrometers andspectroradiometers, has created asupport programme for NorthAmerican researchers in the areasof remote sensing and fieldspectroscopy. The Alexander GoetzInstrument Support Program offerstemporary use of ASD fieldinstruments for graduate-levelresearch, as well as up to $500(7390) towards the publication ofany resulting findings.
IN BRIEF
Bigger picture: Light Blue Optics isexpecting the market for miniatureprojectors to escalate within five years.
Cascade Technologies, Stirling, UK,developer of quantum cascadelaser systems for sensing appli-cations, has secured an additional£2.5 m (73.7 m) in funding todevelop market opportunities.
Braveheart Ventures led thefunding round by investing £1 m,
alongside the Scottish EnterpriseScottish Co-investment Fund.Bank of Scotland Corporate’sGrowth Equity team and Partner-ships UK both invested £750 000,with accountants Ernst and Youngacting as advisers in the deal.
Cascade claims to have devel-oped and patented the world’s firstreal-time technology for the detec-tion of gas, emissions and explo-
sives through the use of quantumcascade lasers. The technologyoffers previously unprecedentedlevels of sensitivity and the abilityto quickly analyse complex gases.
Thanks to the new investment,Cascade will create up to 14 newjobs in the coming year at its newsite in the Stirling University Inno-vation Park. The company cur-rently employs 12 people.
Cascade laser firmbags more funding
QUANTUM CASCADE LASERS
Ligh
t B
lue
Opt
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OLESep06Newsp05-13 22/8/06 13:33 Page 8
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Is consolidation the answer?
NEWSANALYSIS
INDUSTRY CONSOLIDATION
10 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
How many times have you heardthat the photonics industry needsto consolidate? Certainly you willhave heard it more often than callsfor further fragmentation. The callfor consolidation is repeated sooften, it is automatically taken forgranted. Yet I wonder, what is sogood about it?
Myths of economies of scaleIndustry consolidation usuallymeans reducing the number ofsuppliers as companies merge orexit the market. Revenues arespread over fewer suppliers, whospread their fixed costs over largervolumes. This means better mar-gins, which in turn could make anunprofitable company profitable.
This would be just the solutionfor the telecoms components mar-ket, for example. There, revenuesare growing but suppliers are stilllosing money, because their costsstill exceed their revenues.
Unfortunately, however, muchof the photonics industry is funda-mentally fragmented. Even a smallmanufacturer is able to produceenough chips to feed the entireindustry, but the volumes are sim-ply too small to achieve anyeconomies of scale. It is hard tomake a profit if the market is madeup of niches, but your company ispositioned for high volumes.
This fragmentation actuallyworks in favour of many compan-ies that have reasonable expecta-tions. They get by with carefulcontrol of their finances, provid-ing specialized products to narrowmarkets or to partners, oftencharging high margins for them.There are many companies likethis. Applied Optoelectronics,Hamamatsu Photonics, Lasertel,Barr Associates, DALSA, VLOC(II–VI) and OCP are just a fewexamples of survivors that operateusing this approach.
The “standard” solutionIf consolidation alone is not theanswer, then what is? Some saythat the answer is to generate stan-dards that can reduce a supplier’smanufacturing costs. Some or all ofthe savings would then be passedonto the customers, who (thethinking goes) could create newapplications, generate more vol-ume and so on. This isn’t the case.
What happens is that the stan-dard is the first step that allows thecustomer to commoditize theparts that do not differentiate theirown systems. Customers lovestandards because they can playthe suppliers off against eachother, squeeze the margin fromthem and keep it for themselves.
This is what has happened inhigh-volume consumer appli-cations. LEDs, diode lasers for CDand DVD players, image sensors forcamera phones, and the killerapplication of them all – liquidcrystal and other displays – are allmanufactured in truly volumequantities. The very nature of
these large-volume consumer mar-kets means that the price of thebasic device must be low, marginsare thin and a few large playerseventually dominate these seg-ments, with much or all of theirproduction in Asia.
But industrial applications aredifferent. They are much morediverse, supporting a wide array ofsophisticated and conservative cus-tomers, who assemble the parts forexpensive capital equipment. Vol-umes are low and product cyclesare long. These customers are inter-ested in standards as a way to lowerthe prices that they pay for compo-nents, but they are also willing topay for customized performance todifferentiate their systems.
Myths of economies of scopeA few years ago there was a greatdeal of talk in the telecoms sectorabout the “one-stop shop”. Theidea was that a company thatoffered a broad product line couldbundle customer orders and win alarge part of the business. In
return, some economies would begained from consolidating salesand marketing. Customers wouldalso benefit from having fewer sup-pliers to qualify and manage.
The trouble is that the productsare diverse and technical. Theremay only be a few suppliers in anyone niche that are shipping prod-ucts. Each company can thereforeproudly point to a few areas whereit has leading market share. Butthere are so many small markets. Itis unlikely that one company hasthe technical wherewithal to dom-inate many niches. It is as likelythat there is a niche player thatexcels in each category and spoilsthe market for a more diversifiedcompany. Major shows like Pho-tonics West and OFC are full ofthese niche survivors, who showup year in, year out.
What the niche player has toavoid is putting all of its eggs inone basket and spending care-lessly. The large diversified playerhas deeper pockets and canrecover from a few falls – the nicheplayer cannot.
Fragmentation can be goodOne can argue that the fragmentedmarket has been good for manyphotonics companies, comparedwith the alternative. For example,the industrial laser segment isgrowing at a healthy 14% per yearand the market has doubled since1997. New applications appearthat support steady growth. Pricesdecline gradually but steadily as aresult of the normal maturingmar-ket process. The highly fragmentednature of the business means thatsuppliers can get reasonable mar-gins. Consequently, it supportshundreds of players. For example,we know of over 20 suppliers thatfabricate high-power laser diodes.
Could consolidation gain econ-omies to reduce the costs enough
Tom Hausken of Strategies Unlimited believes that the photonics industry is fundamentally fragmented.Here, he outlines the problems facing a market full of niche players and offers his opinions on the future.
Full of niche players: Hausken warns that companies serving a niche area of themarket cannot afford any slip-ups. A larger, diversified company has more money atits disposal and can recover from a mistake – a niche player cannot.
OLESep06Newsp05-13 22/8/06 11:00 Page 10
NEWSANALYSIS
11OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
to increase volume in these mar-kets substantially? In our surveyswe have not identified a plausibleexample where it could, apart fromin consumer applications. Instead,slow but steady wins the race.
Now consider the telecomsindustry. I challenge anyone toname a telecoms application thatis not happening because the priceof the photonics components is toohigh. Of course, we have all heardthat the components must comedown in cost, but there is muchmore to it than that.
First, there is the cost of the elec-tronics, software and labour (suchas digging trenches and makingtruck rolls). Even more importantis the uncertain demand for theservices that photonics can enable.There must be demand for the ser-vices to justify the cost. Despitewhat they say “if you build it, theywill come” it takes time for thatdemand to appear.
Slow path to consolidation Over time, it is likely that theindustry will drift towards someconsolidation, as any maturingindustry does. For example, thecollapse of the telecoms marketaccelerated the consolidation of
the carriers, and that consolida-tion is now reaching the systemvendors. The recent merger ofAlcatel and Lucent Technologies isa prominent example. One wouldexpect the component suppliers toconsolidate next. Up until now
they have mostly consolidatedonly their internal operations.
The consolidation is likely tohappen first along more standard-ized volume products. The largerplayers will then narrow the defin-ition of the market to include onlythese prominent products. Or, theywill diversify to greener pastures,mutate, or disappear altogetherfrom the market.
Meanwhile, the many hopelesslylow-volume products get marginal-ized to the niche players, many ofwhom will survive and even pros-per from the fragmentation thatremains fundamental to the indus-try. And that can be a good thing.
Tom Hausken is director of marketresearch in optical components atStrategies Unlimited. For moreinformation about the firms range ofmarket reports and newsletters forthe optoelectronics market, seehttp://su. pennnet.com.
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The nature of high-volume consumer applications such as displays means thatmargins are thin and a few large players end up dominating the market.
OLESep06Newsp05-13 22/8/06 10:56 Page 11
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OLESepAdverts12 15/8/06 14:36 Page 1
Something for everyone
NEWSEDITORIAL
13OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Welcome to the September issue of OLE. Asyou will see from the contents page, thisbumper issue includes articles coveringeverything from optical coherencetomography and photosensitive fibrestructures to laser-based television andmarket analysis. We always try to offer abroad cross-section of research being carriedout in both academia and industry and Ihope that you will agree that this issue offerssomething for everyone.
How often have you heard at conferencesand meetings that the photonics industry isfragmented and needs to consolidate? Icertainly find that it is a recurring topic ofconversation. Starting on p10, Tom Hauskenfrom market analyst Strategies Unlimitedsteps up to give us his thoughts on theconsolidation question.
Further market analysis can be found onpp23 and 25 as Arnold Mayer tells OLE abouthis optimistic forecast for the laser materialsprocessing systems market. With the marketnow having come back to the same levels asthe boom time of 2000, Mayer believes thatdouble-digit growth is now on the cardsthrough to 2010.
Another market that is on the up is laser-based television. One company leading theway is Novalux of the US, which is developinga low-cost platform based on high-powersurface-emitting diode lasers called Necsel.According to Novalux, Necsel allow efficientfrequency doubling into the red, green andblue and have the potential to achieve thenecessary price and performancerequirements for high-volume applications.
You may also be wondering what thepicture on the front cover shows. The answeris just one of the photosensitive fibrestructures that are being developed in the USby Yoel Fink and his group at MIT (seepp30–31). Fink and colleagues say that thesefibres provide access to optical information onunprecedented length and volume scales.What’s more, by changing the chemicalcomposition of the fibres, the structures canbe made to detect heat, vibrations and evenspecific chemical components.
Speaking on behalf of the editorial team, Ican say that we have thoroughly enjoyedputting this issue together and learning aboutthe emerging technologies that we havetouched on. I hope you enjoy the issue too.
Jacqueline Hewett, editorE-mail: [email protected]
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Cell-piercing laser lets DNA in
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS 15 R&D 19 PATENTS 20
15OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
BIOLOGY
By Jacqueline HewettA femtosecond laser is an ideal toolfor piercing a hole in a cell andallowing molecules such as DNAto enter, according to a team fromSt Andrews University, UK. Havingtested the method on some 4000Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)cells, the team believes that it hascome up with a set of conditionsthat offer the maximum chance ofsuccess (Optics Express 14 7125).
The art of using a laser to make ahole or pore in a cell membrane iscalled photoporation. This createsan opportunity for DNA to enter thecell before the pore closes and thecell heals itself. If the DNA is thentranscribed and translated into aprotein, a process known as opticaltransfection is said to have occurred.
Biologists are becoming increas-ingly interested in photoporationas this single-cell transfectionmethod offers a number of advan-tages over established techniques.For example, optical transfectionprovides the ability to treat individ-ual cells, using a non-contactapproach under sterile conditions.
“We have studied more cellsthan ever before to provide a
detailed analysis of the optimumlaser fluence required, the truetransfection efficiency and the cel-lular viability of the technique,”researcher Ben Agate told OLE.“We have provided a realistic feelfor the usefulness of femtosecondoptical transfection in comparisonto other techniques. Cells destroyedor irreversibly damaged wereincluded in the data.”
Agate and colleague DavidStevenson found that the transfec-tion efficiency was strongly depen-dent on the laser fluence and at
1.2 µJ/cm2 the average transfec-tion efficiency was 50 ± 10%.
The duo used an inverted opti-cal microscope equipped with a1.5 W Ti:sapphire laser operatingat 800 nm and emitting 120 fspulses at a repetition rate of 80MHz.The laser’s output was passedthrough a variable neutral densityfilter to control its intensity and abeam shutter to provide milli-second exposure times.
Having expanded the beam tofill the microscope’s objective lens,it was then focused to a spot of
0.5 µm diameter and a translationstage positioned the cells in turn.
Crucially, the cells were immersedin a solution containing plasmidDNA encoding for green fluorescentprotein (GFP). Forty eight hoursafter photoporation, fluorescencemicroscopy was used to calculatethe transfection efficiency – thenumber of cells successfully trans-fected and expressing GFP divided bythe number of cells photoporated.
In their extensive six-monthstudy, Agate and Stevenson variedthe laser power from 50to225mWand the shutter times from 10 to250ms. “A pore diameter of 1–2µm,opening and closing within a fewtens of milliseconds is optimal foroptical transfection using femto-second pulses at megahertz repeti-tion rates,” said Agate.
The team has now received abasic technology grant fromResearch Councils UK to expandits research. “The efficiency offemtosecond optical transfection isaround 50%, which is more thanenough for most applications,”said Agate. “This techniquepromises to be just as effective withhuman cells.”
By Belle DuméUS scientists claim to have devel-oped the first hand-held opticalscanner that can be used for theearly detection of breast cancer.The device, made by BrittonChance of the University of Penn-sylvania and colleagues, is inten-ded to complement traditionalbreast-screening methods, such asmammography, and could be com-mercially available within the nextfew years (Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77064301).
It is now thought that 1 in 10women will develop breast cancer at
some point in their lives. Highly effi-cient scanning techniques, such asmammography, are already avail-able, but these can be uncomfort-able and not everyone has access tothem. A portable device that bothpatients and doctors could usewould overcome these problemswhile also enabling women at highrisk of contracting the disease toexamine themselves regularly.
The device measures approxi-mately 10×10cm and uses a circuitcontaining two LEDs, one diode,amplifiers and a microchip. TheLEDs emit light between 650 and
900 nm and because water and fatdo not absorb much light at thesewavelengths, the light is able to pen-etrate as deep as 5cm into the tissue.
The device can detect a growingtumour by changes to the absorbedsignal: when the scanner passesover the tumour, more light isabsorbed because there are moreblood vessels in growing tumoursthan in surrounding healthy tis-sue. The scanner can also be con-nected to an audio device so that itemits a loud beeping noise when itreaches a tumour and a quieterone when it passes over healthy tis-sue. This information can be savedon the microchip.
The device has already per-formed well in a small preclinicaltrial of 100 women, correctly
detecting cancer in 92% of thepatients. This is comparable to MRIand better than mammograms,say the researchers.
However, unlike mammogra-phy, and other such techniquesthat detect anatomical changes,the scanner detects physiologicalchanges that occur in the earlieststages of breast cancer. The deviceis also suitable for women under40, who have denser tissue that isdifficult to penetrate using con-ventional techniques.
The team is now working onsecuring funding to develop a clini-cal prototype and hopes to commer-cialize the device within three years.
Belle Dumé is a contributing editoron http://medicalphysicsweb.org.
Optical scanner seeksout breast tumours
SCREENING
Representative images at 48 h of selected CHO cells optically transfected with GFP,highlighting the specificity of the technique. Cells are co-stained with the bluenuclear dye, DAPI. The blue nuclei surrounding the green targeted cells representcells that have not been transfected: (a) ×10 magnification; (b) ×60 magnification.
a b
Ben
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OLESep06TECHNOLOGYp15-20 22/8/06 13:45 Page 15
Polymer mirrors set for space test
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS
MIRRORS
16 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Researchers in the US have devel-oped piezoelectric polymer filmsthat could one day serve as ultra-light mirrors for space telescopes.The team, based at SandiaNational Laboratories, is nowplanning to send the polymers intoorbit for testing onboard the Inter-national Space Station (ISS).
“Traditional mirrors havereached their limits in terms ofweight and size. Polymer filmswould be a lot lighter, allowing forlarger objects and different adap-tive optics approaches,” MatCelina, head of the research teamat Sandia, explained to OLE. “Thisis the first time that these poly-mers will be tested in an actualspace environment.”
The team has developed filmsfrom a variety of polymers based
on polyvinylidene fluoride, whichexhibit a strong piezoelectricresponse. This would allow thefocal length of the mirrors to beadjusted as the polymers expandand change shape when an elec-tric field is applied.
However, these polymer mater-ials degrade quickly in a low earthorbit, where they are exposed toatomic oxygen, solar UV andrepeated extreme temperaturevariations. Over the past threeyears, the researchers have tried to
understand how the polymersdegrade and to identify trends intheir performance loss, which hasenabled them to rate the materialsbased on their chemical and micro-structural make-up.
The most promising polymershave now been placed in an experi-mental holder that astronauts willattach to the outside of the ISS in2007. “Only a validation experi-ment in the real space environmentwill provide the needed perfor-mance feedback,” said Celina.
The samples should be returnedin either late 2007 or early 2008.“Samples will then be evaluatedbased on retention of piezo fea-tures, surface degradation, mor-phology changes and generaldamage to the polymers,” com-mented Celina.
A miniature linear motor devel-oped in the US is shaping up to be abig hit with camera-phone makersas the industry switches from fixedoptics to moving lenses. Based on avibrating nut and threaded rod,New Scale Technologies’ compactmechanism allows engineers toshrink optical zoom modules into a10×10×20 mm-sized package.
