laser artwork takes off in china

Transcription

September 2003 Issue 109
Optoelectronics
●
Photonics
●
Laser systems
●
Materials
optics.org
●
Fibre optics
●
Imaging
BIOPHOTONICS
SOURCES
Solar surgery: live
animal treatment
declared a success
Jump in power:
kilowatt thin-disk
lasers go on show
●
Medical applications
INTERVIEW
LASER ARTWORK
TAKES OFF IN CHINA
●
Research
●
Materials processing
●
Displays
INSIDE
PHOTONEX03
SHOW PREVIEW
EDITORIAL
Editor Oliver Graydon
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1015
oliver.graydon@iop.org
Technology editor Michael Hatcher
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1013
michael.hatcher@iop.org
Issue 109 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 3
Reporter Jacqueline Hewett
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1194
jacqueline.hewett@iop.org
NEWS
5
This month
Sunshine drives photonics research • Brussels
earmarks €45 m for optics • Photonics Europe starts taking shape
Production editor Lucy Farrar
Technical illustrator Alison Tovey
EUROPE/ROW SALES
Advertising sales manager Rob Fisher
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1260
robert.fisher@iop.org
Senior sales executive Simon Allardice
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1284
simon.allardice@iop.org
Winners of the American
Solar Challenge celebrate p5
6
Business Bookham burns ASOC bridges • Sales slide at
Lambda Physik • ASML cuts 550 lithography jobs
11
Analysis Lens problems scupper 157 nm lithography
T E C H N O LO GY
13 Applications Bent fibres put networks at risk • Cellophane
Key accounts manager Adrian Chance
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1193
adrian.chance@iop.org
half-wave plate wraps up 3D displays
US SALES
IOP Publishing Inc, Suite 929, 150 South
Independence Mall West, Philadelphia PA 19106, USA
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Fax: +1 215 627 0879
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
Advertising production supervisor Rachel Sermon
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1277
rachel.sermon@iop.org
Digital cameras get more
realistic colours p17
17
R&D Emerald pixel gives digital cameras improved colour • NIF
breaks energy record • Nanoparticle glass keeps rooms cool
18
Patents
China’s largest maker of industrial lasers is searching for
international partners to grow its business. Oliver Graydon met
Chutian Laser chairman Sun Wen at LASER 2003.
CIRCULATION AND MARKETING
Product manager Evie Forbes
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1025
evie.forbes@iop.org
24
Thin-disk lasers take on
material tasks p25
27
© 2003 IOP Publishing Ltd. The contents of OLE do
not represent the views or policies of the Institute of
Physics, its council or its officers unless so identified.
This magazine incorporates Opto & Laser Products.
Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings,
West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH, UK.
Buyer’s Guide: Wavelength meters
Knowing the precise wavelength or spectral content of your
source can be crucial in many applications. Jacqueline Hewett
investigates the technology behind wavelength meters and
handheld spectrometers, two instruments designed for the task.
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Richard Roe
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E-mail: opto&lasereurope@iop.org
Thin disk sources get powered up
After successfully entering the ophthalmology market, the next
challenge for thin-disk lasers is materials processing. Trumpf
and Rofin-Sinar are backing the technology with
multikilowatt-scale systems, as Michael Hatcher reports.
ART DIRECTOR
Andrew Giaquinto
OPTO & LASER EUROPE
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ISSN 0966-9809 CODEN OL EEEV
Optical lie detector uses infrared pulses to seek truth
FEATURES
21 Interview: Chinese star eyes Europe
Advertising production editor Joanne Scriven
PUBLISHER
Geraldine Pounsford
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Contents
EOS NEWSLETTER
31 Focus on Italy
Silicon laser research
shines in Italy p33
The latest news and events from the European Optical Society
and its members, with a focus on optics and photonics in Italy.
SHOW PREVIEW
37 Photonex03
Don’t miss our sneak preview of all the events at this year’s
show, as well as our round-up of the latest products on display.
Cover (IOPP) China’s
REGUL ARS
20 Search Engine
45 Free Literature
46 Calendar
leading maker of lasers
talks to OLE. p21
For the latest news on optics and photonics don’t forget to visit optics.org
NEWS
THIS MONTH 5 BUSINESS 6 ANALYSIS 1 1
SOLAR POWER
By Oliver Graydon
As temperatures soar around
Europe, scientists have been harnessing the power of the Sun’s
rays to perform surgery on animals, pump solid-state lasers and
propel vehicles across the US in
record-breaking time.
In Israel, scientists have successfully carried out solar surgery on
rats (see p14). Jeffrey Gordon and
colleagues from Ben-Gurion University used sunlight passed along
a 20 m optical fibre as an operating tool. According to Gordon, in
sunny weather the optical power
density exiting the fibre can reach
several watts per mm2 – a power
density similar to that produced
by surgical lasers.
Another team of scientists from
Ben-Gurion has been working
with Rotem Industries of Israel to
build a solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser
that operates continuously for a
record duration of 5 h. In their
set-up a 6.75 m2 primary mirror
focuses sunlight onto a solar concentrator that illuminates the side
of a Nd:YAG laser rod.
Although to date the laser only
Stefano Paltera/American Solar Challenge
Sunshine drives photonics research
Enjoying the heat: the winning three cars in this year’s American Solar Challenge. First place went to the University of MissouriRolla (centre), second place to the University of Minnesota (right), and third place to the University of Waterloo (left).
emits 46 W of power, the team
have a plan for scaling this performance up to 400 W using a 60 m2
primary mirror. They say further
research is needed to improve the
collection efficiency and beam
quality of solar-pumped lasers.
Over in the US, this year’s
American Solar Challenge has
been won in a record-breaking
time of 51 h, 47 min and 39 s.
The course of the biennial solar
car race stretches 2300 miles
along Route 66 between Chicago
and Los Angeles. Twenty cars
built by student teams from Australia, Canada, the UK and the US
entered the gruelling competition.
FUNDING
Brussels earmarks €45m for optics
The European Commission (EC)
has earmarked €45 m to spend
on photonics-related research
projects selected in the second
call of its Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). The deadline for
submitting FP6 project proposals
is 15 October.
The cash is the result of a new
strategic objective on “optical,
optoelectronic and photonic
functional components” from the
EC’s Information Society Technologies directorate.
The EC says that the investment
is intended to support forwardthinking optics projects. It is keen
to address research challenges for
2010 and beyond in the fields of
OLE • September 2003 • op tics.org
telecoms, information technology,
healthcare, life sciences, the
environment and security.
Particular emphasis is being
placed on three areas of photonics technology:
● advanced materials and photonic structures, and their integration with microelectronics (this
includes research on microoptics, compound semiconductors, polymers and glass);
● advanced devices, integrated
photonic circuits and sensors for
the telecoms, medical and environmental sectors; and
● compact
solid-state light
sources with increased brightness
and tunability (this also includes
work on ultra-short pulse generation and microcavities).
According to the Commission’s Ronan Burgess, this call for
photonics projects is broader
than previous ones, as it covers
medical and environmental uses
as well as telecoms.
“There’s a lot of potential for
transferring technology from
telecoms, which has been the
main push in the past,” commented Burgess. “It’s important
to understand that photonics is
not just a subset of telecoms.”
For more information visit
www.cordis.lu/ist/so/photoniccomponents, or turn to the EOS
Newsletter in this issue.
The winning car, the Solar
Miner IV from the University of
Missouri-Rolla team, averaged a
speed of 43.4 mph and knocked
more than 4 h off 2001’s record
time. It was powered by 2800 gallium arsenide solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity with
an efficiency of 20%.
EVENTS
Photonics Europe
starts taking shape
The technical programme for
Photonics Europe 2004, a new
SPIE event that will take place
next year in Strasbourg, France,
has been finalized and a call for
papers is being circulated. The
deadline for the submission of
abstracts is 6 October, with final
manuscripts due by 29 March.
The five-day combined conference and exhibition will be held on
26–30 April 2004. It will feature
presentations on 17 technology
areas, from photonic crystals and
integrated optics to solid-state
lasers and biophotonics. There will
also be a session on hot topics in
photonics. For more information
visit http://spie.org/info/europe.
5
NEWS
BUSINESS
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS
Bookham burns ASOC bridges
will see 160–180 jobs lost.
In its last quarter Bookham’s
sales were flat at £21 m
(€29.8 m), while its cash-burn
was slightly reduced at £16.9 m.
Nortel is now by far the company’s most significant customer,
accounting for 62% of total sales.
Marconi and Huawei of China
each provided 10% of revenue in
the latest quarter.
The company estimates that
after the planned restructuring is
complete, its break-even point
will be £30–35 m per quarter. It
expects earnings of £21–24 m
over the next three months, but
when exceptional items are taken
into account, the next quarter’s
expected cash burn is £20–23 m.
Bookham currently holds £70 m
in cash and cash equivalents.
Bookham made a third acquisition recently when it purchased
US-based Cierra Photonics, a
designer of thin-film filters and
other telecoms components.
of any upturn remained uncertain. Its latest sales figures were
down by 46% on last year, reflecting a drop in both the number of
systems shipped and the average
selling price.
ASML’s chief executive, Doug
Dunn, said: “There are signs of
semiconductor unit sales growth,
[but] many chipmakers who have
continued to increase their productivity are still using fabrication capacity at rates below
levels needed to justify large capital investments.”
In the three years since the
semiconductor market last
peaked, capital equipment spending by chipmakers has dropped
by more than 50%, continued
Dunn. “We’re facing cautious
investment sentiment, competitive pressure and a smaller market for lithography products.”
However, there may be an end
in sight to the gloom that is currently hanging over ASML and
the rest of the lithography market, according to US-based market-research firm Gartner. It is
predicting a sharp upturn in
semiconductor capital equipment spending next year, following aggressive increases in
spending by Japanese companies,
in particular Samsung.
Gartner’s analysis predicts that
there will be increases of almost
40% in capital expenditure across
all sectors in 2004.
Meanwhile, Micronic Laser
Systems of Sweden and ASML are
set to launch a joint-venture
company that will focus on optical maskless lithography.
Bookham
Bookham Technology, the UKbased firm that once wowed the
London stock exchange with its
active silicon optical circuits
(ASOC), is to ditch the technology.
Since its stock market flotation
on the back of ASOC in 2000,
Bookham has steadily moved
away from the platform. Virtually
all of the company’s revenue is
now generated by components
and modules based on the technology that it acquired from Nortel Networks and Marconi.
As a result, Bookham is to dispose of its ASOC manufacturing
facility in Milton, UK. This, coupled with some additional cuts in
R&D spending and overheads,
Bookham is to discontinue the technology platform on which the firm was founded.
CHIP MANUFACTURE
ASML cuts 550
lithography jobs
Netherlands-based ASML, the
world’s biggest supplier of lithography systems, is to cut its workforce by a further 550 people –
11% of its total staff. The move
affects 400 jobs in Europe.
The company, which sold 41
lithography systems with a value
of €329 m in its last quarter, said
that although the semiconductor
industry appeared to have reached
the bottom of its cycle, the timing
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NEWS
BUSINESS
LASERS
Sales slide at Lambda Physik
Lambda Physik, the Germanybased manufacturer of pulsed
excimer and solid-state lasers, has
seen its revenue slide after another
disappointing quarter.
Sales for the company’s third
quarter came to just €14.3 m, a
32% drop on last year’s already
disappointing figure. That puts
the company’s total revenues for
this fiscal year so far at €61.5 m –
15% lower than last year.
Despite taking some cost-cutting measures, Lambda Physik
has made a loss of €2.6 m so far
this year. Not surprisingly, the
company is cautious about its
prospects for the remainder of
2003, with full-year revenues
now expected to come in at
approximately €75–80 m.
Dirk Basting, who has since
resigned as president of Lambda
Physik following Coherent’s
takeover, told OLE that he had
seen a “massive deterioration” in
business compared with the predictions that the company made
this time last year.
On top of the generally weak
economic climate, Lambda Physik
has been affected by problems in
Asia. Liquid-crystal display manufacturers in the Far East had
accounted for the largest single
portion of the company’s excimer
laser sales last year. However, the
SARS epidemic and a wave of caution sweeping across the displays
industry has left its mark this year.
Basting admitted: “The number of [laser] machines needed by
the displays market was overestimated.” He added that although
manufacturers were happy with
the yields produced using
Lambda Physik’s excimer lasers,
the next phase of investment
from these companies has been
delayed while the displays industry assesses a new technological
process that could also be used to
make organic light-emitting
diode (OLED) screens.
One of the company’s key customers – Japan Steelworks – is
being particularly cautious and is
unwilling to take any risks with
orders, Basting said.
The OLED process takes advantage of the company’s new
Lambda Steel 2000 laser, a
308 nm excimer source with a
very high output power. Despite
having already received a number of orders for the new technol-
ogy, Basting says that it will be
next year before any major
impact on revenues is seen.
