software speeds up nano-optical design
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW
Fujitsu and Mitsui totake quantum dotsinto telecoms
Salmon DNA layerimproves OLEDperformance
OLEDS
SOFTWARE SPEEDS UPNANO-OPTICAL DESIGN
OPTICAL SIMULATION
June 2006 Issue 140
INSIDEEOS
NEWSLETTER
The European magazine for photonics professionals
Focus on EU policy
OLEJunCOVER 25/5/06 12.07 pm Page 1
NEWS5 Business Jenoptik unveils Europe’s largest plastic optics
plant • Powerlase’s DPSS lasers take off • CDT expects sales surge
8 Analysis Photovoltaics see funding boost
11 Editorial OLEDs gather momentum
TECHNOLOGY13 Applications Salmon DNA improves OLEDs • Mains
OLED targets lighting • CMOS-based RFID cameras trialled
17 R&D Insects inspire eye design • Holograms trap droplets in air
19 Patents Kodak licenses its OLED materials to Univision • LEDdevelopers Lumileds and Toyoda Gosei agree patent deal
FEATURES21 Fujitsu, Mitsui venture targets quantum dots
Fujitsu and Mitsui have invested around $2.6 m in QD Laser, a joint quantum dot laser development venture.
25 Nano-optical solver offers rapid solutionGerman firm JCMwave has developed optical software that models electromagnetic wave propagation, solving Maxwell’s equations and offering solutions in just 10 s.
27 Power-over-fibre drives remote data exchangePhotonic Power provides an all-fibre solution that enhances powerand data transmission of remote sensing devices. Mort Cohen explains why this is an attractive alternative to batteries.
30 Optical integration moves back onto the agendaPhotonic integration was one of the hot new ideas that emerged during the telecoms boom. Now it could be set for a big revival.
33 OLEDs on the look-out for unique applicationAnalysts expect the OLED panel market to grow by more than $200 m in 2006 as the technology gathers momentum.
37 Beam profilers provide crucial laser statisticsA beam profiler is an essential tool for any laser user. Carlos Roundy describes the options and how to make your choice.
EOS NEWSLETTER41 The latest news and events from the European Optical Society
OPTATEC 2006 SHOW PRODUCTS45 New products on display at the Frankfurt show (20–23 June)
PRODUCTS51 CMOS camera• Supercontinuum source • Ti:sapphire laser
REGUL ARS58 People/Sudoku
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© 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd. The contents of OLE donot represent the views or policies of the Institute ofPhysics, its council or its officers unless so identified. Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH, UK.
I ssue 140 June 2006 Contents
Jenoptik expects a brightfuture for polymer optics p5
Power on: mains poweredOLEDs suit lighting p14
Photonic integration isback in fashion p30
Which beam profiler? Ourguide is here to help p37
INTERVIEW
Fujitsu and Mitsui totake quantum dotsinto telecoms
Salmon DNA layerimproves OLEDperformance
OLEDS
SOFTWARE SPEEDS UPNANO-OPTICAL DESIGN
OPTICAL SIMULATION
June 2006 Issue 140
INSIDEEOS
NEWSLETTER
The European magazine for photonics professionals
Focus on EU policy
For the latest news on optics and photonics don’t forget to visit optics.org
Cover (JCMwave)Simulated electric fielddistribution of a leaky modein a hollow core PCF. p25
OLEJunCONTENTS3 25/5/06 2.09 pm Page 3
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Jenoptik restructures and unveilsEurope’s largest plastic optics plant
NEWSBUSINESS 5 ANALYSIS 8 EDITORIAL 11
5OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
RESTRUCTURING
By Matthew PeachThe Jenoptik Group has opened anew production facility for plasticoptics and optical systems – thelargest and most modern inEurope – in the town of Triptis,Thuringia, Germany. And in amove intended to emphasize itsinvolvement with the newlyrestructured Jenoptik Group, sub-sidiary Wahl Optoparts has beenrebranded as Jenoptik PolymerSystems (JPS).
Four sites operated by Jenoptiksubsidiaries have been combinedin the new building following aninvestment of 79 m ($11.5 m) –excluding equipment.
There is sufficient space to meetthe expected growth of JPS: thenew production building covers8000 m2, with cleanroom facilitiesalone accounting for 1400 m2 andanother 1800 m2 taken up by busi-ness and administration activities.
Jenoptik has also invested72.5 m in new machinery forproduct assembly and packaging.The new site will house the massproduction of client-specific mod-ules for image sensors, light detec-tion and lighting units.
Manufacturing quality will alsobe improved by the enhanced air-conditioning facilities in the pro-duction areas. This improvementin particular will provide forenhanced process reliability andmeet the high standards de-manded by the medical technol-ogy business.
JPS will be able to manufactureplastic optics more efficiently thanbefore. Optics design, injectionmoulding machines, coating sys-tems, assembly technologies forthe integration of the optics withincomplete assemblies and systems,which was only added in October2005, are now all under one roof.
The company says that itsprocess chain will be managed
more efficiently since the previouslong distribution routes have beenremoved. The new structure allowsJPS to manufacture not only plasticoptics in large volumes but alsocomplex optoelectronics systemson a customer-specified basis.
Polymer optics: new marketsPlastic optics are increasinglybeing deployed in medical equip-ment, automobiles, multimediadevices – such as webcams andcamera phones – and in industrialmeasurement technology andmechanical engineering.
Demand for plastic optics hasrisen strongly in recent years par-ticularly in medical technology.The applications are mainly inoptoelectronic systems for “one-off ” diagnostics, including domes-tic applications, which are drivingthe demand for this low-cost alter-native to glass optics.
Following the completion of thesale of M+W Zander in May – and
thus its former clean systems busi-ness division – Jenoptik says that itis now concentrating on its “high-growth” Laser and Optics, Sensorsand Mechatronics divisions. Withthe Zander sale, Jenoptik says thatit has completed its strategic re-alignment, which was approved atthe company’s annual generalmeeting in 2005.
Employing about 2800 staff, theJenoptik Group reported sales of7410.1 m last year and an incomefrom operating activities of725.1 m in its continuing busi-ness divisions. The group addedthat it aims to achieve organicgrowth of approximately 10%annually over the next few years.
Also in May, the Jenoptik Groupreported a positive first quarter’strading in 2006. The operationalbusiness of the continuing divisionsbenefited in particular from theimprovement in the general eco-nomic picture. The continuing busi-ness divisions encompass the former
Photonics business division, theholding company and real estate.
Sales for the Laser and Optics,Sensors and Mechatronics divisionsincreased to 7109 m (790.4 m inthe same quarter in 2005), animprovement of 20.6%. Exportsaccounted for 59.3% of the totalsales (previous year 55.4%). Thelargest export region in this respectis Europe, followed by North Amer-ica and Asia.
Sales at the Jenoptik Group in2006 are expected to reach7420–450 m, equivalent to agrowth rate of between 6 and 11%.“Acquisitions may also boost thisincrease in sales even higher,” thequarterly report stated. “Up to theyear 2007 the group will aim toincrease sales by 10% per year. Allthree of the group’s divisions areexpected to contribute towards thegrowth in sales.”
Matthew Peach is a contributingeditor on OLE and optics.org.
Following a strategic realignmentJenoptik has concentrated its groupcompanies under a single brandumbrella: Jenoptik Germany. Withthe completion of the strategicrealignment in just one year and theresultant disposal of the former
Clean Systems business division(M+W Zander), Jenoptik isrepositioning itself. The company willfocus on its core expertise of utilizingand exploiting light as a tool and, assuch, is returning to its origins,optical technologies. The core
markets of the restructured Jenoptikare still materials processing,medical technology, safety anddefence technologies, and thesemiconductor and aerospaceindustries as well as digital imagingand measurement technology.
Jenoptik Jena reborn as Jenoptik Germany
Key developments: Jenoptik Polymer Systems’ directors celebrate at the opening of their new factory in Triptis (left); polymeroptics in production (centre); and combined polymer lenses and mountings are expected to be popular in medical fields (right).
All
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OLEJunNEWS5-11 25/5/06 12.09 pm Page 5
Powerlase boosts outputas DPSS lasers take off
NEWSBUSINESS
EXPANSION
6 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
L E N S T E S T I N G S Y S T E M S www.image-science.co.uk
MTF - EFL Distortion - Field Curvature
Powerlase of Crawley, UK, a manu-facturer of high-power diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers,has trebled its production area bymoving into the adjacent 1200 m2
industrial unit. The company saysthat it will increase productionthreefold to cope with escalatingdemand from customers, espe-cially in the displays sector.
The expansion follows the com-pany’s 233% growth year-on-yearand its listing as “the fifth fastestgrowing venture capital-backedcompany in the UK” by Britishnewspaper the Daily Telegraph.
Powerlase mainly developsDPSS lasers for industrial appli-cations, such as in the materialsprocessing and microelectronicsmarkets, for the flat-panel displays(FPDs), microelectronics, automo-tive and aerospace sectors.
In its expanded premises, morethan 50% of the space will be dedi-cated to assembly, alignment andtesting. Another section of the newworkspace will extend reliabilitytesting of components and lasersystems. Further expansion is pos-sible in 2007, the company said.
“Our growth reflects industryrecognition of the application ofthese lasers in manufacturing,particularly our high-power DPSSlasers in the field of indium tinoxide (ITO) ablation in the flat-panel display manufacturing mar-kets,” said Tony King, Powerlase’sexecutive director and COO.
“Our expansion plans includethe setting up of several dedicatedapplications and developmentlaboratories,” King added.
Powerlase’s DPSS lasers are dis-tributed worldwide but mainly toAsia for FPD manufacturing. Typi-cally they are used to create pixelsin ITO films. “We believe, in termsof throughput, that laser directpatterning is highly competitivewith current lithography process,”explains Duncan Cooper, Power-lase’s sales manager.
But is the evolution of the fibrelaser a threat to the DPSS laser? Thefibre laser was recently reported tobe the rising star of industrial pro-cessing (OLE May p5).
“Clearly, companies such as IPGPhotonics and SPI are doing wellin cutting, welding and machin-
ing, or in the low-cost DPSS mark-ing laser area, which is crowdedwith Asian economy suppliers. Alimiting factor for the fibre laser isthat it is difficult to pulse or switchbut it is a technology that all lasercompanies are watching.”
“We think that Powerlase’sunique selling point is that we candeliver high power in short pulsesand at high repetition rates – andwith suitable beam propertiesneeded for ablating ITO and othertypes of thin films,” adds Cooper.
He acknowledges that the mar-ket is not standing still. “Displays isnot the only market for us. Wehave already started working onsurface treatments and the surfaceengineering of thin films. Ourgrowth plan includes other mar-kets. For example, we already mar-ket a high-power 532 nm greenlaser and there are other types weplan to develop further.”
Powerlase is addressing theAsian marketplace currentlythrough two key distributors:Laser Spectronics in Korea; andJapan Laser Company. But thecompany has yet to seriously enterNorth America. “Asia is more obvi-ously a live market for us at themoment while the US seems to bemore fragmented,” says Cooper.● As OLE went to press, Powerlaseannounced that LG Electronics hadplaced a “multi-million euro” orderfor DPSS lasers for its flat panelmanufacturing activities in Korea.
DI S P L AY T E C H N O LO GY
Uni-Pixel and the Palo AltoResearch Center are collaboratingon a displays project to developtime multiplexed optical shuttertechnology. The MEMS-basedapproach uses a single pixelstructure to emit the full-colourspectrum and is said to offer lowermanufacturing cost, greater powerefficiency and improved quality.
PH O T O N I C P OW E R
JDSU has demonstrated anoptically powered USB interfacedeveloped by the firm’s PhotonicPower business unit. The fullyisolated device allows USBelectronics to be powered overlonger distances with completeimmunity to high-voltage, RF/EMIand magnetic fields.
TH E R M A L I M AG I N G
QinetiQ, Thales UK and SELEXSensors and Airborne Systems havejointly received a two year MODcontract worth around 712.4 m todevelop thermal imagingtechnology. The programme, knownas ALBION, involves the use ofcadmium mercury telluride focalplane arrays and will focus onaffordable solutions for military andaerospace applications.
OP T I CA L DATA S T O R AG E
Inphase, a US developer ofholographic data storage, hassigned an OEM agreement with asm,a German manufacturer of videoarchives. Inphase-equipped asmlibraries will offer 1095 Tbyte of datastorage, equivalent to 24 146 h ofHD content at 100 Mbit/s.
IN BRIEF
Powerlase has seen 233% growth due toincreased sales of its DPSS lasers.
Pow
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OLEJunNEWS5-11 25/5/06 2.03 pm Page 6
Mixed Q1 results – but CDTexpects OLED sales surge
NEWSBUSINESS
OLEDS
7OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
"…Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:3) www.ophiropt.com
UK-based polymer LED developerCambridge Display Technology(CDT) has reported mixed financialresults for Q1 2006. Revenue in thequarter was $1.0 m (70.78 m),compared with $1.6 m in Q12005. Gross profit for the latestquarter was $0.7 m ($1.1 m in Q12005). However, the net loss for Q12006 was $7.6 m, compared with$8.7 m in 2005.
The majority of revenue camefrom technology services and devel-opment, but included sales of equip-ment and supplies. The companyadds that it saw increased sales ofinks as display developers continueto evaluate the technology.
“The nature of CDT’s businessmeans that revenues will continueto vary from quarter to quarter aslicensing and other contract nego-tiations are concluded and rev-enues become recognizable,” thecompany said. CDT is carrying$1.8 m in deferred revenue that itexpects to realize throughout theremainder of 2006.
“Revenues are varying becauseof the nature of our business. CDTis predominantly a licensing com-pany. Typically, large pieces ofbusiness will come in irregularly soone can expect revenue varia-tions,” Terry Nicklin, CDT’s mar-keting director, told OLE.
Nicklin believes that there areincreasing market opportunities forOLEDs. “The limitations of these dis-plays have so far meant that they are
generally restricted to small mono-chrome designs,” he added. “But weexpect that there will be larger for-mat displays based on CDT’s tech-nology – certainly by 2011.”
The two main limiting problemsin making OLEDs widely availablehave been their operational lifetimeand a suitable technology to pre-pare relatively large areas of OLEDmaterials. But CDT says that it issolving the first of these by develop-ing longer-lasting devices and thesecond problem is being solved bytechniques such as inkjet printing.
The company’s research anddevelopment expenses of $3.1 mduring Q1 2006 were 22% lowerthan the $4.0 m reported in Q12005, primarily due to reimburse-ment of a significant proportion ofthe costs by CDT’s 50%-ownedjoint venture Sumation. Selling,general and administrativeexpenses were $4.0 m, approxi-mately the same as in 2005.
Cash used in operations was
reduced to $4.0 m, compared with$5.9 m last year. During the quar-ter, the company invested $1.6 min Sumation, and invested $0.1 min fixed assets. The company’scash, cash equivalents and currentmarketable securities totalled$25.6 m at the end of Q1 2006,compared with $31.3 m at the endof Q4 2005.
During the latest quarter, CDTterminated a line of credit for amaximum of $15 m, and in April2006 received a refund of $0.6 mof fees from IPI Financial Services.
“In this quarter we have madesignificant developments in mater-ials performance,” said David Fyfe,CDT’s CEO, “including a deepergreen emitter with CIE co-ordinates(0.36, 0.60) that offers an in-creased lifetime of 50 000 h froman initial brightness of 400cd/m2.”
CDT also developed a blue fluor-escent material with a lifetime of12 500 h and a red phosphores-cent material with a lifetime of50 000 h, both starting from400 cd/m2. These encouragingresults were achieved after CDT’sfirst full quarter of Sumation jointventure operations.
“We were also pleased to see theannouncement by Seiko Epson onits work in developing an OLEDprint head based on our [CDT’s]polymer technology,” Fyfe added.This was achieved in collaborationwith Sumitomo Chemical, CDT’sjoint venture partner and licensee.
SO L I D-S TAT E L I G H T I N G
Luminus Devices, a US developer ofsolid-state lighting, has closed itslatest round of venture capitalfunding on $38 m (729.9 m). Thecash will be used to expand thecompany’s PhlatLight product line.PhlatLight is based on photoniclattice technology and Luminussays that it is the only solid-statelight source that provides enoughbrightness to illuminate large-screen projection televisions.
L A S E R S
JPSA of the US is working with theNetherlands Centrum voor LaserResearch (NCLR) to distribute andservice the centre’s Sirius 1000 UVexcimer laser. Developed by theNCLR, the laser is said to be idealfor drilling precise holes in metalsor other hard materials. It produces1000 W of average power, 1 J perpulse at 1 kHz.
IM AG I N G
Digital imaging specialist DALSAhas established a new businessunit to focus on the Asia-Pacificmarket. DALSA Asia-Pacific will beled by Keith Reuben, who reportsdirectly to the Canadian firm’s CEO,Savvas Chamberlain.
VCSEL S
Firecomms of Ireland has closed a79.6 m investment deal with newand existing shareholders. Theadditional funding will allow the firmto increase production of itssemiconductor VCSELs and newlyreleased fibre-optic transceivers, asit looks towards consumerelectronics and automotive markets.
IN BRIEF
Light work: OLEDs will soon have longerlifetimes and cover larger areas.
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OLEJunNEWS5-11 25/5/06 2.30 pm Page 7
Photovoltaics see funding boost
NEWSANALYSIS
FUNDING
8 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
The mood was optimistic at Pho-ton Forum in Boston, US, in April– and with good reason. SteveEglash of Worldview TechnologyPartners, a venture capitalist (VC)firm based in Silicon Valley, saidthat VC funding for photonicscompanies grew by 17% in 2005to reach $1.15 bn (70.89 bn). Atthe same time, surviving start-upsfrom the telecoms bust have re-grouped, and are now exploitingtheir novel optical technologies todevelop products addressing arange of new markets.
One of the key trends identifiedby Eglash was a growing interestin the photovoltaic sector, whichsaw three of the largest IPOs in2005 as well as major VC invest-ments. CSG Solar of Germany wasthe biggest winner, with fundingof more than $30 m, while othernotable beneficiaries were USstart-ups Nanosolar, Advent Solarand Miasolé.