“Our greatest challenge is keep-ing up with the market’s demandfor smaller and smaller compo-nents,” New Scale’s president David
Henderson told OLE. “In the pasttwo years, we have reduced themotor’s diameter by a factor of fiveand its length by a factor of three.”
Today, the motor measures just1.55×1.55×6.00 mm and has aresolution of 0.50 µm and a strokeof 10 mm. Dubbed SQUIGGLE, theunit can be driven at speeds of up to5mm/s and suits battery operation.According to the firm, the motor’ssimple design helps to eliminatearound 90% of the parts found in aclassic camera mechanism, such as
gears, cams, barrels and levers.At the heart of the motor is a
miniature nut that surrounds a
threaded rod. Four piezoelectricplates, arranged in pairs, intermit-tently bend the nut and cause therod to advance and retract withinthe device. Plates can be driven byeither sinusoidal or square wave-forms (40–200 kHz). Applying apositive 90º phase shift betweenthe pairs of plates produces for-ward movement and a negative90º phase shift drives the rod in theopposite direction.
“Our newest and smallest motoris at the right size for some high-vol-ume applications,” explained Hen-derson. “The need for autofocusand optical zoom in mobile-phonecameras has created a new marketfor one billion motors per year.”
Tiny motor shakes upcamera-phone market
LINEAR MOTORS
Mat Celina holds the piezoelectric polymer films that will be tested on the ISS.
Fingertip sized: New Scale’s ultrasoniclead screw SQUIGGLE motor measuresjust 1.55×1.55×6.00 mm.
New
Sca
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OLESep06TECHNOLOGYp15-20 22/8/06 13:43 Page 16
Quantum dots improve night vision
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS
PHOTODETECTORS
17OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Researchers at the University ofToronto have used a wet semicon-ductor to produce photodetectorsthat they say are 10 times moreresponsive to infrared light thanthe sensors currently used in mili-tary night vision and biomedicalimaging (Nature 442 180).
“Our technology provides alower-cost alternative to achievingultrasensitive infrared photodetec-tion for night vision imaging,” TedSargent, group leader at Toronto’sDepartment of Electrical and Com-puter Engineering, told OLE. “So farwe have shown ultrasensitive pho-todetection across the visible andout to approximately 1.4 µm. It isnow clear that solution-processedelectronics can combine outstand-ing performance with low cost.”
The researchers made the detec-tors in a single solution-processingstep. This involved making a solu-tion of PbS semiconductor nano-
particles in extra-pure oleic acid, themain ingredient in olive oil. A dropof the solution was then spin-coatedonto a glass slide that was pre-pat-terned with an array of interdigi-tated gold electrodes each 100 nmin height and separated by 5µm.
After placing the film in a sol-vent for two hours, and then allow-
ing it to evaporate, the team wasleft with a 800 nm-thick layer oflight-sensitive nanoparticles. Sar-gent and colleagues found that theresulting solution-processed pho-todetector had a sensitivity in theregion of 1013 jones, comparedwith around 1012 jones for epitax-ial InGaAs photodetectors operat-
ing at room temperature. According to Sargent, such
solution-based processing couldalso have applications in medicalimaging, environmental monitor-ing and fibre-optic communica-tions. This is due to the limitedphotosensitivity of silicon, whichdeteriorates from 800 nm andends abruptly at 1100 nm, and thecost of semiconductors such asInGaAs. In addition, the teamclaims that, in principle, the ideacould be extended to 2 µm usingthe current materials system.
Night vision is made possible byusing a focal-plane array of pho-todetectors that are sensitive tolight in the near-infrared from 1.3to 1.8 µm.
Today’s night-vision camerasrely on expensive InGaAs-basedsensor chips, which mean thatnight-vision cameras typically costthousands of dollars.
Conventional needle syringes couldbe on the way out if a “smart” hypo-dermic needle made from opticalfibre takes off. Developed by a teamfrom Polytechnique de Montreal,Canada, the porous double-coredevice can perform both sensingand drug-delivery roles.
What’s more, the fibre is said tobe easy to recycle thanks to itsbiodegradable properties, a usefulfeature when you consider that bil-lions of needle syringes are dis-
posed of every year.Made from commercially avail-
able cellulose butyrate, the fibreconsists of a 150µm diameter innercore surrounded by a 450µm outercore. The inner core allows laserpulses to be delivered to the target,while the outer core can be used tocollect reflected light for analysis.
“As with most polymers, trans-mission is good in the visible tonear-infrared with multiple absorp-tion peaks in the mid-infrared,”
Maksim Skorobogatiy of Polytech-nique de Montreal’s Complex Pho-tonic Structures and Processesgroup told OLE. “Preliminary datashow that side-scattering domi-nates transmission loss on the orderof a fraction of a dB/cm.” Assum-ing that all of the power loss goesdirectly into heating, Skorobogatiybelieves that the fibre could have apower capacity of several watts.
The fibre can also be impreg-nated with pharmaceutical com-pounds for release during treatmentand gaps within the microstruc-tured device provide a way to
transfer fluids.The team uses hydroxypropyl
cellulose powder to support thefibre’s inner and outer cores.Because the melting point of thepowder is higher than the meltingpoint of the fibre, the particlesretain their powder state duringthe 180 °C drawing process. Theresulting internal support struc-ture is said to be highly porous.
Skorobogatiy and his colleaguesare now looking for partners tocommercialize the technologywith the option of sharing intellec-tual property as well as licensing.
Biodegradable fibre could be idealreplacement for hypodermic needles
MEDICINE
High resolution TEM image of several PbS nanocrystals (left) and a single PbSnanocrystal (right), revealing the perfect crystallographic structure of thenanocrystal. The inset picture (top right) demonstrates the X-ray diffraction pattern.
Ted
Sarg
ent
OLESep06TECHNOLOGYp15-20 22/8/06 11:09 Page 17
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OLESepAdHamamatsu18 22/8/06 11:30 Page 1
Coherent superpositiongives lensless focusing
TECHNOLOGYR&D
SUPERPOSITION
19OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
A team from MIT, US, has focused15 laser beams down to a 180 nmdiameter spot without using a lens.Known as coherent superposition,the technique could be ideal for usein the X-ray, ultraviolet andinfrared regions of the spectrumwhere focusing with a lens can bedifficult or even impossible (Appl.Phys. Lett. 88 261107).
“The approach can be imple-mented entirely using reflectiveelements and does not require sub-wavelength accuracy in the con-struction of the apparatus,” saidthe authors in their paper.
Using a series of adjustableplane mirrors, the team varied thephase and amplitude of a pattern(see image right) of interferingbeams to recreate the intensity dis-tribution of a focused beam. Themethod follows from the principlethat a focused beam can be synthe-sized directly from its angular spec-trum of plane waves.
In their proof-of-concept experi-ment, the scientists converted theexpanded linearly polarized beamof an argon-ion laser emitting at488 nm into a converging circularcone of 15 beams. Phase actuatorswithin each beam path consistedof a flat mirror glued to a flexuremount and were driven by off-the-shelf piezostacks.
“The most difficult challengewas getting the phases of the laserbeams precisely aligned at thefocal point,” Stanley Hong of
MIT’s Department of ElectricalEngineering and Computer Sci-ence told OLE.
To solve the problem Hong andhis colleagues found a way of esti-mating the relative beam phasesfrom the intensity distributiongenerated by the apparatus.
To measure the intensity distri-bution, the researchers projectedthe cone of beams through a glasscover slip onto the focal plane of a160×/1.4NA oil-immersion micro-scope objective and recorded themagnified image on a CCD.
The researchers managed totune the apparatus to approximatethe intensity distribution of zero-and first-order Bessel beams.
“We have been considering usingour technique for fluorescencemicroscopy, for which argon lasersare ideal light sources,” revealedHong. “Other applications includeoptical trapping, X-ray microscopy,maskless lithography and semicon-ductor metrology.”
Back in the lab, the group isincreasing the power density andmechanical stability of its set-up.
SO U RC E S
Antimonide could be an idealmaterial for use in vertical external-cavity surface-emitting lasersoperating at 2 µm, according to ateam of researchers from TampereUniversity of Technology, Finland,and the University of Würzburg,Germany (Optics Express 14 6479).
The researchers fabricated a gainmaterial consisting of 15 GaInSbquantum wells placed within a 3GaSb cavity. This was grown on topof an 18-pair AlAsSb/GaSb Braggreflector. A transparent diamondheat spreader was bonded onto thetop of the structure to providethermal management. When cooledto 5 °C, the laser emitted up to 1 Wof optical power.
SE N S O R S
Researchers at the universities ofMissouri-Columbia and California(San Diego), both in the US, havedemonstrated that the covalentattachment of a molecular rotor tothe surface of an optical fibreproduces a fluorescent viscositysensor (Optics Letters 31 2529).
According to the team, theimmobilized molecular rotors retaintheir viscosity-dependentfluorescent quantum yield, makingtheir behaviour similar to thatobserved for solubilized rotors withsimilar sensitivity.
“This behaviour gives rise to anew generation of solid-statefluorescence-based viscositysensors with potential applicationsin remote sensing and formeasuring viscosity withoutcontaminating the sample,” saidMark Haidekker and colleagues.
JOURNAL WATCH
Superposition set-up: more than 60 flat mirrors convert an expanded beam of laserlight into a converging cone of 15 beams. Applications for the technique includemicroscopy, maskless lithography, semiconductor metrology and optical trapping.
MIT
, U
S
OLESep06TECHNOLOGYp15-20 22/8/06 13:42 Page 19
TECHNOLOGYR&D/PATENTS
20 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
SETTLEMENTColumbia University professorsettles lawsuit with Toyoda Gosei Columbia University professor Gertrude Neumarkand LED manufacturer Toyoda Gosei have ended apatent-infringement lawsuit through an out-of-courtsettlement. The academic, who launched her claimagainst the Japanese company and its NorthAmerican subsidiary just over one year ago, allegedthat two of her US patents on wide-bandgapsemiconductor technology had been infringed.
According to Neumark’s lawyers at SidleyAustin, the professor has now granted rightsallowing Toyoda Gosei to manufacture, import andsell LEDs and laser diodes based on the methodsoutlined in US patent numbers 4,904,618 and5,252,499.
Although Toyoda’s LEDs are generally based onIII-nitride material, the two patents in question arefocused mainly on II-VI components such as ZnSeor ZnTe. Toyoda had previously rubbished theprofessor’s claims, saying that Neumark’s patentswere invalid.
Peter Toren from Sidley Austin says that theterms of the settlement were confidential. He addsthat although the Toyoda case was now closed,Neumark has launched similar claims against
Cree, Lumileds and Osram. This might not be theend of the litigation. “Neumark is in the process ofanalysing whether other companies thatmanufacture and sell LEDs or laser diodes in theUS also infringe her patents,” Toren said.
LICENSING Coatings and inks experts teamup via non-exclusive licence DataLase of the UK (formerly SherwoodTechnology) is collaborating with Zeller+Gmelin, aGermany-based maker of UV speciality printinginks. The partnership will see Zeller+Gmelinmarketing a complete range of inks producedusing DataLase’s patented DataLase process via anon-exclusive licence agreement.
The agreement will also enable the German firmto develop the DataLase PACKMARK platform, alaser-reactive coating that changes colour when itinteracts with emission from a carbon dioxide laserfor coding and marking packaging materials.
New Scale licenses its SQUIGGLEmotor to Japanese firm TamronJapanese company Tamron has signed a licenceagreement with New Scale Technologies to use NewScale’s SQUIGGLE motors in its optical imaging
assemblies, which include digital still cameras,camcorders and mobile-phone cameras.
SQUIGGLE motors use ultrasonic vibrations tocontrol optical elements with greater force andprecision than is possible with conventionalelectromagnetic motors. Tamron is a leadingmanufacturer of high-precision optics and believesthat the SQUIGGLE motors will enable new formfactors that will set the company apart from itscompetition.
3M Precision Optics licenses prismtechnology to Unaxis OpticsUnaxis Optics, a manufacturer of projectiondisplay components, has signed a non-exclusivelicence agreement for Vikuiti TIR prisms made byUS firm 3M Precision Optics. The prisms are animportant component in compact light enginesthat exploit Texas Instruments’ Digital LightProcessing (DLP) technology for both front- andrear-screen projection displays.
Operationally, light enters and travels throughthe prism to illuminate the digital micromirrordevice (DMD) that is at the heart of the DLPtechnology. The image reflected off the DMD thenpasses through the TIR prism and is imaged ontothe screen using a projection lens.
PATENTS
To search for recently published applications, visit http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/ and http://ep.espacenet.com.
Researchers at the University ofWinsconsin-Madison, US, havedeveloped an artificial microlensthat can focus without the need forexternal control. According to theteam, the self-focusing lens could beused in imaging, displays and med-ical diagnostics (Nature 442 551).
“Our lens is unique since itautonomously refocuses withoutan external control system thatuses sensors and feedback systemsto tune the focal length,” HongruiJiang, the lead researcher, told OLE.
The microlens relies on stimuli-responsive hydrogels, which effect-ively sense the surrounding envi-ronmentand provide the actuationforce needed to adjust the curvatureof the liquid lens. Hydrogels arepolymers that can be tuned torespond to different kinds of stimuli,
such as acidity and temperature.In this case, the liquid lens con-
sisted of a water droplet in an aper-ture that is covered with a film ofoil. The curved water–oil interfaceacts as a lens with a focal lengththat depends on its curvature. Asthe hydrogels expand and contractin response to variations in tem-perature or acidity, they can beused to automatically adjust the
focal length of the liquid lens. The team says that the lens sys-
tem is easy and cheap to make andcan be constructed on a variety ofsurfaces. It is also versatile in termsof the lens’ shape, which can alsobe cylindrical.
According to Jiang, the lenseshave applications in medical diag-nostics and lab-on-chip technol-ogies, as well as being used as
simple sensors that give a directoptical output, a visible image orlight intensity.
“Flexible, versatile microima-ging systems are required in med-ical diagnostics,” he said. “Inaddition, the lens could advancelab-on-a-chip technologies, wherebench-top analysis systems need tobe shrunk onto tiny chips for faster,cheaper analysis.”
Although the lens was designedto respond to changes in tempera-ture and acidity, other hydrogelscould respond to different stimulisuch as light, electric fields and thepresence of antigens. “The ‘smart’attribute of the lens is versatile sinceit can be extended to a wide range ofchemical, biological and physicalparameters by simply patterningthe right hydrogel,” said Jiang.
Liquid lenses sense and self focusLIQUID LENSES
This shows a pair of pH-sensitivemicrolenses using two different pH-responsive hydrogels to monitor differentareas in space. Images from top tobottom correspond to time instants of 0,13, 30 and 56 s, respectively, after pH2.0 buffer replaces the initial pH 12.0buffer. Left column: DMAEMA hydrogel-based lens; right column: AA hydrogel-based lens. Each lens is 0.5 mm across.H
ongr
ui J
iang
and
Lia
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ong
OLESep06TECHNOLOGYp15-20 22/8/06 13:48 Page 20
Having recently established both polymer and micro-optics divisions and invested heavilyin new facilities, Jenoptik is repositioning itself to capitalize on demand for both customand mass-produced optical products. Matthew Peach visited Jena in eastern Germanyto interview two of the company’s directors about the reasons for the developments.
Jenoptik restructures anddebuts polymer division
INTERVIEW
21OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
In May, the Jenoptik group opened Europe’slargest dedicated plastic optics R&D andmanufacturing facility in Triptis, about20 km from the company’s historic base inJena, Germany. The 8000 m2 productionfacility is home to the new Jenoptik PolymerSystems (JPS) division as well as injectionmoulding machines, state-of-the-art coatingsystems, assembly and optics design tech-nologies (see OLE June p5).
Plastic optics are increasingly beingdeployed in medical equipment, cars, multi-media devices (such as webcams and cameraphones) and in industrial measurementtechnology and mechanical engineering. Inmedical technology, applications are mainlyin optoelectronic systems for single-use diag-nostic devices.
Other growing activities at Jenoptikinclude the newly formed 60-strong micro-optics division, which has recently acquiredUS-based MEMs Optical. Jena Optronik isalso a significant subsidiary specializing inspace, aerial optics equipment and softwarefor aerial analysis.
Elsewhere in the group, around 1200employees at Jenoptik’s Laser and Optics divi-sion are manufacturing primarily OEM lasercomponents and subsystems for a worldwidecustomer base. In 2005, this division reportedsales of approximately 7150 m and achieved
an operating result of nearly 715 m.In the laser field, Jenoptik concentrates on
new principles, such as high-performancediode and thin-disc lasers. Key applicationsare in materials processing and medical tech-nology. In the optics field, the group alsodevelops, produces and markets high-qualityoptical and micro-optical components madeof both glass and plastic.
