The new pco.panda is a sCMOS sensor camera system designed to provide high quantum efficiency with the lowest dark noise for applications including single molecule detection, bio- and chemi-luminescence, GSDIM, PALM, STORM, SPIM, and more. It also is housed in a compact, 65 x 65 x 65 mm³ package.

Optics Balzers has successfully developed and tested a special dielectric layer system with PARMS coating technology, making it possible to manufacture 45°-HR mirrors for 1030nm applications with an established destruction threshold of 0.44J/cm² at 210fs. These mirrors are typically used in ultra-short pulsed systems of Yb:YAG solid-state lasers.

The FluxGage is Ophir’s new compact measuring system for LED Luminaires that measures their total flux, color (CCT, CRI, Duv, chromaticity), and flicker. The system measures the total flux using solar panels instead of an integrating sphere, delivering the same functionality in one third of the size. The gauge is capable of measuring any luminaire that fits into its opening.

The OWL 1280 from Raptor Photonics is a digital short-wave infrared (SWIR) InGaAs camera in HD format, ideal for surveillance and scientific imaging applications including range finding, vision enhancement, astronomy, and hyperspectral imaging. The camera utilizes a 1280 x 1280 sensor for SCD that offers visible extension from 0.4 µm to 1.7 µm, and 10 µm x 10 µm pixel pitch for the highest resolution imaging.

Bristol Instruments’ model 771 is a high-resolution laser spectrum analyzer that measures the spectral characteristics of CW and high-repetition rate pulsed lasers that operate from 375 nm to 12 μm. Laser wavelength is measured to +/- 0.0001 nm and spectral resolution is as high as 2 GHz.

The Helios is a laser power meter designed for the measurement of high-power lasers in industrial processing applications. It measures an array of high-power solid state lasers such as diode, fiber, and YAG lasers with powers ranging from 100 W to 12 kW and energies ranging from 10 J to 10 kJ. 

Martin Ettenberg, with Princeton Infrared, gave us a breakdown on when and why you should use shortwave infrared imaging, and what this technology’s role can be as it relates to machine vision applications.

This year at Photonics West, Dan Ford with the Ophir Photonics Group talked to us about the importance of achieving laser consistency.

Jeff Briton and Dragan Grubsic spoke to us about some of the challenges involved in operating pulsed laser diodes and avalanche photodiodes in LIDAR for the automotive and sensor markets.

At Photonics West 2017, Gene Nepomuceno with Vision Research spent a few minutes with us discussing the three main factors one should take into account before selecting a high speed camera – resolution, frame rate, and sensitivity (with an honorable mention for transferring the data off of the camera).

At Photonics West 2017, Greg Staples focused on selecting different wavelengths for specific applications. Watch the video for wavelength selection guidance for precision agriculture, food sorting, mining, pharmaceutical quality control, and more.