A near-term driver for invest-ment in this market is the soaringoil price, which is generatingrenewed interest in alternativeenergy sources. But Eglash con-tends that there is a clear long-termneed for solar cells, with the totalmarket predicted to double from$6 bn in 2006 to $12 bn in 2010.
Conventional solar cells basedon monocrystalline silicon willcontinue to dominate the marketover that timeframe, but Eglashbelieves that there is plenty ofroom for technical innovation.Indeed, most start-up companiesare focusing their efforts on devel-oping lighter, cheaper and moreflexible solar-cell technologies. Forexample, Miasolé is exploiting adual-magnetron sputtering tech-nology originally developed formanufacturing hard disk drives toproduce flexible solar cells madefrom thin films of copper-indium-gallium diselenide.
Meanwhile, a number of othercompanies, including Konarka,Nanosolar and Orion Solar, aredeveloping so-called dye-sensitivesolar cells (DSCs), which exploitphotochemical reactions in org-anic dye molecules to convertsolar energy into electricity. DSCsare cheap and easy to produce,but more work is needed toimprove the conversion efficiencyof these devices.
Eglash also noted that VC fund-ing is continuing to support com-panies specializing in opticalnetworking, although most of theinvestment is for later-stage financ-ing rather than new start-ups.Most of the innovation in this sec-tor has moved up the supply chainfrom components to the systemand network levels, but some keyphotonic technologies are stillbeing developed.
One the most ambitious exam-ples is Infinera’s optical platformfor dense wavelength-divisionmultiplexing, which incorporatesan optical chip capable of process-ing data from 10 channels, each ata line rate of 10 Gbit/s (see p30).Infinera has also demonstrated anoptical chip that can process 40channels at 40 Gbit/s, yielding anoverall capacity of 1.6 Tbit/s.
While optical networks areunlikely to need that sort of capac-ity for at least a few years, this earlydemonstrator clearly shows thescalability that can be achievedwith optical integration in InP.
However, Eglash cautioned thatmost component supply in the tele-com sector has become commodi-tized. As a result, some of the start-ups that originally developed pho-tonic devices for the telecom marketare now adapting their technologiesfor use in other markets. One of themost significant growth areas isoptical sensors for medical, indus-trial and military applications.
For example, Paul Larson, presi-dent of San Diego start-up Day-light Solutions, explained how hiscompany has combined tunablelasers and packaging technologydeveloped for telecom applicationswith advances in quantum cas-cade lasers to produce small, tun-able laser sources operating in themid-infrared. Most moleculesshow distinctive absorption signa-tures at these wavelengths, andportable instruments incorporat-ing the miniaturized laser sourcescan be used to detect and identifydifferent molecular species.
The company’s initial targetapplication was homeland security,
since the tunable laser system candetect the presence of explosivematerials from a few feet away, andcan also distinguish between differ-ent chemical weapons agents. Butthe company has seen more inter-est from the medical sector, wherethe technology can be used for non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring.In this case, the device is able toidentify molecules in the breaththat are known to be characteristicof particular medical conditions.
In a similar way, Axsun Tech-nologies is now marketing a “spec-tral engine” that incorporatesmicromachined optical compo-nents within a package measuringjust a few centimetres. Accordingto Petro Kotidis, head of businessdevelopment for the company, thelaser source used in the engineoffers tunability over a 300 nmrange within the near-infrared.When illuminated by radiationover this wavelength range, anysubstance yields a distinct spectralsignature that can be used forquantitative chemical analysis.
Kotidis claims that the quality ofinformation provided by the spec-tral engine matches that of con-ventional spectrometers, whichare expensive, bulky and must beused in a laboratory environment.In contrast, the spectral enginecan be used in portable instru-ments, with key applicationsincluding process monitoring forindustrial and biotech manufac-ture, substance identification forsecurity and military personnel inthe field, and real-time monitoringof optical networks.
Photon Forum was held inBoston, Massachusetts, US, on25–26 April 2006.
Susan Curtis is editor of TechnologyTracking (www.technology-tracking.com) and editor ofoptics.org.
2005 was a good year for optical start-ups, with key venture capitalist investments in opticalnetworking, biophotonics, displays and illumination, and photovoltaics. Susan Curtis investigates.
400
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Venture capitalists invested $1.15 bn in photonics start-ups during 2005, a rise of17% on the previous year, and significant investments have also been made in 2006.
OLEJunNEWS5-11 24/5/06 1.20 pm Page 8
P o s i t i o n
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OLEJunAdverts10 24/5/06 14:08 Page 1
OLEDs gather momentum
NEWSEDITORIAL
11OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
What do retail shelf signs, novelty TVs foryour bathroom or kitchen and flexibledisplays have in common? The answer is thatthey are all forecast to be markets for OLEDdisplays – if and when that technology burstsinto commercial life.
On p33, Kimberly Allen from marketanalyst iSuppli takes a look at the prospectsfor OLEDs in the face of competition from araft of other technologies, not least the LCDand the plasma display. iSuppli expects theworldwide market for OLED panels to reach$743 m (7578 m) this year rising to $3.5 bnin 2012 – a compound annual growth rate of29%. Looking at the detail, the mostimportant initial markets are portable mediaapplications and mobile phone main displays.
The ultimate dream is the large-formattelevision market but this is where OLEDsrun into problems. One of the biggest issuesis the lifetime. Today, OLED manufacturerscan only guarantee lifetimes of around10 000 h before the brightness of the panelreduces to half its initial value. Because ofthis, iSuppli believes that the first OLED TVswill be small and designed for locations suchas the kitchen or bathroom.
“As technical manufacturing capabilitiesgrow, OLEDs may move into more standard-sized TVs (20–30 inches or even larger),” saysAllen. “This could happen around 2010, butonly with continued investment andcommitment from major players.”
A look at the CDT article on p7 shows thatsuppliers agree with this assessment. “Weexpect that there will be larger formatdisplays based on CDT’s technology –certainly by 2011,” Terry Nicklin, thecompany’s marketing director, told OLE.
What OLEDs really need is a uniqueapplication and flexible displays could be theanswer. Flexible LCDs suffer from poor imagequality whereas flexible OLEDs could be usedfor displays such as electronic shelf labels.
The prospects look good for OLEDs, so longas manufacturers continue to invest in theirdevelopment and overcome the technicalchallenges. Proving that keeping an openmind is also key, turn to p13. Researchers inthe US have used salmon DNA as an electron-blocking layer in an OLED. The resulting bio-devices are said to be brighter and moreefficient than their standard counterparts.
Enjoy the issue.
Jacqueline Hewett, editorE-mail: [email protected]
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“OLEDsneed auniqueapplicationand flexibledisplayscould be theanswer.”JacquelineHewett
OLEJunNEWS5-11 24/5/06 3.06 pm Page 11
Salmon DNA improves OLED output
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS 13 R&D 17 PATENTS 19
13OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
OLEDS
By Jacqueline HewettSalmon DNA could hold the key tomore efficient and brighter OLEDs,according to researchers in the US.By incorporating a thin layer ofDNA into the OLED structure, theteam says that its BioLEDs are asmuch as 10 times more efficientand 30 times brighter than theirconventional counterparts (AppliedPhysics Letters 88 171109).
The team’s idea involves usingthe DNA as an electron-blockinglayer. This improves the probabil-ity of electrons and holes recom-bining and emitting photons,which in turn enhances thedevice’s luminance.
“It turns out that DNA hasnearly ideal energy levels thatallow hole transport to proceedunimpeded while it prevents elec-trons being transported tooquickly,” Andrew Steckl from theUniversity of Cincinnati told OLE.“This gives both electrons andholes a greater opportunity torecombine and emit photons.”
Steckl and colleagues used DNA
from Japan. “Salmon fishing is avery large industry in Hokkaido,Japan, some 200 000 tonnes peryear,” explained Steckl. “While themeat and eggs are edible, the maleroe is normally a waste product butit is very rich in DNA.”
DNA is normally soluble inwater, making it very difficult toprocess into thin films. To over-come this, the team used a reac-tion with a surfactant to convertthe DNA into a water insolubleform, but soluble in selected alco-hols. This allowed the group to
spin-coat a 20 nm-thick electronblocking layer of DNA on top of theBioLED’s hole injection layer.
The team tested a green- andblue-emitting BioLED against con-ventional OLEDs and found that theDNA electron blocking layerimproved the luminance in bothcases. For a current density of200 mA/cm2, the green BioLEDachieved 15000 cd/m2, whereasthe baseline device reached just4500 cd/m2. On the other hand,the blue BioLED had a luminance of1500 cd/m2 at200 mA/cm2, while
the corresponding baseline devicereached around 800 cd/m2.
Conventional OLEDs arerenowned for having lifetimeissues but Steckl and colleaguesbelieve that the DNA could alsoplay a role here. “Our preliminaryresults show that the lifetime of theBioLEDs is significantly longerthan that of equivalent OLEDswithout the DNA layer,” saidSteckl. “We are working on under-standing the difference in degrada-tion mechanisms.”
“We are trying to improve thecontrol of the DNA layer thicknessand properties,” he continued. “Weare also introducing lumophores inthe DNA layer to obtain combinedphotoemission from multiple layersin the device. We are consideringother sources of DNA such asmammalian and plant.”
This work was carried out byAndrew Steckl’s group from theNanoelectronics Laboratory at theUniversity of Cincinnati and JamesGrote of the US Air Force ResearchLaboratory.
These images show a wafer with four BioLEDs and the initial salmon DNA fibres.
Andr
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By Liz KalaugherResearchers at Rice University, US,have created star-shaped goldnanoparticles that have unusualoptical properties. Each arm of thestar has a unique spectral signa-ture, giving the materials potentialapplications in 3D molecular sens-ing (Nano Letters 6 683).
“A few years ago, everyone’sattention was on the size of thenanoparticles because altering sizewas a straightforward way tochange the wavelength of lightthat the particle reacted with,”said Jason Hafner of Rice Univer-sity. “Today, researchers areincreasingly interested in intricateshapes and the specific ways that
those shapes affect a particle’s interaction with light.”
Nanoparticles of noble metalssuch as gold exhibit localized sur-face plasmon resonance (LSPR), aphenomenon that causes opticalextinction at certain wavelengthsand gives the materials appli-cations in sensing, imaging and asnanoscale optical waveguides.
Hafner and colleagues made thestar-shaped nanoparticles byadding 10 nm-diameter gold col-loid particles to a gold chloridegrowth solution containing surfac-tant. The same process is normallyused with surfactant-stabilizedseed nanoparticles in place of thecolloid particles, which produces
gold nanorods. In this case,though, the result was star-shapedgold nanoparticles around 100 nmin size, with around 14% of theparticles having at least three tips.
The nanostars had extinctionpeaks in both the visible and near-infrared regions. Each nanostar tipappeared to have a distinct reso-nant wavelength: analysis showed
that each peak was also polarizedat a different angle.
The nanostars’ resonances werealso extremely sensitive to thedielectric environment, undergoinga shift depending on the conditions.The LSPR shift for other nanoparti-cles is typically 500–800 meV/RIU(change in refractive index unit),whereas the team measured shiftsfor the star-shaped nanoparticles of649 and 1410 meV/RIU.
“We are just getting started withour follow-up work, but nanostarsclearly offer some exciting possibil-ities,” said Hafner. “Their extremesensitivity to the local dielectricenvironment is a particularlyattractive quality for molecularsensing.”
Liz Kalaugher is the editor ofNanotechWeb (http://nanotechweb.org).
Nanostars show promisefor 3D optical sensing
SENSING
The Rice University team adapted atechnique for making gold nanorods tocreate the 100 nm-wide gold nanostars.
Rice
Uni
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OLEJunTECHNOLOGY13-19 24/5/06 1.20 pm Page 13
Mains OLED targets lighting sector
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS
OLEDS
14 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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A team from Cornell University,US, has overcome the hurdles ofhigh voltage and AC operation todevise a mains-powered OLED thatcould pave the way for energy effi-cient lighting. Today, lightingaccounts for around 20% of theenergy used in the US, with an esti-mated environmental cost of over10 million metric tonnes of carbonemission per year (J. Appl. Phys 99074502).
By cascading several low-voltageOLEDs in series, the researcherswere able to design a panel thatcould support a mains level supplyof 110 V or more. However, thechallenge of AC operation provedto be harder to solve. ConventionalLEDs require an AC/DC converteror DC voltage offset before they canbe used with an AC supply.
One option is to formulate theOLED using ionic transition metal
complexes (iTMCs), which emitlight for both positive and negativevoltages and therefore suit a pureAC supply. Unfortunately, thesedevices can suffer from slow turn-on times, resulting in lights thatflicker or blink. To tackle this, theCornell team decided to look at
iTMCs with a high intrinsic ionicconductivity.
“We had achieved a significantimprovement in the DC turn-ontimes of iTMC devices based oniridium and ruthenium with ionicliquids, but we didn’t know exactlyhow fast we could get the OLEDs to
switch,” Jason Slinker of Cornell’sLaboratory for Organic Electronicstold OLE. “When we connectedone of these devices to a functiongenerator at 60 Hz, we observedthe stable emission of light – atthat point we had all of the neces-sary pieces to make a mains pow-ered device.”
Lifetime and efficiency stillremain as barriers in terms of tak-ing devices to the lighting market.However, Slinker believes that theefficiencies of the group’s iTMC-based devices are now comparableto incandescent bulbs, althoughprototypes have yet to reach thestandard of fluorescent lighting.
Ultimately, he thinks that deviceswill need to move from their cur-rent level of around 25 lm/W tomore than 50 lm/W before thetechnology will make a big impres-sion on the lighting sector.
Researchers in Canada havedemonstrated a new way ofimproving the image resolutionobtained from digital in-line holo-graphic microscopy (DIHM)(Optics Letters 31 1211).
“By using immersion oil as thefilling medium, an improvement of50% in resolution can be easilyachieved,” researcher Jorge Gar-cia-Sucerquia of Dalhousie Uni-versity told OLE.
One way to obtain higher reso-lutions is to use a shorter wave-length light source. The advantageof the new technique, according tothe researchers, is that it is cheaperand eliminates the need to providethe much smaller pinhole andhigh laser power associated withshorter wavelength sources.
The team borrowed its approachfrom optical microscopy where mat-erials with higher refractive indices
than air are used to fill the spacebetween the sample and recordingscreen to improve resolution.
In its experiment, the team shonea green laser past latex beads, 1 µmin diameter, placed in immersion oilof refractive index 1.5 at 550 nm.At a distance of 15 mm from thebase of the tank, where the beadswere sitting, the researchers placeda CCD chip, itself 2 mm clear of theoil’s surface. As a result of using thedielectric medium, the team ob-served “a considerable increase” innumerical aperture and, conse-quently, the resolution.
The researchers believe that they
can improve the resolution by350%, with the longer wavelengthsinvolved in near-infrared digitalholography and by using silicon,which can provide a very highrefractive index of 3.5 at 1300 nm.
The main challenge of the tech-nique for the team is finding mater-ials with high refractive indices atworking wavelengths. “Right now,weare limited to the materials avail-able in the market and the highestrefractive index of a friendly, non-toxic material is about 1.9 leadingus to theoretical improvements inthe resolution of about 80%,”added Garcia-Sucerquia.
Immersion enhancesholographic microscopy
MICROSCOPY
The cascaded lighting panel operates directly from a standard outlet.
Corn
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CMOS-basedRFID cameras setfor European trial
TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATIONS
IMAGING
15OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Passenger delays cost the airlineindustry millions of euros everyyear. However, help is on its way inthe form of an RFID-enabled CMOScamera developed by a Europeanconsortium known as OPTAG.
Using a triangulation tech-nique, the panoramic surveillancenetwork will allow airlines to pin-point RFID-tagged passengerswithin a busy airport and calcu-late transit times from the depar-ture lounge to the gate. Aircraftoperators are currently fined fordelays in leaving the stand and soare keen to avoid last-minute deci-sions such as off-loading baggage.
“Users will be able to select aregion of interest with a mouse andfollow passengers from one camerato the next,” Jonathan Murrell ofconsortium member Photonic Sci-ence told OLE. “The big advantageof this system is that we are able toprocess high-resolution panoramicimages in real time.”
With frame rates of 15–30 fps,OPTAG has the potential to spotunusual behaviour such as pas-sengers running at high speed.
Priced at around 75000 perunit, each hub consists of eightCMOS sensors arranged in anoctagon and an RFID tag reader.The cameras have been designedto minimize curvature in each ofthe eight images, which makes the
subsequent stitching processmuch easier to handle.
There is no conflicting hardwarezoom or pan and tilt facility.Instead, multiple users can simul-taneously cut sections from the8×2 Mpixel panorama image anduse software to zoom in as required.
OPTAG’s passenger surveillanceprototype will be put through itspaces at Debrecen Airport in Hun-gary later this year. Looking else-where, Murrell believes that thecamera technology could find itsway into a number of other “largearea” applications, such as lowlight imaging and X-ray detection.
By Michael HatcherNTT researchers have made an alu-minium nitride (AlN) LED operatingat 210 nm – the shortest wave-length at which such a semiconduc-tor device has ever been shown toemit light (Nature 441 325).
Although extremely inefficientand with a hefty operating voltageof 25 V, the LED made by YoshitakaTaniyasu and co-workers at NTT’sBasic Research Laboratories inJapan represents a crucial first steptowards the development of verylow wavelength emitters thatcould be used to detect or destroyharmful biological species.
Reporting its work in Nature, theNTT group describes how it used arefined doping strategy to makethe PIN LED and grow the deviceepilayers using MOCVD.
Until now, researchers had beenunable to control the doping of then-type and p-type layers of AlNprecisely enough to demonstratean LED with the material, whichhas the widest direct bandgapamong semiconductors.
“By reducing the dislocationdensity and finely controlling thesilicon doping level, we were able toboost the room temperature elec-tron mobility,” wrote Taniyasu.
According to III–V expert AsifKhan at the University of SouthCarolina in the US, this dopantcontrol is the critical part of thework. It means that sufficient con-ductivity can be imparted to the layers of AlN to form both p-typeand n-type layers, which sandwich
the undoped AlN layer in thedevice. As a result, enough elec-trons and holes can recombine toproduce the deep UV photons.