OLE: How have you reshaped theJenoptik group to adapt tosignificant market changes?Alexander von Witzleben, managing direc-tor of Jenoptik: There has been a massivechange in the philosophy of the business. Inthe 1990s, we had a big problem in the coreof Jenoptik: basically our business was dying.There was some military-related business forhistoric reasons but there were hardly anynew sales. After the Internet and telecomsbubbles burst, I decided that we should sellour engineering division M&W Zahnder, atransaction that we closed in May.
How has the reorganization affectedJenoptik’s business and revenue?We have gone back to our optics roots.Between 1998 and 2006 the business wasshowing double-digit growth and there wasa good mix of clients. We have seen 7450 m
in sales for 2006. Jenoptik is growing organ-ically at about 10% per year and I expect tosee company sales hit 70.5 bn in 2007.
We have spent a lot of money recently andwe now have significant capacity in Ger-many, giving us a good base to sell more mat-erials. An increase in sales is the maindevelopment I wish to see rather than morefabrication facilities.
The photonics industry is growing by10–15% per year, depending on which sec-tor you look at. I believe that this trend will bestable for the next 5–10 years.
Which markets do you believe showthe most potential? There is significant growth in the semicon-ductor manufacturing sector, which includesdevelopments in microelectronics – althoughwe don’t touch the switching of optical tele-coms signals. By the semiconductor sector Imean areas such as DRAMs and PCB tech-nologies, which also require optics for theirdesign and associated production lithographydirect imaging machines as well as inspection.
We are also interested in displays, especiallywhere they require laser power and specializedoptics. Laser annealing is a key issue in the dis-plays sector – such as the cutting of glass bylasers. Another important related area is laserdicing of semiconductor materials.
Left: Wolfgang Müller, Andreas Fischer and Daniel Böhme, are all managing directors of JPS, and Alexander von Witzleben is chairman of the executive board ofJenoptik. Middle and right: polymer optics may be moulded into more complex shapes than glass, manufactured with mounts attached and mass-produced.
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OLESep06INTERVIEWp21-22 22/8/06 11:10 Page 21
What does Jenoptik feel about theemerging markets in China and India?All geographical market sectors are in oursights including the emerging markets.Sooner or later, China and India will have anequivalent rate of car and mobile-phoneownership to that of our local markets and inNorth America.
However, I have some concerns aboutChina such as maintaining protection of ourintellectual property. I am not convinced thatwe could manufacture anything more
cheaply in China because the kind of peoplethat we need to do this cost about the samewherever you are. Also, mass production,which might afford some economies, is notreally the overall aim of Jenoptik.
What are the key markets forpolymer optics?Daniel Böhme, one of the managing direc-tors of JPS: Applications are diverse andinclude everything from cameras, sensorsand vehicle-based viewing systems to dis-
posable endoscopy tools, colour detection forprinting applications and high-quality gra-tings for spectroscopy.
One important issue here is weight – apolymer’s weight is much lower than that ofglass. But probably the most importantpoint is flexibility. This factor enables morecomplex designs to be incorporated into asmall device. For example, you can designpolymer light guides that would not be pos-sible in glass.
With polymers you can add integratedmounting and snap-in functions for easierassembly. And if you want to make the opticsin high volumes, it is easy to mass-producemillions of the same optics from one tool.
In the future there will still be markets forglass products but they will be different mar-kets from polymers. For example, higher powerlaser applications could not use polymersbecause of the need for power dissipation.
What are polymer optics made of?Typical materials include PMMA, PC andZeonex – materials with suitable diffractiveproperties. Glass and PMMA do not behavein the same way, which means that you needto have different designs because of thematerials’ different refractive indices.
Is JPS developing its own polymers?No, but we are working with companies andbodies doing research, such as the Fraun-hofer institutes and some others in theThuringia region. There is a lot of R&D intonovel injection-moulding materials.
What volumes of polymer opticalcomponents is JPS manufacturing?We are producing hundreds of differentproducts. An important issue is that we haveto support the customer with an interna-tional supply chain. Some of the products weare producing (such as disposable medicaldiagnostics devices) can have runs ofbetween 5000 and 80 000 items per week.
What are some of the key trends inpolymer optics?Polymers are gradually replacing glass invarious applications. For example, polymerspermit complex shapes that glass cannot andalso allow more customized manufacture ofoptical components.
Also, a polymer optical device is a customproduct but with the capability of mass pro-duction. Typically it would be an OEM manu-facturer who is now purchasing componentsor systems from JPS – our new customers arenot optical specialists.
Matthew Peach is a contributing editor to OLE andoptics.org.
INTERVIEW
22 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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OLESep06INTERVIEWp21-22 22/8/06 11:11 Page 22
Not only has the market for laser materials processing systems returned to the levels of2000, double-digit growth is now expected through to 2010. Jacqueline Hewett asksArnold Mayer about his forecast, how he sees various market sectors evolving and thechanges that are on the cards as more manufacturing shifts to Asia.
Buoyant times ahead forlaser processing market
MARKET REPORT
23OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
The global market for laser materials process-ing systems reached an all-time high in 2005when sales amounted to 74.8 bn. That isaccording to the latest figures from marketanalyst Arnold Mayer of Optech Consulting inSwitzerland. The 2005 figure is a 3% increaseon the 2004 mark of 74.65bn (see figure 1).
The market for laser materials processingsystems can essentially be divided in two:macro and micro. Macro encompasses lasersystems used in applications such as cut-ting, welding and marking. Micro includeslaser systems for the processing of semicon-ductors, printed circuit boards and otherelectronic components.
2005 uncoveredBreaking down the 2005 figure, laser sys-tems for micro processing came in at 71.1bn,an 11% decline on 2004. On the other hand,macro processing accounted for 73.7 bn, upby 7% on 2004.
Looking in finer detail, the laser macroprocessing segment for 2005 included sys-tems for cutting and welding (72.6 bn),marking (70.7 bn) and an “other” category(70.4 bn) comprising systems for rapidmanufacturing and prototyping, ablationand engraving.
As well as semiconductors, the micro pro-cessing segment takes into account systemsused for producing flat-panel displays.Microlithography is also included, but asMayer stresses, in this instance it is only thevalue of the lasers that is accounted for whileall other applications count the value of thecomplete laser machining system.
Of the 74.8 bn total for laser materialsprocessing systems in 2005, 71.7 bn wasaccounted for by the laser sources integratedinto the systems. Carbon dioxide and solid-state lasers (including fibre and disc lasers)each accounted for 40% of the total, whileexcimers and, to a smaller extent, diodelasers (not including pump modules) madeup the balance.
The 2005 figure means that the marketvalue has returned to the same heights seenin 2000. “In 2000, there was a bubble in theelectronics market and there was a lot ofsemiconductor demand,” explained Mayer.“What you see in 2005 is that the semicon-ductor portion is smaller than in 2000 andthat sheet metal processing and weldinghave increased.”
According to Mayer, declines in the microprocessing area as well as currency fluctu-ations were primarily responsible for the dipin performance between 2000 and 2005.
“The turnaround between 2003 and 2004was mainly due to macro although there waspositive development in micro. However,2005 was not a good year for micro, you willsee the same trend in the demand for semi-conductor equipment.”
Positive forecastLooking to the future, Mayer is optimistic andexpects to see double-digit growth rates forthe second half of the decade with the totalmarket reaching some 79 bn by 2010 (seefigure 2). “My expectation for 2006 is an
1995 20001996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
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Fig. 2: the world market for laser systems for materials processing by application through to 2010.
Fig. 1: the world market for laser materials processing systems reached 74.8 bn in 2005.
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OLESep06MARKETREPORTp23-25 22/8/06 13:18 Page 23
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increasing world market,” he said. “2006started well in terms of revenue in the firstquarters. I think that we will see an increasein both macro and micro in 2006.”
In fact, it seems that micro processingcould be the fastest growing area in the sec-ond half of the decade thanks to the expectedtransition to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) litho-graphy. Mayer predicts growth of 20%between 2005 and 2010 for micro com-pared with growth of about 10% for the cut-ting, welding and marking area.
“This prediction [for micro] includes litho-graphy as EUV is expected towards the end ofthe decade,” he said. “There is potential inmicro thanks to new applications and tech-nologies. The potential growth rate is higherfor micro than for macro. Macro is a moremature market. The availability of laser cut-ting has increased the use of flexibly cutsheet metal. It’s a winning combination andit continues to contribute to the growth ofthe macro segment.”
A question of geographyEurope is the largest market for laser mater-ials processing systems, accounting for 34%of the 2005 total, followed by North Amer-ica (24%) and Japan (20%). East Asia andthe rest of the world account for the remain-ing 22%, with Korea, Taiwan and Chinabeing major players (see figure 3).
Focusing on Europe, Germany’s share isabout 35%. “If you look at machine tools ingeneral, Germany is both a major consumerand a major producer,” said Mayer. “Auto-mated mechanical manufacturing is a majorstrength of German industry.”
According to Mayer however, the Asianmarket is the one to watch. “Asia is thelargest market and it is the fast-growing mar-ket,” he said. “The market is shifting east andthis is having a very strong impact. Itbecomes easier for manufacturers in Asiaand harder for the ones in Europe or the US.”
One of the strongest markets in Asia is flat-panel displays, which Mayer says is almost100% an Asian industry. He adds that thesemiconductor market and manufacturing
are also increasingly taking place in Asia butthat the US is still a strong player with Europeholding a 15% share.
Europe’s strength, particularly in centralEurope, is in macro processing. However,Mayer has a warning as demand is growingat higher rates in Asia and a shift is expected.
Boasting the second-largest economy inthe world, Japan is in a good position, but isnot immune to shifts in the market. “Japanhas all the micro industries from displays tosemiconductors,” said Mayer. “It also has a
lot of demand in macro. It has a similarstrength to central Europe in mechanicalmanufacture. But a lot of manufacturinghas already been shifted outside of Japan andthe [Japanese] market has already been cutby this trend. It still remains an importantmarket though.”
For more information on the laser materialsprocessing systems market, Optech Consultingpublishes an Industrial Laser Quarterly Report,see www.optech-consulting.com.
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Fig. 3: the world market for laser systems formaterials processing by geography in 2005.
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Quintessence Photonics has written gratings into its infrared laser diodes that narrow theemission spectra and reduce temperature sensitivity. As Paul Rudy explains, this makesthe diodes ideal for medical applications and could lead to cheaper diode-pumped systems.
On-chip gratings improvestability of laser diodes
OPTOELECTRONICS
27OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
The combination of compactness, low run-ning cost and excellent electrical-to-opticalefficiency has enabled high-power edge-emitting laser diodes to serve many appli-cations in industrial, medical and defencemarkets. A growing number of these lasersare directly addressing “thermal” appli-cations such as printing, medical and plasticswelding, but the majority have a well-definedemission spectra and are used as sources topump solid-state and fibre-laser systems.
The advantages of diode pumping overlamp pumping are well known, and includeincreased system efficiency, greater reliabilityand lower cost of ownership. However, thesesystems cannot deliver the temperature-independent performance of lamp-pumpeddesigns because of the laser’s lack of stability.Instead, thermal management and tempera-ture control of the diode are needed to preciselytune its emission wavelength. But even withthis control, the linewidths produced are insuf-ficiently narrow for some applications.
It is critical to improve the stability and spec-tral narrowing of high-power laser diodes sothat they can simultaneously deliver the effi-ciency associated with diode pumping andtemperature stability provided by lamp pump-ing. If these objectives are met at a well-defined wavelength, then laser system design-ers can improve the decvice’s compactness,efficiency, power and beam quality whilereducing its thermal-management cost.
The improvements would also mean thatthese lasers could be used directly for scien-tific and medical pumping applications, suchas Raman spectroscopy and enhanced mag-netic resonance imaging, which require pre-cise tuning of narrow emission wavelengthsto hit atomic or molecular absorption spectra.
Various methods have already been used toimprove the spectral brightness, stability andaccuracy of laser diodes. These approachesinclude various external techniques usingeither volume Bragg gratings, external lensesand bulk gratings, or seed lasers in masteroscillator power amplifiers. However, all ofthese approaches require sensitive and high-
precision alignment, costly additional lasersand/or optics and specially designed coatings.On-chip solutions are possible with internaldistributed feedback gratings similar to thosethat are used in singlemode telecom lasers.However, it is difficult to transfer this technol-ogy to high-power multimode lasers becausemultimode devices require more complexgrating designs to capture and lock the largenumber of transverse modes.
Recently, Quintessence Photonics Corpora-tion (QPC) has overcome these challengesand demonstrated a range of high-powerlasers operating at 808, 976, 1470, 1535and 1550 nm, which are fabricated at ourheadquarters in Sylmar, CA. These MOCVD-grown InP-based and GaAs-based lasers fea-ture internal gratings that narrow thespectral linewidth, reduce wavelength-tem-perature sensitivity, and ensure that thedevice operates at the required wavelength.
High-power laser diodes are usually con-structed by inserting a gain-producing active
stripe into the device’s resonant Fabry–Pérotcavity. Aside from defining a periodic “comb”of resonant frequencies, the cavity providesno wavelength control. The emission wave-length is controlled by the active layer’s gainspectrum. Unfortunately, this gain spectrumis “flat”, has a characteristic width of typi-cally 20 nm, and is strongly temperaturedependent. This makes for a spectrally broadlaser output, particularly at high powerfluxes, which is highly dependent on theoperating temperature. The emission wave-length can typically vary by 0.3 nm/°C.
However, when the on-chip grating isadded to select the longitudinal mode, tem-perature sensitivity is governed by thechanges in refractive index of the gratingregion, and is reduced to 0.1 nm/°C or less.
These devices are fabricated in a similarway to conventional laser diodes, with thegratings defined by optical lithography into aphotoresist, followed by etching, or formedduring a growth and re-growth process.
The InP and GaAs lasers have differentgrating geometries that are designedthrough extensive modelling, but use similarprocesses to write the gratings. After thedesign has been optimized, the total process-ing time for the grating-based lasers is onlyslightly longer than that for conventionalemitters. Our development has led us tobelieve that high-power grating-based laserspromise excellent manufacturing yieldsthrough improved targeting of the wave-length, which leads to reduced yield losscompared with conventional laser diodes.
When 808 nm pump lasers are sold, it istypically with a 3 nm centre wavelength tol-erance, a spectral width of less than 2–4 nmand a 0.3 nm/°C temperature tuning coeffi-cient. However, for common gain media, suchas neodymium-based crystals, absorptionpeaks can be as narrow as 1 nm. This meansthat system manufacturers have to controlthe operating temperature to within 0.1 °C tocorrectly tune and maintain the appropriateemission wavelength. Unfortunately, thediode red-shifts as it ages, and to maintain effi-
High-power laser diodes with sufficiently narrowlinewidths can be used for various medicalapplications, including pumping solid-state lasersystems for magnetic resonance imaging.
QPC
OLESep06QPCp27-29 22/8/06 12:49 Page 27
OPTOELECTRONICS
28 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
cient lasing the diode has to be increasinglycooled, often until it reaches the dew point.Once this point is reached, catastrophic dam-age to the laser’s mirrors can occur.
QPC released 808 nm lasers in June with100 µm wide stripes that avoid these issuesby using internal gratings to deliver the per-formance described in the table above. Theselasers have much narrower laser emissionwidths than their Fabry–Pérot cousins (seefigure 1 p29), and have great promise forRaman spectroscopy, pumping alkalivapours for medical imaging and atomicvapour lasers, and simplifying neodymium-based diode pumped systems.
In the 915–976 nm regime, high-powerlaser diodes are used to pump fibre lasers thathave a typical centre wavelength tolerance of5nm, a spectral width of less than 5nm and atemperature tuning coefficient of 0.3 nm/°C.The fibre laser’s absorption spectrum has arelatively weak broad peak of 915–960 nm,and a peak that is three to four times a strongat 976 nm. Using this shorter wavelengthpeak is not ideal for a growing number ofpulsed fibre laser applications, because longerlengths of fibre increase nonlinear losses.Until now, the choice has been between usingan uncooled diode to pump the broad butweak absorption peak, or a temperature-
controlled laser to excite the stronger and nar-rower 976 nm peak. However, our 976 nmsingle-emitting device shows that it is possibleto enjoy the benefits of pumping strong butnarrow peaks without the need for high preci-sion temperature controls.
