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PHOTONICS WEST PREVIEW

SPIE PhotonicsWest 2015

excites with neurology, 3D printing, and silicon photonics

GAIL OVERTON, JOHN WALLACE,

and BARBARA GOODE

Twenty-thousand photonics technologists and executives will unite at the 2015 SPIE Photonics West conference this February in San Francisco to explore, among many other things, how photonics could potentially improve, repair, and communicate with the brain using light.

SPIE Photonics West has always been

circuitry (have you

the go-to conference for new and ex-

heard

of “silicon

citing technological breakthroughs

photonics”?).

in the field of photonics. This year,

These and numer-

as we enter the 2015 International

ous other wonders of

Year of Light, SPIE Photonics West

the photonics world

takes a more detailed look at neurol-

are hurtling toward

ogy, 3D printing, and silicon photon-

you at SPIE Photonics

ics—some of the hottest buzzwords

West 2015 (with 8%

and buzz phrases in the photonics

more

technical pa-

industry today—that have vast, far-

pers than last year)

The BiOS Hot Topics session is

a not-to-be-missed favorite presenting some of the most important recent developments in biophotonics on Feb. 7 from 7 to 9 pm.

for Optoelectronics— presentations will represent not only the latest work, but a heightened sense of direction and

reaching implications for the future of our society.

Imagine being able to probe, study, and even modify the brain’s behavior using light (can you say “optogenet- ics”?). Now envision using light to print brain matter and other biological tissues for life-saving repairs and mindaltering benefits (are you thinking “3D printing”?). And finally, imagine using light to communicate faster than ever before using ultra-tiny circuits that circumvent cumbersome, bulkoptic devices and interconnect bottlenecks with faster-than-light photonic

from February 7 to

drive,” says SPIE pub-

12 in San Francisco.

lic relations manager

These wonders take the form of plena-

Amy Nelson. “Integrated photonics

ry sessions, papers, exhibits, and res-

for next-generation computing is an

taurant conversations with photonic

important area to watch as well, and

gurus and wanna-be gurus hungry to

speakers from companies including

learn more about how photonics can

IBM, Intel, and Corning will be among

positively impact our world.

those presenting their latest work and

“With the recent commitment of

directions.

more funds toward the White House

“Translational research has been

BRAIN Initiative and experts com-

quickly adopted by those in the bio-

ing to Photonics West from all over

medical optics community looking

the world—including several from the

for ways to speed the delivery of new

Britton Chance Center for Biomedical

treatments and diagnostic methods to

Photonics at the Wuhan National Lab

the patient, and the number of papers

52 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

BiOS and Translational Research virtual symposium

The Biomedical Optics Symposium (BiOS) and BiOS Expo will open Photonics West on Saturday, February 7. BiOS is organized into five tracks, including Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics; Clinical Technologies and Systems; and Nano/Biophotonics. Each of the other two tracks is a mouthful:

SPIE Photonics West will draw a crowd of over 20,000 engineers, scientists, and students to Moscone Center in San Francisco from

February 7-12, 2015.

Tissue Optics, Laser-Tissue Interaction, and Tissue Engineering; and Biomedical Spectroscopy, Microscopy, and Imaging. In addition, Translational Research is a virtual symposium that includes BiOS presentations in

in the program has increased this year,”

Amano, and Shuji

says Nelson. “The Green Photonics pro-

Nakamura are all au-

gram continues to dazzle with research

thors of papers being presented.

that will enable applications in more

“The SPIE Photonics West Exhibition

efficient photovoltaics, more disaster-

is sold out for 2015 with all available

resistant telecommunications systems,

space currently committed and a wait-

and new solid-state lighting solutions

ing list in place,” says Peter Hallett, SPIE

for the developed as well as the devel-

director, marketing and industry rela-

oping world.”

 

tions. “Approximately 1250 suppliers,

And once again, SPIE brings in the

developers, and manufacturers of the

heavy hitters with several plenary,

latest products, tools, and applications

keynote, and invited talks to be giv-

for research and industry will be on the

en by Nobel Laureates: Eric Betzig and

floor.” Hallett adds, “This year, 13 in-

William Moerner will speak about their

ternational cluster and 4 U.S. regional

prize-winning work in

 

 

cluster booths are participat-

the field of microscopy

 

 

ing, including new-in-2015 pa-

(search on their names

 

 

vilions from Taiwan, Austria,

at http://www.spie.

 

 

and Korea that make SPIE

org/photonics-west.

 

 

Photonics West a true glob-

xml to bring up the

 

 

al marketplace where people

presentations); Shuji

 

 

can speak face-to-face with

Nakamura

will ad-

 

 

the best suppliers from around

dress the SPIE Fellows

 

 

the world.”

luncheon (see http://

 

 

And last but not least, please

spie.org/PW/special-

FIGURE 1. Lihong Wang

attend the SPIE Photonics West

events/Membership-

of Washington University

welcome reception on Monday,

Event);

Thomas

in St Louis will receive

February 9 from 7 to 8:30 pm.

Südhof will give the

SPIE’s 2015 Britton

 

With the theme of the reception

Neurophotonics ple-

Chance Biomedical Optics

being “Creatures of the Light”

nary on

Tuesday

Award in recognition of

in the 2015 International Year

(February 10, 2–3 pm),

pioneering technical work

of Light, how can you go

a new plenary area

and visionary leadership

wrong? SPIE says it will take a

in the development

 

this year; and Kostya

and application of

 

“creative look backward to the

Novoselov,

Isamu

photoacoustics and

 

beginnings of time when light

Akasaki,

Hiroshi

photon-transport modeling.

was all we had.”

all five tracks—on technologies, tools, and techniques that show high potential to improve

healthcare practice.

If past years are any indication, even after a full day exploring the conferences, exhibits, and interactive poster session, attendees will bring enthusiastic attention to the Saturday Hot Topics plenary (7–9 pm). Hot Topics will begin with presentation of SPIE’s 2015 awards in biomedical optics, including the Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award (as of late November, the winner had not been announced) and the Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, which will honor Lihong Wang of Washington University (St. Louis, MO) for “outstanding lifetime contributions” (see Fig. 1). Wang is being recognized for his pioneering technical work and visionary leadership in the development and application of photoacoustics and photon transport modeling; he will deliver a talk titled “Photon-Phonon Synergy: Photoacoustic Tomography and Beyond.”

Next, seven other speakers will take the stage. Three of these will focus on cancer screening and treatment: Vadim Backman of Northwestern University will speak on cancer screening and nanoscale cytology; Paola Taroni of Politecnico di Milano (Italy) will explain optical assessment of collagen and breast cancer;

Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

January 2015 53

PHOTONICS WEST PREVIEW c o n t i n u e d

and David Roberts of

 

(BRAIN) Initiative, explained

Dartmouth Hitchcock

 

why optical imaging is key for

Medical Center will de-

 

neuroscience).

 

scribe fluorescence-guid-

 

 

Sunday, February 8

ed resection of intracra-

 

 

will see the continu-

nial tumors.

 

 

ation of BiOS Expo,

The remaining talks will

 

 

which

will feature

cover advances in imaging:

 

 

more than 210 ex-

Brett Bouma of the Wellman

 

 

hibitors with products

Center for Photomedicine

FIGURE 2. The BiOS Expo,

such as advanced mi-

will report on endoscop-

which runs Saturday from noon

croscopes, analytical

ic OCT, Richard Rosen

to 5 and Sunday from 10 am-5

instruments, nanosec-

of the New York Eye and

pm, will feature more than

ond lasers, fiber op-

Ear Infirmary will describe

210 exhibitors and many new

tics, spectral sensing

adaptive optics for the reti-

products, including the Lumen

systems, and scientif-

na, MIT’s Peter So will re-

300-LED broad spectrum white

ic cameras. Many new

light fluorescence excitation

port on nonlinear micros-

illumination system from Prior

products will be on

copy, and Rafael Yuste of

Scientific. (Courtesy of Prior

display such as Prior

Columbia University will

Scientific)

 

Scientific’s (Rockland,

describe simultaneous imag-

 

 

MA)

Lumen 300-

ing of neural activity in 3D (at the 2014

LED broad spectrum white light fluo-

Hot Topics session, Yuste, a pioneer be-

rescence excitation illumination system

hind the U.S. Brain Research through

(see Fig. 2). Other product introductions

Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies

are a developer’s kit for FEMTOprint

SA’s (Muzzano, Switzerland) tabletop platform for making 3D micro-nano- devices; a free-running single-photon detector for the near-IR range from ID Quantique (Geneva, Switzerland); and Raptor Photonics’ (Larne, Northern Ireland) cooled visible-SWIR InGaAs camera. In case you don’t get to see all the vendors you want to on Saturday and Sunday, keep in mind that some will also exhibit in the Photonics West Expo starting Tuesday.