On a more positive note, Basting says that lithography sales are
up by 40% on the previous year,
at €23.1 m so far.
● Coherent has completed its tender offer to Lambda Physik shareholders and now owns 93.95% of
the company. Coherent president
John Ambroseo has replaced Dirk
Basting as Lambda Physik chief
executive. He was obviously disappointed with his company’s latest financial quarter, describing
the results as “clearly unsatisfactory”. Coherent made a slight loss
on its $99.2 m quarterly income.
“The weak results at the Lambda
Physik subsidiary are a major
concern to us,” added Ambroseo.
BUSINESS IN BRIEF
I S R A E L Medical laser system specialist Lumenis
saw net losses spiral to $29.5 m (€26 m) in its
second quarter. Revenue fell by $21.8 m to
$68.1 m year-on-year. “Significant changes and
improvements need to be made in our cost
structure and organization,” said Lumenis’s
president, Avner Raz.
G E R M A N Y Industrial laser manufacturer RofinSinar reported a 16% year-on-year increase in
sales in its latest quarterly earnings. Revenue for
the three months ending 30 June 2003 was
$64.5 m, translating to a net profit of $3.6 m. The
relative weakness of the US dollar compared with
the euro in recent months has had a substantial
impact on Rofin’s results, with the company
estimating that currency variations increased net
sales by $8 m in the current quarter.
US Sales at Thermo Electron’s optical
technologies division, which are predominantly
made by its Spectra-Physics subsidiary, stood at
$53 m for the second quarter, down from $68 m in
the same period last year. Thermo Electron is
blaming the decrease on “the prolonged downturn
in microelectronics and industrial end-markets”.
US Laser systems manufacturer Excel Technology
posted an increase of 43% in revenue for its latest
quarter compared with last year. The increase
partly reflects the company’s acquisition of
Quantronix late last year. Excel made a $2.9 m
profit on sales of $31.5 m.
US There is no sign of a downturn at infrared
camera specialist FLIR Systems. The company’s
second-quarter revenue was up by 18% on last year
at $75.2 m. In the first half of its fiscal year, FLIR
banked almost $30 m in profits. Sales of
thermography systems have increased significantly.
UK Southampton Photonics says that it has
completed its round of Series B funding, although
it is refusing to reveal how much it has raised.
G E R M A N Y /US PCO, a Germany-based maker
of scientific cameras, has acquired high-speed
imaging systems maker the Cooke Corporation,
US, for an undisclosed sum.
US Boeing has won a four-year $23 m contract to
build a mobile test-bed for high-energy laser
weapon systems. Known as MATRIX, the test-bed
will integrate techniques such as polarimetry,
short-pulse imaging, multispectral sensing and
tracking systems.
UK Insensys, which supplies optical fibre sensing
systems, has acquired fellow UK firm Indigo
Photonics, a fibre Bragg grating specialist. The
deal cements a partnership that has seen the two
companies jointly develop a high-performance
optical-fibre sensing system for measuring
distributed temperature and strain profiles.
US JDS Uniphase reported revenues of $676 m for
the fiscal year ending 30 June, down from $1.1 bn a
year ago. Following extensive restructuring, net loss
was $934 m for 2003, compared with almost $9 bn
last year. Fourth-quarter sales were $161 m.
C A N A D A Increased sales of both lasers and
laser systems helped to boost GSI Lumonics’
revenue to $44.7 m in its second quarter, up
13% on 2002. Noting the lack of any signs of
recovery in the semiconductor capital equipment
market, GSI Lumonics’s president, Charles
Winston, said that the laser systems segment
had benefited from a pick-up in orders for
memory and circuit-trimming applications.
US LED maker Cree continued its run of recordbreaking quarterly revenues, posting sales of
$64.1 m for its fourth quarter compared with a
revenue of $37.8 m in the same period last year.
Cree’s annual revenue was $229.8 m for fiscal
year 2003, up 48% on 2002.
9
NEWS
ANALYSIS
LITHOGRAPHY
Lens problems scupper 157nm
By Michael Hatcher
Moore’s Law is still holding true,
with the insatiable demand for
ever-faster semiconductor chips
driving the development of lithography tools that operate at
increasingly short wavelengths.
The chips that are currently
being churned out in their millions rely on the 193 nm argon
fluoride lasers used in today’s
state-of-the-art stepper tools.
The next major transition was
expected to be a shift to 157 nm
exposure with fluorine lasers in
2007. This technology had been
pencilled in for what is dubbed
“the 45 nm node”. But now Intel
says that it intends to leapfrog the
157 nm wavelength and focus its
attention on extreme ultraviolet
(EUV) technology instead.
Few in the industry were prepared
for Intel’s decision in May, says
Malcolm Gower of UK-based stepper tool developer Exitech. “Intel
was one of the original champions of 157 nm technology, so this
decision surprised many in the
industry,” he said.
According to Peter J Silverman
– Intel’s director of lithography
capital equipment development –
the decision was not taken lightly.
“We wanted to use [157 nm] very
badly,” he told OLE. “But what
became apparent earlier this year
was that not only would the tools
not be ready, but nor would the
pellicule or the photomasks. The
problems could not be overcome
in time for the 45 nm node.”
The chief difficulty is with the
157 nm lens material, calcium
fluoride (CaF2). Silverman says
that although this material had
seen many years of trouble-free
use in other industrial applications, its optical properties had
not been fully understood.
“It turns out that CaF2 has an
intrinsic birefringence,” he said.
“Everybody thought that this was
Year
2003
2005
2007
2009
Intel/EUV LLC
Caught by surprise
Roadmap
After ditching 157 nm, Intel is switching its attention to the development of extreme
ultraviolet lithography tools. This EUV testbed has been operational for two years.
due to stress in the crystal and
that a zero-stress crystal would be
the answer. That was wrong – the
birefringence is there anyway.”
The birefringence problem can
be resolved by using two different
orientations of the crystal. However, because CaF2 lenses of sufficiently high quality take a long
time to manufacture – about
three months from the powder
stage to lens-quality material –
the 157 nm development cycle
was held up by 6–12 months.
For full-scale production to
begin in 2007, Intel needed its
development tools in place by the
end of next year. The delayed lens
production, coupled with some
more minor problems, appears to
have led the firm to conclude that
157 nm lithography production
tools might not be ready in time.
Schott Lithotec, the German
manufacturer of CaF2 lenses for
lithography tools, is disputing
Intel’s conclusions. Schott says
that with ongoing improvements
in its higher-grade lens material it
will be able to deliver suitable
lenses by 2007.
Indeed, Intel’s move has yet to
be followed by the rest of the
semiconductor industry, and the
likes of Texas Instruments and
IBM have been saying publicly
that they still support 157 nm
technology. ASML, the marketleading Netherlands-based lithography systems manufacturer,
told OLE that it still intends to
build 157 nm stepper tools, at
least until other chip manufacturers begin to follow Intel’s lead.
Production schedules
“For the 2007 node, lots of people
are hoping that [157 nm lithography] will still be available,”
admitted Silverman. “However,
those companies have the same
data that we have and unless
their schedule is a year behind
Intel’s then the tools just aren’t
Node
90 nm
65 nm
45 nm
32 nm
Lithography
193 nm (0.75NA)
193 nm (0.83NA)
193 or 157 nm
EUV
going to be ready in time.”
Although some smaller manufacturers may be able to produce
low chip volumes using only one
or two steppers, Silverman is sceptical about the overall prospects
for the 157 nm wavelength: “Personally, I don’t think anybody will
use 157 nm for the 2007 node,”
he told OLE. “The door is still
open for its use after that, for
example in the 32 nm node (due
in 2009), but then the issue
becomes economic – the longer it
gets delayed, then the less generations it can be used for.”
So having ditched 157 nm
technology, what are Intel’s plans
for the 2007 production cycle?
Much is expected of the EUV tools
scheduled for the 32 nm node and
beyond, but EUV certainly won’t
be ready by 2007, so Intel now
has only one option for 2007 – to
extend 193 nm steppers. These
are currently being used to make
chips at the 90 nm node, and Intel
now plans to extend them to the
65 nm node in 2005 and the
45 nm node in 2007.
To do this, the numerical aperture of the optics used to image
the patterns must be increased.
Silverman says that its suppliers
have promised lenses with a
numerical aperture of 0.93,
which will be good enough for
193 nm steppers to be used in
2007. He admits, however, that
to make 193 nm work at such a
high resolution, Intel will have to
use all the optical tricks available
to it. “Even then the process will
have a narrow margin, but we
are sure that we can do that.”
11
T E C H N O LO GY
APPLICATIONS 1 3 R&D 1 7 PATENT S 1 8
OPTICAL NETWORKS
By Oliver Graydon
A combination of moderate optical powers and bends can prove
catastrophic for optical fibres,
according to research carried out
by BT Exact in the UK.
Ed Sikora and his colleagues
report that powers as low as
500 mW can induce permanent
damage in bent singlemode fibre
where the bend diameter measures 13 mm or less (Electronics
Letters 39 1043).
Although the effect is unlikely
to cause problems in current networks, designers will need to
think carefully before scaling up
the power in their systems or
deploying Raman amplifiers with
high pump powers.
The researchers carried out
tests on four types of fibre. The
fibres were subjected to a range of
bend diameters (5–15 mm) and
optical powers. In all cases the
fibres failed within 53 h.
“What was unexpected was
that the catastrophic failure can
occur in 90° bends at fairly low
powers of less than 1 W,” said
Sikora. “It’s important to understand that we’re not saying that
Siemens
Bent fibres put networks at risk
Optical fibres could be permanently damaged at bends if too much light is injected
into them, according to research carried out at BT Exact’s laboratories in the UK.
networks are going to fall over
tomorrow, but as powers go up
you have to be aware [that] this
effect could occur under certain
circumstances. These bends could
be found in exchange racks or
splice trays, for example, especially if a fibre is tugged or pulled.”
According to Sikora’s team, the
damage is caused by an increase
in temperature that occurs when
the power leaks out of the fibre at
a bend and is absorbed by its coating. The failure occurs more
rapidly as the power level rises
and the bend diameter shrinks.
“A fairly small percentage of the
power is absorbed but as it is
absorbed it changes the structure
of the coating, causing some more
absorption, until there is a runaway effect,” explained Sikora.
“Depending on the input power
the temperature can easily go up
to 1000 °C or more.”
The team identified three distinct failure regimes. In the most
severe case, the fibre fails within a
few hours with a large attenuation resembling a fibre break.
Here the loss is due to deformation
of the fibre occurring when the
silica reaches its softening temperature (1100 °C or more). For a
bend diameter of 10 mm a power
level in excess of 1 W is likely to
trigger this kind of failure.
In the second regime, the fibre
reaches a temperature of 200 to
1000 °C and the fibre coating is
burned off, leaving the silica
beneath unprotected and vulnerable to fracture.
The third regime is still under
investigation and occurs at temperatures as low as 100 °C. Here,
the coating starts to oxidize, and
the fibre experiences accelerated
aging and an increased risk of
failure when handled.
“We are looking at the third
regime in a lot more detail now, in
an attempt to quantify it,” said
Sikora. “You could be talking
about making the fibre weaker
over a period of months or years.”
MATERIALS
Cellophane half-wave plate wraps up 3D displays
By Jacqueline Hewett
As well as being useful for wrapping gifts and goods, cellophane
can act as a broadband half-wave
plate for white light, according to
a researcher in Canada.
Keigo Iizuka from the University of Toronto has discovered that
a 25 µm-thick sheet of cellophane
is ideal for rotating the polarization of visible (400–700 nm)
light. He has exploited this property to convert an ordinary laptop
screen into a 3D display (Review of
Scientific Instruments 74 3636).
“A large-size cellophane halfwave plate is playing an important role in a 3D television system
that we are developing now in my
laboratory,” Iizuka told OLE.
Having come up with the initial idea of making a 3D laptop
display using a half-wave plate,
Iizuka faced problems sourcing
components. Commercially available components are generally
designed to rotate the polarization of a specific wavelength
and not broadband white light.
“I had been thinking about
alternatives for quite some time,”
explained Iizuka. “I kept measuring the retardance of any birefringent material I could put my
hands on. I even tried other materials such as polyethylene sand-
wich bags but, after repeated failures, I found cellophane to be the
most satisfactory material for
white light.”
To measure its retardance,
Iizuka fired a linearly polarized
helium–neon laser through a
sheet of cellophane and used a
rotating analyser to study the
intensity of the emergent light.
“I measured the retardance of
my cellophane sample to be
170.2°, which is about 95% of
the phase delay of an ideal halfwave plate,” said Iizuka. “These
measured results are within
acceptable limits for a number of
applications that do not require a
precise 180° phase delay.”
One such application is the 3D
display, which relies on separating the images perceived individually by the right and left eyes.
According to Iizuka, light from
the laptop used during his experiments was polarized at 45°.