Laser diodes emitting between 1.4 and1.6 µm are used for various applications,including pumping Er:YAG lasers that areused for range finding, materials processingand aesthetic medical treatments. Er:YAGsources, which emit in the eye-safe regime,are also becoming widely used to reduce theimpact of potentially hazardous unintendedscattered radiation from either laser sources,
808 nm emitter 976 nm emitter 1470 nm emitter 1535 nm emitter 1550 nm singlemodeSingle emitters SD IG SD IG SD IG SD IG SD IGPower (W) 6 6 6 6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1 1Wavelength ±3 ±0.5 ±5 ±0.5 ±10 ±1 ±10 ±1 ±10 ±1tolerance (nm)Spectral width 2 0.3 2 0.3 10 1 10 1 10 0.01(FWHM) (nm)Temperature tuning 0.3 0.07 0.3 0.07 0.35 0.1 0.35 0.1 0.35 0.1(nm/°C)SD = standard device; IG = internal grating
Quintessence’s high-power grating-based lasers vs conventional designs
OLESep06QPCp27-29 22/8/06 12:50 Page 28
optical delivery systems and targets. Appli-cations are plentiful in the industrial, defenceand medical markets.
For Er:YAG pumping, lasers operating at0.9–1.0 µm can be used, but optical conver-sion is more efficient at 1532 nm wherethere is a 1 nm-wide absorption peak. Thispeak can be pumped using typical high-power temperature-controlled InP lasersthat have a 10 nm spectral width and0.35 nm/°C temperature tuning, but it canalso be excited with increased efficiency withour grating-based laser bars.
Fibre laser sourcesHigh-power fibre lasers often use severalexpensive amplifying stages, but this couldbe avoided by using 1550 nm single fre-quency, single transverse mode diodes thatcan deliver sufficient power. At higherpowers, singlemode operation has beendemonstrated in tapered devices. However,producing more power while maintaining anear diffraction-limited performance andnarrow linewidth is challenging, because ofyield losses owing to beam quality deteriora-tion at high powers, and filamentation at rel-atively low powers.
These issues have been addressed withQPC’s high-power 1550nm laser, which con-tains a buried heterostructure singlemodewaveguide and a tapered gain region. Thewaveguide acts as a mode filter, but once thebeam is fed into the tapered gain region themode can freely diffract and be amplified by atapered electrical contact. These lasers candeliver more than 1.5 W at 28% wall-plugefficiency, using a 5 A drive current. Spectrallinewidth is limited by the test equipment, butwas measured at less than 6 MHz, and sup-pression of the sidemodes is more than 50dB.
The combination of our range of diodes’spectral brightness, stability and spatialbrightness opens the door to deployment intasks such as the seeding and core pumping of
fibre systems, as well as providing the sourcefor second harmonic generation of light forbiotech and display applications. And evenhigher output powers could be reached whilemaintaining diffraction-limited performanceif emitters can be coherently combined. Ourmotivation is to expand the number of pump-ing and direct diode applications withenhanced performance, increased tempera-ture stability and reduced system complexity,while maintaining the device’s compactness,low running cost and excellent efficiency.
AcknowledgmentsPart of this work was supported by the NavalAir Warfare Center Weapons Division and bythe US Army.
Paul Rudy is senior vice-president of marketingand sales at Quintessence Photonics Corporation,Sylmar, CA, US. E-mail: [email protected] more information see www.qpclasers.com.
This article originally appeared in the August issue ofCompound Semiconductor magazine.
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OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
powe
r (ar
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standarddevice
10°C20°C30°C 10°C
20°C30°C
devices withinternal Bragggratings
1.0
814812809808806804802
0.8
0.6
0.4
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wavelength (nm)
Fig. 1: internal Bragg gratings (represented by thedashed lines) deliver a reduction in the shift inwavelength with temperature and a narroweremission width compared with standard lasers.
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They may look unconventional but the photosensitive fibrestructures being developed at MIT promise a new way tomeasure the amplitude and phase of an optical signal.Rob van den Berg talks to the team to find out more.
Smart fibres measure optSENSORS
30 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Using a combination of lenses, filters, beamsplitters and detectors to measure an opticalfield could be a thing of the past thanks toYoel Fink and his group at MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, US. The team hasdeveloped a geometric approach to obtainingboth the amplitude and phase of an opticalfield using tough photosensitive fibres woveninto lightweight two- and three-dimensionalstructures (Nature Materials 25 June).
Fink and colleagues say that these fibres donot suffer from the same constraints as theirclassic glass counterparts and enable accessto optical information on unprecedentedlength and volume scales. What’s more, thegroup has shown that by changing thechemical composition of the fibres, they canbe made to detect heat, vibrations and evenspecific chemical components.
Ayman Abouraddy is a research scientistin Fink’s group that has been pioneering thesmart fibre work over the last few years. “Thebasic principle behind these fibres is very sim-ple,” Abouraddy told OLE. “The core consistsof a light-sensitive semiconductor chalco-genide glass. Along the full length and in inti-mate contact with this semiconductormaterial are four thin strips of metal, usuallytin. When light or heat impinges on the fibre,photons are absorbed and electron-hole pairsmay be generated. These are collected by theelectrodes producing an electrical response.”
In order to protect the fibres from the envi-ronment, a resilient polymer insulator, suchas polyethersulphone, covers the semicon-ductor core and metal electrodes. Combiningthese three different materials – a semicon-ductor, a metal and a polymer – is not as diffi-cult as it sounds. Just like their standard glasscounterparts, these “smart” fibres are pro-duced from a macroscopic preform, approxi-mately 30 cm long and 3–4 cm in diameter.
Smart fibre fabricationThe fabrication process begins by preparingcylindrical rods of the glassy semiconductormaterial. A cylindrical shell of polymer hav-ing an inner diameter equal to that of theglass rod is prepared with four slits removedfrom the walls for the metal electrodes.
The glass rod is inserted into the polymershell and a polymer sheet is then rolledaround the resulting cylinder to provide aprotective cladding. This is then consolidatedinto an integrated structure by heatingunder vacuum. Finally, the cylinder is put ina standard drawing tower producing hun-dreds of metres of fibre. This maintains thegeometry and structure of the macroscopicpreform and contacts are formed at theglass/metal interfaces.
“It is very important that the thermo-mechanical properties, such as the meltingtemperatures of the different materials, areproperly matched otherwise the fibre drawingprocess fails,” explained Abouraddy. “Peoplehave assumed that it would be impossible tointegrate materials with highly different elec-trical and optical properties into the same fibrebecause they would have different thermo-mechanical properties. We have shown thatthis is not necessarily the case.”
The fibres are mechanically tough, yet flex-ible, lightweight and protected (both electric-ally and chemically) from environmentaleffects. Arranging them into a closed-surfacesphere creates an omnidirectional light-detection system capable of discerning thedirection of illumination over 4 sr.
A more sophisticated detection schemeresults from using two-dimensional arrays orwebs. With a single fibre web, Abouraddyexplains that it is possible to reconstruct theintensity distribution of an arbitrary opticalfield using an algorithm similar to that used incomputerized axial tomography (CAT) scans.
“We illuminate a 32×32 fibre web with asimple image using a white-light lamp andeach fibre records the total intensity of thelight along its entire length,” said Abouraddy.“In order to reconstruct an estimate of theoptical intensity distribution that impingeson the web, we record a set of rotated projec-tions and use a back-projection algorithm.”
In the case of fibre webs, these projectionscan be obtained by rotating the web or alter-natively, rotating the object that is beingimaged. The image reconstruction improvesas more projections are taken into account.
A unique advantage of this detector is the
fact that no lens is needed because of thelarge dimensions used (relative to the wave-length of the light). And, as Abouraddyexplains, with two parallel fibre webs it evenbecomes possible to reconstruct both the
Changing the fibre’s composition allows quantities such as tempera
Covering all angles: a closed-loop spherical fibre web acts as an om
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amplitude and the phase distributions of anincoming field. “Once the amplitude of a fieldis known in two different planes, the phasecan be obtained using an iterative algo-rithm,” he said.
Abouraddy is convinced that this approachwill eventually lead to non-interferometric,lensless imaging, when a larger number offibres are included in the web to form imagesof objects in more detail. “The system has aninfinite depth of focus,” he said. “An image ofthe object is formed regardless of the distanceof the object from the webs, provided that thediffracted field at the locations of the two websis intercepted.”
According to Abouraddy, the image repro-duces the object with its physical dimensionsand also determines its physical distancefrom the webs. “Instead of choosing andpositioning lenses and detector arrays to per-form an optical field measurement, you nowonly have to design the proper geometricalconstructions of polymeric, light-sensitivefibres,” he added.
Changing the chemical compositionAbouraddy is keen to point out that themethod is by no means limited to measure-ments in the optical domain. Changing thechemical composition allows the team totune the electronic bandgap of the semicon-ducting material. For example, by includinggermanium, the material becomes sensitiveto slight changes in temperature.
The team believes that there are alreadynumerous potential applications for thethermally sensitive fibres. By weaving theminto large arrays, for example, he says thatthermal information over areas as large astens of square metres can be obtained withcm2 resolution.
Spatially resolved thermal sensing enablesfailure detection in systems where the failuremechanism is linked to a change in tempera-ture, such as chemical reactors or car tyres.An intriguing application involves the ther-mal monitoring of the body of large aircraftor measuring the skin temperature of thespace shuttle beneath its thermal tiles.
The method could also be used for thermalmonitoring of battlefield soldiers by medicalstaff. “By weaving these fibres into the clo-thing of soldiers we can allow them to ther-mally sense both the environment and theirown body,” said Abouraddy. “Our opticallysensitive fibres may detect the tiny dots oflaser light used by snipers for aiming. If a sol-dier is hit by a bullet, blood will rush to thewound leading to a local increase in temper-ature, which can be monitored.”
Fibres used for infrared laser beam delivery,regardless of the guiding mechanism or mat-
erials used, must transport significant powerdensities through their core. This leads toanother important application: self-mon-itoring of the fibres’ condition.
Defects in fibres tend to be highly localizedbut even a small defect within such a high-power optical transmission line can result inan unintentional energy release with poten-tially catastrophic consequences. High-powerinfrared light travelling through the fibre willaccumulate at the defect site, heating up theregion and eventually leading to failure. Theresearch team has demonstrated that it is pos-sible to localize these defects with high preci-sion (Nature Materials November 2005).
The Fink group was fast in coming up witha promising application of such a local tem-perature probe. In 2002, the group unveileda photonic bandgap (PBG) fibre to efficientlyguide high-power infrared radiation at10.6 µm from a CO2 laser (Nature 12 Decem-ber 2002). Today, these have been incorpo-rated into a device (recently approved by theFDA for use in patients) that enables sur-geons to efficiently remove cancerous tissuefrom the lungs using infrared laser light.
Structural perturbations such as fibrebends also tend to increase the overall lossesthrough coupling to both higher-order prop-agating modes and to localized defects. “Thismay happen, for instance, when the fibreenters the throat,” explained Abouraddy.“My colleague Mehmet Bayindir came upwith the idea to surround these PBG fibreswith extra layers just like those used for ther-mal sensing. This allows us to sense theescape of light via the heat generated as soonas it occurs and switch off the treatmentlaser immediately.”
These applications highlight the value ofcombining various functionalities into a single smart fibre. And there are yet morepromising prospects by going beyond theoptical and thermal regimes.
“This is a very flexible process. We havefound many more combinations of materialsthat are compatible and can be drawn intofibres,” concluded Abouraddy. “You couldthink of adding completely different function-alities to the fibres, such as pressure sensitivity,or the ability to detect specific chemicals, justby tuning the chemical composition of thechalcogenide glass and the polymer anddesigning a suitable fibre structure.”
Rob van den Berg is a freelance science journalistbased in the Netherlands.
31OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
ptical and thermal signals
semiconductor metal
polymer
250 µm
Analysis highlights a beam’spath through the fibre sphere.
An SEM showing the cross-section of a Fink group fibre.
mperature to be monitored.
an omnidirectional photodetector over a solid angle of 4π.
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Novalux believes that its Necsel laser platform meets all of the requirements for use inhigh-volume applications, such as laser-based rear-projection televisions. Greg Nivencompares Novalux’s extended-cavity surface-emitting lasers with other light sources andexplains why we can expect to see laser-based products by the end of 2007.
Laser TV: coming to ahome theatre near you
DISPLAYS
33OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
The display industry is evolving rapidlythanks to consumer demand for high-quality,affordable displays everywhere from hometheatres to palm tops. Recent announce-ments from major consumer electronicscompanies have touted laser technology, par-ticularly for projection applications currentlyusing ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) lamps. Theseinclude rear-projection television (RPTV) andfront projectors. Other potential applicationsinclude personal projection, digital cinemaand speciality lighting.
Lasers offer significant advantages for pro-jection display because of their large colourgamut, high brightness, high-power conver-sion efficiency and long lifetime. But while anumber of solid-state lasers have been devel-oped for projection applications, none hasbeen able to reach the required price pointsfor integration into mass-produced con-sumer electronics devices.
Novalux aims to change this with Necsel, alow-cost laser platform based on high-powersurface-emitting diode lasers. Necsel allowsefficient frequency doubling into the red,green and blue with the potential to achievethe necessary price and performance require-ments for high-volume applications.
Laser TVHome theatre is the first high-volume displayapplication to benefit from laser technology.Several consumer electronics giants are nowvying to be the first to market with large-screen, high-definition (HD) RPTVs to caterfor the ever-increasing demand for the tech-nology. In fact, while many people today want50-inch screens, analysts predict that by2009 the demand will be for 60 inch displays.
These large screen sizes use a miniatureversion of the image, called a microdisplay,which is typically less than half a squareinch. This is then illuminated by a lightsource, magnified by optics, and projectedonto the back surface of a screen.
Current RPTVs rely on white-light UHParc lamps as their illumination source for themicrodisplay. The most common system isbased on digital light processing (DLP)micromirror arrays and is being pioneeredby Texas Instruments. In a DLP system, a fil-ter wheel transmits red, green and blue lightonto the microdisplay in rapid sequence.Another leading technology, 3LCD, splits thewhite light using dichroic filters and thenprojects images from three transmissivehigh-temperature polysilicon (LCD) panels,one each for the red, green and blue beams.
UHP lamps, however, have come under firefor their relatively short lifetime, limitedbrightness and poor colour coverage. Lamplifetime is around 8000 h (defined as the timeat which 50% of the population has failed)whereas a television’s life expectancy is30 000 h. Replacing the lamp typically costsin excess of $300 (7240) and changing thebulb requires a qualified technician.
Because UHP lamps cannot provideenough light for large screen sizes, sacrificesare made by using high-gain screens, whichdecrease the viewing angle, and desaturating
the colours so that only 75% of the NTSCcolour standard is achieved. It is worth notingthat this is worse colour coverage than thelegacy CRT that it is replacing.
Both LEDs and lasers are attractivereplacement light sources. In particular,LEDs are proving an acceptable alternativefor use with screen sizes of up to 55 inches.They offer a lifetime of approximately20 000 h (defined as the time in which theydecrease in power by 50%, however this isundesirable for TV viewing) and they pro-duce around 130% of the NTSC colour stan-dard. The drawbacks of LEDs include limitedbrightness, colour shifts as the device ages,colour balance variation with changingambient temperature conditions and cost.
Lasers offer significant performanceadvantages over competitive light sources.Necsel lasers emit saturated primary coloursat fixed wavelengths that reach over 200% ofthe current NTSC broadcast standard result-ing in a superior, more lifelike image. Necseltechnology is also wavelength selectable, sointegrators can create multiprimary laserdisplays that include colours such as cyan.
Bright future: rendering of a projection displayembedded in a mobile phone (left). Sony SXRD 50-inch rear-projection TV with fully integrated Necsellasers as the light source (above).N
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The brightness of a Necsel array is six ordersof magnitude greater than lamps or LEDs.And a Necsel laser’s bright, speckle-free out-put results in clear, vibrant, high-resolutionimages consistent with true HD content.
Lasers also reduce system cost, which iscrucial if laser-based products are to com-pete in this aggressive marketplace. Sourcelifetime is over 30 000 h at 100% power out-put – lasting as long as the TV itself. Theunique properties of laser light also enablemanufacturers to produce lower-cost lightengine architectures than lamp-based sys-tems. So much so that the cost of the lasers islower than the cost of the components thatcan be removed from the engines by convert-ing to laser light.
Specifically in a laser TV, the light engine issimply a combination of red, green and bluelasers that project high-power light directlyonto the microdisplay. In a DLP system, thiseliminates the need for a colour wheel,colour wheel motor, light tunnel and relayoptics. In 3LCD light engines, it eliminatesthe polarizers, colour filters, turning mirrorsand fly’s eye lenses. What’s more, a Necsellaser’s low étendue enables smaller, lesscostly microdisplay panels and more afford-able projection optics.
By 2008, laser TV manufacturers aim tomass-produce 50-inch RPTVs exhibiting500 nits, full high-definition 1920×1080resolution and over 200% NTSC colour cov-erage. The systems will be lightweight andthin and all for target prices of under $1000.This would catapult RPTV in price and per-formance ahead of plasma, the leading large-screen-display technology in today’s market.