Two special events are set to begin Sunday at 12:30: the BiOS Student Networking Lunch with the Experts and the Translational Research Lunchtime Forum. The latter will feature Bruce Tromberg of UC Irvine and Gabriela Apiou of Harvard Medical School facilitating a discussion about outcomesbased work that can change the lives of patients, presentations of work selected from the Translational Research virtual symposium, and Best Paper awards.

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Then, from 5–7 pm on Sunday, aca-

conference, and the Ocean Optics Young

describe recent studies showing how dys-

demic researchers and those working in

Investigator Award (6:10 pm), in con-

function of neurexins and their ligands

small business will have an opportuni-

junction with the Colloidal Nanocrystals

might predispose to neuropsychiatric dis-

ty to learn about U.S. Food and Drug

for Biomedical Applications confer-

orders. And the evening plenary, hosted

Administration (FDA) policies and proce-

ence. (Two other awards programs, the

by the International Biomedical Optics

dures relevant to their work. Chaired by

PicoQuant Young Investigator Award,

Society group—which aims to facilitate

Warren Grundfest of UCLA and Ramesh

part of the Single Molecule Spectroscopy

communications between clinicians and

Raghavachari of the FDA, the session

and Superresolution Imaging conference,

engineers—will feature a talk by Stephen

will feature Roger Bagwell of Actuated

and the Seno Medical Best Paper Awards,

Boppart of the University of Illinois at

Medical offering insights on regulatory

part of the Photons Plus Ultrasound con-

Urbana-Champaign: Transforming

approval and commercialization of med-

ference, run on Sunday at 3:25 pm and

Medicine and Surgery with Biophotonics.

ical devices, and Martin Culjat of Farus

Tuesday at 5:40 pm, respectively).

BiOS interactive poster sessions will

LLC and UCLA on FDA submissions for

Three more plenary sessions will take

run through Tuesday (hours are Saturday

startups. At 7 pm, Nobel Laureates Betzig

place on Tuesday, February 10. In the

and Sunday, 3–4 pm, Sunday and

and Moerner talk about their work on

Nano/Biophotonics plenary (10:30 am),

Monday, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, and Tuesday,

fluorescence microscopy as described in

Gabriel Popescu of the University of

6–8 pm), and the BiOS conferences will

the introduction to this preview.

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will dis-

run through Thursday. While it is diffi-

On Monday, February 9, three priz-

cuss the use of optics to bridge molecu-

cult to select highlights from the thou-

es will be awarded to early career scien-

lar and cellular biology and present some

sands of fascinating offerings, here are

tists with the JenLab Young Investigator

recent advances in phase-sensitive mea-

a few that captured our attention. The

Award (9:35 am) and the Student Poster

surements. The Neurophotonics plenary

first three are part of the Translational

Session Competition (2:50 pm), both

(2 pm), delivered by 2013 Nobel Laureate

Research virtual symposium:

of which are part of the Multiphoton

Thomas C. Südhof of the Stanford

1. Paper 9303-603: Photoacoustic im-

Microscopy in the Biomedical Sciences

University School of Medicine, will

aging: A potential new platform for

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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assessment of bone health (a technologically difficult task), by Xueding Wang of the University of Michigan Medical School and colleagues.

2.Paper 9308-18: Enabling technology for photodynamic therapy in global health settings: Battery-powered irradiation and smartphone-based imaging for ALA-PDT by Joshua Hempstead of the University of Massachusetts (Boston) and colleagues. Photonics has much to offer global health, and this is an exciting new example.

3.Paper 9311-7: Quantitative wide-field fluorescence imaging in neurosurgery by Keith Paulsen of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College and colleagues. Wow: fluorescenceguided neurosurgery.

4.Paper 9334-22: Lattice light-sheet microscopy: Imaging molecules, cells, and embryos at high spatiotemporal resolution by Wesley Legant, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus and colleagues. This technique represents recent work by Nobel Laureate Betzig (see Fig. 3).

LASE

The LASE plenary session, held Wednesday, includes presentations on the future of NASA’s optical communications program by Donald Cornwall Jr., head of NASA’s Advanced Communications Division; coherent combination of ultrafast laser pulses by Jens Limpert, head of the Laser Development Group at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Germany); and laser 3D printing of metallic components by Xiaoyan Zeng, deputy director of the lasers and terahertz department at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (China). The talk given by Limpert is notable in that he discusses the coherent combination of a large number of ultrafast fiber amplifiers, with the goal of not only petawatt peak powers, but also megawatt average powers.

The LASE technical sessions are divided into five tracks: Laser Source Engineering, Nonlinear Optics,

Semiconductor Lasers and LEDs, Laser Micro-/Nanoengineering, and Laser Applications. A few of the almost 30 technical-session topics include Fiber Lasers XII: Technology, Systems, and Applications (Conference 9344); Ultrafast Phenomena and Nanophotonics XIX (Conference 9361); High-Power Diode Laser Technology and Applications XIII (Conference 9348); Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Micro/Nano Optics and Photonics VIII (Conference 9374); and Laser Refrigeration of Solids VIII (Conference 9380). And, of course, each of these 30 session topics has its own group of subtopics, resulting in hundreds of individual session tracks—sure- ly one for every researcher’s and engineer’s specialty.

In a session on the integration of nanostructures into photovoltaics (9352-13; Sunday, February 8), Vivian Ferry of the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) discusses the many ways that nanostructures offer the ability to control, concentrate, and spectrally tune light in subwavelength dimensions; the talk concentrates both on light trapping and luminescent solar concentrators.

The use of fiber lasers as directed-en- ergy devices will be the topic of an invited paper (9344-12; Monday, February 9) by Don Seeley of the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO; Kirtland AFB, NM) and John Slater and LeAnn Brasure of Schafer Corp.

(Arlington, VA). The same session track includes a talk on extreme-ultraviolet generation by a high-intensity nanosecond all-fiber-coiled laser, given by ChunLin Chang and colleagues from National Taiwan University and National Central University (Taiwan).

A multinational team of researchers will describe the achievement of 517– 538 nm tunable second-harmonic generation in a diode-pumped periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) waveguide crystal (9347-11; Tuesday, February 10) using a tunable quantum-well (QW) external-cavity fi- ber-coupled laser diode; maximum output power at 530 nm is 12.88 mW. On Wednesday, February 11 (paper 935315), a German group will discuss the direct laser writing of 3D nanostructures using a 405 nm laser diode; the shorter wavelength allows them to create periodic structures with a finer lattice constant.

In an invited paper (9363-56; Thursday, February 12), a group from Nichia (Anan, Japan) will present recent results on high- output-power deep ultraviolet LEDs emitting, for example, 35 mW at 258 nm for a single-chip device with a lifetime of more than 3000 h. Researchers at Korea University (Seoul) will discuss the use of chemically doped graphene films as a transparent conductive layer in gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs (936375; Thursday, February 12); such layers can replace the fragile indium-tin-ox-

ide layer currently widely used. Experimental results will be presented.

