The essential physics of plasmonics is beautifully reviewed by Maier, starting from Maxwell's equations and the criteria for the existence of a plasmon propagating at the interface between a dielectric and a conductor, evanescently confined in the perpendicular direction. Localized surface plasmons are nonpropagating excitations of metal nanostructures' conduction electrons when coupled to an incident electromagnetic field. The traditional materials for plasmonics are metals, with dielectrics. Graphene offers a substantially different platform for the creation of optoelectronic devices and systems. Perhaps the most important difference to the above approaches is that the bandgap structure of graphene can be varied through doping, and this opens up a variety of different plasmonic schemes. Photoresist technology limits the ultimate resolution in nano-lithography, so much effort is given to making improvements where possible, such as described by Fourkas. Polymer and biological techniques represent an entirely different class of approaches to the nanoparticle precision-array challenge.

Laser refrigeration of solids has emerged as a viable solution for vibration-free and compact cooling that does not require any moving parts or cryogenic liquid. So far, rare-earth doped glasses are the only bulk materials that have provided efficient laser cooling based on the anti-Stokes process. These materials have low indices of refraction and are suitable for efficient luminescence extraction. However, up until this date, laser cooling of bulk semiconductors has not been achieved. One major challenge that needs to be addressed is the photoluminescence trapping and the consequent photon recycling. In this paper, we explain various methods to enhance light extraction for the purpose of laser cooling. We specifically provide guidelines for design and fabrication of graded index and subwavelength structures to maximize the extraction efficiency. Furthermore we present novel techniques for increasing the external quantum efficiency and enhancing the overall laser cooling efficiency.

The primary objective for StrathSat-R2 was to deploy two novel inflatable structures in milli-gravity and near vacuum conditions. These structures were to inflate by harnessing the pressure exerted by a small quantity of air, contained inside sealed sections, that expands when exposed to greatly reduced external pressure. To achieve the necessary vacuum conditions for this residual air inflation, two CubeSat-based ejectables carried the inflatable structures onboard the REXUS15 sounding rocket. The ejectables were then launched from the rocket at around 80 km altitude with structure deployment filmed from on-board the rocket as well as by each Free-Flying Unit (FFU). The structures were selected as demonstrators for novel mission concepts; the first was a pyramidal structure that was intended for use as a passive orbit transfer and de-orbiting device, and the second contained a morphing inflatable with multiple cells, which used air distribution to alter its state. The experiment design focused on delivering a reliable ejection and structure deployment mechanism as well as a recovery system with sufficient redundancy. The recovery system consisted of a GPS receiver, Globalstar antenna and RF beacon, and through the successful operation of this system an ejectable was recovered in spite of its non-ideal landing. Contact with the other ejectable was lost at lift-off and highlighted weaknesses in the design that were only exposed during this, the second launch, for this experimental setup.

Results for long-wavelength emitters are presented for semi-polar InGaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on GaN(1122)/m-sapphire templates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The semi-polar GaN layers were 10 to 25 mu m thick and grown by HVPE on sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate high crystallographic quality that approaches that of GaN(0001) layers on sapphire. Growth studies on the semi-polar GaN templates established the high efficiency of indium incorporation into InGaN layers, with a wide growth-temperature window up to 800 degrees C for green light emitting structures. Basic LEDs were fabricated with peak emission up to 527 nm wavelength. Further growth studies established conditions for growing reasonably smooth, undoped InGaN/GaN laser heterostructures suitable for optical pumping. Optically-pumped lasing was achieved at wavelengths from 400 nm up to 500 nm. The results demonstrate the viability of semi-polar GaN(1122) on sapphire templates for long-wavelength nitride laser diodes. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Emerging next generation digital light projectors are using multiple LED/laser sources instead of one white lamp. This results in a color gamut much larger than any existing display or capture device. Though advantageous in theory, when used to display contents captured/processed at a smaller gamut, a large gamut expansion results in hue-shift artifacts. We present a hardware-assisted 3D gamut reshaping method that handles the gamut expansion in LED based DLP displays by hierarchical temporal multiplexing of the multiple primaries. This, in turn, results in a color emulation technique by which projectors with such large gamuts can also achieve a standard color gamut and white point - the two most important color properties in terms of display quality, with an additional advantage of increased brightness and dynamic range. The same method can also be used for color balancing across multiple projectors that are often used to create large-scale high resolution displays.

We present a modeling software package developed at Ostendo Technologies for analysis and design of semiconductor laser and light-emitting diodes. The current database of material parameters supports complete group of III-Nitride alloys used in visible spectrum applications and can be readily extended to all III-V compounds.