Lasers for high-volume productionNecsel technology is based on high-power,extended-cavity, surface-emitting semicon-ductor lasers. These lasers can produce highoptical power from a single emitter and canbe scaled to any required power by using one-or two-dimensional arrays.
The Necsel platform uses a p-doped Braggmirror with nearly 100% reflectivity that issoldered to the heatsink for efficient heatremoval (see figure above). An n-dopedBragg mirror, with reflectivity low enough toprevent lasing, sandwiches the gain regioncontaining several GaInAs quantum wells.These quantum wells are placed at the anti-node of the laser field.
The cavity is stabilized by a thermal lens, orby an intracavity lens, to form a simple semi-confocal cavity with a standard periodicallypoled bulk lithium niobate (PPLN) crystalinside the resonator. The GaAs substrate isinside the resonator and a standard glassvolume Bragg grating is used as an outputcoupler that also controls the operating
wavelength. This allows the use of all flatoptics for simplified, low-cost manufacturing.
Unlike edge-emitting diode lasers, Necsellasers do not suffer catastrophic damagewhen used in pulsed mode and can be oper-ated at repetition rates of up to 1 MHz. Theresulting high peak powers allow efficientnonlinear conversion into the visible. To date,Novalux has demonstrated lasers at 465,532 and 625 nm – the key wavelengths foran optimized projection system.
Constructed with standard InGaAs semi-conductor material, Necsel lasers can bemanufactured using wafer-scale methodsand known good-die techniques. The tech-nology also utilizes standard componentsincluding PPLN (currently mass producedfor surface acoustic wave applications), andstandard flat glass output couplers.
These characteristics make Necsel the firstsolid-state laser technology to approach theperformance and price demands of high-vol-ume display applications. Moreover, high-volume production will further reduce unitcosts. At present, the cost of manufacturing
an RGB Necsel light source with more than3 W per colour is less than $70 for all threecolours with production at about one millionunits per year. This drops to less than $40 for10 million units per year.
Other emerging applicationsHigh-power diode lasers could also enabledevices as varied as pocket projectors anddigital cinema systems. This is attractive tonext-generation content producers becauseuniform colour standards could be appliedfrom one device to the next. So from embed-ded displays in mobile phones to home cin-ema systems, consumers could expectsimilar image quality and uniformity. Futurelaser devices include:● Palm-top projectors. Current systemsbased on LED lighting take up 30 cubicinches, produce around 20 lm, and cost inexcess of $700. Laser prototypes display alight output of over 200 lm are a quarter ofthe size and are half the cost.● Embedded projectors. When coupled with2D MEMS scanning technology, lasersenable a new category that we call “pico-pro-jection”. Single-beam Necsel lasers will allowpersonal displays with an output of over20 lm. Future applications include use withmobile phones, camcorders, digital camerasand automobile head-up displays.● Digital cinema projectors. Current digitalcinema projectors rely on lamp technologythat must be cooled and vented. Fibre-cou-pled laser modules can be grouped togetherto produce the 20 000 lm required for a typi-cal movie screen. The result is unparalleledbright light from a compact, efficient devicewith no rigorous cooling requirements.● Speciality lighting. An array of lasers thatresults in a high brightness also allows high-power delivery via optical fibres. Applicationsinclude neon-sign replacement, distributedlighting and safety lighting.
High-power lasers in every homeToday, only low-power lasers are standard inhigh-volume consumer devices (low-powerdiode sources are found in every CD and DVDplayer). Necsel marks the first high-powerlaser source poised to enable high-volumeconsumer applications. Strategic partner-ships with consumer electronics companieshave been announced and the infrastructurefor production is being put in place. So whenwill consumers see laser display products ontheir store shelves? Better start writing yourChristmas list – the target date for laser-basedRPTV products is December 2007.
Greg Niven is vice-president of marketing atNovalux. For more information on the Necselplatform, see www.novalux.com.
DISPLAYS
34 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Schematic of Necsel structure. A volume Bragggrating is used as an output coupler.
“Necsel marks thefirst high-powerlaser sourcepoised to enablehigh-volumeconsumerapplications.”
Novalux
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Optical coherence tomography is fast becoming one of the most exciting areas inbiomedical photonics as developers get to grips with high-speed, high-resolution Fourierdomain detection schemes. James Tyrrell speaks with three experts in the field todiscover more about the breakthroughs, the applications and the firms involved.
Under the spotlight: OCTMEDICAL IMAGING
35OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
From its beginnings as an off-shoot of tele-coms, optical coherence tomography (OCT)has developed into a multimillion dollarindustry at the forefront of medical imaging.
Carl Zeiss Meditech dominates the marketthanks to its early success in the retinal imag-ing sector, but for how long? High-perfor-mance Fourier methods are driving a wave ofactivity in the sector as firms big and smallvie to turn this extra imaging capability intoprofit, targeting applications from cancerdetection through to cardiology.
In fact, the surge of interest in the techniquehas led many components suppliers to changetheir strategy. “In the past we were constantlygoing to telecoms firms to convince them thattheir products could be useful for OCT,”Stephen Boppart of the Beckman Institute forAdvanced Science and Technology, Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US, toldOLE. “However, today there has been a switchand photonics companies are now makinglight sources specifically for OCT.”
OCT can be thought of as an optical ver-sion of ultrasound imaging. “It grew out of atechnique called OCDR, optical coherencedomain reflectometry, which was developedin the late 1980s for finding faults and meas-uring the characteristics of telecoms compo-nents,” commented Joseph Izatt of DukeUniversity, US.
Pioneers of the technique, such as JamesFujimoto from MIT, US, and Adolf Fercherfrom the University of Vienna, Austria, soonbegan to realize the potential of OCT for med-ical diagnosis. “OCT is very good at high-res-olution morphological imaging of biologicaltissue and it fills a niche that no other kind ofmodality occupies,” explained Boppart, a for-mer member of Fujimoto’s group. “With aresolution of around 2 to 5 µm upwards toapproximately 15 to 20 µm, it sits some-where between ultrasound and the very highresolution microscopies such as confocal ormultiphoton microscopy.”
How it worksOCT provides structural information byexploiting differences in refractive indexwithin a sample. The set-up resembles a
Michelson interferometer with reference andsample arms, a partially coherent light sourceand a photodetector. “As light propagatesthrough the sample, portions of the beam arereflected back [to the detector],” said Boppart.“OCT can localize the origin of those reflec-tions and reconstruct an image based on theoptical backscatter from within the tissue.”
Initially, instruments were configured inso-called time-domain (TD) mode. “Youmove the reference arm of the interferometerthrough a range of positions and whenever itmatches the position of a reflector in thesample, you get a little fringe burst on thedetector,” explained Izatt, who worked withFujimoto in the early 1990s. “The envelopeof those fringe bursts becomes a map of the
reflectivity in the sample and by scanningthe light source in either one or two addi-tional dimensions you can build up a two- orthree-dimensional image.”
It turns out that the depth resolution ismainly determined by the polychromacy ofthe light source. “15 years ago, we wereusing semiconductor lasers centred at thelong end of the visible spectrum that hadabout 3 nm bandwidth, which gave usroughly 150 µm of depth resolution,” saidWolfgang Drexler, formerly of the Universityof Vienna group and now based at CardiffUniversity, UK. “Soon afterwards superlumi-nescent diodes (SLDs) came out and gave us20 or 30 nm [of bandwidth], which reallyimproved the resolution by a factor of 10.”
Cutting edge: Stephen Boppart thinks that OCT could help to localize tumour margins in cancer patients.
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MEDICAL IMAGING
36 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Enhanced performanceAnother breakthrough occurred in the mid-1990s when Fercher and his co-workerspublished a paper that is very much shapingthe industry today. Rather than encoding theback reflections in time, scientists showedthat you could perform the same measure-ment by operating in the spectral or Fourierdomain (FD).
“The basic physical concept behind thespectral domain approach is that instead ofmoving one of the arms of the interfer-ometer (the reference arm) you can obtainthat same degree of freedom by manipula-ting the wavelength of the light source,”commented Izatt.
Switching from TD-OCT to FD-OCT hasbeen shown to give a 20–30 dB advantage interms of sensitivity. “You get much better sig-nal-to-noise because you are essentially uti-lizing all of the light that is coming back froma single-depth column in the tissue,” saidBoppart. “Whereas with the time-domainsystems you are only detecting a single pointin three-dimensional space.”
Back in the lab, there are two ways toimplement FD-OCT. One approach is to con-tinue to use a broadband light source, suchas a Ti:sapphire laser, SLDs, amplified spon-taneous emission or even photonic crystal
fibre sources, and to replace the single pho-todetector with a spectrometer and detectorarray. The other option is to keep the singlephotodetector and exchange the broadbandbeam for a tunable or swept light source.
Pros and consNaturally, the OCT community is keen toestablish the most effective approach. “Thegreat advantage of the swept source techniqueis that the interferometer becomes very simple– you have a single-channel detector and all ofthe complexity goes into the source,” said Izatt.“Whereas in the spectrometer-based systemsyou split the complexity – you need a broadbandwidth light source, but you also require ahigh-throughput, high-efficiency and highreadout rate spectrometer.”
Another factor is wavelength. “At 800 nm,which is the best wavelength for ophthalmicapplications, there are very good CCD sen-sors out there driven by the digital photogra-phy market. So for 800 nm, I think that thespectrometer approach combined with abroad bandwidth light source is a very per-tinent choice,” commented Drexler. “How-ever, if you go to non-transparent tissue – sofrom ophthalmic to other tissues like gastro-intestinal or gynaecology or skin – then the1300 or 1050 nm wavelength [region] is
much more attractive and so I think at1300 nm, FD-OCT based on swept sources[and a single photodetector] is probably thebetter approach.”
While all of this activity makes for a buoyantresearch area, scientists such as Boppart andhis colleagues are anxious for the technologyto stabilize. “Up until just recently the technol-ogy was changing so dramatically that it wasvery difficult for products to enter clinical trialsfor evaluation and assessment by end-users,”he explained. “Definitive trials take years toperform and the technology has to be at astable point before you can begin studies withhundreds or thousands of patients.”
ApplicationsOCT’s maturist sector is ophthalmology.“There is no other technique out there thatcan deliver that richness of morphologicalinformation about the retina,” said Drexler.“With ultrasound you really have to get in con-tact with the eye and run the risk of infection,whereas OCT is a non-invasive technique.”
Retinal imaging was OCT’s first successand offered patients a more sophisticateddiagnosis. However, it could ultimately be thefront section of the eye that provides firmswith their biggest reward. “The anterior seg-ment is where refractive surgery happens and
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if a great application that combined OCT andrefractive surgery were to be found then thiswould actually dominate the retinal diagnos-tic market,” said Izatt, who is also involvedwith Bioptigen, a US-based OCT start-upworking in the ophthalmology sector. “Here,the predictions are based on future genera-tions of LASIK and related surgeries such asPhakic intraocular lenses.”
Unlike LASIK, which involves reshapingthe eye, Phakic refractive surgery is based oninserting a flexible lens, which unfolds to fillthe iris, through a small incision in thecornea. “It has been shown that OCT canmeasure the width of the eye very accuratelyto establish where to secure the lens,”explained Izatt. “The lenses can be replacedas your prescription changes, so they aresuitable for children, whose vision changesas they age.”
The transparency of the eye makes it a nat-ural choice for OCT, but by using light-guidingcatheters, the technique can be used to studyother areas of the body such as the heart. Itcan help prevent sudden death or seriousinjury by allowing surgeons to pinpointunstable plaque. “Currently people do this byinjecting dyes and fluoroscopy or they useintravascular ultrasound,” said Boppart.“However, neither of those techniques canmatch OCT in terms of resolution or informa-tion content.” LightLab Imaging, co-foundedby Fujimoto, is one of the companies leadingthe way here.
It turns out that OCT has the potential tospot very subtle changes within the body,especially if used in tandem with novel nano-sized contrast agents. “The buzz words are“molecular imaging” and you can modifythese agents with tags to label specific mole-cules,” revealed Boppart, who leads a groupworking in this area. “This enhances theability of OCT to locate tumours or otherareas of interest.”
The wealth of applications in combinationwith the growing expertise in FD-OCT is cap-turing the imagination of investors. “It isundeniable that this revolution in technol-ogy has lead to a proliferation of commer-cialization efforts,” observed Izatt.
Izatt’s start-up Bioptigen, is one of a num-ber of firms now developing next-genera-tion OCT systems. “In Germany there is acompany, ISIS Optronics GmbH, that isfocused on skin imaging,” added Boppart.“And Thorlabs is now carrying OCT prod-ucts.” Other firms include Optopol ofPoland, TopCon Europe and Imalux, US, toname just a few players in the OCT market.What’s more, if the rumours are to bebelieved, then additional “stealth” start-upsare coming soon, primarily with productsfor the ophthalmology sector.
BottleneckWith high-speed OCT imagers on the hori-zon that can operate at hundreds of framesper second, data management is looming asthe next challenge facing OCT. “We are nowpushing the bottleneck from photonic tech-nology back onto computing and processingpower,” said Boppart. “Today, you can getgigabytes of data from a single sample and soit is important to have some kind of auto-mated diagnosis technique or algorithm thatcan extract the most relevant information.”
Drexler shares his concerns. “You wantto be able to collect data in a reasonableamount of time, because patients don’twant to be bothered for too long and thereare issues about long waiting times,” hesaid. “Fortunately, PCs and frame-grabbercards continue to move towards fasterspeeds and higher data-acquisition rates,which means that it is not a fundamentalproblem, just a [technical] challenge thatwe have to face from a hardware and soft-ware point of view.”
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Excimer Lasers – EconomicPerformance and Reliability.
Superior Reliability & Performance
[email protected] free: (800) 343-4912 phone: (971) 327-2700
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Excimers are the world’s most powerful ultraviolet lasers, delivering the highestpulse energy and the highest average power. That’s why they’re used in so manyhigh-power industrial applications. And now, with the latest advances in excimertube technology and fully automated operation, Coherent excimer lasers deliver a quantum leap in reliability, ease-of-use, and cost-effective operation.
With gas and tube lifetimes improved more than 10-fold in the last decade, theselasers continue to be the first choice for economic UV laser micromachining.Excimer lasers enable demanding industrial applications such as the annealing of advanced flat panel displays, volume production of nozzles, via hole drilling,and marking. Moreover, excimer lasers facilitate cost-sensitive applications such as the manufacturing of medical disposables, as well as performance-sensitiveapplications, including refractive surgery such as Lasik.
To find out what these unique lasers can do for you, call Coherent today at1-800-527-3786 or visit our website at www.coherent.com/ads (keyword: Excimer).
Excimer_FP_OLE0406.qxd 3/14/06 8:36 PM Page 1
An excimer laser’s high-power ultraviolet emission enables applications in research, micromanufacturing and biomedicine. Rainer Paetzel and Ruediger Hack provide anintroduction to the technology and review key factors that potential buyers should consider.
Excimer lasers provideuniqueprocessingability
PRODUCT GUIDE
39OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Excimer lasers are unique sources of ultra-violet (UV) light. They deliver significantlyhigher pulse energy and overall averagepower than any other UV laser type. Theyalso produce a wider range of wavelengthsthan any other commonly available UV laseroffering output deep into the UV.
These specialized characteristics enableexcimers to accomplish tasks that no otherlaser can perform. As a result, excimer laserstoday support a diverse range of applica-tions. These span everything from markingand micromachining tasks, human visioncorrection procedures (PRK and LASIK),fibre Bragg grating writing, silicon anneal-ing for flat panel-display-manufacture,pulsed laser deposition, laser-induced fluor-escence to semiconductor microlithography,to name just a few.
Excimer laser basicsExcimers are gas phase lasers, however, theirconstruction, operation and output charac-teristics differ quite significantly from that ofmost other gas lasers. This is primarilybecause the inherent gain of excimer mediais so much higher than for other gas lasersand is also due to the unusual requirementsfor pumping these media.
An excimer plasma discharge tube uses amixture of three different gases: a halogen(either F2 or HCl), a rare gas (such as Ar, Kr orXe) and a “bath” gas (Ne or He). The plasmatube is filled to a much higher pressure (typ-ically around 400 kPa) than in other lasertypes. Because this relatively high pressuretranslates into high electrical resistance, thegas is first pre-ionized to produce a smooth,homogeneous discharge.
A discharge is created by applying a highvoltage pulse (up to about 40 kV) across twoparallel electrodes that run the length of theplasma tube. The resultant plasma containsa high concentration of excited dimers(hence the name excimer), such as KrF, ArF,XeF and XeCl. These transient chemicalspecies produce a short, intense pulse ofstimulated UV radiation as they decay back
to their components. The typical pulse dur-ation of an excimer laser is in the 10–50 nsrange and excimer lasers can generally beoperated at repetition rates from a single shotto the few kilohertz level (see table on p42 formore information).