FIGURE 3. BiOS paper 9334-22 will describe lattice light sheet microscopy. A new development from the lab of 2014 Nobel Laureate Eric Betzig, it generates high-resolution images quickly while minimizing damage to cells. (Courtesy of the Betzig lab, HHMI/Janelia Research Campus)

OPTO

Held on Monday, February 9, the OPTO plenary session will open with a talk on silicon integrated nanophotonics given by Yurii Vlasov of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center (Yorktown Heights, NY). Vlasov will highlight IBM’s nanophotonics technology for

58 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

PHOTONICS WEST PREVIEW continued

cost-efficient optical links that con-

oxide on a silicon chip (9365-21; Tuesday,

tailors the spectrum of the spectrograph.

nect racks, modules, and chips togeth-

February 10); the devices show an inter-

A mockup has already been designed, fab-

er with ultralow-power single-die op-

nal net gain of 20 dB at 1532 nm. A group

ricated, and tested. Bjarke Rose of Ibsen

tical transceivers. Christoph Lienau

at Fachhochschule Karlsruhe Technik

Photonics (Farum, Denmark) will dis-

from Carl von Ossietzky Universität

und Wirtschaft (Karlsruhe, Germany)

cuss programmable spectroscopy en-

Oldenburg (Germany) will discuss ul-

will discuss air-suspended quasi-single-

abled by a digital light projector (DLP;

trafast coherent charge transfer in so-

mode polymer rib waveguides (9365-

see Fig. 4), as opposed to more-traditional

lar cells, using coherent femtosecond

28; Tuesday, February 10); suspending

diode-array-based spectrometers (9376-

spectroscopy for exploration at the

waveguides in air results in air cladding

18; Wednesday, February 11).

tens-of-femtoseconds time scale. Harry

that produces the highest refractive-in-

 

Atwater from the California Institute

dex contrast possible between the core

3D Printing virtual symposium

of Technology (Caltech; Pasadena) will

and cladding.

In its inaugural year, the 3D Printing vir-

highlight progress in tunable and quan-

Scientists from Caltech and the Jet

tual symposium focuses on papers from

tum metaphotonics (resonant subwave-

Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA)

BiOS, LASE, and OPTO that describe

length structures), which can serve as

will present the development of efficient

the innovative technologies and applica-

tunable radiation absorbers or emitters.

high-numerical-aperture flat microlenses

tions surrounding this hottest of trends

The OPTO session tracks cover

made from high-contrast “transmit ar-

in the photonics community. The um-

the gamut, including Optoelectronic

rays,” which are a periodic arrangement

brella term “3D printing” encompasses

Materials and Devices; Photonic

of amorphous-silicon posts with differ-

several technologies including additive

Integration; Nanotechnologies in

ent diameters on a fused-silica substrate

manufacturing, selective laser melting,

Photonics;MOEMS-MEMSinPhotonics;

(9372-24; Thursday, February 12). The

laser sintering, laser photopolymeriza-

Advanced Quantum and Optoelectronic

near-infrared microlenses have spot siz-

tion, and many more specifically light-

Applications; Semiconductor Lasers and

es as small as 0.57 λ and focusing effi-

based variants as well as the software and

LEDs; Displays and Holography; and

ciencies of more than 80%.

probes that quantify the performance of

Optical Communications: Devices to

One of the most common microelec-

these systems.

Systems. Integrated photonics and nan-

tromechanical-systems (MEMs) devices,

3D Printing virtual symposium chair

otechnology are both hot topics that ap-

the digital micromirror device (DMD),

Henry Helvajian of The Aerospace

pear repeatedly in these sessions.

is the topic of its own group of sessions.

Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) says

For example, researchers from the

In one example, a group of French astro-

that nearly 130 papers have been iden-

University of Twente (Enschede, The

physicists will present results on a DMD-

tified for this multidisciplinary field that

Netherlands) will describe the fabri-

based programmable wide-field spectro-

is revolutionizing manufacturing by en-

cation and testing of spiral-waveguide

graph for Earth observation (9376-16;

abling the development of more integrat-

amplifiers in erbium-doped aluminum

Wednesday, February 11); the DMD

ed devices and lowering the cost of more

 

 

 

Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

January 2015 59

PHOTONICS WEST PREVIEW c o n t i n u e d

complex-shaped parts that enable the development of lighter-weight cars and planes and better control combustion/ chemistry to reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, with insight and technologies derived from BiOS research, 3D printing could create new capabilities for first responders and others in the field to quickly obtain the right piece of equipment.

“3D printing has a likeness to biology where material is grown, cell by cell,” says Helvajian. “In the most soaring of visions, a 3D manufactured product would not only have the necessary complex shape but also include means for ‘sensing’ an environment, harvesting energy, and ‘communicating’ its state. We are far from realizing this vision, but recent strides in fields such as in materials development and materials processing along with research that explores biological processes from the perspective of part

manufacturing brings hope that 3D manufacturing could change the world much like the industrial and electronics

revolutions.

FIGURE 4. A recently introduced digital light projector (DLP) device

 

 

“Present at SPIE

developed by Texas Instruments (TI; Dallas, TX) is optimized for use

Photonics West

with near-infrared light (left). A module by Ibsen Photonics used

are experts in ma-

for programmable spectroscopy combines a DLP unit with high

terials

develop-

efficiency fused-silica transmission gratings (right). (Courtesy of TI and

ment,

materials

Ibsen Photonics)

processing, min-

iaturization, MEMS/NEMS, and forSPIE started a 3D manufacturing con-

tuitously those who analyze and characterize biological systems,” says Helvajian. “All the assembled experts have the belief that light—lasers or otherwise—has the capacity to not only process materials but also serve as an in situ diagnostic if the light/matter interaction can be sufficiently controlled. In the 2014 PW meeting,

ference with this vision in mind. For the 2015 meeting, SPIE has assembled a virtual symposium that comprises selected papers to foster these cross-disciplinary interactions and realize the 3D manufacturing vision sooner.” Helvajian concludes, “Ergo, we look for technical innovations from the ‘light source’ vendor, the materials supplier, the CADCAM system developer, and the light-matter processing technologist, and seek help from those who unwrap the evolution- ary-developed processes in biology and make it evident as to how it could be applied to 3D manufacturing.”

Specific Laser Focus World (LFW) paper recommendations include “3D printed biomimetic vascular phantoms for assessment of hyperspectral imaging and diffuse reflectance systems” (paper 9325- 8) from University of Maryland, College Park and the US FDA and NCI. This paper discusses turbid polymer phantoms with biomimetic subsurface channels based on a fundus camera image of the retina have been produced with biologically relevant optical properties that are durable, reusable, and reproducible.

An additional LFW recommended paper is “FPscope: A 3D-printed high-reso- lution microscope using a cellphone lens” (paper 9314-3) from the University of Connecticut. Here, FP stands for Fourier ptychography in which an LED array illuminates the sample from different incident angles; a commercially available 3D printer (Makerbot) prints the plastic case to house the LED array, cell-phone

60 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

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PHOTONICS WEST PREVIEW c o n t i n u e d

lens, and CCD detector. The captured images are stitched in the Fourier domain, and hardware is replaced by computational imaging to recover a high-resolution, large field-of-view

image of the sam-

FIGURE 5. FPscope is a 3D-printed high-resolution microscope that

ple (see Fig. 5).

uses a cellphone lens. (Courtesy of University of Connecticut)

 

Green

 

 

Photonics virtual symposium

transparent electrodes without the use

Once again chairing the Green Photonics

of rare earth materials (paper 9351-41),

virtual symposium, Steve Eglash, ex-

and the University of Minnesota, Twin

ecutive director of the Stanford Data

Cities, where researchers are working

Science Initiative at Stanford University,

to increase absorption in semiconductor

sees two OPTO plenary talks of partic-

films to enhance performance and de-

ular interest: Silicon integrated nano-

crease production cost. Light is trapped

photonics: From fundamental science to

in ultrathin silicon solar cells with me-

manufacturable technology” from Yurii

tallic and resonant semiconductor nano-

Vlasov of the IBM T.J. Watson Research

structures (paper 9352-13).

Center (February 9, 8:10–8:50 am) and

Eglash adds that efficient new light

“Ultrafast coherent charge transfer in so-

sources will provide long-lived and eco-

lar cells and artificial light harvesting sys-

nomical illumination for human activities

tems: Toward movies of electronic mo-

and information display. Researchers at

tion” from Christoph Lienau of Carl

the Technische Universität Braunschweig

von Ossietzky University (February 9,

(Germany) describe GaN nanorods and

8:50–9:30 am).

