From The Editor

  1. Bright Ideas — Canada Invests $240 Million In Semiconductor Biz, Lidar Firms See Big Sales & Even Bigger Losses 3/9/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, Canada is investing heavily in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, while IPG Photonics is forging ahead with its Russian operations despite the Russian war on Ukraine. Lidar firms are seeing sizeable sales but are also experiencing significant operating losses. Plus, JWST is completing yet another round of mirror and image alignments — right on schedule. 

  2. Bright Ideas — Room Temperature Research For Time Crystals, Quantum Simulators, And Germans To Recycle Silicon From Solar Cells 2/23/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, two research teams are looking to democratize the use of time crystals and quantum simulators by finding ways for them to operate at room temperature. And, German researchers are trying to get ahead of a mass solar cell disposal by repurposing their discarded silicon into new Passive Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) solar cells. 

  3. Bright Ideas — James Webb Telescope Sees First Star, NASA Warns Space X Sats Could Cause Collisions 2/14/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, two new COVID-19 tests crop up as quicker, more dynamic alternatives to PCR and antigen methods. NASA offers up the very first images taken by its James Webb Space Telescope. And, NASA voices its concern over the growing number of Starlink satellites in LEO.

  4. Bright Ideas — NOAA Weather Satellite To Capture 16 Spectral Bands, Quantum State Longer Than 5 Seconds Reached 2/9/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, NASA and NOAA announced a March launch date for their new GOES-T weather satellite capable of viewing 16 spectral brands, including two visible, four near-IR, and 10 IR channels. And, researchers have enabled a silicon carbide qubit to achieve a quantum state for more than five seconds — a breakthrough for the material and device type. 

  5. DARPA Program Eyes Photonics For Miniaturized, Low Noise RF Oscillator 2/8/2022

    Phase noise can be problematic in RF communications, with jitter influencing sampling prevision of receivers and constricting signaling bandwidth. That's why DARPA is enlisting the help of photonics researcher to devise oscillators that are small, low noise, and more agile across frequencies. 

  6. Finally Face To Face Again At Photonics West 2/2/2022

    Photonics West 2022 offered what much of the photonics and optics world has been needing: face time. No, not that kind. The much-anticipated gathering cultivated real, live interaction that just can't be replicated on a Zoom call. Warm and welcoming, the conference and its plenaries, exhibitions, and chance conversations were a shot in the arm to what's been a disconnected and disconcerting past two years. 

  7. Bright Ideas — Army Stryker Vehicles With 50kW Lasers Coming This Fall, Nanoscale Semiconductors Could Help Develop Drugs Sooner 1/19/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, the U.S. Army announced its directed energy-enabled Stryker vehicles will undergo final testing before their scheduled September delivery, while researchers say twisted nanoscale semiconductors could help speed up screening of new antibiotics and other drugs.

  8. How Photonics Will Help Curb Methane Emissions And Slow Global Warming 1/12/2022

    Methane gas is 25 times more potent than CO2 at locking heat in the earth’s atmosphere and has more than doubled in concentration over the past two centuries. In an effort to curb the damage done by this potent greenhouse gas, the Biden administration has urged the EPA to implement rules that further reduce methane emissions, particularly in the oil and gas industry. Rising to the challenge of identifying those methane leaks are photonics firms employing existing technologies to tackle an age-old problem in new ways. 

  9. Bright Ideas — James Webb Telescope Is Ready, Intel Opens Photonics Center, First-Ever Optical Oscilloscope Developed 12/20/2021

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, NASA updates its launch time for the James Webb telescope, Intel opens a new photonics research center, a first-of-its-kind optical oscilloscope is created, and one scientist thinks mouse fur might have heat-sensing properties. 

  10. Bright Ideas — NASA Launches Laser Comms, LiDAR Explores Caves & Assesses Forest Health 12/15/2021

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in photonics. This week, a new sensing platform enables core body temperature measurements, NASA launches a laser to speed up space communications, and LiDAR sees new uses in mapping caves and assessing forest health.