Because of their extremely high gain,excimer laser resonators are typically con-figured so that the beam only makes a fewpasses through the cavity. In fact, unstableresonator designs are not uncommon, andthe output couplers of excimer lasers usu-ally have a reflectivity of between 10 and50%. Thus, the output beam shape of anexcimer laser is essentially defined by the
cross-section of the plasma, which is inturn determined by the configuration ofthe electrodes. The main design goal of thecavity optics is to use as much of theplasma volume as possible to maximizeoutput pulse energy.
A typical excimer laser beam has a large,rectangular cross-section (about 8×20 mm),with a near-Gaussian profile in the short axis,and a “top hat” profile in the long axis. Tophat refers to a beam intensity with anextended central plateau that falls off nearthe edges. Beam divergence in the long axis isusually several milliradians, which is manytimes the diffraction limit. An excimer laser’s
Unique sources of ultraviolet light: typical excimer micromachining tasks include (a) cutting holes andslots in stents; (b) drilling embolic filters; (c) patterning flex circuits; and (d) inkjet nozzle drilling.
a b
c d
Coherent
OLESep06PRODUCTGUIDEp39-42 22/8/06 12:47 Page 39
linewidth is relatively large and the coher-ence is low, unless additional line narrowingelements are placed in the resonator.
Excimer laser advantagesThe unique output characteristics of anexcimer laser offer distinct advantages inmany applications. For example, UV wave-lengths enable processing at a higher spatialresolution than visible and IR lasers. This isbecause the smallest feature size that can beproduced is limited by diffraction, and dif-fraction increases linearly with wavelength.
The UV photons produced by an excimeralso interact differently with most solid mat-erials (especially organics) compared withlonger wavelength photons. The focusedbeam from a visible or infrared laser processesa material by heating it until some has boiledoff or vaporized. Typically, this heating alsoaffects the surrounding material that has notbeen directly irradiated, resulting in periph-eral thermal damage and less precise processcontrol. In contrast, the inherently highenergy of UV photons causes them to directlybreak the atomic or molecular bonds withina material in a process called photoablation.With short laser pulses, this can be a relativelycold process with little or no effect on the sur-rounding material.
This ability to process with a very high spa-tial resolution is further enhanced by the factthat most solid materials have very highabsorption in the UV. As a result, the laserlight only penetrates a very shallow depthinto the material. This, along with the shortpulse duration, means that each pulseremoves just a thin layer of material, thusproviding excellent depth control.
Practical considerationsThe combination of highly corrosive gasesand a high voltage discharge makes the inter-ior of an excimer laser resonator an inhos-pitable place. Because of this, early excimerlasers were plagued by corrosion problemsand needed frequent gas re-filling, as well asoptics cleaning and replacement. They alsosuffered from a limited tube lifetime.
However, this situation has changed overthe past decade as excimer laser manufac-turers have made tremendous advances innegating electrochemical corrosion effectsand maximizing product lifetime. This hasgreatly extended the intervals between allregular laser maintenance functions such asgas fills, optics cleanings and, ultimately,laser-tube replacements, all of which dra-matically lower the total cost of ownership. Itis important to note that both the service
intervals and lifetime of excimer lasers aremeasured by pulse count, rather than oper-ating hours (although the static lifetime forthe gas fill is measured in weeks).
The impact of these lifetime, reliability andmaintenance improvements depends uponthe type of application. Typically, most scien-tific and research applications will use a laserat a relatively low overall duty cycle. Forexample, a researcher who runs the laser at10 Hz for five hours a day, five days a week,accumulates a total of 47 million pulses ayear. Under these conditions, the first opticscleaning interval, which might occur at onebillion pulses, will essentially never bereached. For this type of user, initial purchaseprice is probably a more significant factorthan laser operating costs. Also, downtimefor periodic gas refills probably has no realeconomic impact in this environment.
In contrast, an industrial user who oper-ates a laser at 300 Hz for two eight-hourshifts, five days a week, accumulates one bil-lion pulses in less than 12 weeks. Here, thecost of consumables (especially laser tubes) isimportant in the overall cost of ownership.In some industries, production-line down-time itself has a substantial cost. Industrialusers should consider the time needed to per-form various maintenance tasks whenevaluating a laser. Other concerns includethe laser’s stability and output consistency,as variations in these may manifest them-selves in the quality of the final product.
The particular output characteristics,reliability, lifetime and mean time to repairof an excimer laser all depend on thespecifics of its design and construction.Because of the potential economic conse-quences of these factors, the buyer of anexcimer laser should be more aware of how
PRODUCT GUIDE
40 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Modern excimer lasers use a number of innovationsdesigned to increase lifetime, reduce downtime andlower total cost of ownership. These include allmetal/ceramic construction, an optimized gas-flowprofile, low inductance discharge design, metal-sealtechnology and an internal optics purge system.
Coherent
OLESep06PRODUCTGUIDEp39-42 22/8/06 13:22 Page 40
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PRODUCT GUIDE
42 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
a particular product is made (and serviced)than for other laser types.
All metal–ceramic plasma tube construc-tion provides the highest resistance to corro-sion and therefore the longest overall tubelifetime. This has become standard in theindustry and should be considered a prere-quisite, even for low-duty-cycle users.
The particular pre-ionization method usedis also important and there are several differ-ent schemes currently in use. Spark pre-ion-ization offers the highest pulse energy, butspark pin erosion limits tube lifetime and cre-ates dust contamination. A substantialimprovement to this approach is achievedthrough the ceramic sliding dischargemethod: a discharge is diffused across aceramic bar instead of directly sparking on topins. This delivers a smoother discharge andeliminates pin erosion as a failure mecha-nism. This method is currently used in manyhigh-energy and mid-sized excimer lasers.Corona pre-ionization uses a dielectric mat-erial arranged parallel to the electrodes inorder to avoid high peak currents. This deliv-ers a high degree of beam homogeneity andis mostly found in lower-power lasers.
Tube lifetime and optics cleaning intervalscan also be extended by gas circulation andfiltration systems that remove chemical by-
products and dust particles as soon as theyare generated. In addition, some excimerlasers are configured to enable optics clean-ing without opening the resonator interior,thus saving time and significantly extendingthe lifetime of the tube.
Some of the more sophisticated productson the market feature a high degree ofclosed-loop microprocessor control, auto-matically adjusting laser operating para-meters to maintain a consistent output. Forexample, the laser computer may automat-ically adjust the laser voltage as the gas fillages in order to deliver constant outputpower. In some industrial applications, pro-cessing is accomplished using a burst ofpulses, and process consistency depends onaccurately maintaining the total energy
dosage. Typically, the leading pulses of eachburst show a systematic deviation from theset point and this can be corrected byactively monitoring energy output andusing software algorithms to provide feed-forward control.
In conclusion, choosing an excimer laserfor a specific task requires an understandingof how they are manufactured and serviced.Specifically, consumers should familiarizethemselves with lifetime, service, total-cost-of-ownership and ease-of-use considerationsbefore making a purchase.
Rainer Paetzel is director of excimer productmarketing and Ruediger Hack is director ofexcimer sales at Coherent. For more information,see www.coherent.com.
Excimer type Output wavelength Maximum pulse Maximum average (nm) energy (mJ) power (W)
F2 157 50 20ArF 193 600 100KrF 248 1200 300XeCl 308 1000 300XeF 351 400 80
A rough guide to common excimer lasers
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NEWSLETTERT H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E E U R O P E A N O P T I C A L S O C I E T Y
The OPERA2015 project will play a big part inmaking the European Research Area in Opticsand Photonics (OP) a reality. At the moment,research and relevant activities in OP for ISTand beyond are fragmented and tend to lack sta-ble links. This has been improved recentlythrough the establishment of the EuropeanTechnology Platform Photonics21. Neverthe-less, there is still a need for information aboutthe research capabilities in both industry andscience in European countries.
Establishing a database that details the opticsand photonics industrial and scientific infra-structure throughout Europe will increase thelevels of co-operation and coordination. In viewof the general need for stronger links betweenthe different levels of publicly funded research,the need to encompass national programmesand stakeholders from research and industry isessential for the successful realization of a Euro-pean Research Area in OP.
In the second year of the project, the centralOPERA2015 website will provide all the relevantinformation for any co-operation efforts in pho-tonics. It will be updated frequently and measureswill be taken to increase the website’s visibility.
Inventory of European OP projectsAn inventory of the current European optics andphotonics research projects in the EU SixthFramework Programme (FP6) and the EUREKAProgramme has been compiled using each pro-gramme’s respective website. This resulted in anoverview of 173 research projects in FP6 and 56projects in EUREKA.
We used the Web-based Dynamo Database ofTNO to create the inventory. Dynamo is a rela-tional database that facilitates the information
management and analysis of foresight and mar-ket studies. It has been used extensively in earlierEU projects and will be an efficient and helpfultool for the OPERA project.
We developed the specific items that areimportant to OPERA WP 3 and incorporatedthem into the database. These items fall intothree main subjects: basic information such aslocation and products; the level of research anddevelopment; and innovation strategies andinnovation areas.
We estimate that there are between 1000 and3000 companies active in this field. We encour-age optics and photonics companies to send theirinformation to the database manager, Bart Sni-jders (e-mail: [email protected]), or to one ofthe contacts given on the OPERA2015 website.
Symposium on photonics in FP7One of the goals of OPERA2015 is to provide aplatform for interaction of the European IST-research activities in optics and photonics, andto develop a joint strategy for research and industry. To achieve this target the OPERA2015consortium has invited the European photonicscommunity to hear the results of the latest devel-opments in this area and to provide further inputinto the Technology Platform for FP7 at its nextsymposium.
The symposium addresses the main themes ofthe Photonics Technology Platform and seeks toinvolve the scientific and engineering communi-ties in the creation and implementation of thestrategic agenda for optics and photonics in FP7.
The symposium will take place in Wroclaw,Poland on 12–14 October 2006. To keep up-to-date with the progress of OPERA2015, visit theproject’s website (www.opera2015.org).
OPERA creates European optics database
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6
In June 2006, EOS launched a fully electronic journal,JEOS Rapid Publications (JEOS:RP), at www.jeos.org.“The motivation behind JEOS:RP is to offer the opticsand photonics community a means to rapidly publishtheir latest research findings and reach the largestpossible readership,” explained Joseph Braat, presidentof EOS. JEOS:RP is the first European online journal thatis accessible to every Web user, offering authors themaximum reader potential.
“JEOS:RP is published continuously, making itindependent of editorial deadlines. Once submitted,reviewed and approved, an article is adapted for onlinepublication and can be published within a few days,”said EOS secretary and JEOS:RP deputy editor PeterTörök. “The traffic to www.jeos.org is recorded and thenumber of downloads can be tracked for every paper.”Topics covered range from classical optics andnonlinear optics to biomedical and terahertz imaging.
EOS launches electronic journal: JEOS Rapid Publications
OPERA2015 iscompiling a databasethat details Europe’soptics and photonicsinfrastucture.
OLESep06EOSp43 22/8/06 12:53 Page 1
Alexander vonWitzleben, president ofthe TechnologyPlatform Photonics21,talks to EOS about theprospects andchallenges for theEuropean photonicsindustry, as well as thecurrent discussions ona European Institute of Technology.
On 4 April, Alexander von Witzleben, presi-dent of Photonics21, handed over the StrategicResearch Agenda for Photonics in the 7thResearch Framework Programme to EU Com-missioner Viviane Reding in Strasbourg. Thisagenda had been drawn up by more than 350members of the technology platform, more thanhalf of which are from industry.
EOS: What does industry expect from its co-operation with Photonics21?
AvW: European companies must co-operate inglobal competition – that’s not specific to opti-cal technologies. We are a fast-growing industrysector (13% per annum over the past 10 years)with enormous potential for our users.
If you want to make a target-orientated planfor the future, it all depends on communicationand coordination. And this raises another point– we are dealing with a cross-sectional technol-ogy that offers opportunities to many industrysectors and fields important to Europe in creat-ing jobs and improving quality of life.
This concerns, for instance, information andcommunication (I&C), manufacturing engin-eering and life science, to mention the mostimportant. To seize these opportunities, we haveto coordinate our innovations with users andresearch institutes early, and the platform offersgreat potential to do so. However, as yet, wedon’t know if this instrument will really work.To date, there has been enormous commitmentfrom platform members.
EOS: Which fields in the European photonicsindustry have the potential to compete with theUS and Asia on a long-term basis?
AvW: European companies have leading rolesin a broad range of optical technologies. Forexample, in the field of materials processingand lighting, European companies hold aglobal market share of about 60%.
Much more important, however, are theapplications of optical technologies in otherindustry sectors and there European companieshave also taken the lead. There are more lasersused in manufacturing and more economiclighting deployed in Europe than in any otherregion of the world. That said, we have lostimportant ground in the mass markets of dis-play and I&C. The causes of this developmenthave to be discussed by Photonics21 too.
EOS: What percentage of the European pho-tonics industry would you attribute to manu-facturing and innovative activities, and whatgrowth rates do you expect in these two fields?
AvW: That’s hard to answer, as the companiescannot be classified easily. A lot of manufactur-ers of optical technologies are also their users.Take my company, Jenoptik AG, we are a manu-facturer and user of optical technologies. Wehave achieved double-digit growth per annumin the past and I have no reason to believe thatthis will change in the near future.
EOS: What strengths and advantages shouldEurope use to keep the transition from applica-tion- to product-oriented research in motion ona long-term basis?
AvW: We have a highly qualified workforce inEurope and a tradition of co-operation betweenresearch institutions and companies. There isgood top-level research and there are estab-lished institutions that adapt these results to therequirements of companies.
However, we still need to improve on thetransnational co-operation in application-orientated research. Here, the problem lies inspeed, not in quality.
The European Commission (EC) understandsthe signs and will give special support to co-operations between two or even three countriesof the community. With the massive resourcesEurope has at its disposal with regard toresearch, our prospects in the global competi-tion should be particularly strong.
EOS: In the Strategic Research Agenda, Photon-ics21 states the research areas that have top prior-ity in the photonics industry in Europe. Can youname the most urgent topics of which the resultswill be transferred as soon as possible from appli-cation-oriented research into manufacturing?
AvW: Here, I have to ask for your patience. Allseven task groups are working at full steam onthe formulation of the relevant prioritizedresearch topics. I expect this process to be fin-alized by the end of June. The task managers andother representatives of the task groups willthen present the results to the head of unit inthe EC in each case.
EOS: The photonics industry is characterizedby its strong fragmentation. Will the sector beoverwhelmed by its role as a key technology?
AvW: With approximately 100 000 employees, Ithink that our industry sector is well structured.There are global corporations like Philips andOSRAM, to mention just two, but there are alsomany well-established medium-sized companies.Market as well as customer-orientation strengthsaccrue from that. The fragmentation relates
E O S N E W S L E T T E RS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6
INTERVIEW
Problem is speed, not quality
OLESep06EOSp44-45 22/8/06 12:54 Page 2
mainly to the different application fields of opti-cal technologies. Within themselves, opticaltechnologies have a coherent structure with onelink – the photon.
I can assure you that by no means will theundustry be overwhelmed – we firmly believethat the photon is the technology driving forceof the 21st century.
EOS: One central topic in European discussionsis the proposal to set up a European Institute ofTechnology (EIT) along the lines of Massachu-setts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.How do you assess the two models under discus-sion (a monolithic or networked EIT) and whatrole could technology platforms play to create anetworked EIT?
AvW: This is a typical discussion – concrete ornetwork. I think that the first question regard-ing such an institution is what should it achieve– simply looking towards MIT is not enough.
Most European countries have excellentresearch institutions with decades or centuries oftradition. It is vital that their transnational co-operation be improved and resources bundled.
I think that many of these European researchinstitutions will become market orientated. Butat the same time, the institutes placed furtherbehind in the innovation chain must aim to act
on an European level increasingly more.The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is one institute
that is immediately convincing. Therefore, myagenda would be to find out what will beachieved in Europe, what is existing, and onlythen establish additional institutes.
It is important that we in Europe bundle theresources now and agree on the key aspects thatare important to succeed from a European view-point. The technology platforms can and mustcontribute actively to this process.
EOS: What motivated you to get involved withPhotonics21?
AvW: My company stands for tradition, recom-mencement and for seizing the opportunitiesthat are given by optical technologies. In thisrespect, I gladly accepted the vote for presidentof the platform. Until now, we have been work-ing efficiently, surrounded by an atmosphere ofdeparture. I get together with many colleaguesfrom European companies and research insti-tutions who are also investing their time. Theopportunities of the platform definitely com-pensate for the effort. At the end of the day,there’s no way to get past Europe.
This interview was conducted by EOS. For furtherinformation, see www.myeos.com.
E O S N E W S L E T T E R S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6
The German Society ofApplied Optics outlinesits objectives, activitiesand member benefits.