One half of the laptop’s screen
is covered with the cellophane
half-wave plate to rotate the
polarization by 90° and separate
the images that will be seen by
the right and left eyes of the
viewer. When the screen is
viewed through a pair of glasses
fitted with orthogonally polarized
lenses, a 3D effect is created.
13
T E C H N O LO GY
APPLICATIONS
BIOPHOTONICS
Scientists in Israel have successfully performed solar surgery on
live animals for the first time
(Nature 424 510). Jeffrey Gordon
and colleagues at the Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev used incoherent sunlight to operate on rats.
By means of a combination of
ablation and coagulation mechanisms, the sunlight destroyed
about 1 cm3 of liver tissue in two
animals. After the surgery was
complete the rats were revived
and behaved as normal.
In Gordon’s set-up, concentrated sunlight is collected and
then transmitted into the operating theatre through a flexible,
high-transmission optical fibre.
The fibre is 20 m long and has a
numerical aperture of 0.66.
The team say that the key factor in photothermal surgery is
not the coherence or monochromaticity of the light, but the
attainment of a sufficiently high
power density. In sunny weather,
Gordon’s fibre delivers a power
eye injury to the operating team
because concentrated light is
delivered over a large angular
range,” he explained.
Gordon says he aims to use
solar surgery on people eventually.
US fibre laser specialist IPG Photonics has developed a source that
emits at the far edge of human
visual perception.
The company, which has
already stirred up the industrial
laser market with its high-power
sources, has now released a laser
that operates deep in the red.
The ELP-775 is a frequencydoubled erbium fibre laser with a
central wavelength of 775 nm.
IPG says that the diffraction-limited, singlemode output is tunable
between 770 and 780 nm at
power levels of 5–30 W. The pulse
frequency can be adjusted
between 10 and 20 MHz, while
the pulse duration is 2–3 ns.
According to colour experts
Alison Gilchrist and Jim Nobbs of
the Department of Colour Chemistry at the University of Leeds,
UK, light at 780 nm appears to be
seven orders of magnitude dimmer than it does at 510 nm (the
wavelength of maximum sensitivity for the eye’s rod cells, which
we use for seeing in the dark).
However, IPG’s Bill Shiner has
observed the light emitting from
the ELP-775 and told OLE: “It is
bright and dark red in colour.”
IPG claims that the source will
have a dramatic impact on micromachining and scientific, medical
and marking applications.
The firm’s chief executive,
Valentin Gapontsev, says that
IPG is planning a variety of additional sources that will emit in
the visible region. “According to
our roadmap, the next step
would be a 5 W near-UV laser at
385–390 nm, as well as fibre
lasers for the green and blue
spectral bands,” he said.
● OLE would like to point out that
although a 775 nm beam may
appear dim, it is still hazardous
and eyewear should be worn.
Lasers ■ Diodes ■ Optics ■ Scanners ■ Instrumentation ■ Micro-positioning
■
Service & Calibration center ■ Laser safety
Euro.Com
Philips
Fibre source emits
deep into the red
Mirrors that can be converted into televisions or computer monitors at the
touch of a button may soon be found in hotel rooms, thanks to some
innovative thinking from Philips. The Dutch maker of consumer electronics
has invented a “mirror TV” that integrates a 17-, 23-, or 30-inch liquidcrystal display into a wall-mounted mirror.
The device’s ability to switch functions is due to a special polarized
coating that alternates a portion of the mirror’s surface between total light
transmission (TV mode) and total reflection (mirror mode).
The firm initially plans to market the product to the hotel industry, with
domestic uptake following in next few years. Philips suggests that hotel
guests could use the mirror TV not just for entertainment, but also for paying
bills or connecting to their laptops to surf the Web or prepare presentations.
14
Focused sunlight can reach a power
density similar to that of surgical lasers.
FIBRE LASERS
DISPLAYS
■
density of several watts per mm2
– a power density similar to the
levels produced by surgical lasers.
In the pilot experiment, the rats
were irradiated for between 40
and 180 s. The lesion created during the surgery was found to be
similar to the kind resulting from
conventional laser treatment.
Gordon says that as well as
costing far less than a comparable
medical laser system, the solar
set-up is safer to use. “Solar
surgery does not carry the risk of
Ben-Gurion University
Solar surgery is a success
T E C H N O LO GY
R&D
IMAGING
GLASS TECHNOLOGY
Emerald pixel gives digital
cameras improved colour
Nanoparticle glass
keeps rooms cool
Images taken by digital cameras
could soon more closely match
the appearance of their original
subjects, thanks to a new colour
filter developed by Sony. The
Japanese electronics giant has
come up with an optical filter for
use in digital still cameras that
contains four colour-elements
instead of the usual three.
The new filter contains an
emerald (E) element in addition to
the red (R), green (G) and blue (B)
elements that are usually present.
The additional element is said to
have a blue-green appearance
and covers a waveband slightly
shorter than that of green.
Sony says that incorporating
the emerald element into the filter
enhances the camera’s reproduction of blue-green and red shades,
making them more representative
of the colours seen by the eye.
To cope with the additional data
generated by the extra element,
Sony has also developed a new
SOLID-STATE LIGHTING
Sony says that colour reproduction using RGB filters (left) in digital cameras can be
improved on by incorporating an emerald element into the filter (right).
image processor. “By combining
the four-colour CCD filter and the
new processor, colour reproduction errors have been halved compared with Sony’s conventional
three-colour filter,” said Sarah
Bell, a spokesperson for Sony.
Bell says that Sony now plans
to integrate the RGBE filter and
image processor into a new range
of digital cameras that will be
available in the near future.
According to Bell, the cameras
containing the RGBE filter will
not come at a significant additional cost and will also consume
30% less power than today’s
three-colour models.
White and blue light sources made
with quantum-dot technology have
been developed at Sandia National
Laboratories, US. The research could
lead to a new solid-state light source
for visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Sandia’s light sources are made
from cadmium sulphide dots that
are encapsulated in epoxy and
pumped by a UV LED. The dots act
as a highly efficient phosphor,
absorbing the UV light and
re-emitting blue or white light with a
conversion efficiency of up to 60%.
“Highly efficient, low-cost
quantum-dot-based lighting would
represent a revolution in lighting
technology through nanoscience,”
said Lauren Rohwer, a researcher at
Sandia. “This accomplishment
brings quantum-dot technology from
the laboratory demonstration phase
to a packaged component.”
By doping a laminate sheet with
nanoparticles and sandwiching it
between two clear glass panes, a
pair of researchers in Australia
say they have made glazing that
transmits sunlight while blocking
out most of its heat (Applied
Physics Letters 82 4346).
Solar-control glazing that lets
in visible light but blocks infrared
light would benefit people living
in warm climates who wish to
keep the interior of buildings cool.
Stefan Schelm and Geoff Smith
from the University of Technology in Sydney doped a polyvinyl
butyral laminate sheet with rareearth lanthanum hexaboride
(LaB6) nanoparticles.
“The optimum material is one
which absorbs in a narrow band,
so as not to affect the visible transmission excessively, while blocking most of the near infrared solar
energy,” said the duo.
According to the inventors,
LaB6 strongly absorbs heat-generating wavelengths between 750
and 1300 nm, but it does not
absorb much visible light.
After carrying out tests with
nanoparticles between 20 and
200 nm in size, the team found
the optimal size to be 80 nm and
the ideal concentration to be very
low. “At 0.03% in weight, the
reduction in total visible light
from the sun is 41%, while the
reduction in total solar heat transmitted is 71%,” they said.
The key to success was striking
a balance between the concentration of the nanoparticles and the
overall transparency of the glass.
A higher concentration was found
to yield a higher absorption of
infrared light, but it also reduced
visibility through the glazing.
Using the low concentrations, the
windows look transparent with a
greenish tinge, and appear to have
a bluish haze at oblique angles.
The researchers are now looking into nanoparticles that are
easier to mass-produce and will
also block ultraviolet light.
17
T E C H N O LO GY
R&D/PATENT S
DIODE LASERS
NIF breaks energy record
Hybrid modelocking
refines pulses from
quantum-dot laser
Five years behind schedule it may
be, but officials at the National
Ignition Facility (NIF) say that it
has set new world records for
laser pulse energies at UV,
infrared and green wavelengths.
According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(LLNL), which hosts NIF, a UV
beamline recently produced a
10.4 kJ pulse. In addition, light
from the first four beamlines in use
at the facility generated an 11 kJ
green pulse and a 21 kJ infrared
pulse. All three achievements are
said to be record-breaking.
The energies produced are significant, as equivalent performance over the full 192-beam
system will exceed the design
requirement of 1.8 MJ needed for
inertial confinement fusion.
NIF’s associate director George
Miller said: “We have met or
exceeded all current required
Jim Stevens/LLNL
LASER FUSION
NIF director Ed Moses with a model of the target chamber.
milestones established three years
ago. We have now demonstrated
on a per-beam basis the critical
performance criteria of NIF.”
Completion of the full system is
now expected in 2008. Initially,
NIF was due to be finished this
year. The final cost of the project
is expected to be approximately
$3 bn (€2.68 bn) – more than
double the original budget.
The high-energy nanosecond
pulses were produced at 5 h intervals. This should provide capacity
for more than 700 shots per year
in total. According to NIF, the
beam uniformity is also of the
required standard.
An Anglo-German collaboration
claims to have demonstrated
hybrid modelocking of a monolithic quantum-dot laser diode for
the first time (Electronics Letters 39 15). The team from Cambridge, Berlin and Darmstadt say
that compared to passive modelocking, the hybrid technique
offers a reduction in timing jitter
and the ability to tune the modelocking frequency.
Its InGaAs laser diode generated a train of 14 ps pulses with
a repetition rate of 10 GHz at a
wavelength of 1.1 µm. The laser
is estimated to have a peak power
of about 4 mW.
To achieve hybrid modelocking
the gain and absorber sections of
device are synchronously pulsed
and a synchronously gated
10 GHz radiofrequency signal is
applied to the absorber.
PATENT S
APPLICATIONS
Optical lie detector uses infrared
laser pulses to seek out the truth
Infrared laser pulses could soon be used to
determine whether someone is telling the truth or
is under stress. In international patent application
WO 03/057003, US firm Defense Group
describes a non-invasive polygraph machine that
fires infrared pulses at the subject. The reflected
and scattered pulses are gathered and analysed
by a receiver. “The receiver is connected to an
information-processing device capable of
determining various physiological characteristics
exhibited by the human subject,” said the authors.
Carl Zeiss gives multi-photon
microscopy a resolution boost
In patent application WO 03/060610 the German
firm Carl Zeiss claims to have developed a multiphoton absorption instrument with lateral and
axial resolution that outstrips that of current
optical systems. “The aim of the invention is to
provide an improved spatial resolution compared
to the prior art, especially for use in laser scan
microscopy and spectroscopy,” said the inventors.
The instrument produces microscopic images
using nonlinear absorption of light. It is said to
work by focusing correlated pairs of photons,
which may be correlated in time and space, onto
a point on a sample.
VERDICT
US court grants preliminary
injunction against Syneron
Lumenis, the Israeli maker of medical laser
equipment, says that it has won a preliminary
injunction against its Israeli rival Syneron in a
district court in California, US. The two firms are
locked in a legal battle over claims that Syneron
has infringed Lumenis’s patented technology, in
particular its Intense Pulsed Light treatment.
The injunction prevents Syneron Medical Ltd and
Syneron Inc from infringing Lumenis’s US patent
5 683 380 pending the outcome of the trial.
“We are pleased by this positive ruling at such
an early stage in the litigation,” said Avner Raz,
chief executive officer of Lumenis. “Lumenis’s
intellectual property, particularly our Intense
Pulsed Light technology, is at the heart of our
leadership in aesthetic and medical markets
throughout the world.”
DISPUTE
Corning takes action over gratingbased biochemical sensing
Corning, US, together with Artificial Sensing
Instruments (ASI) of Switzerland, has filed a
patent infringement against SRU Biosystems of
Massachusetts, US. The lawsuit relates to US
patent 4 815 843, which describes the use of
gratings-based optical biosensors for detecting
biological and chemical substances in a sample.
Corning is the exclusive licensee of ASI’s patent
in this technology, which allows “label-free”
detection of biochemical compounds.
“Corning’s life sciences business has invested
significant time and money in developing a
capability in the field of label-independent
detection, and is dedicated to bringing key products
utilizing this platform to the pharmaceutical and
biomedical industries,” said Pierce Baker, senior
vice-president of Corning Life Sciences.
To search for recently published applications, visit http://pctgazette.wipo.int, http://ep.espacenet.com and axiom.iop.org
18
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INTERVIEW
Chinese star eyes Europe
China’s largest maker of industrial lasers is searching for international partners to grow
its business. Oliver Graydon met Chutian Laser chairman Sun Wen at LASER 2003.
