Optics & Photonics News

An blue/UV laser pointer was coupled into the handle of a cup, which guides it and feeds it into a fluorescing liquid that lights up in green colors. Surrounding Lab environment was darkened completely to highlight the effect. Mild post-processing was done (clipping, lifting the contrasts, noise correction). The image was taken in the lab at Leibniz-IPHT Jena. [Winner 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Tobias Tieß, Leibniz-IPHT

20 Nov 2018

Engagement ring sparkle

The sparkles from my wife's engagement ring are visualized by a collimated supercontinuum laser incident normal to the largest diamond in the ring. A piece of paper is used to trace out the beam in this long exposure image. Small rainbow beams can be seen shooting away from the stone, proof that the dispersive design of the diamond is doing its job. [Second place winner 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Benjamin Cromey, University of Arizona

20 Nov 2018

Dust on a Silicon Substrate

The image shows a chunk of dust on a silicon substrate with nanowire-like structure on the the surface, which resembles a meteorite falling on a forest. The surface is coated with chromium for better resolution in SEM. [Third place winner [tie] 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Bingtao Gao, University of Iowa

20 Nov 2018

Optical Levitodynamics

A tightly focused laser beam from a microscope objective is used to levitate a single nanoparticle in vacuum and detect its dynamics. The electric field from two electrodes allows to accurately measure the mass of the particle to the sub-femtogram scale (the mass of a small virus) and its charge down to the single electron level, making the system an ultra sensitive force nano-sensor.” [Third place winner [tie] 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Francesco F. Ricci, ICFO- Institute of Photonics Sciences, Barcelona

20 Nov 2018

Interference pattern

This SEM image is the center of a resolution test for optical lithography (Ultraviolet) using vacuum contact. While the straight lines were lost at the submicron scale of the pattern’s center, a beautiful interference pattern was created! [Honorable mention 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Alexander C. Walhof, University of Iowa

20 Nov 2018

Birefringent Flower

An arrangement of plastic flutes between a linear- and a circular-polarizer. The colors represent wavelength-dependent retardance paths that rotate the polarization orientation through different angles. [Honorable mention 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Samuel F. Pellicori, Senior Member OSA

20 Nov 2018

Three spheres trapped in white light

Calculated intensity as particles are added reveals that each of the particles gives rise to a new power maximum near the place where the next particle settles. [Honorable mention 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Shai Maayani, MIT

20 Nov 2018

The spiral bow

Laser scattering in a glass cylinder, the light rays split and bounce back and forth , making the long term prediction of the trajectories of these rays very difficult. [Honorable mention 2018 After Image photo contest.]

—Albetro A Tufaile, Soft Matter Lab, EACH-USP

20 Nov 2018

Welding with a Blue Laser

Welding with 500W of Blue Laser Light

—James P. Tucker, Nuburu, Inc.

20 Nov 2018

Tree and its image

Image formation of a tree in a demijohn

—Paolo Bassi, University of Bologna - DEI

20 Nov 2018

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