Established in 1923, DGaO, the German Soci-ety of Applied Optics, is a non-profit makingorganization that aims to promote applied opticsand contribute to the development of the sci-ence. Currently, the society has 582 individualand 29 corporate members.
As of 1 January 2004, all individual membersof DGaO are also full individual members ofEOS, with half of their membership fee going toEOS. With DGaO joining, EOS gains instrength and can also have a decisive influenceon European research promotion, as well asbecoming a partner on an equal basis with othermajor international optical societies.
This move involved a change of name forDGaO: its full German name is now followed bythe German Branch of the European OpticalSociety. However, this move does not mean thatDGaO has given up its own identity or inde-pendence. As well as being represented on theadvisory committee of EOS, DGaO as a branchof EOS also has a seat on the board of directors.
DGaO offers annual individual membership at730 or a reduced rate of 715. Member benefitsinclude a free subscription to the German-lan-guage journal Photonik; a free subscription to theGerman-language membership journal Optik andan invitation to attend the three-and-a-half day
DGaO conference. This event is traditionallyheld the week after Whitsun and is an opportunityto hear the latest scientific findings (around 160presentations are given usually by young scien-tists), make contacts and also find jobs.
Promoting training and educationOne important concern of DGaO is the promo-tion of training and further education in all fieldsof optics. In this respect, the society supports theCampaign for Training and Further Education inOptical Technologies funded by the GermanFederal Ministry of Education and Research.
A topical subject is Bachelor’s and Master’sDegrees as new qualifications, which guaranteesthe comparability of degrees, especially withinthe European Union. DGaO believes that acommon basic training for all courses in opticaltechnologies is necessary and has developed recommendations.
DGaO has held joint annual events with theoptical societies of France and Switzerland. Ajoint event with the optics section of the PolishPhysical Society was a great success in Wroclawin 2005. For 2009, DGaO anticipates holding ajoint event with the Italian Optical Society inItaly. For more information on all aspects ofDGaO, see http://www.dgao.de.
DGaO: the German Branch of EOS
OLESep06EOSp44-45 22/8/06 12:54 Page 3
D A T E E V E N T L O C A T I O N
13–15 September Speckle 2006 Nimes, France
25–27 September Boulder Damage Symposium XXXVIII Boulder, US
12–14 October OPERA2015 Symposium: Photonics Technologies Wroclaw, Polandfor the 7th Framework Programme
16–19 October EOS annual meeting and topical meetings Paris, France
10 November 1st International Optence Workshop on Mainz, GermanySilicon Photonics
6–8 December Optics–Photonics Design and Fabrication ODF’06 Nara, Japan
31 January – PSIP 2007: 5th Workshop on Physics in Signal Mulhouse, France2 February 2007 and Image Processing
3–8 June Optical Interference Coatings (OIC 2007) Rucson, US
11–14 September 8th International Conference on Correlation Optics Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Are you a member of EOS?
E O S N E W S L E T T E RS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6
For more information on any of these events, please visit www.myeos.org.
To contact the EOS board:Executive director Klaus [email protected] Joseph Braat [email protected] Peter Török [email protected] Daniel Dolfi [email protected]
To learn more about your nationalEOS branch, please contact:Belgium Yvon Renotte [email protected] and Slovak republicsPavel Tomanek [email protected] Steen Grüner Hanson [email protected] Harri [email protected] Francoise [email protected] Cornelia Denz [email protected] Aladar [email protected] Anna Consortini [email protected] NetherlandsBernhard [email protected] Aasmund Sudbo [email protected] Katarzyna Macukow [email protected] Laurentiu [email protected] Ivan [email protected] Concepcion Domingo [email protected] Fredrik Laurell [email protected] Peter Seitz [email protected] Peter [email protected]
EOS Newsletter is produced forthe European Optical Society by Institute of PhysicsPublishing.
Editor Jacqueline [email protected]: +44 (0)117 930 1194
Individual members are eligible for:● reduced fees for JEOS:RP at www.jeos.org;● a regular EOS Newsletter e-mail;● reduced conference fees;● reduced prices for EOS journals;● free subscription to Optics & Laser Europe;● and, for those living outside Germany, a 50% discounton a subscription to the German-language journalPhotonik, published by AT-Fachverlag.
Additional benefits for corporate members:● a company profile in the EOS directory;● a presence on the EOS website;● free advertisements for jobs in the EOS market;● reduced conference fees for all employees.
Look at the benefits
EOS 2006 membership feesIndividual members (who do not belong to a branch or affiliated society of EOS): 740Students (who do not belong to a branch or affiliated society of EOS): 710Corporate members (regardless of the number of employees of the company or members of the institute): 7200
Individual members of the branches SFO (France), DgaO (Germany), HOS (Hungary), SIOF (Italy), LAS (Russia), SOS(Sweden), SSOM (Switzerland) and the Optical Group IOP (UK) are automatically full individual members of EOS. Individualmembers of the affiliated societies Promoptica and CBO-BCO (Belgium), CSSF (Czech and Slovak Republic), DOPS(Denmark), FOS (Finland), the Optics Division of the Norwegian Physical Society (Norway), the Optics Division of the PolishPhysical Society (Poland), ROS (Romania) and SEDO (Spain) are automatically associate members of the EOS.
Membership informationTo find out more about joining EOS, contact: Klaus Nowitzki, executive director, Hollerithallee 8, D-30419 Hanover,Germany (tel: +49 (0)511 2788 115; e-mail: [email protected]; web: www.myeos.org).
Calendar Contact
OLESep06EOSp46 22/8/06 12:55 Page 2
Crystal quartz waveplatesCVI
CVI, US, is now offeringnext-day shipping ofmultiple- and zero-ordercrystal quartzwaveplates working atover 45 standardwavelengths. The
company says that orders received before1 p.m. can be shipped the same day from itsfacility in Albuquerque and adds that customwaveplates can also be turned around quickly.
“We have been able to realize a 75%reduction in manufacturing cycle times for ourwaveplate product line,” said CVI’s vice-president of sales and marketing Bob Soales.“We believe that this is the largest inventory oflaser-grade crystal quartz waveplates in theindustry. Our waveplate manufacturingprocesses support over 90 wavelengths from193 to 2300 nm.”www.cvilaser.com
High-power laser diodesBFi OPTiLAS
OSRAM’s SIRILAS rangeof high-power laserdiodes is now availablefrom BFi OPTiLAS.Emitting in the infrared,
and with the ability to be stacked horizontallyand vertically, the lasers have been designedspecifically for solid-state pumping, materialprocessing, illumination and industrialapplications.
Said to be around 20% smaller than currentstandard packages, SIRILAS is the first productin a new group of laser diodes with a speciallytailored heat sink. The laser bar is centred onintegrated cooling ribs, which provide effectivewater cooling. An integrated lens produces abeam with a vertical divergence of <1° making itsuitable for use in direct processes such assheet welding, according to BFi.www.bfioptilas.com
Linear stagesNewport
The GTS family of high-precision linear stagesis now available fromNewport. Machinedfrom stress-relieved7075 aluminium to
ensure long-term strength and stability, Newportbelieves that the stages are an ideal solution forapplications such as surface scanning, test andcalibration, optical component alignment andattachment, and optical delay lines.
The GTS stages use matched pairs of anti-creep crossed roller bearings. A high-torque DCmotor and a low-friction ball screwdriveeliminate stick-slip effects and ensure motionwith a sensitivity of 100 nm. Precision positionfeedback is provided by an optical scale with50 nm resolution.www.newport.com
OEM laser moduleTOPTICA Photonics
TOPTICA Photonics hasunveiled an OEM lasermodule called dfTune.Based on near-infrareddistributed feedback
diode laser technology, the dfTune provides adiffraction-limited beam profile, single frequencyemission (linewidth < 5 MHz) and continuouswavelength tuning (up to 4 nm). The module isavailable within the complete spectral rangefrom 760 to 2800 nm with output powers of upto 150 mW at selected wavelengths.
The smallest version of the module has afootprint of 58×44×30 mm. TOPTICA adds thatan RS232 interface enables direct access topower and wavelength settings and that changing
the laser diode temperature permits mode-hopfree frequency tuning up to 1400 GHz.www.toptica.com
Solid-state laser mirrorsAlpine Research Optics
A range of highreflectors for use with Q-switched, Nd:YAG,Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YLFlasers operating at1064, 1053 and532 nm is now
available from Alpine Research Optics (ARO).The company says that the mirrors arespecifically optimized to deliver high damagethreshold, maximum pulse count lifetime andsuperior mechanical durability making themideal for beam delivery application in a widevariety of laser-based machine tools.
ARO’s standard product line includes both1 inch (25.4 mm) and 2 inch (50.8 mm) roundmirrors on fused silica substrates. Specifiedflatness is /10 at 633 nm with a surface qualityof 10–5 over an 85% clear aperture. Designs for0° and 45° operation are available.www.arocorp.com
PRODUCTSIf you would like your company’s products to be featured in this section,
please send press releases and images to James Tyrrell ([email protected]).
47OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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532 nm laserPavilion Integration Corp
Pavilion IntegrationCorp (PIC) of the UShas added a 30 mWversion to its WhisperITproduct line. Emittingat 532 nm, the laser is
based on PIC’s monolithic laser design that itco-developed with Photop Technologies. PICsays that the design exceeds customerrequirements for low noise, beam quality,highly stable output power, beam pointingstability and long life. The laser also boasts afast warm-up time as well as dissipating verylittle heat. Ideally suited to bio-instrumentation, reprographics andmetrology markets, WhisperIT 532 nm lasersare now available at power levels in the 5–30 mW range.www.pavilionintegration.com
Acquisition trigger moduleCedip Infrared Systems
Cedip Infrared Systemshas released anacquisition triggermodule that enables itscomplete range of high-
performance IR cameras to precisely measureand characterize transient thermal events –even when exposure times in the microsecondregime are required.
Available as a low-cost option, the moduleconnects directly to a PC USB port to ensurehigh-precision image acquisition and recording.It also offers advanced functionality (prepare,start recording, pause recording and endrecording) to allow operators to control eachstage of data acquisition. Cedip adds that themodule can start recording in response to anexternal event, such as something passing infront of the camera.www.cedip-infrared.com
350 nm LEDsThe Fox GroupLEDs with a typical peak wavelength of 351 nmat 20 mA and a FWHM spectral width of around10 nm are now available from the Fox Group.The company says that its FoxUV LEDs have anaverage output power of greater than 200 µW at20 mA for a forward voltage of approximately4.5 V and 500 µW at 50 mA.
The LEDs are also said to have a low rate ofdegradation, maintaining more than 70% oftheir initial output power after rigorousaccelerated degradation testing at 30 mA formore than 1100 h. The LEDs are available aspackaged lamps, a TO-66 power packcontaining 60 dies, 320×320 µm LEDs and2 inch diameter epitaxial wafers.www.thefoxgroupinc.com
PRODUCTSLaser Solutionsfrom Cobolt
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WaveMaster®
Fast and accurate Aspherical Lens Tester
WaveMaster® is a new instrument providing realtime wave front measurement and analysis ofspherical and aspherical optics.
The WaveMaster® features high spatial resolu-tion and accuracy, can be simply set up in finiteor infinity conjugates configuration and incorpo-rates the state of the art wave front sensing tech-nology. A high precision 5 axis sample holderallows for easy and fast alignment of the sample.Further features include:
• Tilt dynamic range: > ± 3° (1500 �)• Focus dynamic range: ± 0.03 m to ± ∞ (1800 �)• Repeatability (RMS): < � /200• Wave front measurement accuracy: RMS: � / 20• Live display of measured, fitted and residual
wave front• Live Zernike analysis• Complete measurement report, etc.
Applications include measurementof mobile phone and digitalcamera lenses, lenses forautomotive sensors or any otherspherical or highly asphericaloptics.
Hafenstrasse 35-39 . D-22880 Wedel / GermanyPhone: ++49-4103-18006-0 . Fax: ++49-4103-18006-20
E-mail: [email protected] . www.trioptics.com
OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Microscope componentsMelles Griot
Melles Griot hasannounced that its fullline of microscopecomponents, aperturesand spatial filters is
now available for purchase via its onlinecatalogue. Microscope bodies, which accept allstandard eye pieces, objectives andaccessories, are available with coarse- and fine-tuning mechanisms. Accessories includeadjustable and angular eye-piece holders, aturret lens mount, focusing stages and amicroscope mounting plate. All Melles Griotmicroscope objectives are achromatic and haveindustry-standard microscope threads for cross-compatibility. The company also suppliesspatial filter mounts as well as a comprehensiveselection of pinholes, slits and adjustable irisassemblies for laboratory and OEM applications.www.mellesgriot.com
Imaging sphereRadiant Imaging
Radiant Imaging saysthat its IS-LI is the firstsystem to enable rapid,comprehensivemeasurement of theluminous intensity ofLEDs and other small
light sources. Comprising a 20 inch (550 mm)diameter hemispherical chamber, the IS-LIacquires luminous intensity data over 2 sr in asingle measurement taking just a few seconds.
According to Radiant, the system delivers upto 16-bit luminance measurements with anangular resolution of 1% or better. It adds thatthe IS-LI can analyse colour versus emissionangle and is orders of magnitude faster thantraditional methods as well as being moreeconomical. The system is said to enableproduction-line quality control of LEDs as well asbeing useful for R&D purposes.www.radiantimaging.com
Lens positioning systempiezosystem jena
peizosystem jena hasupdated its MIPOS 100objective lenspositioning system.Dubbed MIPOS 100 PL,
the improved system offers motion of up to100 µm in closed-loop mode and 140 µm inopen-loop mode. According to the firm, the unitis now compatible with objectives of up to40 mm in diameter. As before, the device canalso be supplied with an integratedmeasurement system such as a strain gauge orcapacitive sensor.www.piezojena.com
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49OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Excimer laserCoherent
The ExciStar XS fromCoherent is a compact,economical and air-cooled excimer laser thatcan operate at 157nm
(F2), 193nm (ArF), 248nm (KrF) and 351nm(XeF). Measuring only 649×300×400mm, theExciStar XS delivers up to 10mJ per pulse at193nm with an energy stability of <2% (1 ) atrepetition rates of up to 500Hz.
Coherent says that the use of Almeta XS all-metal tube construction, corona pre-ionization,an all-solid-state pulser and electrostatic dustremoval combine to yield a laser tube lifetime of500 million pulses and an optics lifetime of100 million pulses. The compact size and lowcost of ownership is said to make the ExciStarXS attractive to laboratory and research users,especially for marking applications.www.coherent.com
Wafer productionSAES GettersThe SAES Getters Group of Italy is upgrading itsPaGeWafer production line to process 8-inchwafers in addition to current 4, 5 and 6 inchformats. Due for completion later this year, theexpanded facility will support wafer-level MEMSpackaging for applications such as imagestability systems, gyroscopes, multiaxisaccelerometers and infrared sensors to namejust a few. www.saes-group.com
LIBS systemNew Wave Research
New Wave Researchhas released a laser-induced breakdownspectroscopy (LIBS)platform that provides
real-time high-resolution spectral analysis ofelements in a variety of materials down to onepart per million. According to the firm, the LIBS-ELITE requires no sample preparationwhatsoever. The user simply places the sample(up to 2 inches in diameter) in the instrument’squick-loading chamber, programs the systemand then receives a spectra based on aninternal library of elemental standards. Suitablesample materials listed by the company includemetals, gems, biological tissues, pigments,glass, paints, plastics, semiconductors andoptics. The device features New WaveResearch’s high-energy Tempest Nd:YAG laserand multiple Ocean Optics high-resolutionspectrometers. Seven linear CCD-array detectorsprovide broadband analysis and allspectrometers are triggered to acquire and readout data simultaneously.www.new-wave.com
PRODUCTS
50 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Goniometric measurement assemblyGamma Scientific
Gamma Scientific, US,has introduced the 940-LED, a compactgoniometricmeasurement assemblyoptimized for fast,accurate, angular LEDmeasurement.
Compatible with all Gamma Scientificspectroradiometers and photometers, the 940-LED is said to be ideal for performing colourand/or intensity measurements in the lab or onthe production line.
The product’s feature set includes a high-speed USB interface; two automated axes,including an automated axial range thateliminates the extra step of manual LED rotationassociated with manual axial-range units; andbuilt-in sockets to accommodate a wide varietyof LED standards. www.gamma-sci.com
265 nm pulsed sourceHORIBA Jobin Yvon
The NanoLED range ofpulsed laser diodes andLEDs from HORIBAJobin Yvon nowincludes the NanoLED-
265. The source emits deep ultraviolet pulses ata nominal wavelength of 265 nm, a pulse widthof 1.2 ns and a spectral FWHM of 15 nm that,according to the firm, makes it an idealexcitation source for use in TCSPC-basedfluorescence lifetime systems.