Chutian Laser may not be a name that is
familiar to many in the optics industry, but
if its growth continues unabated, it soon
will be. Tucked away in the corner of a hall
at this year’s LASER show in Munich, it
had a small, unassuming stand that many
delegates probably walked straight past.
Those who did stop, however, would have
learned that Chutian employs almost 1000
staff and boasts doubling annual sales that
are forecast to reach around RMB280 m
(€30 m) by the end of 2003. Chutian has a
simple goal – to become Asia’s largest maker
and supplier of laser products.
Founded in January 1985 and based in
Wuhan, the “optics valley of China” in the
Hubei province, the Chutian Laser Group is
China’s largest maker of Nd:YAG and CO2
laser systems. It can claim a whole string of
pioneering achievements, including holding more patents on laser technology than
anyone else in China, being the first firm in
the country to receive ISO9001 quality A set of wooden war scrolls that have been laser engraved with one of Chutian’s systems. Artwork is just
accreditation and being one of only three one of the firm’s growing business sectors, along with cosmetic laser surgery and welding.
Chinese laser firms to achieve an annual
revenue of more than RMB50 m.
Chinese laser market
The fact that should perhaps be most disturbing for its European competitors is that
Chutian claims that many of its products
retail for around 40% of the price of similar items on the European market, even
after import tax is taken into account. The
reason is twofold: prices are driven down
by the limited purchasing budgets of Chinese customers, and Chutian has the abil-
7
1400
units
hundred million (RMB)
1200
5
1000
4
800
3
600
2
400
1
200
0
0
units
6
hundred million (RMB)
According to the China Optics and
Optoelectronics Industry Association, there are
now more than 100 major makers of laser
products in China, with a total workforce of 6400.
The output of China’s laser industry has
increased in value from RMB 100 m in 1988 to
RMB 800 m in 1998, and is now growing at a
rate of 22% per year. Around 10% of the goods
manufactured are currently exported. By the
end of 2001 nearly 3000 YAG lasers, mostly
30, 50, 100 and 200 W models, had been sold
in China, while the sales figure for high-power
CO2 lasers (500 W to 5 kW) was around 600.
Marking is the dominant application,
holding a 45.3% share of the market. It is
followed by cutting (21.7%), welding and
heat treatment (11% each).
Laser processing equipment sold in China,
measured by unit volume and sales revenue.
ity to make its products very cheaply. The
cost of skilled labour in China is far lower
than in Europe, with salaries of just €200
a month being commonplace.
Chutian’s rapid growth appears to result
from China’s development as “the world’s
factory”. As plants producing cars, electronics and high-tech consumer goods are
built all over the country, the importance
▲
Chutian Laser has four business divisions
(marking, cutting and welding, medical
systems and laser processing) and has production bases in Wuhan, Beijing and
Suzhou. The operation is supported by distribution and after-sales outlets located in
more than 30 locations throughout Asia
with an additional presence in Germany
and the US. According to Chutian’s chairman, Sun Wen, its products are used in a
huge range of applications, from laserwelding pacemakers and fibre-optics to
treating vehicle crank shafts, performing
cosmetic surgery and engraving artworks.
Chutian’s current product range features
a high-speed laser-marking system that
uses a 50 W Nd:YAG laser to mark electronics components, precision instruments
and hardware tools. Other products
include a series of Nd:YAG-based laserwelding systems for joining electronic and
machine parts, spot-welding of jewellery
and assembly of optical-fibre components.
Light sources for hair and tattoo removal,
and a series of CO2 laser systems for
engraving and cutting plastic, wood and
textiles, are also available.
19
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19
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Business divisions
21
INTERVIEW
of the laser as a manufacturing tool is now
being recognized and firms like Chutian are
cashing in. It’s no wonder that German
laser firms Trumpf and Rofin Sinar have
recently established a stronger presence in
the region (OLE September 2002 p8).
“The Chinese economy is growing very
fast and advancing rapidly due to the low
cost of manpower and reform,” explained
Wen. “It’s catching up with the West very
quickly, for example the car industry is
growing at 15–20% a year.”
Sights on Europe
The big news is that Chutian is now setting
its sights on building a relationship with
Europe and the US – which is why it made
an appearance at LASER 2003. The firm
wants to raise its profile in the international arena and plans to do this in two
ways. Firstly, it will expand its sales outside
China – currently 90% of its revenue
comes from domestic sales – and secondly,
it will act as a distributor and partner for
foreign firms wishing to bring new tech-
nology into its home market.
Wen admits that the former goal may be
hard to achieve. “Our products are very
competitive in price and we want to enter
international markets,” he commented.
“The problem is that it is hard to build a
good reputation in Europe and the US.”
The second goal may prove easier to
tackle. Chutian already acts as Chinese distributors for about a dozen foreign companies including Jenoptik and Radiance, a US
supplier of optical medical equipment.
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According to Wen, medical-laser systems
for cosmetic surgery are a particularly fastgrowing area. In 2001, Chutian launched
a new subsidiary called Miracle Laser to
help build this market. As well as developing its own laser systems for treating skin
conditions, it has signed distribution agreements with several non-Chinese firms
including BioLase (tooth whitening systems), ICN (wrinkle removal) and Daavlin
(treatment of psoriasis).
Wen is keen for more of this international
collaboration and partnership to take place.
“We are interested in setting up joint ventures with foreign firms and are looking for
partners so that we can license and distribute
their products in China,” said Wen. “In particular, we want to establish joint ventures
with world-class manufacturers of low-tomedium power solid-state and CO2 lasers, as
well as co-operation on the development of
fibre lasers and ultraviolet lasers.”
He stresses that it can be a very expensive
and frustrating process for foreign companies to try to penetrate the potentially
lucrative Chinese market by themselves. “If
international companies want to access
China they should work with us rather
than trying to do it on their own,” commented Wen. “We understand the culture,
have strong relationships with clients and a
very good supply chain.”
Wen is all too aware of the bad press that
Chinese firms have received in the past for
ripping off foreign technology and making
it themselves. “I want to correct a common
misconception,” he said. “China has now
entered the WTO [World Trade Organization] and Chinese companies like Chutian
will not copy foreign technology. We want
to establish long-standing relationships
with international partners.”
As well as helping with cultural and language barriers, Wen says that Chutian can
offer solutions to the high costs that can
hinder the success of imported technology.
“Cost-effective local production, assembly
and packaging can help reduce the price of
imported foreign products,” he said.
■
SOLID-S TATE L ASERS
Thin disk sources
Ever since Adolf Giesen and his colleagues
at the University of Stuttgart’s Institut fur
Strahlwerkzeuge (IFSW) in Germany first
developed them in 1994, thin-disk lasers
have been touted as the ideal method of
generating scalable high-power laser emission with excellent beam quality.
Companies such as Jenoptik, Nanolase
and Elektronik Laser System have been selling relatively low-power versions of these
lasers for more than five years, but only
recently have systems builders at the highpower end of the market got in on the act.
This increased interest was confirmed at
the Laser show in Munich earlier this year,
where both Trumpf and Rofin-Sinar were
eagerly pushing their new Yb:YAG-based
thin-disk laser systems. Peter Leibinger,
Trumpf ’s chief executive officer, believes
that thin-disk lasers are the way forward:
“We are absolutely convinced that thindisk lasers will replace lamp-pumped rods
in many applications,” said Leibinger as he
unveiled the company’s 4 kW prototype.
A key characteristic of thin-disk lasers –
and an attractive one for systems builders
like Trumpf – is their scalability. “We can
build on the platform and add more and
more power while maintaining high beam
quality,” commented Leibinger.
Kilowatt power
Trumpf launched its 1 kW disk laser in late
2002. This source, which has an M2 value
of 6 (Trumpf ’s continuous-wave lamppumped and diode-pumped 1 kW Nd:YAG
lasers both have an M2 of 12), couples into
a glass fibre with a core diameter of
150 µm. The more recent 4 kW version,
which incorporates four separate disks,
illustrates one of the problems facing manufacturers of high-power disk lasers.
Because a number of separate disks are
required to produce such high powers,
their cavities must be combined. However,
to maintain good beam quality (the quoted
M2 of Trumpf ’s 4 kW laser is 7), the cavity
length must be extended. This was amply
24
illustrated by the large size of the 4 kW prototype on display in Munich.
Not to be outdone, Rofin introduced its
own thin-disk sources at the show. Rofin’s
single disk produces 750 W with an M2 of 7
and the company has also developed a
1.5 kW laser with an M2 of 12 and a 3 kW
source that is delivered via a 300 µm fibre.
The application areas that Trumpf and
Rofin are targeting for their thin-disk lasers
are traditionally the territory of lamppumped Nd:YAG lasers. Their move into
higher-power systems means that the
advantages of thin-disk lasers can now be
exploited in a huge range of applications,
from those that need only a few watts of
power right up to 4 kW requirements.
New field of applications
Rofin is aiming for both small- and largescale materials processing applications
with its sources, specifically welding of thin
materials and use in conjunction with
scanner optics for high-speed remote operation. The company’s macro division has
built a robot-controlled scanner welding
system that incorporates a thin-disk laser
and takes advantage of its high beam quality over a large working distance. This system was developed in collaboration with
the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and
Beam Technology in Dresden.
Trumpf is similarly keen to exploit the
beam quality of thin-disk lasers in this way:
“The laser opens up a whole new field of
applications in remote welding,” commented Leibinger in Munich.
Thin-disk lasers should be of particular
use in welding aluminium and cutting
thick sheet metal. This is because in aluminium processing the welding threshold
can be reached with a lower laser power
than is offered by conventional sources, as
the photons are concentrated onto a
smaller focus. For cutting sheet metal, the
higher beam quality translates to a faster
cutting speed with thin sheets, while for
thick sheets there is an improvement in
Jenoptik/Trumpf/PrenovaTec
After successfully entering the ophthalmology market, the
next challenge for thin-disk lasers is materials processing.
Trumpf and Rofin-Sinar are backing the technology with
multikilowatt-scale systems, as Michael Hatcher reports.
Jenoptik launched its green disk laser (top right) in 2000, but
Jenoptik’s lasers are now targeting the printing sector, while
working distance and welding depth.
Rofin and Trumpf ’s lasers are based on
Yb:YAG disks, as are almost all such
sources. But one company, Jenoptik, is not
using this material.
Jenoptik, which showed the first thin-disk
prototype in 1997, has enjoyed great success in ophthalmology for retinal photocoagulation with the green source that it
launched in 2000. More than 2000 of these
lasers are now in the field, and Jenoptik
donated its 1000th source to Giesen himself.
Jenoptik’s lasers feature neodymium
doping rather than ytterbium, in either a
YAG or YVO4 matrix. According to Günter
Hollemann, product manager in the laser
business unit, this is because neodymium
doping allows the laser to be air-cooled,
whereas ytterbium lasers must be watercooled. “Ytterbium is a quasi-three-level
laser with reabsorption losses at high temperatures,” he explained. “By contrast, the
neodymium-doped material used in thindisk geometries can be conductively cooled
get powered up
“The disk laser is
the solid-state
laser concept of
the future.”
Trumpf
microcracks,” Kaiser told OLE.
Another area that PrenovaTec is targeting is the medical device sector. It claims
that its Q-switched lasers are ideal for cutting and structuring the metal alloys used
in stents. Stents – devices used to aid bloodflow by holding open arteries – take the
form of a complex mesh, usually made
from stainless steel. Fibre laser manufacturers are also targeting this application
area and the clash is indicative of the competition between these two new forms of
solid-state laser in certain sectors.
Kaiser believes that thin disks have some
key advantages over their fibre rivals:
“Thin-disk lasers don’t have the problems
with back reflections that fibre lasers do,
especially in microcutting and microweldat this year’s Laser show it was high-power systems from Trumpf (main image) and Rofin-Sinar that caught the eye.
ing applications,” he said. “These reflecPrenovaTec of Germany is aiming for microstructuring applications (bottom right).
tions are amplified inside the fibre, which
been designed for laser show and display can cause damage.”
by simple, robust air cooling.”
In the Nd:YAG scheme, a reasonably applications. The firm has also enjoyed
high pulse energy can be achieved in some success in the marking field and spe- Ultrafast challenge next
Q-switched mode, at a range of repetition cial printing applications, with the German One of the next steps for thin-disk technolrates that are useful for marking appli- company Tampoprint using Jenoptik’s ogy is to move into the ultrafast arena.
cations. The main application of the JenLas.D8 laser in one of its computer-to- Hollemann says that Jenoptik would be
Nd:YVO4 crystal, which emits at 1064 or press printing machines.
interested in commercializing such lasers,
Also launching its thin-disk sources in and this is precisely the area on which
914 nm, is in frequency conversion: “Its
linearly polarized output beam and very Munich this year was PrenovaTec of Ger- Giesen is now concentrating. In collaborhigh stimulated emission cross-section lead many, which sells lasers with output pow- ation with Ursula Keller and her team at
to a low laser threshold and high optical ers of 10–100 W. The firm is targeting ETH Zurich, Giesen recently made the
OEMs, end users and systems builders alike world’s first passively modelocked thin-disk
[conversion] efficiency,” said Hollemann.
