SPIE DSS 2011: Day 1 Technology Report
By Jim Pomager
Some 6,000 members of the military, security, and environmental industries gathered in Orlando this week for SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing (DSS) 2011. The event's technical program boasted a keynote address by the director of DARPA, more than 2,400 presentations, and over 50 courses, but perhaps the week's biggest attraction was the DSS exhibition, featuring the latest imaging and sensing technologies from 500 companies. Exhibitors ranging from small startups to prime contractors came to showcase their wares — everything from cameras to lasers to detectors... and much more.
Photonics Online was there on the floor of the (at times stiflingly hot) Orlando World Center Marriott Convention Center, both to exhibit and to cover the event. What follows is a rundown of the new and innovative technologies we saw on Tuesday at the SPIE DSS exhibition. (See also our Wednesday and Thursday reports.) Links to product datasheets, demo videos, and other resources have been included, should you require additional information.
Raptor Photonics
Raptor Photonics demonstrated a couple of new rugged digital cameras for surveillance and low-light imaging applications. The Owl SW1.7 CL-320 is SWIR camera with sensitivity response range of 0.9 to 1.7µm (0.4 to 1.7µm with an optional visible extension) and a resolution of 320 x 256 pixels (with a pixel pitch of 30µm x 30µm). It is suited for applications such as range finding, active imaging, and spot detection. The Hawk EM247 CL is a small (43 x 43 x 57mm), monochrome EMCCD camera with extremely low power consumption (<5 W). Customizable by application, it was designed to be integrated into imaging systems such as small EO/IR surveillance platforms.
Physical Optics Corporation (POC)
POC showcased its WEARNET wearable personal area network at its DSS booth. WEARNET incorporates electronic wires, cabling, power management, connectivity (including 360º universal quick-snap and USB 2.0), and sensors into a lightweight harness and tactical vest system. The durable, plug-and-play system manages power, video, data, and RF communications, and also mitigates factors such as electrical loading, electromagnetic interference (EMIA), and electrostatic discharge (ESD) that can negatively impact performance and operation.
Hamamatsu Corporation
Of interest at the Hamamatsu booth was a series of proximity focused image intensifiers powered by crystalline photocathodes — extended red GaAsP for sensitivity up to 820 nm and InGaAs for up to 1100 nm — intended for a range of applications including night-vision goggles, handheld scopes, and head-mounted displays. Also on display were the company's multi-pixel photon counters in compact, nonmagnetic packages, capable of achieving single-photon sensitivities, as well as an IR-enhanced series of silicon PIN photodiodes, which boast a spectral response range of 360 to 1140 nm, thanks to a MEMS structure laser fabricated on the back side of the photodiode.
CVI Melles Griot
CVI Melles Griot was on hand to exhibit its custom photonics capabilities, which run the gamut from design to coating to measurement. Noteworthy IR optical coatings for the defense set included a non-radioactive, rain erosion-resistant, antireflective coating; a hard carbon, antireflection coating with enhanced salt resistance; and a wiper-resistant, multispectral, antireflection coating. On the optics side, we were introduced to CVI's line of diamond-turned aspheric and aspheric diffractive lenses (available in sizes up to 250 mm) and its range IR filters for applications such as night vision sights (custom gas IR bandpass filters will launch worldwide later this year).
Edmund Optics (EO)
Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) optical elements for visible and IR were the focus for EO at its DSS booth, particularly SWIR imaging lenses. The company set up a number of educational/entertaining demos that compared SWIR and visual imaging systems, including one with a bottle of Irish Spring bath soap (see our video from the exhibition) and another involving Luke Skywalker and Yoda (I kid you not — check EO's video). Also on display were a range of stock night vision optics, based on EO custom designs for UAVs, missile systems, and man-portable and weapons-mounted applications. A U.S.-based defense supplier, EO's COTS products are ISO 9000 and MIL-SPEC certified.
2d3 Sensing
An established provider of imaging software to the professional film and TV post production industry, 2d3 is now bringing its video intelligence experience to bear on the ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) market. At DSS, 2d3 launched its Catalina video storage and dissemination suite, its answer to handling the incredible amounts of data being generated by video sensors today. Catalina allows many users to store, search, and serve full motion video (FMV) in mission critical environment. It also provides on-the-fly streaming to enhancement and exploitation tools — such as the company's TacitView software — via a centralized server.
JDSU
JDSU conducted demos of its soon-to-be released miniature infrared spectral engine with a 950 to 1700 nm wavelength range (1150 to 2100 nm with an optional InGaAs detector). The ultra-compact (37 x 39 x 33 mm), lightweight (50 g), and low-cost device leverages JDSU's linear variable filter (LVF) as the dispersing element. Available in handheld or inline versions, the NIR spectral engine can be used in a wide range of applications, including explosives detection. JDSU also highlighted its new line of thin-film coatings (launched at Photonics West earlier this year), which improve light-sensing intelligence in electronic products.
DILAS Diode Laser
DILAS had three classes of diode laser products on display at its DSS booth. The company's fiber-coupled modules deliver high brightness in a compact footprint for driving fiber lasers. Rugged (in terms of temperature, shock, and vibration tolerance), small, and lightweight, its conduction-cooled QCW stacks are designed for use as pumps for target designators and rangefinders. Finally, DILAS' water-cooled vertical stacks deliver up to 200 W of CW output power per bar, making them ideal for a variety of defense applications, including directed energy weapons.
Deposition Sciences, Inc. (DSI)
Custom optical thin film coating supplier DSI touted the fact that it has extended its sputtering capabilities for patterned filters into the mid-wave infrared region. Combined with DSI's existing SWIR and long-wave offerings, this new sputtering capability allows the company to now provide complete broadband coverage in a durable, anti-reflective (AR) coating. (DSI also offers standard evaporative IR coatings.) This technology can be used in a wide range of sensing applications across the space, satellite, and military industries.
OptoSigma
Out in front at the OptoSigma booth was a line of stages incorporating the company's patented extended contact technology. Inside each of these rugged, steel stages are EDM (electric discharge machined) railways, along which ride sleeves incorporating pressure-fit ball bearings. The bearings touch the railways at four points of contact — hence the "constant contact" name. The approach delivers a translation process that is rigid, stiff, and smooth, making the stages ideal for precision applications such as positioning components in a laser path. For more information, check out our video with OptoSigma from the exhibition.
Element Six
De Beers subsidiary Element Six had a number of diamond optical materials and components on display. According to the company, diamond has many properties that make it unique as an optical material, including broadband optical transparency, high thermal conductivity (enabling higher output power), hardness, wear resistance, and chemical inertness. Among the products on display at Element Six's DSS booth were CVD (chemical vapor deposition) single-crystal diamond for Raman laser applications, optical-grade CVD single-crystal diamond, and low-birefringence CVD single-crystal diamond for applications sensitive to light polarization.