The NanoLED-265 also features adjustableoptics and a gold-plated enclosure to suppressradio-frequency noise. The new addition is fullyplug-and-play compatible with existing NanoLEDcontrollers and comes with a bench-top driver tocontrol repetition rate and synchronizationdelay. The driver also has comprehensivesynchronization options.www.jobinyvon.co.uk
915 nm pump diodeLumicsThe uncooled LU0915T050 pump diode fromLumics offers up to 5 W of output power at awavelength of 915 nm from a 105/125 µmmultimode fibre with a numerical aperture of0.22. Other specifications include an electrical-to-optical power conversion efficiency of greaterthan 60%, an operating current of 5.5 A and atypical threshold current of 500 mA.
Target applications are listed as pumpingytterbium fibre lasers and conventional diode-pumped solid-state lasers. Lumics says that thisnew pump diode can lead to a cost-effectivelaser system design with enhanced performance.www.lumics.com
PRODUCTS
51OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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LIMO-LissotschenkoMikrooptik GmbHBookenburgweg 4-844319 Dortmund, Germany Phone: +49 (231) 22241-300Phone US Rep: +1 (404) 586 6860Phone China Rep: +86 (10) [email protected] LIMO inside – always one step ahead
Industrial Photonics –successful solutionsOptical Systems and Micro-Optics• customized beam shaping solutions• mass production of lenses on wafer base • any wavelength from 157 nm to 10,6 µm• any material (glass, fused silica, CaF2, silicon...)• systems for beam shaping with < 1% flat-top uniformity
Laser Systems• ultra-high brightness diode lasers: BPP=5 mm mrad• extremely homogeneous field illumination at multi-kW power levels• narrow line systems with below 1 nm line width for pump
applications with wavelength stabilization• fully equipped FDA-prepared medical laser packages• homogeneous laser lines – Diode, excimer, CO2 and solid-state
Technologies• programmable free form illumination for any high-power laser source• diffraction-limited beam shaping by micro-optics• well-defined, reliable and efficient materials processing• best practice best cost-benefit ratio industrial solutions• tested in LIMO’s own application labs
OLESepAdverts52 22/8/06 09:31 Page 1
Pump laserThales Laser
Thales Laser hasintroduced the ATLASpump laser, which it
says makes petawatt laser performance areality. Utilizing glass phosphate technology,with a typical repetition rate of 1 shot/min (up to0.05 Hz), ATLAS is designed to deliver 2×25 Jpulses in the green with 20 ns pulse duration.
The laser-head measures 150×200 cm andthe company says that great care has beentaken to keep a smooth super-Gaussian profile.According to Thales Laser, a new beam-shaperoptimizes the fill factor and energy extraction ishighly efficient without introducing anyadditional diffraction effects. Employing thesetechnologies, 50 J at 527 nm is generated usingonly six amplifiers.http://thales.nuxit.net
Macro zoom lensesMoritex
Moritex is offering aselection of macrozoom lenses designedfor surface inspectionand alignment
applications. Compatible with 1/2 inch or 1/3 inchCCD cameras, the optical systems weigh lessthan 100 g and come complete with adjustableand lockable focus, iris and zoom. Lenses areavailable in a choice of eight differentmagnifications (0.02–2.4×) with or withoutintegrated coaxial episcopic illumination. Aworking distance of 173 mm is said to provideplenty of room between the lens and the subjectfor robotic arms and other machinery.www.moritex.com
Rotary stageAnorad Europe
Anorad Europe saysthat its latest direct-drive rotary positioningstage suits precisionassembly, lasermachining and high
accuracy inspection systems. According to thefirm, the RDR-160 combines precise positioningand velocity control with high speeds and nomaintenance. The stage has a maximum velocityof 120 rev/min, a load capacity of 50 kg (axial)and 10 kg (radial) and weighs 7.5 kg. Thanks toa resolution of 0.36 arcsec, the unit is said todeliver a repeatability of less than 2 arcsec anda positioning accuracy of ±15 arcsec. Thecompact stage consists of a brushless DCservomotor, a high-resolution optical encoderand a high-accuracy angular contact bearing. Itmeasures just 90 mm in height and has acarriage diameter of 158 mm.www.anorad.com
PRODUCTS
Europe: Paul Höß KGP.O. Box 950240, 81518 München, GermanyTel.: +49 (0)89 652029Fax: +49 (0)89 654817E-mail: [email protected]
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53OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Optical softwareLambda Research
IB/E Optics, Germany,has come up with non-linear optimizationsoftware for LambdaResearch’s TraceProray-tracing package.
Dubbed OptiBelPro, the module is based on theScheme macro language and automaticallyvaries model parameters to achieve specificillumination distributions. According to LambdaResearch, the software gives users the flexibilityto modify analysis functions and define custommerit functions.www.lambdares.com
Fibre inspection microscopeRipley
Ripley’s latest fibre-optic inspectionmicroscope is fittedwith an achromaticglass objective and
features a universal adapter that is said toaccommodate nearly all ST, SC and FCconnector ferrules. Adapters for otherconnection types are available from the firm onrequest. The microscope contains a long-life LEDsource powered by three AAA batteries. Acoaxial illumination scheme, where light travelsalong the same axis as the inserted fibre, helpsthe operator to pinpoint fine scratches andcontaminants. In addition, a side-illuminationport allows the back lit inspection of jumpersand can also be used for fault finding. Themicroscope is made of durable aluminium andcomes with a soft padded storage case thatprotects the device when not in use.www.ripley-tools.com
Lens production equipmentSatishloh
Satishloh of Germanyhas developed its nextgeneration of lens-production platformsfor fabricating optics upto 60 mm in diameter.The basic version
performs spherical processing and can also beequipped to allow sophisticated asphereproduction. A second model includes anautomated handling and flip-over facilitytogether with y- and c-axis options. To eliminatebelt-induced vibration, the machines employdirect-driven, water-cooled generating spindles.Optional air-bearing spindles can be providedand are said to allow very high cutting speeds.An integrated quality-control systemcompensates for fluctuations in temperatureand for wear on the tool.www.satishloh.com
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www.photon-inc.com
OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Wafer interferometerMicro Photonics
Micro Photonics, US,has unveiled its T-mapinstrument for mappingthe thickness of ultra-thin, bumped, tapedand warped wafers. The
interferometer can measure wafer thicknesses ofbetween 20 µm and 1 mm with an accuracy of±0.5 µm and a repeatability of 100 nm. Todetermine the distance between the wafer’sfront and back surfaces, the T-map comparesthe optical path detected by its fibre-opticsensor with an internal fast delay line locatedinside the main control unit. Measurements areperformed on a point-by-point basis at a rate of50 points per second and can be mapped up toa diameter of 8 inches. The standalone systemconsists of rack-mounted electronics, a fibrecollimator, a stable mechanical platform and achuck support. According to the firm, theinstrument can also be integrated withPhotomap, Zoomsurf and Cybersurf 3D non-contact profilers to create a fully automatic“one-click” system.www.microphotonics.com
Optical band-pass filterDSI
Deposition Sciences Inc(DSI) has devised anabrasive-resistant,super-durable wide-acceptance angle
band-pass filter that can be coated on thesurface of curved lenses. The thin film blockswavelengths from the visible region of thespectrum (400 nm) into the shortwave infrared(1200 nm) with a high transmission at1064 nm. The firm says that its pass filtertechnology is ideal for scanning, targetdesignation, seeker heads and otherapplications requiring a uniform optical coatingover curved surfaces.www.depsci.com
Camera driverJenoptikJenoptik’s latest camera driver can now bedownloaded from the firm’s website. Designedto control the company’s ProgRes range ofmicroscope cameras, the software integratesinto the Image-Pro image analysis package fromMedia Cybernetics. According to Jenoptik,procedures such as time-lapse, multi-fluorescence imaging and automated imageanalysis are accomplished with ease. Inaddition, the macroprogramming capabilities ofImage-Pro are now fully available for ProgRescamera operation. The new driver is said toalready support Image-Pro version 6.www.progres-camera.com
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We’re also introducing two new servo-driver boards. A dual-axisanalog servo that provides a 50% board space reduction andhigher speed at lower cost, and a self-tuning digital servo driverthat delivers speeds faster than analog servo technology.
■ New 6215H GalvanometerHighest frequency galvo in the marketIdeal for high-speed raster scan applications
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55OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
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PRODUCTS
56 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Super-bright LEDsOsram Opto Semiconductors
Osram OptoSemiconductors hasdeveloped two super-bright LEDs especiallyfor camera-flashapplications. OSLUXhas beam
characteristics that are said to suit photoformats and offers homogeneous brightnessright into the margins.
The firm claims that for a direct target area of1.15× 0.87 m, the device can deliver aluminous flux of more than 50 lux. CERAMOSsuits applications where device space islimited, for example, inside mobile phones, andcan be combined with various lenses. BothLEDs are based on a 1 mm2 thin GaN chip andcan be operated in pulse mode or with aconstant current.www.osram-os.com
Micropositioning stagesPI
Physik Instrumente (PI)says that its latest rangeof precision translationstages comes in48 variations. Featuringfour different
precision/load classes, the M-403/M-414 seriesis available with a choice of three motors (DC-Gearhead, DC ActiveDrive Direct and StepperMotors) and two drive options (leadscrew andrecirculating ball screw). According to thecompany, the cost-effective units aremaintenance free, can carry up to 50 kg and areable to push/pull up to 100 N. www.pi.ws
Wafer-inspection systemOlympus Integrated Technologies
Olympus IntegratedTechnologies, US, hasreleased an opticallybased system forreviewing the top, edge,bevel and back side of300 mm wafers. TheAL3300 features avariety of visible lightimaging methods anduses the firm’s infinity
corrected optics to give a superior image. Thesystem is also compatible with Olympus’s248 nm patented Deep-UV Air Gap optics, whichincrease the optical resolution to 80 nm.
The instrument provides a throughput of up to180 wafers per hour and is said by the firm tosuit any factory floor layout. When operated inmacro mode, the system can inspect the wafer’sfront and back side in a single pass. Micro
OLESep06PRODUCTSp47-57 22/8/06 12:43 Page 56
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57OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
Advanced Photonixwww.advancedphotonix.com 22
Aerotech www.aerotech.com 11Avantes www.avantes.com 54BFI Optilas www.bfioptilas.com 25Breault Research Organizationwww.breault.com IFC
Cambridge Technologywww.cambridgetechnology.com 55
Cobolt www.cobolt.se 48Coherent www.coherent.com 38Crystal Systemswww.crystalsystems.com 13
CVI Technical Optics www.cvilaser.com OBCDuma Optronics www.duma.co.il 50Edmund Opticswww.edmundoptics.co.uk 53
EKSPLA www.ekspla.com 57Esco Products www.escoproducts.com 26Excimer www.excimer.ee 42Femto Messtechnik www.femto.de 51Fujian Castech Crystalswww.castech.com 50
Fuji Magnetics www.polymer-optics.com 9Global Laser Technologywww.globallasertech.com 19
Hamamatsu Photonicswww.sales.hamamatsu.com 18
HC Photonics www.hcphotonics.com 52i-Chips www.i-chipstech.com 6ILX Lightwave www.ilxlightwave.com 56Imagine Optic www.imagine-optic.com 47Image Science www.image-science.co.uk 8IMT Masken und Teilungen www.imtag.ch 4
IPOT 2007 www.ipot.co.uk 24JCMWave www.jcmwave.com 13Kentek Corporation www.kentek.com 12Laser Components UK Ltdwww.lasercomponents.co.uk 29
LaserVision www.lvg.com 40LIMO Laser Systems www.limo.de 52Lumina Power www.luminapower.com 12Melles Griot www.mellesgriot.com 7New Focus www.newfocus.com 32Newport Spectra-Physicswww.newport.com 14
Ocean Optics www.oceanoptics.com 9Ophir Optronicswww.ophiropt.com 16, 58, IBC
Opto 2006 www.optoexpo.com 26Optometrics www.optometrics.com 24PCO AG www.pco.de 49Photonex 2006 www.photonex.org 17Photon Inc www.photon-inc.com 54Physik Instrumente (PI) www.pi.ws 36RSoft Design Groupwww.rsoftdesign.com 37
Spanoptic www.spanoptic.com 51Stanford Computer Opticswww.stanfordcomputeroptics.com 53
StockerYale Incwww.stockeryale.com 12, 26
Superlum www.superlum.ie 36Tempo Plastic www.tempo-plastic.com 42Texas Instrumentswww.dmddiscovery.com 41
Thorlabs www.thorlabs.com 49Trioptics www.trioptics.com 48
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
The index is provided as a service and, while every effort is made to ensure its accuracy, Optics&LaserEurope accepts no liability for error.
inspection allows the user to view the waferunder a range of magnifications and imagingtechniques, which include bright field, dark fieldNomarski (DIC), confocal, high-resolution DUVand DUV confocal methods. Defect data isstored in a common format and can be uploadedto the user’s yield-management database.www.olympus-ita.com
Upright light microscopesMeiji Techno
Meiji Techno, the thirdlargest manufacturer ofoptical microscopes inJapan, has launchedits latest range ofupright lightmicroscopes in the UK.The series features anew infinity-corrected
optical system called ICOS and can besupplied in various configurations for biological(MX 4000, MX 5000 and MX 6000) andmetallurgical (MX 7000 and MX 8000)applications. Options include brightfield,
darkfield and phase-contrast modes. Polarizedlight accessories are also available. The firmsays that it offers a limited warranty for itsproducts against defects in material orworkmanship for the life of the instrument.www.meijitechno.co.uk
Optical software updateRSoftRSoft Design Group, US, is due to releaseversion 7.0 of its passive component designsuite, which includes BeamPROP, FullWAVE,BandSOLVE, GratingMOD, DiffractMOD, FemSIMand MOST packages.
According to the firm, the update will featureadvanced non-uniform mesh generation, whichsuits a wide range of applications includinghigh-index contrast structures, metallicstructures, quantum wells and structures withsmall feature sizes. In addition, the software issaid to incorporate significant speed andusability improvements. Version 7.0 will bedemonstrated at ECOC in Cannes, France, on 25 September.www.rsoftdesign.com
OLESep06PRODUCTSp47-57 22/8/06 12:44 Page 57
PEOPLETo advertise your job vacancies, contact Cadi Jones (tel: +44 (0)117 930 1090; e-mail: [email protected]).
58 OLE • September 2006 • optics.org/ole
SUDOKU PUZZLE
We hope you enjoyed July/August’s Sudokupuzzle. You can check your answers against lastmonth’s solution on the left.
If you are new to Sudoku, this is how it works:each puzzle consists of a 9×9 grid that issubdivided into 9 smaller grids of 3×3 squares.To complete the puzzle, you must ensure thateach row, column and 3×3 square contains thenumbers 1–9. All it takes is logic so try not toguess at the numbers.
UK
Aerotech strengthensEuropean sales team
Aerotech, amanufacturer ofmotion control andpositioning systems,has hired NigelJohnson asinternational sales
manager. The position involves workingclosely with the firm’s European subsidiariesand distributors to develop a new strategy forgrowing sales channels and expandingmarket share.
Johnson joins the company following 10years with Parker Automation, UK, where hewas most recently regional sales manager forthe UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.
UK
Brock to oversee growthat Optical Surfaces
Optical Surfaces hasappointed Iain Brockas general manager.The UK firm, whichis based in Surrey, islooking to build on its existing
international growth, and new recruit Brock
will play a major role in coordinating thecompany’s efforts. His experience includessenior technical and managerial positionswithin the optical divisions of PhilipsElectronics and its associated companies.
US
Scott Hix drives marketstrategy at Planar Systems
Planar Systems, US,has hired Scott Hix asvice-president ofbusinessdevelopment. Theflat-panel-displaymaker is looking to
enter new markets and Hix will be expectedto identify emerging opportunities as part ofhis new role.
Hix brings 15 years of technologyleadership experience to Planar and hiscareer includes a number of executivepositions at InFocus, a provider ofprojection systems.
US
CVI brings new talent into its organizationCVI Optical Components has recruitedShahram Khalil as general manager andTony Posbic as quality supervisor. Posbic will
report to Khalil and also work closely withJim Phelps, who was promoted to vice-president of quality earlier this year.
Previously, Khalil was a senior managerat ESS Technology, a developer of cameraphones. Posbic joins CVI from PacificOptical, where he was a senior opticalspecialist.
UK
Former IBM executivejoins ForthDD board
James McGroddy, aformer senior vice-president of IBM, hasjoined the board ofdirectors of Scottishmicrodisplay firmForth Dimension
Displays (ForthDD). At IBM, he helpedenhance the link between R&D,manufacturing and product exploitation,and led a major restructuring of the firm’sresearch efforts.
“Jim’s proven leadership in driving newdisplay technologies to the market-placethrough co-operation with Asian partners isvery important to ForthDD as we take ourtechnology into larger consumer segments,such as rear projection HDTVs,”commented Leslie Polgar, the company’schief executive officer.
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