 

3D columns as an exciting new route to-

Eglash says the Green Photonics sym-

ward light engines for SSL (paper 9383-

posium highlights papers from OPTO

38), and a team from National Taiwan

and LASE that show how new photon-

University will report on using cholester-

ic and optoelectronic tools and materi-

ic liquid crystals for a long-lived bright

als will reduce power consumption, en-

light source without the need for contin-

able cleaner manufacturing, and generate

uously supplied voltage (paper 9384-26).

new energy for a broad range of applica-

Photonics are at work in disaster

tions. Papers describe progress and break-

prevention and management as well.

throughs in biomedicine, photovoltaics

A team from the National Institute

(PV), solid-state lighting (SSL), battery

of Information and Communications

manufacturing, optical communications

Technology in Japan will report on

(at all scales from intra-chip to intercon-

a wireless mesh network test demon-

tinental), optical characterization/spec-

strating disaster-resistant telecommu-

troscopy/metrology, and sensors for the

nication technologies (paper 9387-19).

Internet of Things and applications such

Also, anticipating climate-change related

as climate-change adaptation.

floods and landslides, researchers from

Among labs reporting on advanc-

the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana

es in nanophotonics toward improved

(Columbia) will report on a hybrid op-

PV efficiency are Fraunhofer IWS de-

tical and wireless sensor network with

scribing a new generation of thin me-

highly reconfigurable and self-healing

tallic films in fabricating highly efficient

capabilities (paper 9387-22).

62 January 2015

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P H O T O N I C F R O N T I E R S : O P T I C S

LOOKING BACK/LOOKING FORWARD:

A transformation of optical components

JEFF HECHT, contributing editor

Half a century ago, optics

were polished glass lenses with spherical shapes.

Now we also have molded plastic and glass aspheres

and a variety of infrared and UV materials. Tomorrow we’re looking for versatile broadband optical systems and metamaterials.

more than 99.5% across the visible spectrum. D. E. Perry and Eugene Gordon of Bell Telephone Laboratories had deposited 35 dielectric layers, more than double the earlier record of 15 layers. That was important news because low-gain

I discovered optics when my father gave me a one-inch Wollensak refracting telescope in the early days of the space race. The Edmund Scientific catalog followed, and I saved my allowance to buy surplus optics.

Optics seemed new and fascinating, but in reality it was a sleepy backwater of technology when the laser was born in 1960, and largely remained so when Laser Focus published its first semimonthly issue on January 1, 1965. My surplus polished-glass lenses dated back to World War II, and Wollensak had made similar telescopes in the 1930s. Plastic contact lenses were newer, but the only plastic optics I saw were toys.

Thin-film coatings and exotic materials

The first issue of Laser Focus concentrated on lasers, but the January 15 issue described “nearly perfect” laser mirrors with reflectivity

gas lasers needed high-reflectivity cavity mirrors to reach threshold.

Optics had come a long way by the time I joined the Laser Focus staff in 1974. The August 1974 issue reported that the damage threshold of thin-film coatings had reached 3 to 4 joules/cm2 for 30 ps pulses. The December 1974 cover featured the new technology of adaptive optics, a mirror

with an array of 21 piezoelectric transducers that shaped its flexible surface, described in a feature by Julius Feinleib of the Itek Corp. (Bedford, MA, but long defunct) (see Fig. 1).

Commercial optics had also advanced. In the same issue, Optical Sciences Group (San Rafael, CA)

advertised Fresnel and spherical plastic lenses ranging from 3 mm to 3 ft in diameter (see Fig. 2). An ad from CVI Laser (Albuquerque, NM) offered optics of germanium, zinc selenide, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, and cadmium telluride for use with 10 µm lasers.

The April 1977 issue described diamond machining of metal mirrors, which the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used to make aspheric mirrors as large as 38 inches,

including the 11.8 inch axicon shown on the issue’s cover (see Fig. 3).

Optics in the 1980s

In an October 1984 review, Bob Shannon of the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) credited interferometric measurements with “the principle gains in productivity” in optics

FIGURE 1. The December 1974 cover of Laser Focus World

featured the new technology of adaptive optics, which had a mirror with an array of 21 piezoelectric transducers that shaped its flexible surface.

Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

January 2015 65

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OPTICS continued

manufacturing over the past 25 years. He wrote that aspheric optics were “beginning to enter the production stage.”

The New Products

column of the April

 

1987 issue reported

 

that Perkin-Elmer’s

 

Applied

Optics

 

Operations (Garden

 

Grove, CA) had be-

 

gun diamond-turning

 

beryllium mirrors, at-

FIGURE 2. In the April 1974 issue, Optical Sciences Group

tractive for space ap-

advertised Fresnel and spherical plastic lenses ranging from 3

plications

because

mm to 3 ft in diameter.

of their light weight.

 

Reflecting increased laser powers, Spawr

(Townshend, VT) advertised lenses, win-

Optical Research (Corona, CA) adver-

dows, beamsplitters, and mirrors made

tised copper mirrors to 24 inches with the

from 23 different materials to span wave-

“very highest damage threshold for your

lengths from the vacuum ultraviolet to

pulsed infrared laser.” Janos Technology

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OPTICS continued

The 1980s also saw a new approach to big optics—spin- casting parabolic glass telescope mirrors. Our June 1988 issue reported

that

Roger Angel

 

at the University of

 

Arizona

had spin-

 

cast a 3.5 m mirror,

 

and was building a

 

furnace to make big-

 

ger ones. He cast

 

the

first

success-

 

ful 6.5 m mirror in

 

1992 and completed

 

the first 8.4 m mir-

 

ror, for the Large

 

Binocular Telescope,

FIGURE 3. The April 1977 issue described

in January 1997. But

diamond machining of metal mirrors,

it took a set of tiny

which the Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory used to make aspheric mirrors

optics, designed and

as large as 38 inches, including the 11.8

fabricated with ex-

inch axicon.

acting precision, to make the Hubble

Space Telescope the world’s premier eye in the sky despite its flawed primary mirror, as I reported in the February 1995 issue.

Commercial optics advanced apace. In the January 1995 issue, II-VI Inc. (Saxonburg, PA) advertised two-axis diamond turning of precision aspheric lenses and metal mirrors. Newport Corp. (Irvine, CA) advertised mirrors providing the full optical bandwidth and time resolution needed for ultrafast titani- um-sapphire lasers. And AOtec, a subsidiary of the venerable American Optical Corp. (Southbridge, MA), advertised “glass quality from plastic lenses,” a departure from AO’s long focus on glass optics.

“The Year of WDM”

Strong demand for fiber-optic bandwidth offered by wave- length-division multiplexing (WDM) pumped up the market for narrowband filters. Herwig Kogelnik, director of Photonics Research at Bell Laboratories (Holmdel, NJ) proclaimed 1996 “the year of WDM” in our December 1996 issue. Multiplexing eight wavelengths sent 20 Gbits/s through a single fiber. In our March 1997 issue, the Optical Corporation of America (Marlborough, MA) described thermally stable WDM filters for the new 100 GHz (0.8 nm) dense-WDM channel spacing standard. After the turn of the century, DWDM systems became the backbone of the global telecommunications network.

In a series of other advances, metamaterials emerged from nowhere to become the cutting edge of 21st century optics, able to perform hitherto impossible feats, as described in our January

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

2005 issue. A research paper concluded a metamaterial with negative refractive index could achieve subwavelength resolution, but only in the near field. CVI Optical Components and Assemblies advertised optics for 193 nm water-im- mersion photolithography, which provides subwavelength resolution for making semiconductor chips. The world’s fastest adaptive optics system was installed on the world’s oldest super-tele- scope—the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory (San Diego, CA). And the laser marketplace had become global, with advertisers including HC Photonics (HsinChu City, Taiwan), providing a variety of periodically poled nonlinear optical materials, and Kaleido Technology (Farum, Denmark), offering precision-molded aspheric glass optics.

