To find out more about how photonics companies, particularly start‐ups, can increase their chances of a successful pitch, three people with extensive experience in photonics investment talk to EPIC director general Carlos Lee for an investee perspective: two investors, Ewit Roos at PhotonVentures and Marek Kotelnicki from Vigo Ventures, and Ronny Timmreck, serial entrepreneur and currently CEO at Vitrealab, a provider of light engines for AR glasses.
Aluminum recycling is crucial for both economic and ecological reasons, offering significant energy savings and reducing raw material scarcity. Among various techniques for sorting aluminum scrap, laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) stands out for its rapid and precise identification of elemental composition. The MOPA approach from Neolase enhances LIBS performance by providing high energies and precise control over pulse parameters, improving data quality and sorting efficiency.
A new generation of compact ultrafast laser systems capable of simultaneous two and three‐photon microscopy – including two‐photon fluorescence (2PF), second harmonic generation (SHG), three‐photon fluorescence (3PF), and third harmonic generation (THG) imaging – offer exciting potential to accelerate biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.
Photonics plays a vital role in enabling quantum technologies across computing, sensing, and secure communication. This article explores Hamamatsu Photonics' expanding portfolio, from vapor cell‐based sensors to advanced lasers and imaging systems. It highlights how the company's innovations are helping to bridge the gap between research and real‐world quantum applications.
This analysis traces the evolution of laser process upscaling over the years, highlights key milestones and technological improvements and identifies the current challenges faced by existing laser processes, focusing on three critical sectors: microprocessing, laser welding and powder bed fusion – laser beam (PBF‐LB). A series of case studies from Cailabs and its industrial partners demonstrates how beam shaping provides a valuable technological advantage, enabling real industrial improvements in laser‐based manufacturing processes.
Photonics is revolutionizing agriculture, playing a pivotal role in the rise of smart farming as a sustainable solution to global food security challenges. By harnessing advanced light‐based technologies such as tunable LED systems, hyperspectral imaging, and smart optical sensors, smart farms can optimize plant growth, monitor plant health, and minimize resource consumption.
A constant challenge in the electronics and semiconductor industry is the ability to create micron‐scale electrical traces. While photolithography has long been the standard approach, it comes with complexity and cost. Additive methods like inkjet printing are gaining traction due to their digital and flexible nature, but are currently limited to prototyping or small‐scale use because of their slower process speeds. There is a clear need for a technology that combines high resolution and throughput with lower cost and process simplicity, one that can be offered by the SSAIL method.
Laser beam shaping refers to the process of altering the spatial distribution of a laser beam's intensity to achieve a desired irradiance profile at a target plane. This manipulation is an essential step in ensuring the beam's characteristics align with the specific requirements of the application. Various approaches, such as the use of refractive and diffractive optical elements, are used to reshape the beam while maintaining efficiency.
PhotonicsViewsVolume 22, Issue 1 p. 1-1 EditorialFree Access Photonics outlook for 2025: Illuminating the path to innovation Shahida Imani, Shahida Imani Board of Directors, EPIC Co-founder and CEO, Singular PhotonicsSearch for more papers by this author Shahida Imani, Shahida Imani Board of Directors, EPIC Co-founder and CEO, Singular PhotonicsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 13 January 2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/phvs.202570101AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookxLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume22, Issue1February/March/April 2025Pages 1-1 RelatedInformation
The field of quantum optics is undergoing massive growth, which is enabling a host of new applications within the field. The quantum nature of light allows us to push the limits of various techniques including, but not limited to, spectroscopy, interferometry, sensing and imaging. At the heart of these is a need for a reliable source of entangled photons. The quantum revolution is underpinned by ultrashort pulse duration lasers, and especially fiber lasers. Ultrafast fiber lasers provide reliable ultrashort pulse durations at an unprecedented price point.
The application of touchscreens in the public and healthcare sectors is increasing worldwide. Their use by different people allows the unintentional spread of pathogens. The combination of UVC LEDs and a quartz plate appears to make it possible to rapidly and automatically disinfect touchscreens between different users without harming the human operator.
A new EU initiative of 6.1 million euros, Retina is a four-year project aiming to combine advanced spectral imagers and photonic chip-based lidar sensors into versatile multimodal perception systems to revolutionize the healthcare, automotive, and agriculture sectors. This article explores Retina's key objectives, technological developments, and applications while also addressing ongoing challenges and potential directions for future development.
The invention of lasers has enabled the widespread use of Raman spectroscopy in scientific laboratories, and recently Raman spectroscopy has been applied in industrial environments as well. Based on Ibsen Photonics' experience as an OEM supplier of Raman spectrometers for various applications, this article reviews key concerns that must be addressed when designing a Raman spectrometer for industrial applications.
PhotonicsViewsVolume 22, Issue 1 p. 38-38 Early ViewFree Access Beginning to see the light Calculating the reflectance of semiconductors with vias Michael Quinten, Corresponding Author Michael Quinten [email protected] +49 2464 2649 Wissenschaftlich-technische Software, 52457 Aldenhoven, GermanySearch for more papers by this author Michael Quinten, Corresponding Author Michael Quinten [email protected] +49 2464 2649 Wissenschaftlich-technische Software, 52457 Aldenhoven, GermanySearch for more papers by this author First published: 13 January 2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/phvs.202570117AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookxLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume22, Issue1February/March/April 2025Pages 38-38 RelatedInformation
Our world is constantly facing a wide variety of social challenges – currently, issues such as climate change, security, demographic change, and resource conservation are of significant importance and show an acute need for action. Disruptive technologies, among other things, are needed to tackle such problems. Additive manufacturing (AM) is regarded as the ‘game changer / paradigm shift’ technology for the digital, automated production of the future – as the key enabler of ‘Production 2.0’.
Among the most significant technological challenges associated with augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) glasses is the production of optical waveguide combiners. For both technologies, surface relief gratings (SRG) are used as the in-couplers and out-couplers of the light into the near-eye displays. This article shows the manufacture of slanted SRGs using ion beam processing as a crucial component of the waveguide.
Over more than a half century, the pace of innovation in electronic communication and computing has consistently increased, giving rise to progressively smaller silicon microchips with enhanced processing power. This achievement is attributed to the exponential growth in the density of integrated circuit (IC) transistors, a development predicted by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 and commonly called Moore's Law. However, there are inherent limits to reducing the physical feature size of silicon structures before quantum effects start influencing their functionality.
Ultrashort-pulse (USP) laser ablation enables the creation of freeform shapes that are challenging to produce with conventional optics manufacturing techniques. To maintain the industrial standards of many branches, it is crucial to not only consider material removal rates but also the surface quality and subsurface damage (SSD). This study investigates the SSD patterns generated in fused silica and quantifies key parameters such as the SSD depth by applying optical coherence tomography (OCT).
All-fiber beam shaping is revolutionizing laser-based manufacturing. This capability is a commercially accessible reality in cutting, welding, and additive manufacturing tools released by leading integrators worldwide. These advanced tools increase productivity and part quality and introduce entirely new production capabilities, driving the displacement of legacy lasers and non-laser technologies in existing applications and spurring the development of new markets.