In the past, AlGaN-based LEDshave been manufactured that emitdown to 245 nm. But doping AlNhas proved much more trouble-some. “Unfortunately, as the alu-minium fraction increases, so toodoes the difficulty of the doping,”wrote Khan in Nature. “It is hard-est of all for AlN – which is, in fact,an insulator.”
At present, the 210 nm LEDreported by the NTT team ofTaniyasu and colleagues MakotoKasu and Toshiki Makimoto isnowhere near good enough for anyreal-world applications such aswater or air purification systems.The primary challenge facing theresearchers now is to increasedevice efficiency and improve on thetiny output power – just 0.02µW.
Two key areas require hugeimprovements for commercialapplications. First, an increase inefficiency by a factor of at least a mil-lion; and second, a reduction inoperating voltage to well below 25V.
While switching to a native sub-strate will help, further increasingthe room temperature conductiv-ity of the AlN layers will also berequired – probably by developingmore efficient doping methods.
Michael Hatcher is editor ofCompound Semiconductormagazine (http://compoundsemiconductor.net).
NTT researchers unveil210 nm deep UV LED
DEEP UV LEDS
360° view: OPTAG’s RFID-enabledCMOS camera provides high-resolution(8×2 Mpixel) panoramic images at aframe rate of 15–30 fps.
Phot
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OLEJunTECHNOLOGY13-19 24/5/06 1.21 pm Page 15
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Insects inspire eye design
TECHNOLOGYR&D
POLYMER OPTICS
17OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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By Belle DuméScientists in the US have made thefirst artificial eye using 3D polymerstructures. The eye, which is madefrom individual “ommatidia” – orsingle lenses – arranged in a domeshape, is similar in structure to aninsect’s compound eye.
The eye was developed by LukeLee and colleagues at the Univer-sity of California at Berkeley. Eachommatidium consists of a refrac-tive polymer microlens, a light-guiding polymer cone and awaveguide that together collectsand directs light into an optoelec-tronics detector that can recognizeimages. If perfected, such eyescould be used in medicine, envi-ronmental monitoring, industryand the military (Science 321 557).
Scientists have long been inter-ested in making artificial, non-mechanical eyes. However, this
has only become possible in recentyears thanks to advances in poly-mer processing that allow flexible3D curved structures to be made.Such structures are similar to thenaturally occurring shapes foundin the lenses of real eyes.
The researchers used a processcalled “templating” in a photosensi-tive polymer resin to make thou-sands of tiny hexagonal-shapedlenses, each measuring just microns
across. Each artificial ommatidiumis connected to a tube-like wave-guide that directs light down intophotodetector arrays that thenbuild up an image of an object.
The lenses are arranged in adome shape so that they projectoutwards in all directions. This pro-vides a wide field of view similar tothat of real insect eyes. The struc-ture also helps to guide capturedlight into the photodetector arrays.
Such eyes could eventually beused to make high-tech cameras,navigation devices in unmannedvehicles and perhaps syntheticretinal implants. Smaller versionsof such sensors could also be swal-lowed and used to image inside thedigestive tract, says Lee.
Belle Dumé is science writer atPhysicsWeb (http://physicsweb.org).
Spherical arrangement of 8370artificial ommatidia on a hemisphericalpolymer dome 2.5 mm in diameter.
ULT R A FA S T O P T I C S
Andreas Tünnermann andcolleagues from the Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Optik andFeinmechanik in Germany havedesigned a hybrid optic that theysay is ideal for the tight spatial andtemporal focusing of ultrashortlaser pulses. The researchersbelieve that the focusing opticshould work well when it comes tothe direct writing of waveguidestructures into fused silica (OpticsLetters 31 1516).
The hybrid optic combines anaspheric lens and a diffractiveoptical element. “The desiredfocusing optics should serve twomain purposes,” says the team.“Firstly it ought to have low internaldispersion for conserving shortpulse durations and secondly ahigh numerical aperture for a tightfocusing spot. We are presentingwhat we believe is the firstexperimental realization of such ahybrid short-pulse focusing optic.”
DY E L A S E R S
A team of researchers from theuniversities of Karlsruhe andSiegen in Germany says that it hascreated the first solid-state dyelaser to emit continuous-wave. Thelaser emission can be tuned from565 to 615 nm by using abirefringent filter and a pumppower of 2 W is said to lead to anoutput power of more than 20 mW(Optics Letters 31 1669).
JOURNAL WATCH
Scie
nce
Intracavity frequency doubling ofred-emitting praseodymium (Pr)laser crystals is an ideal way to pro-duce continuous-wave (CW) UVlight, according to a research teamfrom Germany and Italy. Startingwith a fundamental wavelength of640 nm, the team’s set-up gener-ates 19 mW at 320 nm (Optics
Express 14 3282).“We report CW UV generation at
320 nm by intracavity frequency-doubling of Pr:YLF and Pr:BYFlasers operating at 640 nm,” saysAndre Richter and co-workers.“This is the first intracavity secondharmonic generation demonstra-tion resulting in CW UV laser radi-ation to the best of our knowledge.”
The team used a V-type reso-nator to generate the UV output. In
both cases, a semiconductor laseremitting around 310 mW at480 nm is focused into the Pr crys-tal to produce the characteristic640 nm emission. This red light isthen folded into the second arm ofthe resonator where it passesthrough a frequency-doublinglithium triborate (LBO) crystal.
The team plans to exploit othertransitions to generate wavelengthssuch as 360, 303 and 261 nm.
Praseodymium ionsprovide route to UV
UV SOURCES
OLEJunTECHNOLOGY13-19 24/5/06 1.22 pm Page 17
Holograms trap droplets in mid-air
TECHNOLOGYR&D
OPTICAL TWEEZERS
19OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Researchers in the UK say thatthey have used holographic opticaltweezers to trap and coagulatearrays of micron-sized droplets inmid-air for the first time. The resultcould have applications rangingfrom airborne sampling and sens-ing right through to microfluidics(Optics Express 14 4175).
“The main difference betweenour experiment and previous workusing holographic traps is the factthat our particles, in this casedroplets, are trapped in air,” DavidMcGloin of the University of StAndrews told OLE. “By controllingthe ambient conditions and thevapour pressure of the droplets, weare able to move and coagulatethem in a very controlled way.”
According to the researchers,the technique could pave the wayto a range of potential studies,including looking at droplet gasuptake rates, evaporation, conden-
sation, freezing, nucleation andcoagulation. Spectroscopy canalso be used to determine the parti-cles’ composition.
The team also believes that itsapproach has a range of funda-mental and practical applications.“There are the fundamental appli-cations looking at how airborneparticles interact in external
potentials and single particledynamics,” commented McGloin.“There are also applied appli-cations like airborne sampling,probing chemical contaminantsand bioaerosols. One of the driversof the work is in creating opticallycontrolled chemical micro-reac-tors for microfluidics.”
McGloin and colleagues created4 µm diameter water aerosoldroplets using an ultrasonic nebu-lizer and fed them into a sealedglass cube, which acted as a trap-ping chamber. Green laser light at532 nm illuminated a spatial lightmodulator (SLM) and the resultinghologram was projected into theglass cube.
The SLM allowed for the real-time x–y planar translation of thedroplets to within an accuracy of230 nm at speeds of up to 85 µm/s.In addition to this precise manipu-lation, the researchers have also
shown the ability to coagulatemultiple droplets.
Due to the uncontrollablemotion of the nebulizer aerosol,McGloin and colleagues found itdifficult to fill all the holographictrapping sites – even with a rela-tively simple chamber pattern. Theteam is now looking at ways ofusing “droplet-on-demand” singledroplet maker devices (such as ink-jet printer-heads) to inject andposition the drops more precisely.
Giving further cause for investi-gation, the team found that smalldroplets cannot be trapped easily athigh laser powers, which wouldnot be true with comparable exper-iments trapping colloidal particlesin fluid. “This is a puzzle and indi-cates that there are lots of newthings to discover when looking atairborne trapping,” concludedMcGloin. “We are currently look-ing at the solution to this problem.”
Four aerosol particles, trapped in anarray, are coagulated in a processcontrolled by the spatial light modulator.
INFRINGEMENTUnaxis sets up licensing schemeand files two infringement cases Unaxis Optics, a maker of thin-film opticalcomponents, has established a licensingprogramme for its patented ColorWheels, which areused in projection displays. The company says thatmultiple market players have used the opportunityto lawfully license the ColorWheel technology.
Since setting up the programme, Unaxis saysthat it has filed patent infringement lawsuitsagainst Taiwanese firms ProDisc Technology andDelta Electronics. The complaints have been filedwith the German Landgericht Düsseldorf, a courtwhich Unaxis says is renowned in Europe for itsfast and competent decisions.
LICENSINGKodak licenses its OLED materialsto Taiwanese developer UnivisionKodak has licensed its OLED technology toUnivision Technology of Taiwan. Univision plans toincorporate Kodak’s know-how into futuregeneration flat panel passive-matrix displays. To
date, more than 15 companies have licensedorganic display technology from Kodak. Theagreement also gives Univision the opportunity topurchase Kodak’s patented OLED materials foruse in manufacturing displays.
“This alliance strengthens Univision’s positionas one of the world’s leading OLED producers,”said Lei Ping Lai, president of Univision. “With 200patents granted and pending, Univision pays closeattention to IP and is building a strong IP portfolio.By proactively forming strategic alliances,Univision will further enhance its IP position andincrease its global competitiveness.”
LED developers Lumileds andToyoda Gosei agree patent dealLumileds and Toyoda Gosei have agreed to useeach other’s patents for specific III–Vsemiconductor LED technologies including blueand red emitting devices. Both firms believe thatthe agreement will give each company morefreedom to develop new high-brightness productswhilst eliminating concerns over patents.
Lumileds holds a number of patents for both
red and blue high brightness LEDs whilst ToyodaGosei holds valuable patents for blue devices.“Both parties intend to maintain a friendlybusiness relationship and pursue the developmentof superior high-luminosity LEDs and furtherexpansion of the LED market through faircompetition,” said the partners in a statement.
AWARDPI gains US patent for increasingthe resolution of D/A convertersNanopositioning expert PI (Physik Instrumente)has been awarded US patent number 6,950,050which describes a way of increasing the resolutionof existing D/A converters, without additionalhardware. PI says that the technology, which willbe marketed under the name HyperBit, provideshigher resolution piezo-driven nanopositioningdevices at lower cost.
The patent is entitled “Method and apparatusfor increasing the effective resolution of analogueoutput of digital-to-analogue conventer (DAC)having predetermined digital word size where DACdrives plant.”
PATENTS
To search for recently published applications, visit http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/ and http://ep.espacenet.com.
Dan
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Bur
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Fujitsu and Mitsui have invested around $2.6 m in QD Laser, a joint quantum dot laserdevelopment venture. Matthew Peach finds out why the firm expects to achieve aleading commercial position in optical communications with the technology by 2010.
Fujitsu, Mitsui venturetargets quantum dots
INTERVIEW
21OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
When technology giant Fujitsu and theworld’s largest trading house Mitsui, bothheadquartered in Tokyo, Japan, form a jointventure to commercialize quantum dotlaser technology, it’s time to sit up and takenotice. With an initial investment of¥290 m (72.6 m), QD Laser (QDL) will betargeting its technology at the telecomsmarket and believes it is the only developerthat can bring quantum dot lasers andamplifiers to the market.
“QDL will develop quantum dot lasersemitting at 9xx nm (around 980 nm) for theoptical telecommunications light-sourcemarket,” said Mitsuru Sugawara, presidentand CEO of the new venture, who is movingfrom Fujitsu Laboratories. “We expect thelasers will find applications in optical accessand local area network applications.”
In an exclusive interview with OLE, Sug-awara explains how the microscopic lasersoffer new capabilities and why they will findready markets in optical communicationsapplications worldwide. The quantum dots,and some of their associated technologies,were developed through an academic–industrial research collaboration betweenFujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories andYasuhiko Arakawa’s laboratory at the Uni-versity of Tokyo.
QDL describes its quantum dot lasers asbeing “revolutionary” and says that they aresignificantly superior to conventional semi-conductor lasers. Utilizing quantum dotsemiconductor crystallization technology,developed by Fujitsu, in combination withother laser design and processing technolo-gies, QDL is aiming to capitalize on what itcalls the superior performance of its tech-nologies, to expand its market share andbecome the leader in this industry sector.
As QDL begins to take off, Fujitsu expectsthat, in addition to its current leading shareof the optical transmission device markets inthe US and Japan, the company will enhanceits competitiveness in the optical access mar-ket, for which it anticipates fully fledgedglobal expansion.
OLE: How will the partners supportand finance QDL’s development?MS: The initial capitalization of QDL will be¥290 m. The partner companies will investin increments, with an ownership ratio ofFujitsu 61% and Mitsui 39%. Besides provid-ing technical support through joint researchwith QDL, Fujitsu will offer business man-agement and financial support. Fujitsu’scapital investment will be made through oneof its corporate VC funds while Mitsui’sequity investment will come from MitsuiVentures. As well as supporting QDLthrough strategic planning and fundraising,Mitsui Ventures will also support QDL’sglobal marketing.
Why did Fujitsu and Mitsui decide topartner in this development?This is a trial to conduct R&D, marketing andproduction simultaneously in order to accel-erate the market-in of these still risky, innova-tive products, in contrast to a so-called linearmodel where each step proceeds one at a time.Fujitsu and Mitsui expect that this scheme willsolve the so-called “innovator’s dilemma”(when an innovation is commoditized, oftenstranding the developer) and activate Japan’sglobal industrial competitiveness.
What is the market opportunity foryour proposed lasers?We anticipate that quantum dot lasers willbecome a core technology to underpin newhigh-performance light sources for opticaltelecommunications, for which the data traf-fic is continuing to increase rapidly. QDL willoffer quantum dot lasers to the opticaltelecommunication light source market, ini-tially for use in optical access and opticalLANs within buildings.
What are the likely sizes andpowers of the quantum dot lasers?The typical length of the quantum dot laserchip is around 200 µm. The output power isin the 1–10 mW range depending on theinjection current, which is enough for datatransmission through an optical fibre.
What will be the R&D and productdevelopment routes over the nextfive years?Starting with lasers for short-reach LANs,we plan to develop new types of quantum dotlasers that would be applicable to 10–40 kmtransmission distances. We are also develop-ing quantum dot optical amplifiers withhigher output power, broader gain band-
electrode
n-GaAs
p-AlGaAs
n-AlGaAs
p+-GaAs
quantum dot active regioncross-section plan view
100 nm 50 nm
quantum dotlaser chip
Dotty about lasers: QDL’s CEO Mitsuru Sugawara. Hot dot: the 200 µm-wide lasers deliver 1–10 mW.
OLEJunINTERVIEW21-23 24/5/06 1.23 pm Page 21
width and faster signal response than anyother existing amplifiers used in opticaltransmission.
How will the quantum dot laserscompete with other laser types interms of cost and performance?Quantum dot lasers are revolutionarylasers that are significantly superior to con-ventional semiconductor lasers. This isbecause they deliver higher performance inseveral critical aspects, such as: tempera-ture-independent operation; low powerconsumption; long-distance transmission;and higher speeds.
What is QDL’s likely position in thisevolving marketplace?The market size of our primary target area –which is laser devices and assemblies – isgrowing rapidly due to increased globaldemand for metro/access infrastructure andLANs. Currently, we believe that we are theonly developer that can bring quantum dotlasers and amplifiers to the market. I’m surethat many others will enter the market later.But, with our leading technology and experi-ence in the field, together with continueddevelopment of new technologies, we intendto stay in the top position.
How will business growth occur? Through QDL’s own business with supportfrom Fujitsu and Mitsui. Starting with thelong-reach multimode oriented lasers for a10 Gbit/s LAN, we will extend our productportfolio to include middle- and long-reachlasers as well as quantum dot semiconductoroptical amplifiers. That means we expect alarge volume of sales in the very near futureand certainly by 2010.
For technological developments, QDL willcollaborate with Fujitsu Laboratories and theUniversity of Tokyo. Our goal is to form a solidalliance network consisting of chip, assemblyand module makers, using our quantum dotbased innovative technologies.
Matthew Peach is a contributing editor to OLE andoptics.org.
INTERVIEW
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The founding partners behind QDL“Quantum dotswill form lasersources for optical telecomsapplications.”Mitsuru Sugawara, QDL
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German firm JCMwave, a Zuse Institute Berlin spin-off, has come up with optical softwarethat can model electromagnetic wave propagation on a laptop, solving Maxwell’sequations and offering solutions in just 10 s. James Tyrrell learns more about thecompany that has grabbed the attention of Infineon Technologies and Siemens.
Nano-optical solveroffers rapid solution
OPTICAL SOFTWARE
25OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Rigorous simulation of electromagneticwave propagation can conjure up images ofa suite of PCs humming away in an air-con-ditioned lab, but not if you are runningJCMwave’s nano-optical software. The Ger-man spin-off ’s powerful light scattering andlight propagation algorithms can run on alaptop and deliver accurate solutions withina few seconds. Component optimizationrounds that previously took days, weeks oreven months, can now be performed in just amatter of hours.
Developed to solve electromagnetic prob-lems, JCMwave’s software has a wide rangeof applications from the design of photoniccrystal fibre through to microwave and radartechnology. However, it especially suits nano-optics, where structures are smaller than thewavelength of light.
“For macroscopic systems such as binocu-lar lenses, you might use Gaussian optics orray tracing, but all of these approximationsfail when the feature sizes are very small,”Sven Burger, JCMwave’s research directortold OLE. “Our finite element technique iswell suited for all electromagnetic problemswhere small features play a role.”
The finite element method can handlecomplex geometries, as found in integratedoptics, isolated features including a singlenano-aperture in a metal film or periodicproblems such as photonic crystals and dif-fraction gratings. The technique is the resultof years of research and development at ZuseInstitute Berlin (ZIB).
Keen to realize the software’s commercialpotential, ZIB scientists and industry part-ners from Infineon Technologies andSiemens founded JCMwave in 2001. Thespin-off takes its name from the initials ofScottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell, andwith good reason. Maxwell’s famous electro-magnetic wave equations form the heart ofJCMwave’s simulation tools and are solvedwithout approximation.