Jenoptik’s JenLas.D2 source can produce for applications such as microwelding, laser source, based on Yb:KY(WO4)2. It produces
up to 12 W at the 532 nm second harmonic, sintering and micromachining.
diffraction limited (M2=1.1) 240 fs pulses
Company representative Thomas Kaiser at 25 MHz with an average power of 22 W.
with a remarkable diode-green efficiency of
30%. Because of the high absorption, effi- says that different pulsing options are a key
Thin disks certainly sound like a major
cient optical conversion is possible using feature of PrenovaTec’s lasers. Continuous- part of Trumpf ’s plans: “The disk laser is
only a four-fold pumping scheme (Yb:YAG wave, diode-modulated and Q-switched the solid-state laser concept of the future,”
lasers usually use 16-fold pumping), result- lasers are all on offer. “Applications include claimed the firm. That such a wide range of
welding of thin metal plates for the watch these sources is now available is good news
ing in a simpler optical configuration.
At this year’s Laser show, Jenoptik intro- industry, where it is necessary to use diode for Giesen and the IFSW, who stand to reap
duced its new blue laser based on a fre- modulation with long starting and finish- financial rewards through technology
quency-doubled Nd:YVO4 disk. It features ing ramps for pre- and post-warming of sec- licences. It also demonstrates the quality of
an 800 mW output at 457 nm, and has tions. This reduces the occurrence of innovation in European optics.
■
25
BUYER’S GUIDE
Gratings and etalons
ease wavelength tests
Knowing the precise wavelength or spectral content of your source can be crucial in
many applications. Jacqueline Hewett investigates the technology behind wavelength
meters and handheld spectrometers, two instruments that are designed for this task.
Toptica Photonics
Whether you want to measure the wavelength of a tunable laser to five decimal
places or find out the spectral output of an
LED, a system is out there that can be tailored to suit your needs. This month, OLE
takes a look at two laboratory workhorses
that are designed for such measurements:
wavelength meters and spectrometers.
Although both set-ups can be used for the
same purpose, they have quite different
characteristics. A wavelength meter is a
high-precision system for taking accurate
measurements of the wavelength of a laser.
By contrast, the miniature handheld spectrometers that can be a more convenient
solution in many applications do not have
the accuracy offered by wavelength meters,
although they can gather spectral data. To
help you choose, we examine both alternatives in depth below.
Toptica’s wavelength meters can be connected to a laptop computer via a USB cable, or to a desktop
computer via PCI card. Such devices are typically 13 inches in length, 4–8 inches wide and 4 inches high.
1. Wavelength meters
ence pattern.
A photodiode tracks the intensity
changes in the interference pattern. The
unknown wavelength is determined by
using a formula that relates the mirror displacement to the wavelength of a built-in
reference source. A stabilized HeNe laser is
generally used as a reference guide.
There are several points to note about
this set-up. For one thing, although it can
provide an extremely accurate measurement – down to 0.2 parts per million – it
only suits continuous-wave (CW) sources.
Also, the update rate from this system is
slower than in an etalon-based system, due
to the detection technology used to monitor
the fringe pattern.
Etalon-based interferometers, in contrast
with the Michelson-based product, have no
moving parts and are able to measure the
wavelength of either pulsed or CW sources.
Fabry-Perot and Fizeau etalons are both
used and are similar in design: the former
use two plane parallel mirrors separated by
a small air gap, while the latter use wedgeshaped reflecting surfaces.
A pulsed wavelength meter contains a
Fabry-Perot and a Fizeau etalon on separate
optical paths. An incident pulse is split and
enters both etalons, creating two interference patterns characteristic of each set-up.
CCD cameras capture these fringe patterns,
which are compared to an internal reference providing continual calibration.
The typical update rate for an etalonbased system is 20 Hz, whereas the update
rate for a Michelson system is 1 Hz. The
update rates of the two technologies differ
because the Michelson interferometer must
be scanned, which takes about 1 s. By contrast, there is no scanning involved in the
etalon-type systems. The drawback of the
etalon approach is that it has a shorter
operational wavelength range compared
with a Michelson-based product.
Both Michelson and etalon-based systems use silicon-based detectors and can
cope with wavelengths between 400 and
1100 nm. UV-enhanced silicon detectors
can generally be added, allowing wavelengths as short as 250 nm to be detected.
When it comes to actually taking a
▲
If you need to take a very accurate measurement of the wavelength of your laser,
you will need a wavelength meter. These
high-precision devices are typically used in
applications such as spectroscopy, in which
it is important to know the exact wavelength at which a tunable laser is operating.
The devices currently on the market tend
to have an accuracy of around one part per
million or better. Wavelength meters
achieve this level of accuracy by utilizing
the coherent nature of laser light in an
interferometer. Typically, one of two interferometer schemes is employed: either a
scanning Michelson configuration, or a
combined approach using multiple FabryPerot and Fizeau etalons.
Michelson interferometers contain a
beamsplitter that divides an incoming
beam into two perpendicular paths that
form the arms of the interferometer. One of
the arms has a fixed length, while the
other’s length can be altered, changing the
path difference between the beams. Mirrors
at the ends of both arms reflect the beams,
which then recombine to form an interfer-
27
measurement using either system, standard practice is to pick off a small portion of
the laser beam that needs to be characterized using a beam splitter. The tapped beam
is then directly fed through the entrance
aperture of the wavelength meter, or coupled into a fibre that enters the meter. To
avoid saturating the detector, a maximum
of a few milliwatts must be used, so neutral-density filters may have to be inserted
into the beam path before the light enters
the wavelength meter.
It is also important to remember that
wavelength meters cannot cope with multimode lasers. Passing a multimode laser
beam through an interferometer will not
result in a useable interference pattern – a
single longitudinal mode is required. Similarly, these instruments cannot measure
the wavelength of two CW lasers simultaneously. (Note that two pulsed lasers can
be measured sequentially using a timegating system.)
The readout rates of wavelength meters
are limited, which restricts the rate at
which the devices can evaluate successive
laser pulses. For example, a typical wavelength meter cannot measure every pulse
from a laser operating at a kHz repetition
rate. Problems can also occur when meas-
Ocean Optics
BUYER’S GUIDE
Fibre-optic spectrometers fit the palm of your hand.
uring pulses with a short time duration,
owing to spectral broadening. For instance,
wavelength meters can evaluate picosecond pulses, but the accuracy of the measurement will suffer because the pulses have
a broad wavelength spectrum.
2. Handheld spectrometers
Spectroscopy – the study of how light interacts with matter – is naturally a broad topic
and not surprisingly, a wide range of spectrometers is available. The list of potential
applications for these devices includes fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy; Raman spectroscopy; and laser-induced breakdown
spectroscopy. This section however will be
dedicated to the miniature spectrometers
that operate in the UV–visible–infrared
region of the spectrum and are used to study
the spectral characteristics of light sources.
The advent and growth of miniature
fibre-optic spectrometers has been a significant development in recent years, allowing scientists to take the spectrometer to
the sample for the first time. Such spectrometers are built from a range of mixand-match components and can be
specifically tailored to suit your application.
Unlike when a wavelength meter is used,
the light source under scrutiny does not
need to be coherent because the measurement does not rely on an interferometer.
Most spectrometers use a grating or a
prism to spatially disperse the wavelength
components of the incident light. A series
of lenses and mirrors then projects the dispersed wavelengths onto a linear detector
array. Calibration is typically performed
using a series of discharge lines, such as
those from a mercury-arc lamp, rather
than an internal HeNe source.
Three crucial components will define the
performance of the device: the entrance
slit, the grating and the detector. It’s a good
idea to discuss the options available with a
sales engineer, as these components are
generally fixed into the spectrometer at the
Spectrometers
Software
Light Sources
Light Waves Ahead
In line process Avantes World Headquarters
Fiber Optics
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Avantes USA, Avantes Inc.
1526, Spruce Street,
Suite 240 Boulder,
Colorado 80302
Toll free (866) 678-4248
phone (303) 410-8668
fax (303) 410-8669
BUYER’S GUIDE
time of manufacture. The optical resolution of the spectrometer will be determined
by your choice of slit and grating. The typical optical resolution of a monochromatic
source, measured at full-width half maximum, is about 1 nm.
The entrance slit sits flush against the
end of the optical fibre and controls the
amount of light entering the spectrometer.
Slit widths typically range between 5 and
200 µm, while heights are 1–3 mm. After
passing through the slit, the light is
reflected from a collimating mirror onto a
grating, which splits white light into its
component wavelengths.
From the large selection of gratings
available, make sure you choose one that
covers the optimum wavelength range and
gives you the resolution you require for
your application. The amount of dispersion
from the grating is determined by the density of its holographically-etched or ruled
grooves. Measured in lines per millimetre,
the greater the groove density, the higher
the optical resolution of the spectrometer.
However, it is important to bear in mind
that there is an inverse relationship between
the groove density (and consequently the
resolution) and the spectral range of the
spectrometer. If the spectral range is small,
+
+
focusing mirror
fixed slit
grating
detector
Light enters the spectrometer via a fibre and
passes through the slit. A collimating mirror
reflects the light onto the grating and additional
optics focus the dispersed light onto the detector.
say 100 nm, the spectrometer will be
restricted and will only measure a specific
100 nm-wide waveband accurately.
Another key factor to consider is the blaze
wavelength of the grating, which refers to
the efficiency with which it disperses light.
It is defined as the peak wavelength in the
efficiency curve of a ruled grating, or the
most efficient wavelength range for a holographic grating. Manufacturers may also
quote a wavelength range over which the
grating is more than 30% efficient.
For example, a UV grating featuring
600 lines/mm could have a blaze wavelength of 300 nm, a greater than 30% efficiency range of 200–575 nm and a spectral
range of 650 nm. The spectral range of
such a grating would be large and it would
be most efficient over the 200–575 nm
range. As a consequence, wavelengths of
more than 575 nm will have a lower intensity at the detector, owing to the reduced
efficiency of the grating.
The last of the three crucial components of a spectrometer is the detector.
Your device will generally come equipped
with (or you will be given the choice of) a
linear CCD array or a linear photodiode
array. In both cases these will consist of
silicon detectors, which can be enhanced
to detect UV wavelengths as short as
200 nm or infrared wavelengths of as
much as 1100 nm. In general, the CCD
camera has a faster readout rate than the
photodiode, but the photodiode is inherently less noisy than the CCD.
■
OLE would like to thank the following companies
for their help in compiling this article.
EXFO-Burleigh www.burleigh.com
Toptica Photonics www.toptica.com
Ocean Optics www.oceanoptics.com
29
SEPTEMBER 2003
NEWSLETTER
T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E E U R O P E A N O P T I C A L S O C I E T Y
Industrial Committee meets to discuss goals
The EOS took the opportunity to bring the representatives of its corporate members together
at its Industrial Committee meeting, held on 23
June in Munich alongside LASER 2003. It was
the first time since the start of the restructuring
process that the corporate members had met.
Chaired by Tina Kidger, managing director of
Kidger Optics Associates and the new representative of the Industrial Committee on the EOS
Board, the meeting was a first step towards further involving member companies and institutes in the aims and activities of the EOS.
Tina Kidger meets Klaus Biedermann,
The meeting concentrated on the role of the
EOS representative for Sweden.
corporate members, the advantages of being
Munich meeting
focuses on the role of
corporate members.
part of the EOS and the role of the EOS within
the EC’s Sixth Framework Programme. Tina
Kidger made it very clear that the EOS needs
support and input from companies and institutes to help it contribute to the Europe-wide
progress of optics and photonics, especially
regarding its relationship with the European
Commission. “We would like to see the EOS –
with the support of our corporate members –
become the focal point that representatives of
the European academic and industrial optics
and photonics communities can use for discussions, conferences, exhibits and meetings,” said
Chris Dainty, president of the EOS.
Corporate membership fees reduced to €200
The Society will have
5000 individual
members by next year.
With effect from 2004, corporate members will
receive more for their money from the EOS.
The annual membership fee for a company will
be reduced to €200, regardless of the number
of employees it has, and the rate for sponsoring
packages for EOS events will be cut to €100.
The Society agreed on the changes in fees at
its recent AGM, and it is hoped that the lower
costs will help to improve integration between
industry, SMEs and research institutes.
Following its restructuring process, the EOS
will by next year represent more than 5000
voting individual and student members, as well
as several hundred companies and institutes.
The Society is thus the true voice of modern
optics and photonics in Europe.
EOSAM 2003: Kishan Dholakia accepts prize
EOS members are
impressed by a talk on
Bessel light beams.
The highlight of this year’s Annual General
Meeting was the 2003 EOS prize award. On
behalf of the winning team, Kishan Dholakia
from the School of Physics and Astronomy at
the University of St Andrews accepted the
EOS’s invitation to Munich. Dholakia greatly
Each issue, we profile
a different new
member of EOS. This
month, we look at
Optarius of the UK.