October 2014 saw the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William Moerner for developing super-resolution fluorescence

microscopy to overcome the limits of conventional optical microscopes. Special Optics (Wharton, NJ) said it was “excited to have made a small contribution” to Betzig’s work by developing custom microscope objectives for his experiments.

New materials for future optics

Looking forward, Duncan Moore of the University of Rochester says the future of optical components “is going to be all about broadband,” ranging from the ultraviolet to 14 µm for applications ranging from smartphones to military systems. Merely transmitting light is not enough; broadband optics should also be achromatic. “If you want a 10× zoom, you have some real challenges,” says Moore.

StingRay Optics (Keene, NH) has developed a series of SuperBand lenses optimized for wavelengths from 0.7 to 5 µm, which combine materials to bring the whole band into focus, says company president Chris Alexay. StingRay Optics

OPTICS continued

hopes to land a contract to develop a midinfrared zoom lens to handle both laser designation in the 1 µm band and imaging in the 3 to 5 µm band, avoiding the need for dual optical systems in drones.

The auto industry’s interest in 8 to 12 µm thermal imaging has dramatically reduced prices for optics and sensors in that band, says Moore. BMW offers the BMW Night Vision system as a $2300 option to help drivers spot pedestrians or large animals in or near the road. FLIR offers a thermal camera accessory for the iPhone at $349. But with market volume smaller in the mid-infrared, Moore says good 3 to 5 µm cameras still sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

“I can’t imagine a time when the industry has been more poised for new developments,” says Alexay. He expects the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, DC) to report a promising new family of materials at the upcoming SPIE Defense Security and Sensing meeting on April

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OPTICS continued

20–24, 2015 in Baltimore.

A U.S. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) project seeks to reduce cost, complexity, and weight of military optics by developing manufacturable graded-index (GRIN) lenses, which can route light along complex paths to fit into compact military systems. Surmet Corp. (Burlington, MA) is developing volume-manufacturing processes for GRIN lenses based on the polycrystalline ceramic aluminum oxynitride (AlON), which is transparent from the visible to beyond 5 µm and is so strong it is used for tank windows, says Moore.

Plastic optics and thin-film colors

“We’re only in the second or third inning of where we want to go with plastic optics,” says Al Kapoor, chairman of Syntec Optics (Pavillion, NY). Their biocompatibility has made them a big success in medical applications. Their low cost and light weight are attractive for reducing soldiers’ loads in the field. Now new plastics are overcoming the 70°C limit of acrylic plastics.

One material called ULTEM is usable to 170°C, which Syntec is developing for use in head-up displays expected in cars by 2016.

The range of shapes continues to expand. “Aspheres were a big thing 10 years ago, but now we can do them easily,” says Kapoor. Syntec is currently developing ways to make more complex, asym-

FIGURE 4. Complex optical designs previously limited to glass optics are now possible in plastic, including this lens, which has multiple optical surfaces with various mounting features. (Courtesy of Syntec Optics)

metric, and non-rotationally-symmetric plastic optics (see Fig. 4). As optics get smaller and their profiles grow more complex, he says, “the advantages of plastics go up” because molding can mass-produce shapes not practical in glass. “Our work is starting to touch the consumer market,” says Kapoor, citing augmented reality systems such as Oculus Rift, and Samsung’s development of eyewear similar to Google Glass that projects images onto the optics. But challenges remain, including bonding lenses together to make achromats, applying coatings, and a limited range of refractive indexes.

The spread of digital imaging is opening a new range of applications for thin-film coatings—providing crucial “ground truth” for color in medical imaging, says Jennifer Kruschwitz of JK Consulting (Rochester, NY). Diagnoses depend on color, so medical imaging needs stable color

70 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

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OPTICS c o n t i n u e d

standards. Thin-film coatings can provide that stability, and can be made on a micrometer scale for microscopic imaging. In 2014, DataColor (Lawrenceville, NJ) introduced a series of thin-film calibration color slides called ChromaCal.

Metamaterials and the future

The allure of metamaterials is their tremendous potential for building optical materials to order, with otherwise unobtainable properties. Optical metamaterials remain in the laboratory stage, but two invited talks at the December 2014 Materials Research Society (MRS) meeting in Boston gave exciting visions of the future.

In the first talk, Nader Enghata of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) said an impressive array of applications have already been demonstrated, including cloaking, superlenses, ultra-thin cavities, transformation optics, and metasurfaces. Then he went further. “Imagine a

f1( y)

df1( y)

–––––

dy

FIGURE 5. Metamaterial manipulates light waves for computation. (Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania)

metamaterial that computes [see Fig 5]. Could we design a material to get a derivative or an integral of a wave that you put into it?” He has been exploring the possibilities of optical “metatronics,” metamaterials that conduct current and integrate optical and electronic functions, and his group is attempting to use one to take the second derivative of an input signal. In the long term, the group envisions an optical computational feedback loop.

In a second invited talk, Kevin

MacDonald of the University of Southampton (England) argued for moving beyond widely used metallic metamaterials. “We can do better with all dielectric opto-mechanical metamaterials; we want to avoid losses associated with metals and create much stronger optical forces between resonators,” he told the MRS meeting. He also envisioned moving beyond today’s static metamaterials to active metadevices, and perhaps ultimately to metastructures that could be reconfigured by changing the applied electromagnetic field.

How many of these bright visions are attainable in the next half-century? If the past is any lesson, we overrate some ideas and are surprised by some unexpected successes. But we can safely say that the future of optical components is not likely to be a sleepy backwater.

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PHOTONICS PRODUCTS: H I G H - P O W E R L A S E R - D I O D E A R R A Y S

Diode arrays are compact, high-power light dynamos

JOHN WALLACE, SENIOR EDITOR

With their high-power density, high efficiency, and long life, laser-diode arrays are the essential light source for materials processing, laser pumping, and other applications.

High-power laser-diode arrays,

beam; in addition, laser manufacturers are constantly refining beamcombining techniques to produce ever-bright- er high-power laser-di- ode sources.

which are made of stacks of individual or multistripe laser diodes, or in some cases vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers (VCSELs), can put out watts to kilowatts of optical power for uses such as laser pumping, industrial heating, illumination, or as the input for fiber-optic direct-diode laser devices for materials processing or for medicine.

Laser diodes typically have much higher electrical-to-optical (wall-plug) efficiencies than other types of lasers; in fact, they are some of the most-effi- cient light emitters

known. The d isadvan - tage of la- ser-diode arrays is their rel-

a t i v e l y low beam quality— there are no

single-mode kilowatts-level la-

ser-diode sources in our near future. However, there are many applications that do not require a single-mode

From watts to kilowatts

“High-power diode lasers are commonly referred to as being bar-based or single-emitter-based,” says Steve Patterson, VP and GM of DILAS (Tucson, AZ). “In point of fact, they exist on a continuum with single emitters on one end and bars—typically a centimeter wide or less, consisting of multiple emitters on a single piece of semiconductor—on the other. The diode lasers are then mounted to any of a variety of heat sinks, the choice depending upon operating conditions and what final package the diode la-

bar might go into.”

DILAS produces laser bars that range in output power from single-digit values out to hundreds of watts per bar. Their wavelengths range from 635 nm (visible

FIGURE 1. The output beam of a 200 W laser-diode array

made by DALSA and used to enhance MRI imaging is hexagonal with a beam size of ~63 mm.

(Courtesy of DILAS)

red) to greater than 2300 nm and beyond, with electrical-to-optical efficiency reaching to more than 70% in some cases, notes Patterson.

The mounted bars can then be packaged into arrays that produce up to kilowatts of total output power, whether the output be a free-space laser beam or coupled into an optical fiber. With these sorts of capabilities, says Patterson, “any market from the traditional pumping of solid-state and fiber lasers, to direct-diode applications in medicine such as dermatology or phototherapy, to industrial processing of materials such as the deposition of laminates to emerging markets in cinematography and enhancements in advanced medical-imaging technologies may be addressed.”