“You don’t need to have a farm of super-computers,” said Burger. “We have very fastsolvers that allow calculations to be per-formed on normal computers.” The stand-alone package is based on mathematicalconcepts developed at ZIB and works withWindows, Linux or Unix operating systems.“It’s a tool that can be used by everybody,even on a laptop,” he added.
How it worksOnce the user has chosen the domain andboundary conditions, the package sub-divides the geometry into triangles and deter-mines the associated electric and magneticfields using a fast matrix equation solver.
It turns out that the group’s finite elementmethod of modelling the light field is incred-ibly efficient in terms of computing power.
This is thanks to a so-called adaptive gridrefinement routine, which is steered by anerror estimator to apply the computingpower where it is needed most. As Burgerexplains, this non-uniform grid approachallows users to handle multiscale structuresor arbitrary geometries and is particularlyuseful when modelling discontinuities in therefractive index distribution.
The team compared its fast solver softwarewith other competing packages includingMIT’s MPB solver, which is based on a plane-wave method. “For a target accuracy of 10–2
we have a speed advantage of about 1000versus other methods that are used withinthe industry,” said Burger. “This means thatwe can obtain a solution within a few sec-onds as opposed to a few hours, which isreally significant for many users.” Alterna-
Fast solver: electric field distribution of an eigenmode in a photonic crystal at various grid refinementlevels. The computation time for the high-resolution 147456 triangle solution is just 10 s on a laptop.
JCM
wav
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OLEJunFINITE25-26 24/5/06 1.24 pm Page 25
tively, Burger says that the high-speedJCMwave software can be used to obtainaccuracies that are simply impossible forother packages to achieve, making it anattractive design tool.
JCMwave’s rigorous simulation softwareowes a great deal to its strong link with ZIBand the depth of knowledge that this co-operation provides. Researchers at the 150person-strong, Berlin-based centre forapplied mathematics have been working onelectromagnetic simulation for more than
20 years. What’s more, JCMwave is in aposition to build on this, offering not justsoftware, but also a consultancy service toits customers.
Industrial applicationsOne example is JCMwave’s collaborationwith German chip maker Infineon Technolo-gies, to improve light propagation throughphase masks. “For Infineon, the goal is todevelop phase masks that can produceclearer images in the photoresist and sharper
contrast in order to shrink the chip’s criticaldimensions,” explained Burger. “This leadsto smaller computer chips in the end.”
Burger acknowledges that modelling isonly one of the many steps in the chip devel-opment chain. However, with semiconduc-tor firms placing more and more emphasison computer simulation to save both timeand money, JCMwave could well find itself inthe right place at the right time.
“The masks have dimensions that aresmaller than the wavelength of light, con-tain sharp edges and display a strong con-trast between the metal and surroundingair,” said Burger. “If you want to solveMaxwell’s equations for such a situationthen it is a big advantage to use our adaptivemethods, which lead to a very fast conver-gence of the algorithm and need little mem-ory requirements.”
It’s not just Infineon that has turned toJCMwave for advice. “The European South-ern Observatory (ESO) in Chile was lookingfor a glass fibre that transports light at veryhigh power and with very low losses to oper-ate its adaptive optics system,” revealedBurger. “They were interested in designing ahollow core photonic crystal fibre with verysmall air tubes along the fibre direction andnanometre scale struts in between.”
As Burger explains, previously it couldtake up to a whole day to calculate a givenmode for a single design. “If you want to opti-mize the thickness of the fibre core for exam-ple, it might take months,” he added. “Now,with the finite elements that we use, you canoptimize the design within an hour.”
With some successful projects alreadyunder its belt, JCMwave has ambitions toexpand into antennas, mobile phone technol-ogy and waveguides. “At the moment ourlargest field is nano-optics and lithography,but the software is a simulation tool for elec-tromagnetics, so we can also handle micro-wave or radar problems,” he concluded.
JCMwave presented this work at Laser Optik Berlin,which took place in Germany on 23–24 March.
OPTICAL SOFTWARE
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Photonic Power provides an all-fibre solution that enhances power and data transmissionof remote sensing devices. Mort Cohen explains why power-over-fibre is an attractivealternative to batteries and bulky copper cabling when operating in harsh environments.
Power-over-fibre drivesremote data exchange
POWER OVER FIBRE
27OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Many applications use sensors, transducersand other communication devices in remotesituations that subject the electronics to highradio frequency (RF) noise, electromagneticinterference (EMI), magnetic fields or veryhigh voltage levels.
Duplex communication with these devicesoften uses standard optical fibre. PhotonicPower’s technology generates electricity bylaunching laser-light down a long opticalfibre onto a photovoltaic, which in turn pow-ers any remote electronics and associatedsignal conversion circuitry.
Delivering power-over-fibre in this fashion,and in lieu of copper wiring, has several sig-nificant benefits. Firstly, the system isimmune to surrounding RF and magneticfields, lightning and high voltage effects. Italso offers spark-free operation that is imper-vious to RF heating and will not be affectedby radiation from the power source. Opticalfibre is less bulky than copper cabling and iscapable of operating over longer distances.
Principles of power-over-fibreFigure 1 shows a photonic power module(PPM); using this, up to 5 W of optical powerfrom a laser diode is launched into a multi-mode or singlemode fibre. The operatingwavelength ranges between 780 and 980nmdepending on distance and power considera-tions. This optical power illuminates a photo-voltaic power converter (PPC) that isco-located with the remote electronics up toseveral kilometres from the laser source.
The PPC converts the delivered opticalpower to electrical power with greater than50% efficiency to drive the remote electron-ics. For example, approximately 1 W of opti-cal power illuminating the PPC would resultin 0.5 W of delivered electrical power.
The PPC is typically a 2×2 mm galliumarsenide or indium phosphide chip com-posed of several p–n junctions that are con-nected in series such that the voltages fromthe junctions are additive. The amount ofcurrent delivered is proportional to the levelof light illuminating the chip.
Optically powered data linksThe PPM is the core technology in an opti-cally powered data link (OPDL) system.OPDLs, as shown in figure 2, are noise-immune turnkey solutions for powering andtransmitting data over standard optical fibre.
The schematic in figure 3 shows how anOPDL system integrates with a remote sen-sor. Optical power from a laser diode and dri-ver assembly is launched into the fibre. Theoptical power is converted into electricalpower using a PPC. This converted power dri-ves the sensor and associated analogue-to-digital conversion electronics at the remote
end. The analogue sensor data is then con-verted into a 16-bit digital format and istransmitted through a second fibre using anLED in most cases.
The data are transmitted to a central pro-cessing area where they are either recon-verted to analogue format or digitallyanalysed. Feedback and self-check featuresmonitor all vital functions, including laseroutput level, data-link integrity, recoveryand, if necessary, synchronization. This all-fibre approach provides a unique, electricallyisolated, lightning-proof power delivery anddata transmission system.
remote module
optical fibre(1 m to 2 km of multimodeor singlemode fibre)remote
analoguesensor
LED driver
LED signaltransmitter
PPC(2-12 VDC)power
OPDL system local module
networkcontrol
digital toanalogueconverter
laser diodeand driver
signalreceiver
power
analogueto digitalconverter
Fig. 1: a photonic power module, including a laserdiode, laser driver, photovoltaic power converterand fibre interconnect.
Fig. 2: a typical OPDL system consisting of a laserpower module and a remote power conversion anddata transmission module.
Fig. 3: a schematic diagram of an optically powered data-link system based on a photonic power module.
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29OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Enhancing sensor performance Electronic sensors are used in many indus-trial monitoring and test and measurementapplications to record operating parametersor environmental conditions, such as tem-perature, pressure, humidity, voltage andcurrent. Many sensors are installed in envi-ronments that are hazardous, electricallynoisy, inaccessible, or exposed to extremeweather. Other sensors use batteries as theirpower source even though they require fre-quent replacement or recharging.
Using OPDL technology to power the sen-sor and transmit the sensor data ensurescontinuous, fully isolated power, which isfree from the effects of RF, EMI or magneticfields. It also ensures spark-free operation inenvironments where safety is paramount.
OPDL technology can be used across adiverse array of industries for a wide range ofapplications, including test and measure-ment; sensing in industrial, medical, aero-space and homeland security applications;and electric power current monitoring.
Photonic Power believes that a number ofelectronic measurement devices can benefitfrom its all-fibre solution. These include fieldprobes for electromagnetic compatibilitymeasurements; fuel gauges and sensors onaircraft; underground exploration, mapping,and seismic monitors; location trackingequipment in underground mining opera-tions; video surveillance cameras; medicalmonitoring devices; and current transducersin electric power transmission grids.
The key advantage in most of the appli-cations listed above is immunity to the sur-rounding environment, which permitsoperation in high radiation fields, potentiallyexplosive environments, and hazardousenvironmental conditions such as high tem-peratures or pressures.
In addition, the use of optical fibre fully iso-lates the electronics from lightning and highvoltage effects and eliminates the possibilityof RF-induced heating. All of these factorstranslate into increased personnel safety,improved equipment reliability and reducedmaintenance costs.
Electromagnetic interference testingThe test and measurement industry isincreasingly using OPDL technology to mon-itor electromagnetic emissions from a varietyof commercial products including mobilephones and other wireless devices; comput-ers; televisions; and automotive equipment.
Electrical circuits produce electric andmagnetic fields that radiate RF energy,increasing the possibility of the electronicsexceeding regulated EMI limits. Electric fieldprobes are used in EMI testing to quantifyemission levels and help identify EMI sources.
Traditional EMI chamber testing can belong and arduous. Batteries typically providethe power for the probes and the testing mustbe halted when recharging or replacement isrequired. This downtime limits the number oftests that can be performed in a 24 h period.
As shown in figure 4, OPDL technologycan continuously power the probe whilegenerating sampling data at high rates, pro-viding performance measurement. TheOPDL serves as an isolated power supply todrive the EMI probes, offering a pure powersource that contributes no extraneous inter-ference and eliminates the need for batteriesand battery exchange or recharge.
EMI testing can be completed more effi-ciently and more cost-effectively. The small
form factor of the PPC also permits the use ofcompact probes in confined spaces withreduced electric field perturbation.
Photonic power harnesses laser light tooffer a totally new method of driving elec-tronic circuitry. The use of an OPDL systemeliminates large, costly instrument trans-formers, bulky coaxial cable, batteries andlightning suppressors for many industryapplications while offering fully isolated elec-tric power and data transmission at a com-petitive price.
Mort Cohen is product line manager of thePhotonic Power business unit of JDSU, e-mail:[email protected]. For further information please see http://www.jdsu.com.
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Fig. 4: isolated power and data transmission for enhanced electromagnetic interference measurements.
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Photonic integration was one of the hot new ideas thatemerged during the telecoms boom, but it wassubsequently shelved by cash-strapped componentvendors. Now, as Roy Rubenstein reports, the technologyis back on the table and could be set for a big revival.
Optical integration moveINTEGRATED DEVICES
30 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Considering that the market for 40 Gbit/stransmission is yet to take off, Infinera’srecent announcement is nothing short ofextraordinary. The optical networking equip-ment maker has detailed a lab demonstra-tion of an optical chip comprising 40channels, each one operating at 40 Gbit/s.“The reasoning [for such a device] is purelyeconomic,” explains Jagdeep Singh, CEO ofthe US systems vendor. “It is the lowest costway to deliver bandwidth.”
Even though this 1.6 Tbit/s device will notbe deployed for several years, it highlightsthe performance hike that can be achievedwith a photonic integrated circuit (PIC)made entirely from indium phosphide (InP).More significantly, Infinera’s PIC strategycould signal a forked path in the optical net-working industry.
InP is the material of choice for active opticaldevices, accounting for more than 60% of theglobal telecom market for discrete optical com-ponents, according to market analyst Ovum-RHK. Its dominance stems from its energybandgap – which spans the full range of opti-cal-networking wavelengths (920–1650nm)– and its high refractive index, which yieldsmore compact devices.
Infinera’s PICs exploit monolithic integ-ration, in which a single material system isused to implement all the component’s opti-cal functions. InP is ideal for monolithicintegration because it can support all the keyoptical functions, including lasers, gainblocks, detectors and passive waveguides.There are issues with yield however – see“InP manufacturing yields” box p31).
The alternative approach is hybrid integ-ration, in which several different materialsare used, each one best suited to a particularoptical function. The challenge with hybridintegration lies in developing the assemblytechniques and a platform to host the differ-ent materials.
High speed fuels PICs Today, development of monolithically integ-rated InP circuits is being driven by high-speed transmission, and in particular the
move towards 40 Gbit/s and new 100 Gbit/sstandards.
Indeed, the most widely deployed InP PICto date is an electro-absorption modulatedlaser (EML), which combines a laser andmodulator in InP. Tunable lasers also integ-rate several functions in a single InP device.“Tunable lasers are selling in reasonable vol-umes – several tens of thousands a year –while EMLs are in the hundreds of thou-sands,” says Vladimir Kozlov, the founder oftransceiver market analyst Lightcounting.
Apogee Photonics, US, is one companyconcentrating on the 10 Gbit/s laser market.Apogee has its origins in two InP start-ups:ASIP and ThreeFive Photonics, the latterhaving brought to market such monolithicdevices as a multiwavelength receiver and anoptical performance monitor.
Apogee’s focus is to exploit its selective-area growth and asymmetric twin-wave-guide technologies to optimize the opticalfunctions in its range of laser products. “Weconnect functions using tapers and, withprecise control of the composition and struc-ture, we can determine the performance ofthe laser and modulator,” says MilindGokhale, Apogee’s CTO.
One example is Apogee’s uncooled EML,which operates over a wide temperaturerange. “We are using one of the best integ-ration platforms to make more down-to-earth products that the market needs in largequantities,” says Erik Pennings, Apogee’sdirector for product marketing.
Cyoptics, US, is another InP specialist mak-ing EMLs, as well as tunable lasers undercontract for other firms. Like Apogee, its staffhas made some exotic PICs in the past. “Wemade a distributed Bragg grating with phasecontrol, a power detector and a modulatorfor a tunable laser over the C-band,” saysRobert Hartman, Cyoptics’ vice-president fordevice design and development. “We evenhad a version with an SOA that was finishedin development.” But the market wasn’tready for such devices, he says, and didn’twant to pay any more than a 10% premiumfor single-wavelength (untuned) devices.
Now, however, Cyoptics says that it is see-ing renewed interest in PICs, particularly inthe emerging 100 Gbit/s Ethernet standard.Two schemes are being considered for100 Gbit/s Ethernet: four channels at25 Gbit/s or one 50 Gbit/s channel withmodulation. If a phase-modulation schemeis chosen, integration will be needed to real-ize the complex detector and waveguidestructures that will be required.
For now, though, carriers – and by impli-cation, system vendors – want to maintainflexibility by using only a fraction of a sys-tem’s capacity. More channels are lit, or achannel is upgraded from 2.5 Gbit/s to10 Gbit/s, only when the need arises.
“For any WDM system, our philosophy ispay-as-you-grow,” comments EmmanuelDesurvire, senior director for photonic tech-nologies in Alcatel’s photonic-networkproduct group. Such an approach does notfavour multichannel PIC designs – such as“32 lambdas at once” – for optical network-ing. “Also, in case of a single-channel failure,the corresponding line card can be replacedwithout hitting the full (e.g. 320 Gbit/s) traf-fic,” adds Desurvire.
Indium phosphide is the material of choice for active optical devices (far right) is the first transport platform to be based on large-scale PI
All
imag
es:
Infin
era
OLEJunINTDEVICES30-31 24/5/06 1.27 pm Page 30
System PICsWhen designing a new system, vendors suchas Nortel Networks look at the platformspecification in terms of the interfaces – andthe density of interfaces wanted by the car-rier – and the reach. Depending on the matu-rity of the integration process, Nortel willconsider the technology if it delivers power,size and, in some cases, improvements in sys-tem performance.
Alcatel stresses that adequate trade-offsbetween different performance criteria mustbe made when considering integrated prod-ucts. Adopting an integrated device willprobably require the line card to beredesigned, and that adds to the cost. “Thetechnology also has to be mature and proven– we don’t take chances in the field,” saysDesurvire. “A highly integrated device is notnecessarily the best solution. Throwing awaywhat you have can have an impact across the[network] architecture.”
With Nortel and Alcatel selling their opti-cal component divisions, it has also becomemore complicated to explore how integ-ration can benefit system design. “It is diffi-cult to predict what optical component
players are doing and for them to secondguess systems performance,” says MichelBelanger, senior technical advisor in Nortel’snext-generation optical network group.
Indeed, Infinera’s decision to make sys-tems allows the company to put its PIC tech-nology at the heart of its design. “If you don’thave control of the optical technology, youcan’t have a differentiated product,” saysDave Welch, Infinera’s chief strategy officer.
Infinera’s DTN platform addresses the costissue of optical–electrical–optical conver-sions by integrating discrete transponderfunctionality into its transmit and receivePICs. Infinera will not detail the resultingcost-savings, but one carrier suggests that itsDTN platform is 30% cheaper than equiva-lent DWDM systems.
Welch claims that Infinera’s InP manu-facturing process is robust enough toachieve high yield. “We make DFB lasers in asimilar fashion to everyone else, as we do ourmodulators,” he says. What is different isthat Infinera gets its engineers to designaround the process. “We design what theprocess can manufacture.”
Infinera’s design also trades off optics and
electronics. Forward-error correction andelectronic dispersion-compensation tech-niques are used to relax the optical specifi-cations, placing more of the link-budgetburden on the electronics. Nortel makes asimilar point about the importance of integ-rated components – not just optical, but alsoanalogue and digital silicon chips.
“Infinera basically can do what othersthought impossible because they expandedthe domain over which they did their designtrade-offs to span systems to processing,”says Karen Liu, research director for compo-nents at Ovum-RHK.
And while the industry is focused on a pay-as-you-grow approach, Infinera’s strategy isto deliver wavelength blocks – in chunks of10×10 Gbit/s – cheaply enough, whether ornot they are all needed. Welch argues that aline card costs roughly the same, regardless ofwhat is on it, and the company’s PIC shifts theindustry from 10 to 100 Gbit/s on a line card.The company’s prototype 40×40 Gbit/s PICwill deliver a further ten-fold hike in three tofour years’ time.