New member profile: Optarius
Optarius, a specialist in optical components, offers a
large range of more than 6000 standard products. The
firm is happy to help you find the most suitable optics for
your needs and can supply specialized components if
necessary. Optarius prides itself on responding quickly
and informatively to all inquiries and says that its prices
are highly competitive and product quality is excellent.
If you provide Optarius with details of your application
it will advise you on the specifications and availability of
impressed the EOS members who were present
with his talk on “Orbital angular momentum of
a high-order Bessel light beam”.
Any EOS members who missed this year’s
prize award can download Dholakia’s presentation at www.europeanopticalsociety.org.
components to suit your requirements.
Visit the company’s website for a complete selection
of components, ranging from ultraviolet to infrared,
including optics suitable for laser, telecoms and
imaging applications. You can also download
datasheets or submit a request for printed literature.
New corporate members
●
●
Optarius, UK (www.optarius.co.uk)
AT-Fachverlag, Germany (www.at-fachverlag.de)
For profiles of all of our corporate members, visit the EOS website (www.europeanopticalsociety.org).
N EWS FROM B RUSSELS
Photonics receives cash boost
Thanks to some
successful lobbying,
the European
Commission has now
earmarked €45 m for
photonics projects
within its Sixth
Framework
Programme. Peter
Seitz reports.
SEPTEMBER 2003
We are pleased to be able to report that the
European Commission (EC) has set aside
€45 m for photonics initiatives in the second
call for Sixth Framework Programme (FP6)
projects, which closes on 15 October 2003.
Although photonics played a key role in a
number of research fields in the Fifth
Framework Programme, no budget was allocated specifically for this field of research. To
improve this situation, the EOS has been
working alongside other societies to persuade
the EC’s Information Society Technologies
Directorate Generale (IST-DG) to make a dedicated photonics provision within FP6.
Details of how to go about submitting a project are available at the EC’s Community
Research and Development Information Service
(CORDIS) website at www.cordis.lu/ist/so/photonic-components/home.html.
Many projects submitted after the first call
for FP6 were unsuitable. To help the scientific
community avoid making the same mistakes
again, the IST-DG organized an information
day entitled Optical, Opto-Electronic and
Photonic Functional Components in FP6.
Around 75 optics researchers attended the
event in Brussels on 13 June.
Integration, integration, integration
The European Commission has now set aside €45 m
for photonics projects within FP6. Proposals for projects
must be submitted by mid-October.
Healthcare and life sciences (e.g. minimally
invasive diagnostic tools and therapies).
● Environment, security and lighting (e.g. networked and secured ambient intelligence).
Two-thirds of the available budget will be
allocated to the FP6’s integrated projects and
networks of excellence (see the February 2003
edition of the EOS Newsletter in OLE) while
specific targeted research projects (STREPs)
will have access to the remaining €15 m.
During the second part of the IST-DG information day, Henri Rajbenbach and Ronan
Burgess from the EC spoke about “Topical coverage and the route to success”. In particular,
they explained in detail the EC’s evaluation
criteria, criteria weights and thresholds for the
project evaluators.
They reminded everybody about the selection criteria for the different types of proposals.
For example, for a project to be considered
within STREPs it must obtain at least four out
of five marks in the “scientific and technological excellence” criterion.
Rajbenbach and Burgess also presented many
examples of comments made by referees when
rejecting project proposals from the first call.
Under the EC’s policy of making its judging
process as transparent as possible, the original
individual assessment reports for STREPs were
distributed. This information will shortly be
available on the CORDIS website.
Towards the end of the event there were 30
short presentations on proposals currently
under development for the second call. The
day culminated with a partnership request and
an opportunity for the 75 attendees to network
with one another and discuss the feasibility of
working together on projects.
●
In his opening talk Rainer Zimmermann, head
of the IST’s micro-, nano- and optoelectronics
components unit, emphasized the importance of
integrating European competencies.
Zimmermann said that the proposals generated by the first call often involved assembling
a conglomerate of partners without sufficiently
complementary skills. His advice was short and
simple – “Integrate, integrate, integrate!”. His
recommendations for producing a successful
proposal included focusing on clear objectives
and strategies, and making it explicitly clear
where the “value-for-money” for the EC lies.
A proposal should contain a clear justification of a project’s objectives, an explanation of
the relevance of its goals, and an assessment of
its potential impact. The evaluators will use
this information to judge the merit of a project.
Evidence of clear project planning and
details of resource allocation are essential, and
can be illustrated through the use of charts and
diagrams. The proposal should also explicitly
describe what the project’s decision-making
and conflict-resolution procedures will be.
Proposals for projects for the 2003–2004
photonics work programme are being sought in
the following three fields:
● Telecoms and information technology (e.g.
low-cost, high-bandwidth communication and Peter Seitz (contact peter.seitz@csem.ch) is
secretary of the EOS.
terabyte storage).
EOS NEWSLETTER
F OCUS ON I TALY
The Italian Society for Optics and Photonics
(SIOF) was founded in 1991 to provide a forum
for discussion and information exchange in the
fields of optics, optoelectronics and photonics.
The society brings together people from a
range of backgrounds, from research and education to production and applications.
An international perspective is guaranteed
by the society’s strong links with the EOS and
its co-operation agreement with the Optical
Society of America. Within Italy, SIOF
co-operates with other societies operating in
related fields, such as the Photonics and Electrooptics Group of the Italian Electrotechnical
Association and the Italian Physical Society.
SIOF uses its website at http://siof.ifac.cnr.it
to inform its members of conferences and workshops organized or sponsored by the society,
such as the 19th Congress of the International
Commission of Optics, “Optics for the Quality
of Life”, held in Florence in August 2002. The
website also includes a list of local industries and
subsidiaries of foreign companies operating in
fields of interest to SIOF members.
The society publishes a regular series of books
(Quaderni di Ottica) containing the proceedings Top: research groups in Trento and Catania in Italy are
working hard to develop a silicon laser. Bottom: green and
of sponsored activities.
An era of outstanding development
The promotion of optics and photonics is crucial in this era of great political change and
outstanding technological development in the
European community. SIOF is trying to attract
more members from public and private bodies
active in research and development, education
and training. This should help it to grow and
improve links between the different fields.
There are several optics research groups in
Italy. The academic research groups based at
different universities around the country are
brought together by the National Institute of
Matter Physics (INFM). The National Institute
of Applied Optics, some of the institutes
belonging to the National Research Council,
and the Board for New Technologies, Energy
and Environment are also important.
The main fields of research in Italy are: laser
sources and nonlinear optical processes with
applications in photonics and optoelectronics;
quantum optics and coherent phenomena,
involving both theoretical and experimental
studies; high-resolution and ultrafast spectroscopy; and advanced optical technologies.
Optical technologies can be divided into two
areas: one involves the use of well-known optical technologies in interdisciplinary fields,
including biomedicine, environmental applications, colorimetry, and restoring cultural herEOS NEWSLETTER
blue electroluminescence from metal oxide semiconductor
doped with the rare earth materials cerium and terbium.
itage; the other encompasses the development
of innovative technologies such as sensor
design and realization, laser-assisted thin-film
deposition, fabrication of active and passive
waveguides for photonic devices, photoniccrystal structures, optical systems for XUV
spectroscopy and near-field optical microscopy.
Particular attention is also currently being
paid to materials science, in particular to the
development and characterization of organic
and inorganic materials for passive and active
photonic devices. In the last few years there
has been a significant effort by the INFM to
promote the development of scientific instrumentation and related activities and to stimulate a wider patent policy.
Local industries and foreign companies alike
are suffering from the problems related to the
breakdown of the telecoms market. However,
signs of recovery are now emerging and the
development of fruitful co-operation between
the academic and industrial worlds to bring
about success in governmental and European
projects allows us to predict a promising future.
Roberta Ramponi (roberta.ramponi@fisi.polimi.it)
is professor of physics at the Polytechnic of
Milan and is also president of SIOF.
SEPTEMBER 2003
STMicroelectronics, Catania
The Italian Society for
Optics and Photonics
is trying to attract
more corporate
members to coordinate
R&D, education and
training, reports
Roberta Ramponi.
University of Trento
Italians aim for co-operation
Calendar
DATE
Contact
EVENT
LOCATION
September 1–9
European Conference on Visual Perception
Paris, France
September 24–28
Fourth International Conference on Laser
Technology and Applications
St Petersburg, Russia
September 25–26
Stuttgart Lasertage 2003
Stuttgart, Germany
September 28–29
7th Annual Asia Pacific Optical Networking Summit Singapore
Sept. 27 – Oct. 2
Quantum Optics – Euroconference on Cavity QED
and Quantum Fluctuations
Granada, Spain
October 5–10
OSA 2003 Annual Conference
Tucson, US
October 13–17
OFS-16 16th International Conference on Optical
Fibre Sensors
Nara, Japan
October 20–23
EOS Topical Meeting on Advanced Imaging
Techniques
Delft, the Netherlands
November 3–6
ASTRA 2003 Advances in Surface Treatment:
Research and Applications
Hyderabad, India
November 6–8
Laser Florence 2003
Florence, Italy
For more information on any of these events, please visit www.europeanopticalsociety.org
Are you a member of EOS?
Look at the benefits
Individual members are eligible for:
● a regular EOS Newsletter e-mail
● reduced conference fees
● reduced prices for EOS journals
● free subscription to Opto & Laser Europe
● 20% discount on Institute of Physics Publishing books
● Members living outside Germany are entitled to a 50%
discount on subscription to the German-language journal
Photonik, published by AT-Fachverlag
To contact the EOS board:
Executive director Klaus Nowitzki
eos@optecnet.de
President Chris Dainty
c.dainty@nuigalway.ie
Secretary Peter Seitz
peter.seitz@csem.ch
Treasurer Magnus Breidne
magnus.breidne@acreo.se
To learn more about your national
EOS branch, please contact:
Belgium Yvon Renotte
y.renotte@ulg.ac.be
Czech and Slovak republics
Pavel Tomanek
tomanek@dphys.fee.vutbr.cz
Denmark Bjarne Tromberg
bt@com.dtu.dk
Finland Risto Myllylä
risto.myllyla@ee.oulu.fi
France Roland Levy
roland.levy@ipcms.u-strasbg.fr
Germany Rainer Schuhmann
schuhmann@linos-photonics.de
Italy Mario Bertolotti
bertolotti@uniroma1.it
The Netherlands Peter Verhoeff
verhoeff@tpd.tno.nl
Norway Aasmund Sudbo
aas@unik.no
Poland Katarzyna Macukow
kmacukow@duch.mimuw.edu.pl
Romania Laurentiu Fara
laurf@nare.renerg.pub.ro
Russia Ivan Kovsh
las@tsr.ru
Spain Santiago Mar
santiago@opt.uva.es
Sweden Klaus Biedermann
kb@optics.kth.se
Switzerland Peter Seitz
peter.seitz@csem.ch
UK David Briers
jdb@brynmawr.u-net.com
Additional benefits for corporate members:
● a company profile in the EOS directory
● a presence on the EOS website
● free advertisements for jobs in the EOS market
● reduced conference fees for all employees
EOS 2003 membership fees
Membership information
Individual members:
740
Students:
710
Companies/academic institutions with:
more than 500 employees
7800
between 100 and 500 employees
7400
fewer than 100 employees
7200
Learned societies: ÎàÎà71.25 per member (maximum 71500)
If you would like to find out more about
joining EOS, please contact:
Klaus Nowitzki, executive director
Garbsener Landstrasse 10
D-30419 Hannover, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)511 277 1295
E-mail: eos@optecnet.de
www.europeanopticalsociety.org
SEPTEMBER 2003
EOS Newsletter is produced for
the European Optical Society
by Institute of Physics
Publishing Ltd
Institute of Physics Publishing
Dirac House, Temple Back
Bristol BS1 6BE, UK
Editor Oliver Graydon
oliver.graydon@iop.org
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1015
EOS NEWSLETTER
PH O T O N EX H IG H L IG H T S
SHOW PREVIEW 3 7 PRODUCT S 3 9
SHOW PREVIEW: PHOTONEX03
Talking technology in Coventry
On the following pages we
bring you a sneak preview
of the events taking place at Photonex03,
as well as taking a look at some of the
products that will be on show.
According to an old English idiom, if you
have been “sent to Coventry”, it means that
nobody is speaking to you. But keeping
quiet is the last thing that visitors at the
Photonex03 exhibition will be doing, considering how many events are on offer.
