Photonics West 2011: Day 1 Report
By Jim Pomager and Ron Grunsby
More than 19,000 members of the worldwide photonics community gathered in San Francisco's Moscone Center this week for SPIE Photonics West 2011, the year's most anticipated photonics, lasers, and biomedical optics event. One of the biggest draws of the week is the Photonics West Exhibition, and this year, attendees could see the latest technologies and get information from over 1,100 companies, universities, labs, and other exhibitors. Obviously, Photonics Online couldn't get around to every booth at this massive event, but we did visit quite a few. Here is a rundown of some of the products we saw, people we met, and things we heard on Tuesday at the 2011 Photonics West Exhibition.
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Xenics
On January 1 of this year, infrared solutions provider Xenics established a new subsidiary, Xenics USA, Inc., to increase technical support and improve its customer service in North America. Xenics USA's CEO, Luc DeBrouckere, showed us a number of new cameras at the company's Photonics West booth. The new Lynx camera series drew a great deal of interest, particularly among BiOS attendees. These 40-kHz high-speed SWIR line-scan cameras are extremely sensitive -- with resolution options up to 2,048 pixels -- for applications such as machine vision, medical OCT, and spectroscopy.
Vision Research
Vision Research, manufacturer of digital high-speed imaging systems, released its newest 4-megapixel camera at Photonics West. The Phantom v641 is a smaller, lighter follow-up to the company's successful v640 camera and allows users to record and deliver high-definition, slow-motion images in applications ranging from scientific research to commercial broadcasting. The company also highlighted the Phantom v341, a high-resolution camera with timing resolution of better than 20 nanoseconds, intended for military, scientific, and research applications.
PG&O
PG&O, a global supplier of precision optics and optical thin film coatings, is one of only a handful of high-end optics companies capable of delivering complete turnkey solutions. On display were several examples of custom optical solutions, from complex glass fabrication to custom coatings. President Dan Bukaty Jr. talked to us about the company's foundation in customized service and working directly with engineers on challenging designs, from the development phase through high-volume production. PG&O stocks over a half-million dollars in glass inventory, enabling extremely fast turnaround times on stock products. They produce products for military, imaging, digital cinema, biomedical/life sciences, and solar applications.
Toshiba Imaging Systems Division
High-end HD imaging specialist Toshiba's booth drew a lot of attention with an interactive 3-D demonstration powered by a pair of the company's IK-HD1 cameras. But even more noteworthy was the IK-HR2D, a new high-definition, one-piece CMOS video camera Toshiba launched at the show. The IK-HR2D delivers real-time, live-image data capture up to 60 frames per second in full HD format via a DVI-D output. It is a takeoff of the company's popular IK-HR1D, but the new camera features both DVI-D and USB outputs, making it ideal for image capture for microscopy, endoscopy, and broadcast applications. True HD images can be easily viewed on a large, high-definition monitor via the DVI-D output. The optional USB port allows the camera to output stills, a series of stills, or video at 5 to 10 fps.
Abrisa Technologies
Abrisa Technologies discussed the recent union of its three companies – Abrisa Industrial Glass, Sycamore Glass Components, and ZC&R Coatings for Optics – as divisions under the Abrisa Technologies brand. The move makes Abrisa a one-stop shop for glass, fabrication, and coating solutions. In conjunction with the merger, Abrisa launched a new corporate website, located at www.abrisatechnologies.com.
Abrisa’s ZC&R Coatings for Optics division announced that they now provide both hydrophilic and hydrophobic optical coatings for applications such as outdoor surveillance, camera windows, outdoor displays, marine displays, medical devices, and more. ZC&R also provides indium tin oxide and index-matched indium tin oxide transparent, high-transmittance conductive coatings that are extremely useful in EMI shielded windows for sensors and displays, heated outdoor camera windows, liquid crystal-based polarization devices, and photovoltaic cells.
Luna Technologies
Luna Technologies, a division of Luna Innovations Incorporated, showcased a number of fiber optic test and sensing instruments at its booth. Of particular interest was the new OBR 4200, a portable, ultra-high resolution reflectometer with backscatter-level sensitivity, designed to test short networks, chiefly in military/aerospace applications. Luna was also demonstrating its OBR 4600 for sensing and fiber diagnostics, capable of measuring 30 m with 10-micrometer resolution in less than 7 seconds. Finally, we saw the PHOENIX 1400 tunable laser source, which combines a tunable laser and a driver in a benchtop package.