As to whether the pace of monolithicintegration will hasten in the next five years,most believe not. But that doesn’t meanthere won’t be exciting developments. Per-haps the most exciting is the placing of a tun-able laser within an XFP package thatsupports line-side transmission distances of80 km and greater. Agility (recently boughtby JDSU) has an InP monolithically integ-rated tunable laser that is sufficiently small tofit within an XFP package.
This development indicates that a varietyof transceiver types will converge to one formfactor, with one laser and one receiver. Unitvolumes will go up while the price of such atunable, pluggable DWDM interface will dipbelow $1000 (7780).
Meanwhile, Infinera believes that it is onlya matter of time before someone breaksaway from the pack to make a PIC triplexer.At the same time, advances in hybrid tech-nology continue to reduce packaging costs.Only time will tell which integration methodwill win.
Roy Rubenstein is a freelance technology journalistbased in Omer, Israel. For more information, see:http://www.iviht.com.
A version of this article originally appeared in the May2006 issue of FibreSystems Europe in association withLightwave Europe.
31OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
es back onto the agendaA key issue dictating whether an InP monolithicintegration approach makes commercial sense isyield -- in other words, how many of the totaldevices processed on a two- or three-inch InPwafer will actually work. “Yield is a powerfunction,” explains Ian Lealman, vice-president forproduct development at the Centre for IntegratedPhotonics. That means that the final yielddepends on the initial yield raised to the power of
the number of functions included on a PIC. For example, if an InP process with a 90%
yield is used to make a six-element device, thefinal yield will be 53%. Infinera’s 10×10 Gbit/stransmitter PIC has 50 optical elements and its40×40 Gbit/s prototype has some 240elements, so the company must have a veryhigh-yield process to achieve enough workingdevices that are not too expensive.
InP manufacturing yields
evices and its ability to support passive waveguides makes it the ideal platform for monolithic integration. Infinera’s DTNcale PICs. Its features include protection switching, grooming, bandwidth management and digital performance monitoring.
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OLEJunINTDEVICES30-31 24/5/06 1.27 pm Page 31
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Analysts expect the OLED panel market to grow by more than $200 m in 2006 as thetechnology gathers momentum. Kimberly Allen of iSuppli looks at the prospects forpassive and active OLEDs in the face of stiff competition from LCDs.
OLEDs on the look-outfor unique application
MARKET REPORT
33OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) are ubiquitousin everyday technology, from mobile phonesand laptops to car stereos and coffeemachines. But the organic light-emittingdiode (OLED) display is emerging as a credi-ble flat-panel alternative thanks to someimportant advantages over LCDs.
OLEDs possess the most fundamental fea-ture needed in a display – they look great. Asthe name implies, OLEDs are diodes andfunction by injecting holes and electrons intoa recombination region from which colouredlight emerges. Different organic materialsemit red, green, blue or other wavelengths oflight, and come in small molecule and poly-mer form. Because they are emissive, OLEDsalso have an excellent viewing angle, goodcontrast and high brightness.
Unlike an LCD, an OLED does not need abacklight, which means that the displaypanel can be thinner. This is an importantadvantage in mobile devices. OLEDs alsooffer the potential for lower power consump-tion compared with an LCD, which is alwaysconstrained by the power consumption ofthe backlight. OLEDs supply power only tothe pixels illuminated in a given image. OLEDmaterials and device structures are becom-ing so efficient that an active-matrix OLED(AMOLED) a few inches in diagonal, show-ing video (on average 30% of full brightness),consumes less power than an equivalentLCD. In addition, because OLEDs can operateat high speed – around 100 times faster thanan LCD – devices can support video rateswithout blurring.
ChallengesOLEDs fall into two categories: passive matrixand active matrix. Active matrix means thatevery pixel is individually switched, asopposed to a passive matrix arrangement,where row and column electrodes are used tocontrol the pixel at a given intersection.
Unfortunately for manufacturers, OLEDdriving schemes tend to be more compli-cated than LCD devices. The reason behind
this is that OLEDs are current-driven and aresensitive to slight fluctuations in current.LCDs on the other hand are voltage-driven.Instead of needing one thin film transistor(TFT) per pixel in an active matrix scheme,OLEDs need between two to five, arranged ina compensation circuit.
However, the biggest hurdle facing OLEDdevelopers is short lifetime. Although OLEDmaterials and device structures haveimproved greatly over the past few years,manufacturers can still only guaranteebetween 5000 and 15 000 h of operationbefore the brightness of the panel is reducedto half of its initial value. This performance issufficient for mobile phones and other con-sumer electronics, but inadequate for televi-sion and more sophisticated products. Theorganic materials simply do not hold up wellunder the driving current or the exposure toother materials within the device. What’smore, the cathode material is highly sensitiveto air and even when sealed, the OLED per-formance degrades slowly over time.
Device lifetime is shortened not only bydeclining brightness, but also by colour drift.For example, if the red, green and blue emit-ters degrade at different rates, the displayshifts in hue over time. Typically, colour
OLEDs are made by patterning red, greenand blue emitters into subpixels, although itis also possible to mix multiple emitterstogether to form a single “white” materialand use a colour filter.
With a commercial history of just sevenyears, OLED manufacturing remains at anearly stage, both in terms of technique andequipment. Small-molecule OLEDs are madeusing vapour deposition techniques, such asevaporation through a shadow mask. OLEDmaterials are too delicate for photolithogra-phy. Polymer OLEDs are made by solutionprocessing, either spin-on techniques (formonochrome) or inkjet printing (for colour),although the latter has not yet been com-mercialized. Yields are quite high for simplepanels, but established processes have notbeen put in place for most types of colourpanels. This means that OLEDs are still pricedhigher than equivalent LCDs.
Early successDespite the challenges involved, OLEDs havealready reached the market in several keyapplications. The first commercial OLEDproduct was a small-molecule, passive matrixmonochrome car stereo display from Pioneerin 1999. Sold as an aftermarket device, the
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Worldwide OLED panel market, 2004–2012: TV could take off around 2010 if backed by major players.
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display was blue-green to resemble vacuum-fluorescent versions commonly in use. Sincethen, OLEDs have moved into mobile phones,MP3 players, a Kodak digital camera, variousindustrial and medical devices, and a fewother consumer electronics.
Market valueThe worldwide market for OLED panels wasvalued at $520 m (7400 m) in 2005, and isexpected to reach $743 m in 2006, rising to$3.5bn in 2012. This represents a compoundannual growth rate of 29% from 2006 to2012. Looking at the detail, the growingimportance of portable media applicationsand mobile phone main displays is clear.
The biggest market for passive matrixOLEDs is subdisplays, followed by MP3 play-ers. 2005 was a difficult year for OLED subdis-plays with the number of units and value bothdeclining in comparison to 2004. Colour sub-displays fared better than monochrome orarea colour versions, showing a modestincrease in units. However, even this categorydeclined in value from $252 m to $206 m.
The difficult subdisplay market was theresult of the falling price of TFT-LCD panels(for main displays), which in turn forceddown the price of colour super-twistednematic (CSTN) LCD panels for both maindisplays and subdisplays. OLED manufactur-ers, unaccustomed to swift market changesand unwilling to greatly reduce pricesbecause costs remained high, failed to keepup with the changes until later in the year. Atthat point, orders had already been placed forCSTN LCDs.
Simple OLEDs have been favoured in MP3players, which are often used as fashion orstatus items by younger people, because anarea colour OLED display is much more eye-catching than a monochrome LCD. MP3players have played an important role in thePMOLED market over the past two years,leaping more than eight-fold in units between2004 and 2005, and filling the gap in factoryutilization during fluctuations in the subdis-play market. They have also provided anopportunity for smaller PMOLED makers toenter the market. Difficulties in the MP3 mar-ket include component shortages and anunstable base of OEMs. The OEMs making theMP3 players are largely Chinese, and shiftsuppliers readily, seeking the lowest price.
The OLED market is still heavily dominatedby passive matrix panels, which are expectedto account for 99% of value and more than99% of units in 2006. But active matrix pan-els are poised for commercialization. A fewproducts have already appeared, althoughfull mass production at adequate yield hasnot yet been achieved.
Looking at the worldwide OLED display
shipment value in terms of passive and activemarkets highlights the enormous changesthat could soon occur within the industry.The PMOLED market is predicted to continuegrowing in units throughout the forecastperiod, but is expected to stagnate at a valueof around $1 bn from 2008. This is due tothe steep price competition already beingseen with CSTN. It is worth noting that thePMLCD market has already stagnated and isnow declining in value each year.
An active marketThe growth of the OLED market dependsheavily on the success of AMOLED. iSupplibelieves that near-term commercialization ispossible, and makes this assumption in itsmarket forecast.
The first commercial AMOLED reachedthe market in April 2003. It was made bySK Display Corp – a manufacturing joint ven-ture between Kodak and Sanyo – and wasused in a Kodak EasyShare LS633 digitalcamera back display. The 174 (×RGB)×218pixel, 65 000-colour display measuring2.2 inches has also been used by Ovideonand NeoSol for personal media players in2005. However, SK Display folded in late2005, primarily for financial reasons. InJapan, Sony released one model of its CliePDA series fitted with an AMOLED duringthe first half of 2005 and is planninganother AMOLED product, although no def-inite announcements have been made.
The most aggressive AMOLED companycurrently is Samsung SDI. It has investedheavily in building a factory and capitalexpenditures will reach $450 m. The plan isto release a mobile phone main display inearly 2007 and samples are already shipping.
In the meantime, AU Optronics (AUO) hasstarted selling a 2 inch AMOLED for a mobilephone. The OEM is BenQ-Siemens (whichowns 40% of AUO), and the phone is beingsold initially in Taiwan and then Europe.
Other Taiwanese players are making definiteplans. Chi Mei Electroluminescence (CMEL)was spun-off as a subsidiary of the Chi MeiGroup in 2004 and plans to release bothPMOLED and AMOLED panels in small sizesduring 2006. Toppoly has built an AMOLEDline and intends to release panels for a cam-era and a mobile phone near the end of2006. Other players involved with AMOLEDinclude Toshiba Matsushita Display, Hitachi,Samsung Electronics, LG.Philips LCD, RiT-display, Epson and Sharp.
The key application for AMOLED is themobile phone main display. It offers thelargest total available market (TAM), and iswell-suited to the OLED’s attractive image,low power consumption and thin profile. Inaddition, the increasing use of video onmobile devices also favours the OLED’s fastspeed. One challenge is the assurance of sup-ply. Mobile handset makers need assurancefrom OLED panel suppliers that they candeliver at least 10 000 panels per month andoften much more. Unfortunately, this figureis currently beyond the capability of mostpanel suppliers because of low yield andprocess development is continuing toimprove manufacturing competence.
An interesting new idea is the possibility ofarea colour main displays for emerging mar-kets such as India and South America. It issuggested that these markets could be likethe MP3 market, where an inexpensive butattractive display is needed, so that areacolour OLED is a superior choice to STN-LCD.However, it remains to be seen whetherCSTN might actually emerge as the display ofchoice in these cases.
Looking further aheadThe ultimate dream of many OLED panelmakers is to serve the large-screen televisionmarket. OLED is well suited to TV – it has fastspeed, good colour, excellent viewing angleand high contrast ratio. TV does not require
MARKET REPORT
34 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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high resolution, so inkjet printing should beable to serve. The main challenges are thelarge size, long lifetime requirement(30 000 h), and low price point. Anotherhurdle is the competition from many othertechnologies, which is rarely acknowledged.
The TV market is already flooded withoptions: CRT, LCD, plasma, projection and thepotential for a variety of novel technologieslike SED and carbon-nanotube-based tech-nology. Consumers, for the most part, do notcare about the particular technology – theytend to look only at the picture quality and theprice, followed by the size or depth. Having somany technology options makes it difficult tograb the attention of end-product OEMs andchannel vendors, and display companiesthemselves may have to make strategicchoices if they can offer multiple technologies.
Currently, OLEDs cannot be manufacturedin large sizes. Even the more aggressive par-ticipants such as Samsung Electronics haveannounced that they plan to enter the mar-ket around 2008. More time is needed toestablish manufacturing processes for largepanels and to build equipment that can makesuch panels efficiently. Inkjet printers forlarge substrates are still in the beta phase.
Thus, it is likely that the first OLED TVs willbe small, designed for novel locations such asthe kitchen or bathroom. The TAM for thissort of TV is small, but OLEDs offer novelty.Later, as technical and manufacturing capa-bilities grow, OLEDs may move into morestandard-sized TVs (20–30 inches, or evenlarger). This could happen around 2010, butonly with continued investment and com-mitment from major players.
Beyond television lies the potential forOLED lighting. Some say that this applicationcould be simpler because there is no need topattern subpixels or provide a complex back-plane to drive it. But the requirement for longlifetime remains, and so OLEDs must stillgrapple with the difficulties of organic mat-erial degradation and colour shift. These areexacerbated at the high brightness levelsrequired for lighting applications.
Finding a nicheWhat OLEDs need most is a unique appli-cation that LCDs cannot serve. At this time,everything an OLED can do can also be doneby an LCD – and for a lower price. Further-more, most of the key companies developingOLEDs are also LCD players, and hence theyare ramping up OLED products as part of alarger strategy that will not cannibalize theirown LCD businesses.
One option for a unique product would bea flexible OLED. Flexible LCDs exist, but areless appealing than flexible OLEDs. The maindifficulty with flexible LCDs is that the image
quality is so strongly affected by the cell gapbetween the two substrates of the display.OLEDs have no cell gap challenge, althoughthis advantage is balanced by the disadvan-tage of requiring a powerful barrier to pro-tect against water in the air. While glasssubstrates provide such a barrier naturally,plastic allows too much water to pass andmust have a barrier layer. Adequate barriertechnology has not yet been developed.
Flexible OLEDs could be used in appli-cations such as shop signage, electronic shelf
labels, novel forms of advertising displaysand even electronic books or paper. Mostdevelopers agree that even entry-level prod-ucts are still at least 2–3 years away due totechnical challenges, but this represents animportant long-term option for OLEDs.
Kimberly Allen is director of display technologyand strategy at iSuppli, a US-based group ofmarket experts specializing in the semiconductorand display industries. For more information, seewww.isuppli.com.
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OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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OLEJunMARKETREPORT33-35 24/5/06 1.29 pm Page 35
A beam profiler is an essential tool for any laser user. Carlos Roundy describes theoptions available and how to pick the right profiler for your application.
Beam profilers providecrucial laser statistics
PRODUCT GUIDE
37OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Every laser user knows that they need apower or energy meter to monitor theirlaser’s output to check that it is operatingproperly. However, many laser users do notappreciate the value of a laser beam profiler.The profile, in contrast to the raw power orenergy, is the distribution of the intensitywithin the laser beam.
The ideal distribution can vary from laserto laser and from application to application.For example, many processes require thehighest possible intensity. In this case, aGaussian or TEM00 beam is ideal because itfocuses to the smallest possible spot. On theother extreme, applications such as strip-ping paint off battleships require a uni-form, large-area beam and here a flat-topbeam is desired.
Different lasers naturally produce differenttypes of beams, but each one can be opti-mized. Most Nd:YAG lasers are multimode atmost power settings, but the profile of thatmultimode beam can change dramaticallyover time or for various settings.
On many lasers, a change in power resultsin a change in beam profile. In some cases,the power density will decrease even whenthe total power is increased. An illustration ofthe value of a beam profiler is shown for theNd:YAG laser profiles in figure 1.
In figure 1a, the laser is at a low-power set-ting which gives a somewhat Gaussian beam.
In figure 1b, a mid-power setting produces2.5 times more power but the peak intensityincreases by only 27%. Note that the beamwidth increased by 31%, something thatwould not have shown up on a power meter.In figure 1c, the high-power setting produces24% more power over the mid-power settingbut the power density increases by only 5%.Increasing the power to the Nd:YAG flashlamps increases the laser power, but the peakpower, which often does the work, may notincrease as much as the total power.
Types of beam profilerMost beam profilers fit into two technologygroups. The first includes mechanical scan-ning slit, pinhole or knife-edge devices whilethe second is camera-based.
Mechanical scanning profilers give thehighest resolution, especially when meas-uring the profile of focused spots and resolu-tion in the range of 1µm is possible. Theseprofilers work by a mechanical knife-edge(pinhole or slit) crossing the laser beam infront of a single element detector. The detectorreads out the signal versus time and electron-ics converts the time signal to a spatial one,giving the beam profile.
While mechanical profilers can measurebeams to the highest resolution, they havethe disadvantage that they only work forcontinuous-wave (CW) lasers and not pulsed
sources. They also give only a two-axis profile(or with one commercial device, 7 axes) asopposed to a full 2D profile.
Camera-based profilers work by splittingoff a small percentage of the beam anddirecting it onto a 2D camera sensor. Theintensity distribution of the signal is thenread from the camera and processed by com-puter software.
The resolution of camera-based profilershas increased dramatically over the last fewyears as camera pixels are now in the 4 µmrange. This is a great improvement over the10–20 µm pixels of just a few years ago.
The big advantage of camera-based prod-ucts is that they profile the entire beamsimultaneously and give a picture of the full2D pattern. These profilers work with bothpulsed and CW lasers, and there is a broadrange of software features to fit almost everyuser’s application.
A camera-based profiler consists of a cam-era to receive the laser beam, a computer andsoftware to display the profile, and a widevariety of optics, to attenuate the beam beforeentering the camera (see figure 2 on p38).
Camera-based profilersThere are many camera sensor types tochoose from when it comes to this type ofprofiler. The most common is a CCD sensor.Cameras using CCD sensors are very linear
Fig. 1: sometimes dramatic changes occur in the beam profile versus power settings. With this Nd:YAG laser, from setting 1 to setting 2 the power increased by150% (2.5×) but the peak intensity increased by only 27%, due mainly to the complete change in the profile, or intensity distribution, but also partly becausethe beam width increased by 31%. From setting 2 to setting 3 the power increased by 24%, but the peak intensity increased by only 5%.