Held in Stoneleigh Park just outside
Coventry, UK, Photonex03 is free to attend
and takes place on 8–9 October. This year it
will feature more than 130 exhibitors from
all branches of optics. “You can find every- Lord Sainsbury, the UK’s Minister for Science (right), examines some of the optics on offer at last year’s show.
thing you need here, from simple optical
components to complex instruments, lasers
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION: PHOTONEX03
and systems,” said exhibition director LauImaging Science Exhibition Workshop: Latest
rence Devereux. “Photonex is an exhibition When 8–9 October 2003
developments in imaging technology
that reaches right across many disciplines.” Where Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, UK
Photonics Cluster Workshop: half a day will be
Opening hours 8 October 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
devoted to Photonics Technologies – Business
Imaging science exhibition
9 October 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
This year Photonex03 will be hosting a ded- Getting there A free shuttle bus will be running and half a day to Industry Applications
SIRA half-day meeting: Evaluation of long-path
icated imaging science exhibition covering between Coventry railway station and the
optical techniques for real-world applications
vision technologies for industry, defence exhibition every half-hour. Free car parking will
and military applications for the first time. also be available on site.
What’s on: 9 October
A free workshop, at which firms will discuss Cost Free, although most of the Institute of
IOP Optical Group half-day meeting:
their new products and application areas, is Physics (IOP) conferences are paid-for events.
Interferometry as a measuring tool (FREE)
running alongside the exhibition.
More information www.photonex.org
IOP Optical Group one-day meeting: Optical
Another area that’s shaping up to be a
environmental sensing
hotbed of discussion is the technology What’s on: 8 October
Imaging Science Exhibition Workshop: Latest
exchange forum. This part of the exhibi- IOP Optical Group one-day meeting: In-fibre
developments in imaging technology
tion, says Devereux, will be open to univer- gratings and special fibres
Photonics Cluster Workshop: Technology
sity groups and spin-offs as well as patent IOP Optical Group one-day meeting:
experts, funding companies and trade bod- Underwater optics and marine remote sensing update by exhibitors
ies. “People looking for partnership opportunities might find what they are looking
at which presentations will include Trade The UK company will present its experifor here,” said Devereux.
The list of exhibitors in this section Partners UK talking about internationaliza- ences of using open-path optical instrualready includes two Faraday Partnerships tion, and Business Link discussing support ments in a diverse range of applications.
working in the optics area (Communica- for small businesses. The afternoon session The Optical Group from the Institute of
tions and Mobile Information Technology, will focus on specific industrial applications. Physics is also holding four technical meetand Smart Optics); the Institute of Photon- Attendees will be able to hear about all the ings, which delegates can pay to attend (see
ics from Strathclyde University; the Photon- latest developments on the second day, “Essential information” box for details).
With so many events huddling under the
ics Innovation Centre from St Andrews when exhibitors will present technology
University; and UK-based patent firm Harri- updates: for instance, Melles Griot will speak ever-expanding Photonex umbrella, attenabout nanopositioning and CVI Technical dees look set to enjoy two productive days
son Goddard Foote.
Running alongside the main exhibition Optics will discuss high-power laser optics. in October. Now in its twelfth year, PhoDelegates interested in remote optical tonex03 looks set to extend its reputation
will be a free two-day workshop organized
by the UK Photonics Cluster. The meeting sensing should consider attending a free for fruitful discussions and networking
kicks off with a morning business seminar half-day meeting that will be held by Sira. opportunities, despite age-old sayings.
37
SHOW PREVIEW : PRODUCT S
Here’s a selection of some of the new
products that exhibitors at Photonex03
will be displaying on their stands.
Diode power and wavelength meter
Laser Components
Laser Components of
Germany is showing its
Wavepower combined
wavelength and power
meter at Photonex03.
The handheld
instrument is designed
specifically to provide a
fast reading of a diode laser output. Power can
be measured in decibels or milliwatts. Two
power ranges of either 0–1 mW or 0–10 mW are
available, offering a resolution of 0.001 and
0.01 mW respectively.
Laser wavelengths between 500 and 900 nm
can be measured to a tolerance of
approximately 2 nm. Data can be transmitted
via an RS-232 interface if necessary.
www.lasercomponents.de
Stand A15
Infrared camera
LOT Oriel
between flow structures, calculate power
spectra and build time–space correlations.
A wide range of CMOS cameras and DPSS
lasers is available, to suit the budgets and
requirements of all end-users. The system is
entirely computer-controlled and features
Windows-based software.
www.lavisionuk.com
Stand E20
fluorescence measurements at UV, visible and
infrared wavelengths.
Models for use in pollution monitoring,
forensics and skin-colour measurement are
either already available or under development.
www.spectroscopic.co.uk
Stand A17
Handheld spectrometers
Spectroscopic & Analytical
Developments
Former JDS Uniphase subsidiary SIFAM Fibre
Optics of the UK is launching an ultra-low ratio
tap coupler for fibre lasers.
The company says that it has been working
closely with several other firms that are
developing and manufacturing high-power fibre
lasers for materials processing applications.
SIFAM’s fibre laser components include
wavelength combiners and tap couplers for a
variety of wavelengths, and the new ultra-low
coupler allows photodetectors to monitor high
optical powers without saturation or damage.
Andrew Robertson, SIFAM’s business
development manager, said: “The fibre laser
market looks likely to grow considerably in the
future. Many of our existing customers are
switching their attention to this emerging market,
as the technological building blocks are similar.”
www.sifamfo.com
Stand F06
UK-based
Spectroscopic &
Analytical
Developments will
unveil a brand-new
series of handheld
spectrophotometers at
the show.
Designed for non-expert end-users, the
devices are said to enable analytical and colour
measurements to be taken on the shop floor or
at the patient’s bedside. In applications such as
anti-counterfeiting and quality control, a pass or
fail is indicated by a green or red LED.
A number of different versions of the batteryoperated waterproof instrument are available,
including transmission, absorption and
Fibre laser tap couplers
SIFAM Fibre Optics
Distributor LOT Oriel will
be exhibiting the
Omega thermal
imaging camera from
Indigo Systems at the
Imaging Science
section of the Photonex exhibition.
Omega is a long-wavelength camera that
operates from 7.5 to 13.5 µm. It is suitable for
thermal imaging, security and robotic
applications. According to LOT Oriel, the compact,
lightweight and low-power camera “puts thermal
imaging where it has never fitted before”.
Analogue and digital outputs are both
supported, and the elimination of traditional
thermoelectric stabilization is said to mean that
the Omega offers ultra-low power consumption
and a very fast start-up time.
www.lotoriel.co.uk
Stand IS34
Particle image velocimetry equipment
LaVision UK
FlowMaster HS is the
latest addition to
LaVision’s range of
particle image
velocimetry equipment.
It combines the latest
CMOS sensor
technology with high-power diode-pumped solidstate (DPSS) lasers, allowing users to visualize
turbulent flow phenomena, view interactions
39
Infrared windows
Optarius
made from a wide selection of materials,
including zinc selenide, zinc sulphide,
germanium, gallium arsenide, calcium fluoride
UK-based optical
components specialist and potassium bromide.
www.optarius.co.uk
Optarius will introduce
its new range of infrared Stand G47
optics and windows at
this year’s exhibition.
Picometer actuator
New products on offer include windows, laser New Focus
mirrors, beamsplitters, infrared polarizers and a New Focus, the Californian provider of photonics
selection of lenses operating across the
test and measurement equipment, has released
0.7–20 µm wavelength range. The windows are a new closed-loop actuator for applications
requiring very accurate positioning.
The Model 8310 actuator offers the best
attributes of the firm’s Picomotor range. These
include better than 30 nm resolution and greater
than 22 N of force, along with “set-and-forget”
long-term stability and ±1 µm repeatability over
a half-inch travel range. Potential applications
include laser beam alignment and precise
positioning of samples.
New Focus says that this latest actuator is
compatible with most of its optomechanical
mounts and translation stages. A new driver to
accompany the actuator, the Model 8751-C, is
also available. Users can interface with the
system from a computer via Ethernet or RS-232.
www.newfocus.com
Stand G33
Electroformed parts
Tecan
The Microstructures
division of Tecan, UK,
claims that it is now
able to supply fine
electroformed metal
parts fabricated to
previously unheard of
levels of accuracy and
resolution. Typical
applications for the
parts include sensors, actuators, medical
devices, optical instruments, MEMs, MOEMs,
masks, displays and micro-fluidic devices.
Tecan says that exceptional tolerance and
accuracy are assured across an area of up to
300 × 300 mm. Raised areas can be produced
with an aspect ratio of 5:1 or more. Features
such as tracks and channels can be fabricated
with smooth walls and sub-micron tolerances,
and surface smoothness is extremely high.
www.tecan.co.uk
Stand C30
Thermoelectric coolers
Ferrotec
A wide range of
thermoelectric cooler
modules designed for
use with
optoelectronics are
now available from
Ferrotec, US. The range includes miniature
modules that are manufactured in a variety of
sizes and are ideal for use with laser diodes,
optical attenuators and amplifiers.
Manufacturing options include hightemperature solders and aluminium nitride
substrates for applications where extreme
temperatures are present or thermal cycling is
required. Wire bondable gold-plated posts and
customized bonding surfaces are also available.
www.ferrotec.com
Stand G45
40
Positioning equipment
MICOS
The latest mPhase 2 interferometer system
from Swiss firm Fisba Optik will be on display
at Armstrong Optical’s stand. The ultracompact phase-measuring interferometer can
be used in any orientation and output
apertures range from 2 to 300 mm.
According to Armstrong, the system is
available with a camera resolution of either
500 × 500 or 1000 × 1000 pixels and is ideal
for the workshop or quality-assurance
laboratory, as measurements are quick, precise
and accurate. The system comes with Fisba’s
mShape analysis software, which makes it
possible to measure radius of curvature and
compute Zernike polynomials, Seidels, asphere
fitting and a whole host of other parameters.
www.armstrongoptical.co.uk
Stand A03
MICOS of Germany
will be displaying
several new
positioning products
at Photonex03.
These will include its
MoCo single-axis
controllers for DC motors and its Pollux stepper
motors, which are controlled via an RS-232
interface. According to MICOS, a retail price of
Diode-pumped laser
Elforlight
The UK-based firm
Elforlight has released a
new addition to its
family of compact
diode-pumped solidstate lasers. The laser,
known as the SPOT (short pulse optical
technology) system, offers a solution for
applications that require hundreds of
microjoules of energy in pulses as short as 2 ns.
According to Elforlight, SPOT makes an ideal
seed source for lamp-pumped amplification
schemes to achieve higher peak powers.
SPOT is available with an output wavelength
in the infrared (1064 nm), visible (532 nm) and
UV (355 nm). Applications include timeresolved fluorescence measurements, ranging
and high-speed imaging.
www.elforlight.com
Stand H25
Solid-state violet laser
Coherent
The latest addition to
Coherent’s Compass
family of compact solidstate lasers emits more
than 25 mW at a
wavelength of 405 nm.
Coherent says that the violet light source is
designed to generate a high-quality beam in the
far field at maximum power and is suitable for
applications in the reprographic, bioinstrumentation or inspection markets. The
Compass 405-25 can either be operated in
continuous-wave mode or may be modulated up
to a frequency of 150 MHz to give a train of
pulses with a rise and fall time of less than 2 ns.
www.coherentinc.com
Stand D22
approximately €600 makes these controllers
very competitive products.
Also on show will be MICOS’s new linear
stage, the LS-110, and the MOSKITO, a
25.4 mm-high optical bench system which is
designed for building compact apparatus
containing diode lasers or optical fibres.
MICOS’s existing range of motorized stages,
featuring goniometers, elevator stages and
hexapods, will also be on show.
www.micos.ws
Stand F03
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41
Four-million-pixel CCD
Alrad Imaging
VDS Vosskuhler’s UK
distributor Alrad
Imaging will introduce
the CCD4000, the
company’s new highresolution CCD camera, at this year’s show.
The 2048 × 2048 pixel sensor acquires
images at 7.5 frames per second at full
resolution. This can be increased to 15 frames
per second at 2048 × 1024 pixel resolution.
CCD4000 features an asynchronous shutter
up to 0.1 ms for full image-on-demand. The
camera has an effective dynamic range of
1:1000 and 12-bit RS-644 single-tap output.
www.alrad.com
Stand IS23
Optical notch filters
Advanced Technology Coatings
Laser protection
coatings based on thinfilm rugate notch filters
are now available from
Advanced Technology
Coatings (ATC), UK.
Rugate technology is a
design concept that
makes use of a single film with a continuously
varying refractive index. This enables the design
of filters with tailored spectral characteristics.
ATC can supply filters exhibiting high visible
transmission while simultaneously affording
protection against specific laser wavelengths in
the visible spectrum. Rugate filters can be
combined with edge filters and colour glasses
to achieve multiple line laser protection. The
filters are made using a plasma-assisted
electron-beam deposition process.
Applications include general-purpose laser
filters, laser protection eyewear, optical
instruments and filters for use in laser surgery.
www.advanced-technology-coatings.co.uk
Stand C43
Diode laser systems
Point Source
Point Source, UK, will be exhibiting two new
additions to its iFLEX-2000 family of fibrecoupled diode-laser systems.