Gooch & Housego
Gooch & Housego announced a new addition to its fibre coupled acousto-optic modulator product line, a non-hermetic version of its Fibre-Q switch. Designed for use in high-volume OEM industrial applications with controlled environmental conditions, the switch uses the same core build process of the hermetic Fibre-Q and retains the same optical performance while offering reduction in size, weight, and cost. In addition, G&H also talked to booth visitors about its extensive customer-specific, optical component manufacturing capabilities.
Florida Photonics Cluster
Executive Director James Pearson and President Alexandre Fong of the Florida Photonics Cluster (FPC) were enthusiastic about the ongoing proliferation of photonics activity in the Sunshine State. Founded in 1995, the FPC works to support the growth of the photonics industry in Florida by bringing together companies and organizations that provide optics and photonics products and services. Over 30 FPC members have booths at the Photonics West exhibition, 14 of them grouped in the so-called “Photonics Cluster” area of the hall. For more information on Florida photonics, visit the FPC's website at www.floridaphotonicscluster.com.
Labsphere
Photonics West 2011 marked Labsphere's first demonstration of the XSLMS spectral LED measurement system at a trade show. The system is used for high-speed analysis of LED and SSL lamps and assemblies, and can provide total spectral flux, luminous flux, radiant flux, chromacity, and numerous other measurements. Its high dynamic range enables a single sphere to measure a wide range of light levels, providing spectral results in milliseconds.
e2v
e2v, a 25-year veteran of the high-performance imaging field, is displaying its industrial, medical, and space and scientific imaging offerings. The company is working on the development of a new EMCCD sensor for scientific applications, such as the life sciences and drug discovery, and expects it to be released later this year. “This sensor will offer four times the pixels of our current sensor without sacrificing speed,” Ivan Noy, general manager, scientific imaging, told Photonics Online. “It will be the industry benchmark.” The new sensor will be back-illuminated. The current sensor is 512 x 512. The new one will be 1k x 1k, but the sensor's size will remain the same.
LightWorks Optics
LightWorks Optics, Inc., a provider of advanced optical design engineering and production solutions for precision, assemblies, systems, and components, has named Michael Minailo the company’s new CEO. Minailo will be responsible for developing and implementing strategic plans for sustained growth in the aerospace and defense market segments, as well as expanded positioning in the commercial, medical device, and biomedical market segments. “For us to diversify is important,” Minailo told Photonics Online. “The commercial industry is looking for unique optical systems. The biomedical, semiconductor, and telecommunications industries value what we can bring to the table.”
Excelitas Technologies
Excelitas Technologies, a global provider of customized optoelectronic solutions and former illumination and detection solutions business unit of PerkinElmer, introduced its newest low-light analog module (LLAM) for the detection of high-speed, low-light analog signals to support LIDAR, range finding, and distributed temperature sensing applications. The LLAM is part of Excelitas' Low Light Level Detection (L3D) suite, which also includes avalanche photodetectors, single photon counting modules (SPCM), and channel photomultipliers (CPM). Excelitas is at Photonics West reinforcing its identity as an independent company providing OEMs with customized, high-performance technology solutions.
Opnext
Opnext, Inc., a supplier of high-power, low-operating-current red and infrared laser diodes, introduced two laser diodes on Tuesday. A new, high-power, 60-mW, 445-nm blue laser diode for embedded device mini projector applications consumes 30 percent less power than the leading blue laser offerings. It is the first in a family of blue laser diodes being planned for development. The new, high-power, 404-nm, 500-mW violet laser diode for medical illumination systems features a low operating current that saves on power and lowers a manufacturer's overall operating costs.
Stanford Photonics Research Center
Photonics Online spent some time on Tuesday with Dr. Thomas Baer, executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center. SPRC serves as an interface point between the Stanford University research community and companies employing optics and photonics in their commercial activities. One way it facilitates such partnership is through its Annual Symposium, which covers a wide range of photonics research topics and draws leading researchers from around the world. In addition, it also partnered with the Universities of Strathclyde, St. Andrews, Heriot-Watt, and Glasgow, along with the California Institute of Technology, to establish the SU2Partnership, which aims to bolster existing links between universities and businesses in Scotland and the United States. For more information on the SPRC and its activities, visit photonics.stanford.edu/. More on the SU2Partnership can be found at www.su2p.com.