Patterson notes that there have been many new developments over the past year: for example, enhancements in visible red and blue outputs for applications in cinematography and medical photodynamic therapy; fiber-cou- pled systems that output on the order of 10 kW in wavelengths ranging from around 800 nm to 1000 nm, typically used for all sorts of materials processing, including welding; and a unit developed to enhance magnetic-reso- nance imaging (MRI).

“All aspects of diode-laser technology were challenged here,” says Patterson. The challenges included development of the basic epitaxy design of the diode laser, advances in

74 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

the volume Bragg gratings that narrow the spectral line of the diode laser to a range that is useful for the particular application, custom package design that permits tunability of the spectral line emitted from the module, and the custom optics that form the beam to a precise output form also demanded by the application.

Patterson provides background on the MRI module (see Fig. 1), explaining that it permits the hyperpolarization of a particular isotope of xenon using a process called spin-exchange optical pumping; the spectrally narrowed and precise wavelength of circularly polarized laser light from the module excites rubidium electrons inside a gas cell. The use of hyperpolarized gas in MRI allows observation of otherwise inaccessible bodily processes, such as pulmonary function and blood profusion in the brain. The module itself emits 200 W of circularly polarized light at a 794.7 nm wavelength and a linewidth of <0.3 nm; the optically isolated beam is tolerant to 100% backreflection.

Direct diode

While laser-diode bars are used widely as laser pump sources, by using the right optical techniques, light from the same sorts of diodes can be directly coupled into optical fibers to produce a high-power “direct-diode” laser, notes Tracey Ryba, product manager for lasers at the TRUMPF Laser Technology Center (Plymouth, MI). For example, the same 940 nm diode-bar platform used by TRUMPF as pumps for its disk lasers is the source for the company’s kilowattslevel direct-diode systems.

Optical techniques for combining la- ser-diode outputs to boost power while maintaining brightness include spatial and spectral beam combining. However, the details, which are derived from careful optical design and which make all the difference in final beam brightness, are usually proprietary.

The diode bars in TRUMPF’s directdiode systems are mounted on a passively cooled heat sink, eliminating the

need for high-quality deionized (DI) water and eliminating microchannel failure, explains Ryba (see Fig. 2).

“The final fiber-coupled direct-diode laser uses wavelength combining of one, two, or three wavelengths depending on power of the laser and varying in wavelengths from 920 nm to 1020 nm,” he says. The company’s 150 and 300 W di- rect-diode lasers have a beam-parame- ter product (BPP) of 8 mm-mrad, while

FIGURE 2. Light from high-power laserdiode bars is optically combined and fed into optical fibers (yellow) in this direct-diode light source unit from TRUMPF used for materials processing. A 6000 W direct-diode laser is shown in the inset. (Courtesy of TRUMPF)

the BPP for the 600 and 900 W lasers is 12 mm-mrad. The high-power 2000–4500 W lasers have a BPP of 30 mm-mrad and the highest-power 30006000 W model has a BPP of 50 mm-mrad.

“Lasers ranging from 150 to 300 W typically are used for plastic welding, soldering, and other low-power welding applications,” says Ryba. “Between 600 and 900 W, the ideal applications are thin-met- al welding and low-volume cutting. The 30 mm-mrad models are used for deep-penetration and heat-conduction welding, heat treating, and laser metal

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Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

January 2015 75

HIGH-POWER LASER-DIODE ARRAYS c o nt i n u e d

deposition, while the 50 mm-mrad applications typically are brazing, heat treating, and laser metal deposition.” Wavelengths in the “9xx” nm wavelength range are slightly shorter than those of traditional 1 µm lasers such as disk, fiber, and Nd:YAG. These shorter wavelengths allow better absorption in highly reflective materials such as copper, brass, and aluminum, says Ryba. Additionally, the lower-beam- quality versions are ideal for brazing and surface treatments due to the large divergence and the more distinct flattop mode profile, especially when compared to high-beam-quality disk and fiber lasers where a relatively complex beam delivery and large focal lengths are needed to achieve the same desired

effects at the workpiece.

Replacing traditional processes

The attributes of high-power laser diodes can lead to transformations in certain

areas of materials processing. “Major ‘direct-diode’ applications for these products are transforming the surface properties of large metal parts through heat treating—historically called case hardening—and cladding,” explains Frank Gaebler, director of marketing at Coherent (Santa Clara, CA).

Coherent manufactures laser diodes and laser-diode arrays over a broad range of output powers in configurations from single emitters through linear bars (fi- ber-coupled and free-space) up to 2D arrays of bars. The company’s most powerful system produces 10 kW of output power at 975 nm; internally, it consists of five bars, each derated to 2 kW to ensure tens of thousands of hours of main- tenance-free operation at or above specified power, says Gaebler.

The free-space output of the laser system can be configured to deliver a variety of interchangeable beam shapes (with widths from 1 to 12 mm and lengths from

6 to 36 mm) to enable rapid processing of large areas with a high degree of control over process parameters.

The product is targeted at large-area cladding applications to create a metallurgically bonded layer on the surface of a metal, usually some type of steel (see Fig. 3). “This is typically done in order to transform the surface properties—for improved wear characteristics or high corrosion resistance—without modifying the desirable bulk properties (such as tensile strength and rigidity) of the part,” says Gaebler. “Cladding is also often used to refurbish worn parts.”

Traditionally, large parts were mainly clad by thermal spray (for example, high-velocity oxygen-fuel spraying, or HVOF) or plasma-transfer arc (PTA) or, less commonly, electroplating, as Gaebler explains. Thermal spraying is a fast and relatively cheap process where metal powder is melted and sprayed on to the substrate, where it solidifies. The

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HIGH-POWER LASER-DIODE ARRAYS c o nt i n u e d

problems are that the coating is not met-

allurgically bonded to the surface, which

 

Laser

limits its long-term wear resistance, and,

 

 

head

in addition, the final coating has vary-

Powder

 

 

 

ing degrees of porosity, which can com- spray nozzle

Powder

promise its corrosion resistance.

In contrast, the laser-diode approach not only melts the powder, but also melts a very thin outer layer of the substrate, producing a fully bonded layer with very low porosity.

Giantree Laser Technology (Shanghai, China), one of the leaders in laser cladding applications in China, has extensive firsthand experience with laser cladding, thermal spray coating, machining/ grinding, and materials/alloys know-how, says Gaebler.

Giantree now has two in-house lasercladding systems based on high-power di- rect-diode lasers, including a 10 kW unit from Coherent. Giantree services clients in several heavy industries, such as petrochemicals and coal mining. Typical

Clad area

 

 

Line beam

Direction of beam travel

 

 

 

FIGURE 3. Typical processing geometry

 

for high-power laser-diode powder

 

cladding is shown above. The cladding of

 

a roof-support cylinder by Giantree (right)

 

is created by a high-power direct-diode

 

laser from Coherent that produces 10 kW

 

of near-infrared power. (Above, courtesy of

 

Coherent; right, courtesy of Giantree)

 

high-value components that require clad-

for better corrosion resistance.

ding are the hydraulic roof supporters

Until recently, electroplating had been

used to prevent collapse of tunnels and

Giantree’s first-choice method for coating

galleries (see Fig. 3). Giantree coats both

these supporters. According to Kenneth

the cylinders and pistons of roof support-

Liao, manager of Giantree, “Simply stat-

ers with materials such as stainless steel

ed, laser cladding delivers better corro-

 

 

sion resistance, and thus longer lifetime

 

 

for these supporters because it produc-

 

 

es a full-density coating, which electro-

 

 

plating typically doesn’t.”

 

 

VCSEL arrays for imaging

 

 

and gesture recognition

 

 

High-power laser-diode arrays don’t

 

 

have to be made up of edge-emitting di-

 

 

odes. For example, Princeton Optronics

 

 

(Mercerville, NJ) makes arrays of vertical-

 

 

cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)

 

 

for illumination and other purposes.

 

 

“One major high-volume application

 

 

of laser diodes is for 3D imaging and

 

 

gesture recognition with computers,

 

 

tablets, and cell phones,” says Chuni

 

 

Ghosh, the company’s CEO. “Projects

 

 

like Google Project Tango and Intel

 

 

RealSense are platform technologies

 

 

that are being adapted by manufactur-

 

 

ers for production in the near future.