The first source delivers 1 mW of 370 nm light
at the end of a polarization-maintaining fibre.
The firm says that the laser offers extremely low
noise and delivers a TEM00 mode suitable for
many fluorescence-based applications.
The second source on display will be a highpower version of the company’s 405 nm violet
laser diode. The laser delivers 10 mW of power
and has been developed for materials
processing and materials characterization.
www.point-source.com
Stand B01
Frame grabbers
Active Silicon
work at up to 3 kW
continuous-wave and
input beam diameters
of up to 25 mm.
The firm says it can
also make customized
DOEs that generate the
optimum intensity distribution for use in beam
sampling, line generation and beam splitting.
www.laseroptical.co.uk
Stand G38
Visitors at the show will
be able to see the three
new frame grabbers
that Active Silicon has
added to its Phoenix
Camera Link range.
To support a single
base camera, Active Silicon has introduced the
PCI32 and the PCM32 cards. The PCI32 is a
low-cost, base-only card for a 32-bit/33 MHz PCI
bus. The PCM card, which operates over the
Inspection microscopes
same bus as the PCI 32, is intended for users
Pyser-SGI
who require an embedded solution.
Pyser-SGI of the UK is
The final addition to the range is a compact
launching its new
PCI board. The board supports simultaneous
Inspecta range of
capture from two base cameras or a single
inspection
medium camera. The card uses a 64 bit/66 MHz
microscopes,
bus and can transfer data at up to 533 MB/s.
measuring systems and
www.activesilicon.co.uk
components. The range
Stand IS5
includes magnifiers, portable microscopes,
single and dual-axis measuring systems,
modular microscopes and components.
Diffractive optical elements
Pyser says that its Inspecta range comes in
Laser Optical Engineering
Laser Optical Engineering will showcase its latest the form of both standard and custom-made
range of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). The products, making it easy for end-users to design
systems to suit their precise requirements.
DOEs on display work at CO2 laser wavelengths
www.pyser-sgi.com
and convert a Gaussian beam profile into a topStand C05
hat profile. The company says the components
Fluorescence Lifetime Spectrometers
Modular or compact
Picosecond time resolution
Count rates up to 3 MHz
Time-correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC)
Applications include Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy,
Fluorescence anisotropy, Ultra sensitive analytics and Photochemistry
(Time-resolved) Laser Fluorescence Microscopes
Integrated laser coupling module
Wavelengths from 400 to 800 nm
Multiple detector options
Standard or inverse microscope base
Confocal or upright model
Applications include Time-resolved microscopy in biology and
chemistry, Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS),
Semiconductor wafer testing and analysis, Cell biology and FLIM
PicoQuant GmbH
Rudower Chaussee 29 (IGZ)
12489 Berlin
Germany
44
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
www:
++4930 6392 6560
++4930 6392 6561
photonics@pq.fta-berlin.de
http://www.picoquant.com
Translation stages
Lambda Photometrics
Lambda Photometrics will be showcasing the
latest closed-loop translation stage, the M-663,
from Physik Instrumente (PI) at this year’s
Photonex. PI says that the M-663 is the world’s
smallest closed-loop stage based on linear
piezo motor drive technology.
The compact unit is said to provide a 20 mm
travel range, a resolution of 0.1 µm and a
velocity of 600 mm/s, all in a package smaller
than a 9 V block battery. Based on an ultrasonic
piezoceramic actuator, the M-663 comes
complete with motor drivers and cables.
www.lambdaphoto.co.uk
Stand A01/A20/IS22
Glass calibration plate
IMT, Switzerland
Large glass optical
calibration plates for
checking the
repeatability of pickand-place machines
and other assembly
equipment are now
available from IMT
Masken und Teilungen of Switzerland. The
Zurich-based maker of photomasks says that it
is able to make plates up to 406 × 406 mm in
size, as well as glass scales for linear encoders
and custom-made reticules and graticules.
www.imtag.ch
Stand C06
Interferometer
Logitech, UK
Logitech, the UK
developer of
precision
materials
processing
equipment, will
introduce its latest automated precision wafer
and component flatness measurement systems
at Photonex03.
The GI30 and LI15 allow ground, lapped,
semi-polished and polished surfaces to be
measured for flatness with a high degree of
accuracy. The GI30 is a grazing incidence
interferometer, ideal for measuring opaque
surfaces with roughness values of 1–300 nm
Ra, while the LI15 is a fizeau interferometer
designed to provide measurements for
polished surfaces to λ/10.
Both the GI30 and LI15 use phase-shift
analysis coupled with specially designed
interferogram analysis software to measure the
wafer/component surface. Results can be
viewed as 3D or 2D colour contour maps or a
1D cross-section plot.
www.logitech.uk.com
Stand C42
FREE LITERATURE
Photonic Solutions
Edmund Optics
Edmund Optics Releases 2003 UK Optics and
Optical Instruments Catalogue
Laser crystals catalogue from JDS CASIX
A new catalogue is available from Photonic Solutions
offering the full range of laser crystals, nonlinear optics,
mirrors, lenses and optical components from JDS CASIX,
a JDS Uniphase company. JDS CASIX offers unbeatable
low prices for high-quality optical components for R&D
and OEM applications, manufactured under tight quality
procedures and inspection controls to comply with strict
ISO 9001 standards. Laser crystals include: Nd:YVO4,
Nd:YAG, Cr:YAG. Birefringent crystals include: YVO4,
alfa-BBO and calcite.
Edmund Optics UK Ltd has now released its 2003
Optics and Optical Instruments catalogue. This 340page catalogue comes in two editions: one with pricing
in pounds sterling and one with pricing in euros. This
edition provides over 500 new products, more pages of
comprehensive information, and comprehensive primers
and selection guides. According to John Cleather,
managing director of Edmund Optics UK Ltd, “Our
ongoing effort to provide the most comprehensive line of
optics and optical technology internationally continues
with this year’s catalogues. In addition, we have added
many new products that are manufactured by our
corporate partners. These products, in combination with
our own, give our customers an unlimited resource of
components for stand-alone use or OEM integration.”
Typically over 100 000 crystal and optical components
are held in stock, available for immediate delivery.
Contact Photonic Solutions for the new catalogue.
Photonic Solutions plc
Gracemount Business Pavilions
Unit A, 40 Captains Road
Edinburgh EH17 8QF, UK
Tel: +44 (0)131 664 8122
Fax: +44 (0)131 664 8144
E-mail: sales@psplc.com Internet: www.psplc.com
Contact Mr John Cleather
Tel: +44 (0)1904 691469
E-mail: uksales@edmundoptics.com
Or visit www.edmundoptics.com to learn more.
Optima Research
Spiricon
Fast and Accurate Wavefront
Measurement
New Camera for Measuring Terahertz
Lasers and Sources
The new Wavescope product line is a complete
range of Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors.
Whether you need an extended wavelength range,
spatial resolution or frame rate, we have the
wavefront sensor to meet your needs!
Spiricon introduces the Pyrocam IIITM for analysing
terahertz lasers and sources. The Pyrocam III is a
pyroelectric camera with a wavelength response
from 1 µm to more than 1000 µm (0.3–300 Thz),
covering a significant part of the terahertz
spectrum. Leading-edge scientists are finding the
camera invaluable as an analysis tool. If the
source is continuous-wave, an internal chopper is
available.
Like an interferometer the Wavescope measures
wavefront phase, but unlike an interferometer it is
insensitive to vibration and air turbulence. It is
ideal for lens and mirror testing, beam profiling,
control of adaptive optics and optical alignment.
Spiricon Inc
Tel: +1 435 753 3729
E-mail: o&le-info@spiricon.com
Internet: www.spiricon.com
For more information please contact:
Jenny Warwick
E-mail: jenny.warwick@optima-research.com
Internet: www.optima-research.com
Tel: +44 (0)1223 837830
21-22-23 October 2003 - Paris - France
Don’t miss your meeting
with all optics solutions!
The exhibition of all
optics solutions
for industry,
networks and
telecommunications
➔ 200 exhibitors
➔ A congress
Information:
E-mail: optoexpo@exposium.fr
Tel: +33 (0)1 49 68 52 14
Your
free access badge on:
www.optoexpo.com
NEW
!
l
3 technologica
spaces
• BIOPHOTONICS
otonics)
valley - RhenaPh
(Partners: Optics
LOGIES
• NANOTECHNO
ork
metropolitan netw
a
of
art
he
the
• OPTO CITY: At
Same dates, same venue, same badge:
The Measurement Forum
CALENDAR
For a more comprehensive list of events, including links to websites, visit optics.org/events
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
ORGANIZER
CONTACT
Sept 15–18
Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks
(LACONA V)
Osnabrueck,
Germany
Laserzentrum FH Münster, www.dbu.de/calender/laconastart.php
Germany
Sept 15–19
Laser Safety Officer Training
San Francisco, US
LIA, US
Sept 16–20
International Conference on Advanced
Alushta, Ukraine
Optoelectronics and Lasers (CAOL 2003)
National University of
www.kture.kharkov.ua/caol
Radio Electronics, Ukraine
Sept 20–25
Surface Plasmon Photonics and
Conference on Nano-Optics
Granada, Spain
EURESCO, France
www.esf.org/euresco/03/pc03189
Sept 21–25
European Conference on Optical
Communication (ECOC)
Rimini, Italy
Nexus Media, UK
www.ecocexhibition2003.com
www.laserinstitute.org/training
Sept 30 – Oct 3 Euro-Mediterranean Symposium on
Hersonissos, Crete FORTH-IESL, Crete
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
www.iesl.forth.gr/emslibs2
Oct 3–4
New Trends in Laser Cleaning III
Heraklion, Crete
FORTH-IESL, Crete
www.iesl.forth.gr/lasercleaning
Oct 5–9
OSA Annual Meeting
Tucson, Arizona
OSA, US
www.osa.org/meetings/annual
Oct 8–9
Photonex03
Coventry, UK
Xmark Media Ltd, UK
www.photonex.org
Oct 13–16
International Congress on Applications
of Lasers & Electro-optics (ICALEO)
Jacksonville, US
LIA, US
www.icaleo.org
Oct 21–23
VISION 2003
Stuttgart, Germany Messe Stuttgart,
Germany
www.messe-stuttgart.de/vision
ADVER TISERS’ INDEX
APE Angewandte Physik & Electronik
www.ape-berlin.de
29
Avantes www.avantes.com
28
BFI Optilas International
www.bfioptilas.avnet.com
13
Breault Research Organisation
www.breault.com
2
Cargille Laboratories www.cargille.com
10
CASIX www.casix.com
22
China da Heng Corporation
www.cdhcorp.com
42
Crystran Ltd www.crystran.co.uk
12
D Green Electronics
www.dgreenelectronics.com
12
Edinburgh Instruments Ltd
www.edinst.com
20, 35
Edmund Industrial
Optics www.edmundoptics.com
45
EKSMA Co www.eksma.com
39
ELCAN Optical Technologies www.elcan.com 36
Fisba Optik www.fisba.ch
19, 20
Hamamatsu Photonics UK Ltd
46
www.hamamatsu.co.uk
16
High Q Laser Production
www.highqlaser.com
20, 35
IBL Innovative Berlin Laser
www.ib-laser.com
10
IMT Masken und Teilungen www.imtag.ch 10
IPOT 2004 www.ipot.com
38
Leysop Ltd www.leysop.com
38
LIMO Laser Systems www.limo.de
12
Melles Griot www.mellesgriot.com
48
Micro-Controle SA www.newport.com
8
m.u.t. GmbH www.mut-gmbh.de
29
Northrop Grumman Poly-Scientific
www.polysci.com
4
Ocean Optics www.oceanoptics.com
26
Ophir Optronics www.ophiropt.com
30
Optima Research Ltd
www.optima-research.com
41, 45
Opto 2003 www.optoexpo.com
45
Pacer Components www.pacer.co.uk
36
Photonic Products
www.photonic-products.com
42
Photonics Europe 2004
www.spie.org/info.europe
20
Photonic Solutions plc
www.psplc.com
40, 44, 45, 47
Physik Instrumente
www.physikinstrumente.com
6
Piezosystem Jena www.piezojena.com
8
Powerlase Limited www.powerlase.com 8, 20
Precision – Optical Engineering
www.p-oe.co.uk
16
Scitec Instruments Ltd www.scitec.uk.com 38
Signal Recovery www.signalrecovery.com 19
Spectra-Physics www.spectra-physics.com 23
Spiricon Laser Beam
Diagnostics www.spiricon.com
43, 45
Springer Verlag GmbH www.springer.de
35
Stanford Research Systems www.srsys.com 15
Stockeryale Canada www.stockeryale.com 16
Stockeryale Ltd (IRL) www.stockeryale.com 20
Thorlabs Inc www.thorlabs.com
43
Toptica www.toptica.com
42
Veeco Instruments www.veeco-europe.com 7

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