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OLEJunBUYERSGUIDE37-39 24/5/06 1.29 pm Page 37
and have a high signal-to-noise ratio, both ofwhich are essential for accurate beam widthmeasurements. This is because low-levelenergy in the wings of the beam has a signif-icant effect on measuring the beam width.Newer CCDs come with a FireWire output,which is the fastest currently available tech-nology to interface with PCs.
CMOS sensors are also common and tendto use a USB interface, which enables easy
connection to laptop computers. However,CMOS sensors are not as linear as CCDs,especially at the low intensity levels at whichthe suppression of the wings of the beam cancause errors in beam-width measurements.Overall, a CMOS beam profiler typically costsabout74000, versus 75000 for a CCD.
A third sensor common to beam profiling isindium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), which isused primarily for the 1–1.8 µm wavelengthrange. InGaAs cameras are very expensive atabout 730 000. Recent replacements forInGaAs cameras, which cost in the range of73000 to 710 000, use a phosphor that issensitive in the 1550 nm range. However, thephosphor cameras have considerably lowerresolution than the InGaAs cameras.
The next most common sensor is a pyro-electric camera, which works extremely wellfor wavelengths longer than 1.8 µm rightinto the terahertz region of 3000 µm. How-ever, these are also expensive, in the range of720 000, and have fairly low resolution at100 µm pixels, with a maximum of124×124. Pyroelectrics are the only com-mercially available camera for the terahertzregion, but are not sufficiently sensitive formany applications. Pyroelectric cameras,however, are great for CO2 lasers at 10.6 µm,where there is always plenty of power.
A major issue is the use of camera-basedprofilers with Nd:YAG lasers. CCD or CMOSare typically used but the Nd:YAG laserwavelength often causes blooming. Thisblooming is sometimes, but not always, vis-ible in the beam profile and could distort thebeam-width measurements.
Beam-width measurementBesides visualizing the laser beam, meas-uring the beam width is probably the nextmost important contribution of a beam pro-filer. One must know the beam width to cal-culate the power or energy density. The beamwidth is essential for calculating the diver-gence of the beam, which helps predict thepropagation characteristics and width of thebeam as it travels through space or otheroptical components. The width measure-ment is used in calculating the beam propa-gation factor, or M2, which has become the
PRODUCT GUIDE
38 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Fig. 2: basic elements of a camera-based beamprofiler are the camera, a PC, software and display,and attenuation optics (not shown).
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“Many laser usersdo not appreciatethe value of abeam profiler.”
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OLEJunBUYERSGUIDE37-39 24/5/06 1.30 pm Page 38
most standard and useful measure of the“quality” of a laser beam.
Tom Johnston, one of the early designersof beam propagation analysers, famouslysaid that measuring the width of a laserbeam is like trying to measure the width ofa cotton wool ball with a caliper. Variousdefinitions were common, such as FullWidth Half Maximum (FWHM), 86% ofthe energy, 13.5% of the peak, 10–90knife-edge, and others, which made thefield very confusing.
However in ISO 11146 the “standard” def-inition for a beam width became D4σ. This isthe only beam width definition that enablesone to predict what width the beam will be inpropagating through space. Software algor-ithms are available that enable camera-based profilers to measure the D4σwidth.
SoftwareCommercial beam profilers tend to comewith a variety of software features. Themajority of companies offer the same basicfeatures, even though the look and feel isslightly different. However, one distinguish-ing factor is the proper treatment of the cam-era offset baseline that is essential foraccurate laser measurements.
One supplier holds a patent for the algor-ithms that correctly set the baseline of thecamera. The problem with the baseline is thatCCDs and CMOS typically have an offset to thebaseline relative to zero.
If this offset is positive, the software willinterpret it as wings in the laser beam and cal-culate a width that is too large. If the offset isnegative, the beam wings are cut off by thedigitizer and the measurement will be toosmall. By subtracting the baseline accuratelyand keeping components of noise that areboth positive and negative in the baseline sub-traction, a beam profiler can accurately meas-ure laser beams under a much greater varietyof circumstances.
Other software considerations are ease ofuse; speed of update of beam profile data;ability to use a number of different cameras;automatic setting of the camera electronicshutter for automatic beam attenuation; andmany more. Users should select software tai-lored to their application.
Software to measure the beam propaga-tion factor, M2, is also available. There aretwo commercial standalone M2 measuringunits and a number of packages that providesemi-automatic M2 measurements.
ApplicationsAlthough scientists are well-versed in usingprofilers in their investigations, scientificresearch continues to throw up new users,uses, and applications. In medical markets,
the primary use of beam profilers is still withthe developers of the lasers, rather thanwith the users, and profilers could greatlyimprove the reliability of medical proce-dures using lasers.
Materials processing has seen only minimaluse of beam profilers. However, it has beenshown that reliability of the processes andproductivity could be greatly improved by theapplication of beam profilers to the lasers.
In summary, the combination of a power
or energy meter with a beam profiler pro-vides complete characterization of a laserbeam. Both of these measurements are criti-cal in making informed decisions about thestatus of the laser performance.
Carlos B Roundy is president of Spiricon Inc, whichhe founded in 1978, and can be reached at [email protected]. Spiricon merged with Ophir OptronicsInc in January 2006. See http://www.spiricon.comfor details of Spiricon’s beam profilers.
PRODUCT GUIDE
39OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
These images show typical 2D and 3D laser beam profiles and the detailed beam structure that isproduced in real time. This is not available by any means except camera-based beam profilers.
Spiricon
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NEWSLETTERT 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
OPERA2015 celebratesa successful first yearas it develops acommon vision foroptics and photonics in Europe.
It has been a successful first year for theOPERA2015 project and photonics in Europe.
Firstly, OPERA2015 provided support to Pho-tonics21, a European Technology Platform ded-icated to photonics, as it prepared its StrategicResearch Agenda (SRA).
Secondly, the project developed and imple-mented a public relations (PR) and dissemina-tion strategy. Thirdly, OPERA2015 started tocompile information on the state-of-the-art inEuropean optics and photonics research as wellas industry and market analysis. Finally, theOPERA2015 Forum on the 7th Framework Pro-gramme (FP7) and the Photonics TechnologyPlatform was held at Photonics Europe in Stras-bourg, France, in April.
Strategic Research AgendaThe SRA Towards a Bright Future for Europe wasproduced by the European Technology PlatformPhotonics21 in co-operation with OPERA2015.
The SRA provides the basis for a common strat-egy to achieve strong European leadership in thefield of photonics. It will help to coordinateinvestment into research and development(R&D) at the European, national and regionallevels, and will address the funding of photonicsresearch and development under the EuropeanCommission’s FP7. The SRA was presented tocommissioner Viviane Reding by the president ofPhotonics21 on 4 April at Photonics Europe.
The starting point for preparing the SRA wasthe Photonics21 workshop, which was held inBrussels on 2 December 2005. More than 250participants attended the workshop where thecontent for the first draft of the SRA was dis-cussed. OPERA2015 provided support for theorganization of the workshop.
Dissemination and public relationsThe PR and dissemination activities of the proj-ect have not only addressed the stakeholders inoptics and photonics via conferences and arti-cles in specialist journals, but have also openedup communication with non-participatinggroups and general media.
Various instruments, existing activities andWeb portals have been used to disseminate theresults of OPERA2015 and inform of project
development. Here is a selection of highlights:● a database of existing websites, printed media,events, conferences and fairs has been created;● a dissemination calendar has been preparedwith successful contacts;● www.opera2015.org was launched;● the EOS Newsletter was published four times ayear as a supplement to Optics & Laser Europe;● OPERA2015 had a booth at trade fairs includ-ing Laser. World of Photonics, Munich (June2005) and Photonics Europe (April 2006).
Research and industry analysisOne of the goals of the OPERA2015 project is toset up a database of the links between industryand research in order to strengthen Europe’scompetitiveness in optics and photonics (O&P).The activities include creating an overview ofthe O&P industry in Europe and developing a setof O&P innovation strategies. By followingthrough on these plans, the EU FP7 researchprogramme can be targeted towards the effectivesupport of the O&P industry.
The scope of the work also includes an evalu-ation of the R&D capabilities of European labo-ratories and universities. The links betweenindustry and R&D will become apparent as thisinformation is analysed. The objective is to con-tact several hundred companies and R&Dorganizations within the next few months. Wekindly invite the photonics community ofEurope to support OPERA2015 by providinginformation on European industry and researchcapabilities and innovation strategies.
Forum on FP7OPERA2015 invited the entire European pho-tonics community to learn the latest develop-ments and to provide further input to thePhotonics Technology Platform at a forum heldrecently at Photonics Europe. Topics that makeup the platform include communications andinformation, display and lighting, and laser-assisted manufacturing and machine vision.
At Photonics Europe, presentations that rep-resented a vision for the next decade of develop-ments in photonics were given by a group ofdistinguished speakers who had been invited tothe occasion.
OPERA project gets off to a flying start
J U N E 2 0 0 6
More than 250 people attended the OPERA2015-supportedworkshop (top) to discuss thecontent for Photonic21’s StrategicResearch Agenda (bottom left). The OPERA2015 project is alsodeveloping a public relations plan(bottom right).
OLEJunEOS41 24/5/06 1.31 pm Page 41
The EUCommissioner for informationsociety andmedia, VivianeReding, respondsto questionsconcerning the7th FrameworkProgramme andthe role oftechnologyplatforms.
EOS: Cohesion versus excellence: Severalamendments of the European Parliament proposeto consider expense in addition to excellence,and to increasingly relocate research activitiesinto new European Union (EU) member states.Will the Lisbon agenda of excellence be dilutedin this way?
VR: The Lisbon agenda concerns all regions ofEurope and if there are specific actions proposedfor some regions I would not call it dilution ofthe fundamental principle of scientific excel-lence. The Lisbon agenda is relevant for bothEU cohesion and research policies. Strengthen-ing the research capacities of new member statesand some other regions of the EU is in factincluded in both policies.
The Commission’s proposal for cohesion pol-icy in 2007–2013 aims to increase coherencebetween cohesion policy and other Communitypolicies such as research. The structural fundscan be used to build up research and innovationcapacity in all regions, thereby increasing theircompetitiveness and enabling their participa-tion in the Framework Programmes for Researchand the proposed Competitiveness and Innova-tion Programme.
In addition, the Commission’s proposal forthe 7th Framework Programme (FP7) forResearch includes ways to develop researchstrategies and to unlock the research potentialof the EU’s convergence and outermost regionsto stimulate their greater participation in EUresearch activities. Such measures couldinclude twinning, networks for exchangingknow-how and expertise, secondments, acqui-sition of research equipment and awareness-raising activities.
EOS: Would it be conceivable to assign the basicand frontier research to the European ResearchCouncil and the application-oriented research tothe technology platforms, and to thus establishtwo complementary research instruments?
VR: I do not believe in strict separations. Thecurrent research and innovation process calls foran interactive process, where all stakeholdersare involved. Innovation requires a continuoustwo-way flow of knowledge and ideas betweenbasic research and industrial and appliedresearch. This is mainly what is supported ininformation and communication technology(ICT) in the Framework programme. The tech-nology platforms will help us to identify the pri-orities that this collaboration should focus on.
EOS: With the Small Business InnovationResearch (SBIR) programme, the US has an
SME programme with a financial value of morethan $1 bn (7803 m). American SMEs can sub-mit project proposals within the scope of SBIRwithout the obligation to involve further part-ners. Is a comparable programme intended orconceivable for Europe?
VR: The Commission has carefully followedthe SBIR programme in the US but the situa-tion and challenges facing European SMEs aredifferent from the US. A simple copying of theAmerican programme is unlikely to work. Forexample, in Europe it is more efficient to man-age funding programmes directed at single SMEsat local and regional levels. This is what is beingdone in the national programmes for innovationand for supporting SMEs. The total budget forthese programmes is equivalent to, if not higherthan, the SBIR. In addition the proposal for theFP7 includes specific measures targeting SMEgroupings, such as the CRAFT scheme.
EOS: A lot of amendments of the European Par-liament propose to further develop the role ofthe technology platforms towards a body forapplied research and even to the point of anadministrative co-ordinator. Would this be con-ceivable from the point of view of the EuropeanCommission? Technology platforms have playeda minor role within the present preparations andstrategies for the FP7. How can the importanceand financing of the technology platforms beseen within the course of the FP7?
VR: European Technology Platforms (ETPs)help industrial and academic research commu-nities in specific technology fields to co-ordi-nate their research and tailor it to a commonStrategic Research Agenda (SRA), which setsout R&D goals, time frames and action plans fortechnological advances that are relevant toindustry and society. Their objectives have astrategic importance for Europe in both eco-nomic and social terms. The input of ETPs willbe taken into account when we are preparingthe work programme.
The Commission has, in the communicationof 16 June 2004, stated that the research agen-das of technology platforms might be supportedpartially from the Framework programme usingthe normal instruments of the FP7. There willbe no budget pre-allocation to any such plat-form in the Framework programme, and it isimportant to remember that for ETPs, theFramework programme is just one source offunding among many others.
The only exception is that in a limited num-ber of cases, some “joint undertakings” might becreated for the implementation of an SRA
E O S N E W S L E T T E RJ U N E 2 0 0 6
INTERVIEW
Commissioner Reding speaks
OLEJunEOS42-43 24/5/06 1.32 pm Page 42
developed by a technology platform. The plat-forms using this mechanism would then becalled Joint Technology Initiatives.
EOS: Training and further education is animportant topic for the technology platforms –and of course for Photonics21. Is it conceivableto consider and to use the results worked out bythe technology platforms as a supporting instru-ment for the Bologna process? Is it politicallyconceivable or desirable to establish “Europeangraduate schools” for certain fields at excellencelocations in Europe instead of creating virtualorganizations?
The US investment in ICT is four timeshigher than the funding volume provided forIST in Europe. At the kick-off event of the Pho-tonics21 technology platform in Brussels on2 December 2005, you said that this fact givesthe EU much room for improvement. How canthis be shaped and implemented?
VR: There are a number of different ways inwhich we in Europe can improve our position.One is the need to increase greatly our invest-ment in R&D. This is a cause that I have con-sistently fought for in the budgetary discussionsat European level. R&D is important for thefuture of Europe, both for the quality of life ofour citizens and for maintaining the growth ofour industry.
In addition there is a need for increasedinvestments from national and regional levelsand especially from the European industry itself.Industry should be encouraged to quickly trans-late research results into innovation and toachieve critical mass by establishing researchand manufacturing ecosystems. We have toensure that our efforts are coordinated andfocused by creating a coherent strategy thatmobilizes public and private investment in themost efficient way possible. This is exactly
where a technology platform such as Photon-ics21 can play a vital role with its SRA.
When investing in R&D, it is important tohave a cost-benefit analysis to ensure correct focusof efforts. We must concentrate on those areas inICT, such as photonics, which show great prom-ise, that are of strategic importance and where wecan expect a greater return on investment.
Another aspect which is just as important asinvestment in R&D is education and training.Without a sufficient supply of trained peoplecoming from European universities and techni-cal schools, it will be very difficult for Europeanindustry to compete with the US and in particu-lar with Asia.
We need to get more young people interestedin following careers in engineering and science.We need closer co-operation between industryand universities to ensure that industry has earlyaccess to the bright new ideas coming from aca-demia while at the same time giving the rightindustrial orientation to university educationand research.
These questions were prepared by Prof. Chris Dainty(National University of Galway), Prof. WolfgangSandner (Max Born Institut für Nichtlineare Optik undKurzzeitspektroskopie im Forschungsverbund Berline.V.) and Prof. Peter Seitz (CSEM Zürich).
E O S N E W S L E T T E R J U N E 2 0 0 6
The EOS annual meeting will be held in Paris,France, on 16–19 October and will be run inconjunction with the OPTO exhibition at thePorte de Versailles.
The EOS is proud to announce that two dis-tinguished Nobel prize winners in physics will beplenary speakers at the event. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, ENS, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel,France, and Wolfgang Ketterle of MIT, US, willgive plenary talks on 16 and 17 October.
The 2006 annual meeting will feature six top-ical meetings, three of which will be held jointlywith the Quantum Electronics and Optics Divi-sion of the European Physical Society. The sixtopical meetings are: biophotonics and biomed-ical optics (QEOD/EPS and EOS); extremeoptics (QEOD/EPS and EOS); nanophotonics,
metamaterials and optical microcavities(QEOD/EPS and EOS); micro-optics, diffrac-tive optics and optical MEMS; photonic devicesin space and nonlinear optics: from sources toguided waves. More details can be found atwww.myeos.org/events.
2006 is an election year for the EOS Board and therewill be five seats to be filled. We invite all EOS membersto take advantage of this opportunity and take part inthe election to the Board in July. Every member of theEOS will be informed by e-mail about the procedure ofthe election. For more information see the EOS website,www.myeos.org, or contact Petra Bindig at the EOSoffice in Hannover, e-mail: [email protected].
EOS Board elections 2006
The EOS annual meeting comes to Paris The venue this year isParis, France, on16–19 October.
“I have consistentlyfought for anincrease in R&Dinvestment at theEuropean level.”Viviane Reding
OLEJunEOS42-43 24/5/06 1.32 pm Page 43
Are you a member of EOS?
E O S N E W S L E T T E RJ U N E 2 0 0 6
For more information about any of these events, visit www.myeos.org.
To contact the EOS board:Executive director Klaus [email protected] Joseph Braat [email protected] Peter Török [email protected] Daniel Dolfi [email protected]
To learn more about your nationalEOS branch, please contact:Belgium Yvon Renotte [email protected] and Slovak republicsPavel Tomanek [email protected] Steen Grüner Hanson [email protected] Harri [email protected] Francoise [email protected] Cornelia Denz [email protected] Aladar [email protected] Anna Consortini [email protected] NetherlandsBernhard [email protected] Aasmund Sudbo [email protected] Katarzyna Macukow [email protected] Laurentiu [email protected] Ivan [email protected] Concepcion Domingo [email protected] Fredrik Laurell [email protected] Peter Seitz [email protected] Peter [email protected]
EOS Newsletter is produced forthe European Optical Society by Institute of PhysicsPublishing.