 

 

VCSEL arrays are particularly suited

 

 

for such applications.”

 

 

Depth sensing is done by structured

 

 

light, time of flight, and stereoscopic

 

 

approaches, explains Ghosh. “VCSELs

 

 

have advantages compared to other tech-

 

 

nologies in all three approaches. The

78

January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com

Laser Focus World

HIGH-POWER LASER-DIODE ARRAYS c o nt i n u e d

advantages come from being able to sur-

a reliability (mean time to failure, or

and shape of the spots.

face-mount the devices (versus TO-can

MTTF) of more than 100 years for oper-

For time-of-flight mea-

packaging of edge emitters), which makes

ation at 70°C; these figures are achieved

surements, very fast

the height very small.” A height of 3 mm

“with some proprietary process innova-

rise and fall times

or less is needed for the complete illumi-

tions,” says Ghosh.

are needed, explains

nator with the projection lens, he adds.

In structured-light applications, a pat-

Ghosh. VCSEL arrays

The VCSELs produced by Princeton

tern of spots is projected onto the object

 

Optronics have a wall-plug efficiency

of interest (see Fig. 4); using a camera, the

 

of >40% at a temperature of 60°C and

depth is estimated from the distribution

 

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FIGURE 4. A VCSEL-based illuminator projects a pattern of spots that can be used to capture depth information in a 3D scene. An 8 W VCSEL array (inset) is only 1.5 mm square. (Courtesy of Princeton Optronics)

give very fast rise and fall times, typically <300 ps, and rise and fall times of <100 ps can be obtained with low-inductance submounts.

VCSEL arrays also have a narrow emission wavelength (<1 nm) and low variation of the wavelength peak with respect to temperature (0.07 nm/°C), which helps to reject the background illumination when the camera chip is attached with a narrowband filter.

Princeton Optronics’ technology has been developed with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other agencies, says Ghosh. “We have developed VCSEL chips with power levels as high as a kilowatt from a 5 × 5 mm array with a greater than 55% wall-plug efficiency,” he notes. “This technology is being used to make many different types of products for 3D imaging applications.”

One such product is an 8 W VCSEL array used for time-of-flight as well as struc- tured-light applications. The laser chip is 1.5 × 1.5 mm in size, has a large number of VCSEL devices, and is mounted on a surface-mountable ceramic substrate. The device is finding application in computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

80 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

A key trend driving overall market growth and innovation in spectroscopic instrumentation is the need for cost-effective instruments. Less costly, “lite” versions of instruments allow manufacturers to increase their product penetration to existing customers by offering lower-cost devices tailored for initial sample evaluation or for monitoring specific compounds.
In life-science laboratory environments, these lite instruments can be stationed at benches throughout the organization to increase productivity and reduce lab bottlenecks. End users employ the results of initial sample evaluation to determine whether further analysis is necessary by traditional full-spectrum instruments.
Wavelength-specific ultraviolet (UV) instruments that use LEDs instead of UV lamps offer affordable, compact instrument designs that consume
HARI VENUGOPALAN
The traditional light sources used in UV spectroscopy can, for some uses, be replaced by LEDs, greatly reducing both capital and operating costs.
ULTRAVIOLET LEDS
UVC LEDs enable cost-effective spectroscopic instruments

development of batteryoperated sensors for remote monitoring of water quality. LED-based instruments also allow

manufacturers to address market segments that might otherwise avoid their products because of footprint, cost, or complexity of operation.

Following are a few examples in which the use of UV LEDs versus traditional UV light sources is compared for various spectroscopic applications.

HPLC: Replacing deuterium lamps with LEDs

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a separation technique in which a sample mixture is introduced into a column; the distinct compounds of the mixture then pass through the column at varied rates due to differences in how they partition between the mobile phase and the stationary phase. Once detected, these components are analyzed using a UV spectrophotometer. HPLC is typically

used for protein purification, routine process monitoring in pharmaceutical and beverage manufacturing, process quality control, and biotech research.

Current HPLC detectors typically use deuterium lamps as their primary light source due to their stable light output. This stability is characterized by measuring fluctuations in light output over short periods, such as the duration of a measurement. Using a UV light source with high light-output stability in HPLC ensures detection of lower concentrations of compounds. As seen in Figure 1, deuterium lamps are more stable than many UV lamp alternatives (for example, by almost two orders of magnitude over xenon flash lamps).

Engineers also prefer the long life of deuterium lamps, as well as the relatively high light output of the lamps at their HPLC-relevant UV wavelengths. Deuterium lamps, however, require a very stable power supply to maintain their performance and a warm-up period of up to 30 min to allow the lamp

less power. In environmental moni-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Output stability

 

 

 

 

0.01%

 

 

0.1%

1%

 

 

 

 

 

 

10%

 

toring, for example, this enables the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xenon fash lamp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mercury xenon lamp

 

 

 

 

 

FIGURE 1. Stability of light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

output for various traditional UV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xenon lamp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

light sources. (Source: Adapted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deuterium lamp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

from Hamamatsu Light Source,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0.05%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.hamamatsu.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacuum ultraviolet deuterium lamps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

resources/pdf/etd/LIGHT_SOURCE_

 

 

 

0.005%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TLSZ0001E01.pdf, Apr. 2014.)

Deuterium lamps (L2D2 lamps)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hollow cathode lamp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5%

 

 

20%

81

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 2015

ULTRAVIOLET LEDS continued

to reach thermal equilibrium. For this reason, most lamps are left on while not in use so that the instru-

Table 1. Cost analysis for two typical fixed-wavelength HPLC detectors

L2-4000 deuterium

UVC LEDs

lamp

Instrument cost

ment is ready as

 

Lamp

$400

$600

 

 

 

 

needed—wasting

 

Socket

$100

n/a

much of the lamp’s

 

 

 

 

 

Monochromator

$950

n/a

useful life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power Supply

$1450

$50

 

 

 

Newly

avail-

 

 

 

 

 

Beamsplitter

$200

$200

able high perfor-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detector

$5

$5

mance deep ul-

 

 

 

 

 

traviolet

(UVC)

 

Heat enclosure

$900

n/a

LEDs can provide

 

Total

$4005

$855

better light stabil-

 

 

 

 

 

Operating and maintenance over 5 years

 

 

 

 

 

ity than high-end

 

 

 

 

 

Power consumption*

$6

$2

deuterium lamps

 

 

 

 

 

 

Replacement lamps

$1600**

n/a

and offer

more

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

$1606

$2

light output and

 

 

 

 

 

useful life. UVC

* Energy cost of $0.12/kW-hr

 

 

LEDs reach full

** Four annual replacements for the deuterium lamp at $400 each.

 

stability instantaneously, unlike deu-

sample measurement per day. For this

terium lamps. This allows end users to take complete advantage of the LED’s lifetime, typically 3000 to 8000 h, de-

analysis, the instrument using the LED is turned on only when needed.

pending on application conditions. In addition, UVC LEDs emit negligible front-side heat, which makes them ideal for heat sensitive samples.

With UVC LEDs, manufacturers can offer smaller, more cost-effective instruments for end users that require a single wavelength or a few fixed wavelengths. This evolution of low-cost, fixed-wave- length HPLC detectors will enable adoption in new applications such as caffeine detection in beverages and will increase penetration in applications such as prep HPLC of proteins.

Ozone monitoring: Improved measurement performance

Commonly found air pollutants, or “criteria pollutants,” include particulate matter, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Exposure to ozone, at even relatively low levels, is harmful to health and can result in reduced lung function and aggravation of pre-exist- ing respiratory conditions. Considering that ozone is also used in industrial applications in processes as varied as semiconductor cleaning to water purification, monitoring ozone levels is critical.

