Optics & Photonics News

Optics & Photonics News Magazine
January 2007 Issue

Feature Articles

Optics in South Africa

The rainbow nation is betting on the optical sciences to support its economic growth and skills development.

by Jean-Noel Maran, Erich G. Rohwer, Johan P. Burger and Lourens R. Botha

Solid-State Lighting: A Systems Engineering Approach

Solid-state lighting is more than just another light source. It is a lighting system that involves optics, thermal management, electrical power conversion, electronic drive circuitry and network control.

by Ian Ashdown

Meet the Metamaterials

Among optics and electromagnetics researchers today, the term “metamaterials” is often taken to be synonymous with materials that have a negative refractive index, but there is much more to metamaterials than that. As research evolves, these unique composite materials will be fabricated with new, multifunctional architectures that will enable applications in sensing, security, transportation and other areas.

by Akhlesh Lakhtakia and Tom G. Mackay

Report from FiO: Global Issues, Optics Solutions

For its 90th annual meeting, OSA returned home to its birthplace of Rochester, N.Y. Speakers challenged the optics community to work toward solving society’s most urgent problems, including the need to find alternative energy sources and halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.

by Patricia Daukantas

Departments and Columns

Scatterings

Hearing One Cancer Cell in a Million

A fast, simple, laser-based blood test that allows doctors to “hear” cancer cells could one day become a tool for cancer screening as well as evaluating how well therapy is working.

Scatterings

Tiny Bubbles Direct Light

Researchers at Harvard University recently demonstrated that tiny arrays of bubbles in a microfluidic device could act as tunable self-assembled diffraction gratings.

Scatterings

Did You Know?

QD Vision Inc., a start-up company in Watertown, Mass., has announced the first electrically powered quantum-dot display prototype.

Optics Innovations

Headwall Photonics Inc.: Scaling New Heights in Spectral Equipment

This venture-backed company focuses on imaging spectrometers and high-efficiency optics. It combines the energy of a start-up with the experience, infrastructure and OEM customer base that come with 30 years of experience.

The History of OSA