Editor Jacqueline [email protected]: +44 (0)117 930 1194
Individual members are eligible for:● a regular EOS Newsletter e-mail;● reduced conference fees;● reduced prices for the EOS journal;● free subscription to Optics & Laser Europe;● and, for those living outside Germany, a 50% discount ona subscription to the German-language journal Photonik,published by AT-Fachverlag.
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.
Look at the benefits
EOS 2006 membership feesIndividual members (who do not belong to a branch or affiliated society of the EOS): 740Students (who do not belong to a branch or affiliated society of the EOS): 710Corporate members (regardless of the number of employees of the company or members of the institute): 7200
Individual members of the branches DgaO (Germany), SFO (France), SSOM (Switzerland), SOS (Sweden) and SIOF (Italy) areautomatically full individual members of the EOS. Individual members of the affiliated societies Promoptica and CBO-BCO(Belgium), CSSF (Czech and Slovak Republic), DOPS (Denmark), FOS (Finland), the Optics Division of the Norwegian PhysicalSociety (Norway), the Optics Division of the Polish Physical Society (Poland), ROS (Romania), SEDO (Spain), LAS (Russia)and the Optical Group of the Institute of Physics (UK) are automatically associate members of the EOS.
Membership informationTo find out more about joining EOS, contact Klaus Nowitzki, executive director, Hollerithallee 8, D-30419 Hannover,Germany (tel: +49 (0)511 2788 115; e-mail: [email protected]; web: www.myeos.org).
Calendar ContactD A T E E V E N T L O C A T I O N
16–19 May LAMP 2006 International Congress on Laser Kyoto, JapanAdvanced Materials Processing
18–19 May 2nd EOS Short Course on Optical Fabrication St Gallen, SwitzerlandTechnology
5–7 June WIO 06 Fifth International Workshop on Toledo, SpainInformation Optics
19–22 June CGIV 2006 Third European Conference on Leeds, UKColour in Graphics, Imaging and Vision
10–14 July 7th National Symposium on Display Holography St Asaph, UK
28–31 August ROMOPTO 2006 Micro- to Nano-Photonics Sibiu, Romania
4–7 September ICO Topical Meeting on Optoinformatics/ St Petersburg, RussiaInformation Photonics
13–15 September Speckle 2006 Nîmes, France
16–19 October EOS Annual Meeting and Topical Meetings Paris, France
OLEJunEOS44 24/5/06 1.33 pm Page 44
Deformable mirrorFlexible Optical
Flexible Optical willpresent its 37-channellow-cost piezoelectricdeformable mirror,which has a clearaperture of 30 mm. Thefull surface stroke is8000 nm, with a
maximum stroke between the adjacentactuators reaching 3000 nm. The mirror iscontrolled by two 400 V 20-channel high voltageboards and uses either an 8-bit PCI or 12-bitUSB interface.
The mirror can be operated at frequencies upto 2 kHz or 1 kHz with standard electronics. Thecompany says that the mirror’s surface can becoated with a broad range of HR metal andmultilayer dielectric coatings. It adds that themirror integrates easily with FrontSurfer wavefrontsoftware into a complete closed-loop systemrunning with a frame frequency of up to 50 Hz.www.okotech.comBooth I48
SpectrometerInstrument Systems
Instrument Systems willdisplay its new CAS140CT range of compactarray spectrometers. Inaddition to high-sensitivity back-
illuminated CCDs, InGaAs and extended InGaAsdetectors allow the seven models in the series tocover the spectral range from 200 to 2160 nm.
According to the company, the CAS140 CTspectrometers offer a spectral resolution of 1 nmas well as efficient stray light rejection and anenhanced dynamic range. The product is said tomeet all the requirements of both R&D andproduction settings, while a USB version alsoopens up mobile applications.www.instrumentsystems.deBooth E23
Spatial light modulatorHoloeye Photonics
Holoeye’s new HEO1080P phase-onlymodulator is based ona reflective liquid-crystal-on-siliconmicrodisplay with fullWUXGA/HDTV
resolution (1920×1080 pixels). Due to anelectrically controlled birefringence displaymode, the phase panels provide a pure phaseshift of 2 π up to 1064 nm. Two panel versionsare available optimized for 420–810 nm and800–1100 nm.
All optical phase functions are addressedusing a DVI graphics card. With a pixel pitch of8 µm, HDTV resolution, a high light efficiencyand an image refresh rate of 60 Hz via the DVI,the HEO 1080P is said to suit phase-shiftingapplications such as wavefront correction,optical tweezers and interferometry.www.holoeye.comBooth C71
Optical lensesB&M Optik
Three different cases ofsample optical lensesare now available fromB&M Optik. One caseholds 16 samples ofground and polishedoptics while the othertwo contain mouldedlenses of various shapeswith diameters ranging
from 3.65 to 68 mm. The ground and polishedset includes planed and biconvex lenses,
achromats and aspherical lenses (diameter22.4 mm; focal length from 18 to 200 mm) aswell as concentrating and plane reflectors,prisms, cylindrical lenses and a frame.www.bm-optik.deBooth G33
Beam profilerCoherent
Coherent’s LaserCam-HR high-resolutionbeam profiler nowfeatures a new softwarerelease of 4.3X which issaid to include animproved interface forincreased speed,enhanced ease-of-useand greaterfunctionality.
The company adds that the BeamView-USBsoftware responds more rapidly to user input,speeding data acquisition and allowing theprofiler to be used in production environments.The new software also comes with an “analysisonly” mode for offline analysis of previouslyacquired data and support for a variety of datastorage devices.www.coherent.comBooth A42
SHOW PRODUCTS
45OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
First launched in 1992, OPTATEC 2006 willtake place at the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre,Germany, on 20–23 June. OLE previewssome of the new products on show.
OLEJunOPTATECPRODUCTS47-50 24/5/06 1.34 pm Page 45
OLEJUnAdverts46 23/5/06 13:50 Page 1
Optical fibresLaser Components
Laser Components saysthat it can manufactureand supply all thenecessary optical fibres
used to direct light from a pump laser into alasing medium such as a rod. The company saysthat the fibres can be assembled with variouscore diameters and connectors.
An SMA connector with a free-standing fibre isusually used to couple light from the pumpsource into the lasing medium. LaserComponents says that this ensures that a largepercentage of the light enters the fibre withoutdestroying the connector. The fibre-ends canalso be AR coated on request.www.lasercomponents.co.ukBooth D01
DPSS laserKlastech
Klastech of Germany ispresenting its newgeneration of singlelongitudinal mode,TEM00 DPSS lasersemitting up to 300 mWat 532 nm and 20 mWat 442 nm. Both
versions feature the company’s double-enhanced intra-cavity frequency conversion(DENICAFC) technology, which provides high-efficiency frequency conversion and optimumoutput coupling from the laser.
According to the firm, its DENICAFC lasers areresistant to mechanical vibrations and changesin temperature. Applications includeholography, interferometry, flow cytometry andCD mastering.www.klastech.deBooth A23
Laser cavity analysis softwareLAS-CAD
LAS-CAD has launchedversion 3.3.4 of itsLASCAD programme forlaser cavity analysisand design. Novelfeatures include:
computation of power output from quasi 3- and4-level systems; an interface to ray-tracingcodes TracePro and Zemax; thermal analysis ofcomposite laser materials; and visualization ofthe overlap between profiles of pump light andlaser mode.
LASCAD provides analysis of the complexinteraction between pump light distribution andthermal and optical fields in solid-state lasers.Modelling of this interaction and its influenceon beam quality, cavity stability and laserefficiency is needed to analyse and optimizelaser cavities.
LASCAD offers predesigned FEA models forconfigurations such as end- and side-pumpedrods, slabs, or thin disk lasers.www.las-cad.comBooth G44
Retroreflector interferometerSIOS
SIOS has introducedminiature retroreflectorinterferometers with ameasurement range ofup to 5 m and a
resolution of 0.1 nm. The German firm claims that its Series MI
interferometers are highly accurate andperfectly linear thanks to a temperature andpressure stabilized HeNe reference laser. Theinterferometer is said to be easy to align andcan accommodate moving-mirror translationrates of up to 0.6 m/s. Results can bedisplayed either on the unit itself or on a PC.The miniature interferometers can be used onsingle-axis and multi-axis measuring stages, tocoordinate measuring machines as well as forthe calibration of machine tools andpositioning devices.www.sios.deBooth B29
SHOW PRODUCTS
OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
SIOS Meßtechnik GmbHAm Vogelherd 46
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OLEJunOPTATECPRODUCTS47-50 24/5/06 1.34 pm Page 47
Fibre-coupled laser diodeDILAS Diodenlaser
DILAS is introducing anew series of fibre-coupled laser diodesystems emitting 100,200 and 400 W througha 400 µm fibre with a
numerical aperture of 0.22. The sources areoffered at 980 ±10 nm although 810 and940 nm versions are available on request.
The system consists of a 19-inch rack mountfor the laser diode module, a chiller for theindustrial water cooler and a power supply andcontrol unit. DILAS supplies a 5 m armoured fibrewith either a high-power SMA connector for up to100 W or Optoskand RQB/QBH connectors forthe 200 and 400 W products respectively.www.dilas.deBooth C73
PhototransistorsHamamatsuTwo low-cost phototransistors, the S10084 andthe S10115, are now available fromHamamatsu. The company says that thecomponents are ideal for use in brightnessdetection applications such as backlight controlof LCD TVs and mobile devices, ambient lightsensing in household or outdoor lighting fixturesand surveillance cameras.
The S10084 is a through-hole typephototransistor that can replace CdSphotoconductive cells of the same shape tocomply with the RoHS directive. The S10115 isa surface-mounted phototransistor withdimensions of 1.25×2.0×0.8 mm. Bothdevices have a spectral response of380–750 nm and a peak sensitivity at 550 nm.www.sales.hamamatsu.comBooth C12
Thin-film monitorLeybold Optics
Leybold Optics ofGermany has releasedan optical system formonitoring thin-filmlayer deposition. TheOMS 5000 offers highrepeatability and is
supported by high signal resolution, low signalnoise and multiwavelength capability. Integratedas part of the firm’s SYRUSpro coating system,the transmission sensor has been shown to givea uniformity of ±0.5% on a 1.4 m diametercalotte (SYRUSpro 1510) and ±0.3% on a 1 mdiameter calotte (SYRUSpro 1110). The systemcan be used to produce sophisticated filterdesigns such as multiple cavity filters andnarrowband line filters.www.leyboldoptics.comBooth F23
SHOW PRODUCTS
w w w . p h o t o n l i n e s . c o m
Low light level Camera
UV-LED module
High speed Camera
48 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Optical softwareIB Eckerl
IB Eckerl (IB/E) hascome up with anonlinear optimizationmodule for non-sequential raytraceanalysis in co-operation
with TracePro developer, Lambda Research. Themodule, which is based on Scheme – TracePro’spowerful macro language – can be used tocreate complex and performance-enhancedillumination. According to IB/E, operators canmodify analysis functions and define custommerit functions, which is said to make thegeneration of user-defined irradiationdistributions straightforward. www.ib-eckerl.deBooth C43
Grinding and polishing machinePeter Wolters
Peter Wolters, a makerof fine-grinding,polishing and lappingsystems, will present itshigh productivity double-wheel machine atOptatec. The AC 530-Fhas a swing-out upperworking wheel for
automatic loading and unloading and accepts arange of shaped workpieces. These includeround, rectangular or irregular shaped workpieceswith or without cut-outs. The unit is said to suit themachining of thin or delicate parts.www.peter-wolters.comBooth D59
Calibration standardSILIOS Technologies
SILIOS Technologies,France, has addedvertical calibrationstandards, fordimensions less than
20 nm, to its range of microstructured products.Measuring 5×5×0.5 mm, with an effectivearea of 1×1 mm, the chip includes step heightsfrom 1 to 20 nm and is available in a choice ofSiO2 or Si. According to the firm, the standardsparticularly suit atomic force microscopes andscanning probe microscopes.www.silios.comBooth C46/C50
Fibre-optic componentsFrank Optic Products
Frank Optic Products ofGermany can supply arange of componentsfor industrial andmedical markets, such
as laser cables with active cooling, ceramicreflectors and sapphire optics. Visitors to thefirm’s booth will get the chance to see a specialpresentation of optical components andsystems used in the production of automobiles.Other exhibits include large plano and plano-parallel optics, dielectric colour effect filters andmetallic mirrors.www.frank-optic-products.deBooth C21
3D positionermechOnics
mechOnics of Germanywill be available todemonstrate thefeatures of its newMX35 3D positioner.The product offers10 mm of travel in the x,y and z directions and
measures just 45×35×36 mm. The smalleststep-width is 15 nm and the highest velocity isaround 1 mm/s.
The MX35 can be controlled remotely byeither the 3 axes CU 30 USB controller or thehand-held and battery-driven CN 30 controller.Customized designs and electronics areavailable for OEMs. The company adds that theMX35 positioning stage is driven by a piezo
inertial drive and can hold any given positionwithout drawing a current.www.mechonics.deBooth I44
Carbon black measurementAtomic Force
Atomic Force ofGermany is nowdistributing the Xi-100optical profiler fromAmbios Technologythroughout Europe. Theprofiler usesinterferometricmicroscopy, licensed byAmbios from theColumbian ChemicalCompany, to perform
carbon black dispersion characterization invulcanized elastomeric systems.
According to Atomic Force, the Xi-100 useswhite light interferometry to generate 3Dtopographic maps of fresh-cut rubber surfaces.The maps allow undispersed carbon blackagglomerates to be identified. Crucially, AtomicForce says that the measurement time for thistechnique is only a matter of minutes.www.atomicforce.deBooth G34
SHOW PRODUCTS
49OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Colour wheelUnaxis
Unaxis, a specialist inoptical thin films andglass processing, hasreleased its latestcolour wheel dubbedSilentWheel Mini.
Designed to split colours in field sequentiallight management systems, the device suitsdigital projection, video production and photo-imaging applications. The firm’s colour wheelsoperate at speeds of up to 11 000 rpm and areindividually balanced to give long-termreliability and low noise. www.optics.unaxis.comBooth D30
Vacuum coatingCotec
Cotec’s portfoliocomprises a completerange of purity-testedcoatings andaluminium sputteringtargets. Other materialssuch as tantalum,tungsten andmolybdenum are also
in the Cotec range. Single parts for coatingsystems are also available. Wear-and-tearparts are compatible with all major coatingsystems and the range includes elements forthermal and e-beam evaporators. Cotecpossesses the necessary expertise andmechanical capability to provide standard andspecial services for all kinds of systems.Industrial application sectors include technicaloptics and automotive companies.www.cotec-gmbh.comBooth C13
Surface finishing and coatingSatisloh
Satisloh will present itsentire precision opticsproduct line fromsurface finishingthrough to coating atOptatec. Dubbed 1200-
TLF-PO, the firm’s high vacuum coating systemoffers plasma-enhanced coatings and suitsmedium to large production quantities. Thecompany claims that its SP-100 sputter coaterprovides stable and reproducible coatings onorganic and mineral substrates up to 100 mm indiameter. According to the firm, the technologyis perfect for applications at visible and infraredwavelengths. Other machines available fromSatisloh include complex processing centresand a 7-axis corrective polisher.www.satisloh.comBooth H34
SHOW PRODUCTS
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50 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Diamond opticsElement Six
Element Six now hasthe capability to designand manufacturediamond optics for usein high-power CO2
lasers. Availableproducts include output couplers, beam splittersand exit windows, all of which can be coatedwith standard AR and PR coatings. The companysays that optics made from CVD diamondenhance CO2 laser performance by improvingbeam quality, offering outstanding reliability andeliminating thermal lensing during operation.www.e6.com
SpectrometerStellarNet
The UVN Super-Rangespectrometer fromStellarNet operatesbetween 200 and1100 nm and featuresa high-speed USB 2.0
interface. The high-resolution spectrographincludes a 2048 element (3648 optional)detector array with extreme grating opticstechnology that is said to deliver high efficiencyacross the entire spectrum.
StellarNet adds that the product has nomoving parts for shock-proof durability andportability, and provides better than 0.75 nmresolution at low cost. The product comes withfree SpectraWiz software and a range of fibre-optic accessories is available.www.stellarnet-inc.com
Video pyrometerRaytek
Raytek has added amotorized, remotelycontrolled variabletarget focus function toits Marathon MM seriesof high performancenon-contact infraredtemperature sensors.All of the motorized
focusing components are contained within thesensor housing and the focus can be adjustedeasily, either by a push button on the instrumentor remotely via a RS232/RS485 connection.
The variable focus option has a focus range of200 mm–2.2 m from the target. Marathon MMsensors are also available as close-focusmodels with fixed optics that enable targets assmall as 0.5 mm to be measured from adistance of 150 mm.www.raytek.de
CMOS cameraPhotonfocus
The MV-D750E seriesCMOS camera fromPhotonfocus ofSwitzerland offers up to60 frames per secondat 750×400 pixels
with 10-bit resolution. Higher frame rates arepossible by using dedicated regions of interest.Features include high-image contrast, globalshutter and a choice of Camera Link or USB 2.0interfaces. The camera is supplied in a compact,industrial housing.www.photonfocus.com
Regenerative amplifierELS
The PowerDiskregenerative lasersystem from ElektronikLaser System (ELS) ofGermany producespulses with up to 25 mJ
energy and 10 ns duration at 1 kHz. Therepetition rate can be varied from 1 to 100 kHz.
ELS says that the PowerDisk system uses a
VersaDisk thin-disk laser as a seed source andits fundamental wavelength can be set between1010 and 1050 nm. An etalon can be insertedinto the optical cavity to narrow the seed laserlinewidth to 5 MHz. The output of the VersaDiskis modulated using a Pockels cell to produce10 ns pulses. The output beam is thenexpanded to the required beam diameter for theregenerative amplifier.www.elscorp.com
Supercontinuum sourcePrecision Photonics CorporationPrecision Photonics Corporation (PPC) isoffering high-power supercontinuum sourcesstarting at $29 900 (723 450). The firm claimsthat its fibre-laser-based sources provide anoptical spectrum of 1200–2000 nm and apower density of more than –17 dBm/nm.Spectral uniformity is said to be less than 13 dB,with a long-term spectral stability of better than0.15 dB. Push-button operation ensures that thedevices, which require no tuning, are simple touse. Applications listed by PPC include opticalcomponent testing, sensing, spectroscopicanalysis and optical coherence tomography.www.precisionphotonics.com
PRODUCTSIf you would like your company’s products to be featured in this section,
please send press releases and images to James Tyrrell ([email protected]).
51OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
Leister ProcessTechnologiesAxetris Microsystems DivisionSwitzerlandPhone +41 41 662 74 [email protected]
Laser diode collimation
Beam homogenization
Wavefront sensor optics
Custom micro-optics
ISO 9001:2000
Micro-Optics Solutions
Visit us at the
OPTATEC 06
Frankfurt, Germany
Booth no. E 24
OLEJunPRODUCTS51-57 24/5/06 1.36 pm Page 51
Nanopositioning controllerPI
The new E-625nanopositioningcontroller from PI isdesigned specifically to
drive the PIFOC family of piezoelectric Z-stacknanofocusing drives. The company says that thecontroller provides better than 1 nm resolutionand achieves response and settling times in theorder of 10 ms.
The controller also features both a high-bandwidth analogue interface and a 20-bit digitalinterface for maximum flexibility. It integrates alow-noise piezo power amplifier, a high-speedservo-controller and sensor electronics forabsolute-measuring nanopositioning sensors.www.pi.ws
Temporary coatingBrewer Science
Brewer Science isreleasing a newtemporary wafer-bonding product that itclaims is easy toremove, is solvent-resistant and able to
withstand temperatures of up to 200 °C.According to the firm, the temporary coating
is more robust than existing alternatives and canhelp to reduce rework if process flow isinterrupted. The company also supplies anti-reflective coatings for photolithographyapplications, speciality materials for MEMS andoptoelectronics, bench-top spinners, coatersand hot-plates.www.brewerscience.com
Telecentric lensesEdmund Optics
The TML-HP series oftelecentric lenses fromEdmund Optics is saidto give systemdesigners the ability tomake high-accuracy,non-contactmeasurements of small
objects. Available in three fixed-focus versionsthat provide 1, 2 and 4× magnifications, thelenses are said to give superior image qualityand less distortion than conventional fixed-focal-length lenses, making them ideal for demandingautomated metrology applications.
Additional TML-HP series features includelarge objective lenses for maximum numericalaperture, mounting via ultra-stable twin-ringmounting clamps and standard front filterthreads to accommodate colour filters,polarizers, protective windows and LED or fibre-optic ring illuminators.www.edmundoptics.com
PRODUCTSModeScanM2 Measurements
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ModeScan:♦♦ Fully automated M2
measurements♦♦ CW or pulsed beams♦♦ Available for wavelengths
from 190nm to >20µm♦♦ Real-time divergence
measurement♦♦ Parameters measured♦♦ Times diffraction limit: M2
♦♦ Beam waist size: d0♦♦ Beam waist location: Z0♦♦ Divergence: θ♦♦ Rayleigh range: Zr
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The whole world of photonicsavailable with our local partners:
Europe
LINOS Photonics GmbHGöttingen / Germanywww.linos.com
United Kingdom
Laser Components Ltd.Chelmsford / UKwww.lasercomponents.co.uk
Spain
LASERTechnology, S.L.Barcelona / Spainwww.laser-technology.com
Optatec 2006Booth D 67
OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Ethernet camerasProsilica
Prosilica, Canada,believes that its GE-series of gigabitEthernet cameras arethe only camerascurrently shipping thatcomply with the new
GigE Vision standard. The Automated ImagingAssociation’s GigE Vision interface standard iswidely expected to become the de factointerface for industrial digital cameras.According to Prosilica, firms such as NationalInstruments, Matrox, Stemmer Imaging andNorpix have been using GE-series cameras todevelop and test GigE Vision interfaces forvarious software products. Prosilica says that itscameras suit a range of applications includingmanufacturing and print inspection, underseaimaging and public security.www.prosilica.com
Ti:sapphire laserTekhnoscan
Tekhnoscan of Russiahas started shipping its15 kHz linewidth CWTi:sapphire laser.Dubbed TIS-SF-777,applications include
high-precision experiments involving cooledatoms or molecules and high-density data-recording such as holographic memory.
According to the firm, the device’s maximumoutput power exceeds 1.5 W when pumped witha 10 W DPSS laser. The TIS-SF-777 featuresspecial PZT actuators to extend the responsebandwidth and a frequency stabilizing high-finesse reference cavity. A so-called Smart Auto-Relock function locks the laser’s outputfrequency whenever the frequency slips off thereference interferometer’s transmission peak.www.tekhnoscan.com
CE-compliant light sourceMoritex
Moritex, a manufacturerof lens and illuminationsystems, is releasing anew range of CE-compliant halogen lightsources. The devicesuse a proprietary
operating cycle to give a stable output (±1%) atcolour temperatures of more than 3000 K andover a life-span of 500–2000 h. Sources arecompact in design and can be controlledmanually or operated remotely via analogue ordigital signals. The units are said to be highlyresistant to heat shock and suit a variety ofmachine vision systems.www.moritex.com
PRODUCTS
+44.0.1904.691469www.edmundoptics.co.uk
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WaveMaster®
Fast and accurate Aspherical Lens Tester
WaveMaster® is a new instrument providing realtime wave front measurement and analysis ofspherical and aspherical optics.
The WaveMaster® features high spatial resolu-tion and accuracy, can be simply set up in finiteor infinity conjugates configuration and incorpo-rates the state of the art wave front sensing tech-nology. A high precision 5 axis sample holderallows for easy and fast alignment of the sample.Further features include:
• Tilt dynamic range: > ± 3° (1500 �)• Focus dynamic range: ± 0.03 m to ± ∞ (1800 �)• Repeatability (RMS): < � /200• Wave front measurement accuracy: RMS: � / 20• Live display of measured, fitted and residual
wave front• Live Zernike analysis• Complete measurement report, etc.
Applications include measurementof mobile phone and digitalcamera lenses, lenses forautomotive sensors or any otherspherical or highly asphericaloptics.
Hafenstrasse 35-39 . D-22880 Wedel / GermanyPhone: ++49-4103-18006-0 . Fax: ++49-4103-18006-20
E-mail: [email protected] . www.trioptics.com
53
OLEJunPRODUCTS51-57 24/5/06 1.37 pm Page 53
Ti:sapphire laserSpectra-Physics
Spectra-Physics, adivision of Newport, US,has added the TsunamiHP ultrafast oscillator toits range of Ti:sapphirelasers. When combined
with the firm’s Millennia Pro 15 pump laser, theunit can produce more than 3 W of averagepower and more than 450 kW of peak power at800 nm. In combination with Spectra-Physics’harmonic generators and “Opal” automatedoptical parametric oscillator, the set-up is said todeliver a virtually gap-free wavelength tuningrange from 210 to 2250 nm. According to thecompany, the product is attractive tomultiphoton imaging customers because it offersmore wavelengths and allows researchers to usea wider selection of dyes for biological studies.www.newport.com
Design softwareOptiwave
Optiwave of Canadahas updated its opticalsoftware to permit thesimulation of emergingoptical communicationtechnologies such as
free-space optics and radio-over-fibre. Newcomponent models include optical sources, bitsequence generators, optical transmitters,multimode transmitters, measured-indexmultimode fibre and optical receivers.
“The simulation engine in OptiSystem 5.0 hasbeen refined, improving accuracy andconvergence, making it faster than ever,” saidJan Jakubczyk, Optiwave’s CEO.www.optiwave.com
SLEDsAMS Technologies
AMS Technologies, aEuropean distributor ofEXALOS’superluminescent light-emitting diodes(SLEDs), is now
offering 1300 nm Gaussian SLEDs that it sayscombine the spatial coherence of a laser diodewith the temporal incoherence of an LED.
The EXS13G2-2111 delivers 20 mW ofoptical output in a single-mode fibre with a55 nm 3 dB spectral bandwidth. Devices areBELLCORE GR-468-CORE and MIL-STD-883qualified and available in a 14 PIN butterflyhousing with built-in thermoelectric cooler andmonitor diode. Applications include opticalcoherence tomography and biomedical set-upsrequiring Gaussian shaped spectra with verylow ripple values.www.ams.de
PRODUCTS
54 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Photometers and colourimetersGlen Spectra
Glen Spectra, UK, isnow distributing thenext generation ofhand-held photometersand colourimeters fromPhoto Research, US.Instruments areavailable with a cosinereceptor for measuringilluminance (Lux) orwith a telescope forassessing luminance
(cd/m2). The telescope features true Pritchardoptics that enables the user to measure areasas small as 1.8 mm in diameter. Systemsinclude an easy-to-read 38×57 mm back-littouch screen display and feature a SD card slotand USB interface for data storage and transfer.www.glenspectra.co.uk
Beam-profiling rail systemPhoton Inc
Photon Inc haslaunched a motorizedbeam-profiling railsystem to complement
its NanoScan scan-head. An ActiveX softwareinterface allows users to perform custom testroutines or integrate the set-up as part of a largertest system. The system can profile beam sizesfrom 5 µm to 20 mm and suits both continuous-wave and pulsed lasers with a wavelength outputof 190 nm–1000 µm. According to the firm, theNanoScan unit can measure output powers froma few microwatts up to a kilowatt.www.photon-inc.com
Thin-film polarizersAlpine Research Optics
Alpine Research Optics,US, is offering a seriesof thin-film polarizers foruse with Ti:sapphireultrafast laser systems.The firm says that its
polarizers deliver the optimum combination ofhigh extinction ratio, broad spectral bandwidth,high laser damage resistance and minimalgroup velocity dispersion. Two configurations areavailable as standard. The first deliversmaximum transmission (>98%) of p-polarizedlight over a wavelength range of 700–900 nm.The second is optimized to provide highreflectance (>95%) of s-polarized light from 700 to 900 nm. Both polarizers operate at anominal 70° angle of incidence and are tilt-tuned over ±3°. Typically, the polarizers arefabricated on fused silica substrates thatmeasure 28.6×14.3×3 mm. Custom versionscan be produced on request.www.arocorp.com
PRODUCTS
t : +44 (0)161 975 5300f : +44 (0)161 975 5309www.laserquantum.com
You want green, pure green and only green.Rock Solid Locked SLM300mW, 532nm, CW Frequency-LockedUltra Low Noise, Ultra Compact DPSSLong Coherence Length, High StabilityRS232 Control
The Torus is designed for:Raman Spectroscopy, Reprographics,Wafer Inspection, Interferometry,Brillouin Scattering, Holography, PIVand all coherence applications.
55OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
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Shortwave infrared cameraSensors Unlimited
Sensors Unlimited haslaunched an all-solid-state InGaAs, high-speed infrared camerawith a spectral
response of 900–1700 nm. The 640×512 pixelfocal plane array equipped device can operateat 109 frames per second (fps) when capturingfull-size images, or at more than 15 000 fps witha smaller region of interest (ROI). Serialcommands give users complete control over theROI window size, position and integration time.
According to the firm, external triggering of full-frame or ROI acquisition and user-programmableexposure times make the camera ideal forcapturing pulsed or high-speed events in low-light
conditions. The unit features on-board non-uniformity correction and anti-blooming protectionto enhance image quality. www.oss.goodrich.com
Thermal imagerArmstrong OpticalArmstrong Optical, UK, has introduced theThermoPro TP8 to its range of uncooled infraredcameras. The device features a 388×284 pixelinfrared detector alongside a full-colour1280×1024 visible sensor. Operators can usethe visible camera to locate the scene forinspection, snap the shutter and then store boththermal and visible images together in a singlefile. The device is equipped with a high-capacitySD memory card and a built-in USB 2.0 interface.www.armstrongoptical.co.uk
PRODUCTS
Highest brilliance and absolute quality
The new fiber-coupled diode lasers with LongLifeTechnology:
• small, compact and powerful• up to 30 W from a 100 to
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Visit us at Photonics’2006 in RussiaJuly 03-06, Booth 03E14, Hall 03
www.jold.com
OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
AFOP www.gifo.org 35Avantes www.avantes.com 48Berliner Glas www.berlinerglas.com 47BFI Optilas Internationalwww.bfioptilas.com 23
Breault Research Organizationwww.breault.com IFC
B&M Optik www.bm-optik.de 28B&W Tek www.bwtek.com 54Crystal Systems www.crystalsystems.com 40CVI Technical Optics www.cvilaser.com OBCDiffraction International www.diffraction.com 56
Duma Optronics www.duma.co.il 39Edmund Optics www.edmundoptics.co.uk 53EKSPLA www.ekspla.com 49ELCAN Optical Technologieswww.ELCAN.com/create 4
Esco Products www.escoproducts.com 10Fiberguide Industries www.fiberguide.com 50Fujian Castech Crystals www.castech.com 45Hamamatsu Photonics UKwww.sales.hamamatsu.com 11
HC Photonics www.hcphotonics.com 46Hinds Instrumentswww.hindsinstruments.com 32
Image Science www.image-science.co.uk 6IMT Masken und Teilungen www.imtag.ch 12Jenoptik Laserdiode www.jold.com 57Jenoptik Polymer Systems www.jenoptik-ps.de 10
Lambda Photometricswww.lambdaphoto.co.uk 38
Laser Components (UK) Ltdwww.lasercomponents.co.uk 26
Lasermet www.lasermet.com 46Laser Quantum www.laserquantum.com 55LaserVision www.lvg.com 55Leister Process Technologieswww.axetris.com 51
Leysop www.leysop.com 28LIMO Laser Systems www.limo.de 10
Melles Griot www.mellesgriot.com 9Metrolux Optische Meßtechnikwww.metrolux.de 50
Möller-Wedel Opticalwww.moeller-wedel-optical.com 20
MSO Jena www.mso-jena.de 54Multiwave Photonicswww.multiwavephotonics.com 24
m.u.t www.mut-gmbh.de 52New Focus www.newfocus.com 22Newport Spectra-Physics www.newport.com 16
Ophir Optronics www.ophiropt.com 7, 14, 36, 58, IBC
Optometrics www.optometrics.com 28Optosigma www.optosigma.com/Contact/international.asp 18
Pacer plc www.pacer.co.uk 32Photonex 2006 www.photonex.org 15Photon Inc www.photon-inc.com 52Photon Lines www.photonlines.com 48Physik Instrumente www.pi.ws 17Piezosystem Jena www.piezojena.com 28POG Präzisionsoptik Gerawww.precisionoptic.com 24
Polymicro Technologies www.polymicro.com 32
Primes www.primes.de 40Quantel www.quantel.fr 29Scitec Instruments www.scitec.uk.com 20SIOS Meßtechnik www.sios.de 47Spectrogon www.spectrogon.com 46Stanford Computer Opticswww.stanfordcomputeroptics.com 56
StockerYale Canada www.stockeryale.com 40
StockerYale Ltd (IRL) www.stockeryale.com 24
SUSS MicroOptics www.suss-microoptics.com 40
Trioptics www.trioptics.com 53WZW Optic www.wzw.ch 20
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
The index is provided as a service and, while every effort is made to ensure its accuracy, Optics&LaserEurope accepts no liability for error.
OLEJunPRODUCTS51-57 24/5/06 2.25 pm Page 57
PEOPLETo advertise your job vacancies, contact Cadi Jones (tel: +44 (0)117 930 1090; e-mail: [email protected]).
58 OLE • June 2006 • optics.org/ole
SUDOKU PUZZLE
We hope you enjoyed May’s Sudoku puzzle. Youcan check your answers against last month’ssolution on the left.
If you are new to Sudoku, this is how it works:each puzzle consists of a 9×9 grid that issubdivided into 9 smaller grids of 3×3 squares.To complete the puzzle, you must ensure thateach row, column and 3×3 square contains thenumbers 1–9. All it takes is logic so try not toguess at the numbers.
US/EUROPE
Konarka promotes Brabecto chief technology officer
Konarka haspromoted ChristophBrabec from directorof polymerphotovoltaics to chieftechnology officer.Brabec joined the
firm in 2004 as part of Konarka’s acquisitionof the Siemens Organic PhotovoltaicResearch Group.
SWITZERLAND
Synova recruits executiveteam to drive growthSynova, a Swiss firm developing water jet-guided laser systems, has appointed its firstexecutive management team. The teamconsists of Quoc Phong Dang (chieffinancial officer), Phil Durrant (vice-president, sales and marketing), Frank Meier(vice-president, operations) and MartinAchtenhagen (vice-president, research anddevelopment), all of whom report toSynova’s CEO, Bernold Richerzhagen.
Dang has more than 10 years of corporatefinance experience and was seniorconsultant at Ernst & Young. Durrant wasmost recently marketing director at SAW
Components Dresden, Germany, where hewas responsible for converting a waferfoundry company into an RF componentssupplier. Meier, a former employee ofHewlett-Packard, has expertise in supplychain strategy. Achtenhagen was previouslya senior research associate at the prestigiousSwiss Federal Institute of Technology,Lausanne, Switzerland.
GERMANY
Kneier is eagleyard’s VPof sales and marketing
Michael Kneier hasjoined German firmeagleyard Photonicsas vice-president ofsales and marketing.He brings more than16 years of
experience in the optoelectronics industry tothe Berlin-based developer of high-powerlaser diodes. Most recently Kneier was incharge of sales and marketing at u2tPhotonics, a supplier of ultrafastphotodiodes, where he was instrumental indriving sales growth. Between 1990 and2000, Kneier held various posts withinSiemens and Infineon’s opticalcommunications business, rising to theposition of director of strategic marketing atInfineon’s fibre-optics group.
US
Former NASA inventor,Afzal, joins Aculight
Aculight has namedRobert Afzal as itsdirector oftechnologydevelopment. Afzaljoins Aculight fromSpectra Systems
Corporation, a leader in laser marking andproduct coding, where he was vice-presidentof research and development. Earlier in hiscareer, Afzal held several positions at NASAand has won a number of awards includingNASA inventor of the year.
UK
SPI appoints industryexpert to advisory board
High-power fibre laserspecialist, SPI Lasershas recruited BillO’Neill to its technicaladvisory board.O’Neill will assist SPIin expanding the use
of fibre lasers in high-power applications. He iscurrently head of the Centre for IndustrialPhotonics – part of Cambridge University’sInstitute for Manufacturing.
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