HPLC instrument cost analysis

Table 1 provides typical component and operating costs for a fixed-wave- length HPLC detector using deuterium lamps versus UVC LEDs. This illustrative example assumes detection for two fixed wavelengths and thus requires two UVC LEDs. Operating costs are estimated based on a typical laboratory operation where a deuterium lamp would be on 12 h a day, 52 weeks a year, and assumes 4 h of

Countries in Europe and Asia have even taken measures to limit auto traffic in cities or to shut down factories in order to curb emissions in densely populated areas.

The current EPA ozone standard is set at a level of 75 ppb; this quantification of ozone in air is measured using UV absorption spectroscopy. Ozone monitors traditionally use mercury lamps as the light source for their measurement, as ozone has a strong absorbance at ~254

82 January 2015

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

 

 

ULTRAVIOLET LEDS continued

nm, the emission line of a low-pressure

direct-current (DC) power, operating

alternatives to mercury lamps to address

mercury lamp.

from 6 to 10 V depending on drive cur-

these legislative changes. By migrating

Typically, ozone concentration is de-

rent, which allows remote or handheld

from mercury lamps to UVC LEDs, en-

termined with sequential measurements

instruments to be battery or solar op-

gineers can reduce the footprint, power

of the sample gas and zero gas that are

erated. This, coupled with the compact

consumption, and environmental impact

fed alternately through a chamber; it is

size of the LED, can lead to instruments

of their instruments without sacrificing

therefore important that the intensity of

that are up to 60% smaller than those

measurement accuracy.

the light source be stable between the

using mercury lamps. UVC LEDs are

 

two measurements. The mercury-xe-

a nontoxic source of ultraviolet radi-

Cost analysis of a typical

non lamps that have been traditionally

ation—unlike mercury lamps, which

ozone monitor

used have higher power consumption

contain hazardous waste.

Table 2 provides typical component and

and lower stability of light output than

In addition, international agreements

operating costs for an ozone monitor

other UV light sources (as seen in Fig. 1).

and regulations, such as the Minamata

for fixed-wavelength detection at 255

Newly available UVC LEDs provide

Convention, are aimed at reducing

nm using mercury lamps versus UVC

the high power output and spectral qual-

mercury pollution. (The Minamata

LEDs. The operating costs are estimat-

ity required for trace detection of pollut-

Convention on Mercury, a global treaty

ed based on a typical real-time moni-

ants at the parts-per-billion level to com-

to protect human health and the environ-

toring application where the mercury

ply with government regulations. This

ment from the adverse effects of mercu-

lamp would be on 24 h a day, 52 weeks

allows end users to achieve more accu-

ry, was agreed upon at the fifth session

a year, and the LED is operated contin-

rate measurements and benefit from the

of the Intergovernmental Negotiating

uously at a 10% duty cycle. Note that

instant on/off nature of LEDs.

Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, on

the mercury lamp is kept on contin-

Other inherent benefits of LEDs

January 19, 2013. See www.mercury-

uously to avoid both the slow warm-

make them attractive light sources

convention.org.)

up time and lifetime degradation with

for these instruments. UVC LEDs use

Manufacturers are looking for

on/off cycles.

 

 

 

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84 January 2015

ULTRAVIOLET LEDS continued

Tracking water quality with LEDs

Water purity is a major concern for developed and developing nations alike, with hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and possible effects of climate change highlighting water-quality concerns. The impact of natural events, such as rainfall and accompanying runoffs, and industrial water treatment are increasingly felt in water-distribution networks across the world. Rapid detection of changes in water quality is critical to ensure consumer health and environmental preservation.

Wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities monitor influent and effluent water quality for productivity, effectiveness, and compliance with regulatory requirements. The collection of ongoing, real-time data on contaminant levels

Table 2. Cost analysis for two typical ozone monitors

 

TUV 11 W

UVC LEDs

 

mercury lamp

 

 

 

 

 

Instrument cost

 

 

 

 

 

Lamp

$25

$300

 

 

 

Filter

$350

n/a

 

 

 

Power Supply

$50

$50

 

 

 

Detector

$5

$5

 

 

 

Heat enclosure

$150

n/a

 

 

 

Total

$580

$355

 

 

Operating and maintenance over 5 years

 

 

 

 

Power consumption*

$58

$1

 

 

 

Replacement lamps

$100**

n/a

 

 

 

Lamp disposal

$25

n/a

 

 

 

Total

$183

$1

* Energy cost of $0.12/kW-hr

**Four annual replacements for the mercury lamp at $25 each.

Table 3. Cost analysis of two water-quality monitors

 

35 W xenon

UVC LEDs

 

flash lamp

 

 

 

 

 

Instrument cost

 

 

 

 

 

Lamp

$447

$600

 

 

 

Socket

$100

n/a

 

 

 

Power Supply

$750

$50

 

 

 

Beamsplitter

$200

$200

 

 

 

Detector

$2000

$5

 

 

 

Total

$3497

$855

 

 

Operating and maintenance over 5 years

 

 

 

 

Power consumption*

$31

$2

 

 

 

Replacement lamps

$447**

n/a

 

 

 

Total

$478

$2

*Energy cost of $0.12/kW-hr

**One replacement of the xenon flash lamp at $447 after typical life to 1E9 flashes.

www.laserfocusworld.com Laser Focus World

can decrease the response time to potential quality issues from days to hours. This depends on the use of autonomous water monitors—ones that need to be compact and cost effective—that continuously test water quality at multiple locations along the network.

Typical causes of changes in water quality include natural events, such as flooding, accidental discharge or spills, or other sources of contamination. UV photometry provides quantitative analysis of the organic content in water. By using continuous spectroscopic measurements instead of intermittent chemical testing with grab samples, end users gather process information, detect issues in water quality, and make the necessary process changes in real time.

Traditionally, these water-quality measurements have used xenon flash lamps as the light source for spectroscopy. Xenon flash lamps provide a broad spectrum of wavelengths and often require an expensive photodiode array for detection. These lamps also require an expensive power supply to maintain lamp performance. Although these high-quality instruments offer precise, accurate measurements of multiple parameters of water quality, they are often more than what a typical water facility requires. The associated costs are also restrictive to small water utilities, and unreasonable for developing regions.

Engineers can achieve the same benefits of xenon flash lamps for a subset of parameters by using UVC LEDs, along with a less costly detector and power supply. Newly available high-performance UVC LEDs offer linearity of measurement that matches the performance of expensive xenon flash lamps. This parameter refers to the correlation between the optical method of water-quality measurement with a reference method (typically a chemical measurement in the lab). A more compact, less costly instrument can thus become accessible to a wider crosssection of the market. Additionally, the reduced size and low power consumption of these instruments open possibilities for remote monitoring.

Cost analysis of a typical water-quality monitor

Table 3 provides figures for the typical cost of a broad-spectrum xenon flash- lamp-based monitor versus a wave- length-specific LED version. The UVC LED instrument assumes fixed wavelength detection at two wavelengths: 255 nm for the standard UV254 measurement and a second UV wavelength depending on the water-quality parameter of interest. Operating costs are estimated based on a typical water-qual- ity measurement where the light source would be used for continuous measurement at a duty cycle of 1% (1 ms on, 100 ms off).

Cost-effective, compact instruments for the future

Traditionally, instrument designs that used UV lamps could take advantage of the benefits of the lamp, but unavoidably

had to make concessions in instrument design due to limitations of the light source. High-performance UVC LEDs now enable design engineers to address market pressure for lower-cost products with instruments tailored for applications in life sciences and environmental monitoring.

By transitioning to UVC LEDs, instrument manufacturers can reduce instrument costs by 40% to 80%. These cost savings continue at the customer site due to a large reduction in operating and lamp-replacement costs over a five-year period. In addition, these “lite” instrument versions can capitalize on the instant on/off, low power consumption, and high-sensitivity features of UVC LEDs for better performance.

Hari Venugopalan is director of global product management at Crystal IS, Green Island, NY; email: venugopalan@cisuvc.com; http:// www.cisuvc.com/.

FermionicssOpto-Technology w w w.fermionics.com

4555 Runway St. • Simi Valley, CA 93063 Tel (805) 582-0155 • Fax (805) 582-1623

Laser Focus World www.laserfocusworld.com

January 2015 85

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