Harnessing Light


Book Description

Optical science and engineering affect almost every aspect of our lives. Millions of miles of optical fiber carry voice and data signals around the world. Lasers are used in surgery of the retina, kidneys, and heart. New high-efficiency light sources promise dramatic reductions in electricity consumption. Night-vision equipment and satellite surveillance are changing how wars are fought. Industry uses optical methods in everything from the production of computer chips to the construction of tunnels. Harnessing Light surveys this multitude of applications, as well as the status of the optics industry and of research and education in optics, and identifies actions that could enhance the field's contributions to society and facilitate its continued technical development.




Optics and Photonics


Book Description

Optics and photonics technologies are ubiquitous: they are responsible for the displays on smart phones and computing devices, optical fiber that carries the information in the internet, advanced precision manufacturing, enhanced defense capabilities, and a plethora of medical diagnostics tools. The opportunities arising from optics and photonics offer the potential for even greater societal impact in the next few decades, including solar power generation and new efficient lighting that could transform the nation's energy landscape and new optical capabilities that will be essential to support the continued exponential growth of the Internet. As described in the National Research Council report Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation, it is critical for the United States to take advantage of these emerging optical technologies for creating new industries and generating job growth. The report assesses the current state of optical science and engineering in the United States and abroad-including market trends, workforce needs, and the impact of photonics on the national economy. It identifies the technological opportunities that have arisen from recent advances in, and applications of, optical science and engineering. The report also calls for improved management of U.S. public and private research and development resources, emphasizing the need for public policy that encourages adoption of a portfolio approach to investing in the wide and diverse opportunities now available within photonics. Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation is a useful overview not only for policymakers, such as decision-makers at relevant Federal agencies on the current state of optics and photonics research and applications but also for individuals seeking a broad understanding of the fields of optics and photonics in many arenas.




Optical Technology


Book Description

A practical, full-color guide to optical manufacturing Featuring more than 300 full-color photos and illustrations, Optical Technology describes the basics of optics and optical materials and the methods and applications of optical manufacturing and assembly. Important procedures for the production of optical components and systems are examined in detail. Real-world examples demonstrate the potential of various manufacturing procedures, and end-of-chapter questions reinforce key concepts. This is an invaluable resource for optical designers and fabrication engineers and also a well-rounded introduction to optics and optical technology. On the book's website are more than two hours of video featuring selected fabrication and assembly techniques. Optical Technology covers: Development of glass and optical production Basics of optics Optical materials, including mineral glass, organic glass, and crystals Foundations of the manufacturing process Primary forming of optical glass Transforming methods Cutting processes, including dividing, grinding, drilling, lapping, polishing, and centering Ultra-precision processing, structuring, and cleaning Coating with protective and optical layers Material property changes, such as annealing, strengthening, aging, coloration, and phototropic effects Joining processes, including blocking, clamping, and connecting optical elements Selecting fabrication technologies based on required specifications




Optical Information Technology


Book Description

Research in optical information technology in Europe has been very active inrecent years. This volume records state-of-the-art research conducted in some 22 laboratories who have worked together within EC ESPRIT Basic Research Action 3199 up to 1992. The topics cover: (1) Active optical logic and switching devices - embracing new materials, nonlinear and electrooptic mechanisms as well as advanced device fabrication. These devices cover the range from all-optical nonlinear interferometer structures through hybrid optical-electronic modulators to integrated emitter-receiver structures. (2) The latest state of optical interconnect technology, embracing diffractive optics (binary and multi-level phase gratings), holographic space-variant elements and micro-refractive optics. (3) Contributions on optical information processing architecture and demonstrator projects. The materials base ranges from silicon to II-VI materials with the realisation of pn-junction devices in ZnSe. The research reported here lays the basis for long-term progress in devices for information processing.




Optical and Digital Techniques for Information Security


Book Description

There are wide-ranging implications in information security beyond national defense. Securing our information has implications for virtually all aspects of our lives, including protecting the privacy of our ?nancial transactions and medical records, facilitating all operations of government, maintaining the integrity of national borders, securing important facilities, ensuring the safety of our food and commercial products, protecting the safety of our aviation system—even safeguarding the integrity of our very identity against theft. Information security is a vital element in all of these activities, particularly as information collection and distribution become ever more connected through electronic information delivery systems and commerce. This book encompasses results of research investigation and technologies that can be used to secure, protect, verify, and authenticate objects and inf- mation from theft, counterfeiting, and manipulation by unauthorized persons and agencies. The book has drawn on the diverse expertise in optical sciences and engineering, digital image processing, imaging systems, information p- cessing, mathematical algorithms, quantum optics, computer-based infor- tion systems, sensors, detectors, and biometrics to report novel technologies that can be applied to information-security issues. The book is unique because it has diverse contributions from the ?eld of optics, which is a new emerging technology for security, and digital techniques that are very accessible and can be interfaced with optics to produce highly e?ective security systems.




Introduction to Information Optics


Book Description

While there are books treating individual topics contained in this book, this will be the first single volume providing a cohesive treatment on this subject as a whole. This goes beyond optical communications in that it includes related topics such as sensing, displays, computing, and data storage.




Fundamentals of Optical Computing Technology


Book Description

This book presents the principles, experimental technologies, up-to-date research findings and applications of various optical-computing technologies and devices. It also discusses semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) photoelectronic devices, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), lasers, micro optical elements and diffractive optical elements, optical storage, optical parallel interconnections, and optical-buffer technology as the main technologies for optical computing. Furthermore, it explores the potential of optical-computing technology. It offers those involved in optical design, photonics, and photoelectronic research and related industries insights into the fundamentals and theories of optical computing, enabling them and to extend and develop the functions of fundamental elements to meet the requirement of optical-computing systems.




Optical Fiber Sensor Technology


Book Description

Progress in optical fiber sensors The field of optical fiber sensor technology is one that continues to expand and develop at a rate that could barely have been predicted a few years ago. The wealth of publications appearing in the technical literature and the burgeoning number of papers presented at the now well-established series of national and international conferences, which are attended by a wide selection of technically qualified optoelectronics professionals, gives a clear indication of both the range and scale of the devices and applications now seen in the subject. Such a rapid expansion makes it very difficult for the scientist and engineer, under pressure to be both informed and effective for an employer, to attend all these meetings, selectively read the appropriate literature and be able quickly to gain the knowledge in those specific areas which will give the best advantage for the work in hand. To that end, this volume has been planned and carefully designed to provide an essential overview, and detailed specific information, on those novel and exciting aspects of optical fiber sensor technology that have recently emerged, with particular focus on the devices and the exciting applications of this part of optoelectronic technology in the vast international measurement and instrumentation area.




Unified Optical Scanning Technology


Book Description

Written by an award-winning leader in the field, this is a thoroughly integrated overview of the many facets and disciplines of optical scanning. Of particular utility to both practitioner and student are such features as: An overview of the technology and unifying principles, including active and passive scanning, optical transfer, and system architecture In-depth chapters on scanning theory and processes, scanned resolution, scanner devices and techniques, and the control of scanner beam misplacemen A comprehensive review of the government-sponsored research of agile beam steering, now primed for commercial adaptation A unique focus on the Lagrange invariant and its revealing resolution invariant