Monthly Archives: January 2014

News from CREOL: A New Undergraduate Photonics Degree and the Annual Industrial Affiliates Meeting

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A new undergraduate degree program in Photonic Science and Engineering started in the fall of 2013 at the University of Central Florida. It is the State of Florida’s only such program, and one of only a few in the nation.

Photonics plays a huge role in the Florida’s economy, with over 270 photonics companies employing over 5,000 engineers and scientists. The formation of Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL), more than 26 years ago, and the foundation of the College of Optics and Photonics in 2004 has aided many of these companies. CREOL has helped filled the need for a highly trained workforce that require specialized skills in optics and photonics and this need continues to grow.

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Imaging at One Trillion Frames per Second

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By Ramesh Raskar and Christopher Barsi

High-speed imaging is a long-standing goal in optics, with applications in spectral dynamics, motion analysis, and three-dimensional imaging. Currently, commercially available systems can offer sensors operating at one million frames per second at reduced spatial resolution.1 In the lab setting, serial time-encoding of 2D images have provided 100 ps shutter speeds.2 Recently, researchers at the MIT Media Lab, in the Camera Culture group, led by Professor Ramesh Raskar, have developed a camera system that has an effective time resolution of 2 ps, roughly one half of a trillion frames per second.3

Raskar’s system is centered on repurposing a well-known device called a streak sensor, which is capable of recording 2 ps time scales, and an ultrafast femtosecond Titanium: Sapphire laser. In this system, the laser illuminates a scene of interest, and the streak sensor records the scattered light. Unfortunately, on its own, the streak sensor has several drawbacks. First, with an effective exposure time of 2 ps, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is incredibly low, and any scattered light would be buried in noise. Second, the streak sensor itself has a one-dimensional aperture, so that it can image only a single horizontal line of a scene. Third, given the time resolution, a mechanism must be in place to synchronize the laser with the detector.

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ICALEO 2013 Offers Achievable New Horizons for Laser Industry

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By Geoff Giordano

Much like the laser-assisted femto photography that has allowed MIT researchers to see around corners, the 32nd International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO®) illuminated photonic research in everything from routine processing to more arcane applications like laser-assisted generation of human cells.

And, as did plenary speaker Boris Chichkov with his estimation that you could “print” a man’s cells — bone, fat, cartilage and skin — in two hours and 47 minutes, ICALEO 2013 offered extraordinary visions of new horizons being made achievable by the laser industry’s latest studies.

The finely regimented parade of cutting-edge research that is ICALEO never fails to produce memorable moments for its hundreds of attendees. Those who experienced this year’s conference on Oct. 6-10 — including a significant number of first-time attendees and presenters — were treated to another incomparable array of vital knowledge. Continue reading →

LPP-EUV Light Source Development for High Volume Manufacturing Lithography

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By Hakaru Mizoguchi, Junichi Fujimoto and Takashi Saitou

EUV Source System

We have developed a prototype of the first HVM EUV light source having 100 kHz 20 kW CO2 laser, 20 mm in diameter droplet generator, and magnetic field debris mitigation (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: GL200E HVM EUV Source Device

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Origin and New Wave of Laser Welding

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By Isamu Miyamoto

The author started laser materials processing in 1965 with developing the CO2 laser, and since then has been involved in a variety of materials processing using CW (continuous wave) to USLP (ultrashort laser pulse). Among them laser welding has attracted a lot of the author’s interest because of its profound and interesting physics from linear to nonlinear processes. The author’s work on laser welding is classified into two groups; depending on the laser absorption process. In the first group, CW laser welding process is studied based on linear absorption process, and the research efforts are directed to understanding keyhole welding process, and expanding the process limits. In the second group, USLP welding is analyzed where the laser energy is absorbed by nonlinear process, and is shown to provide excellent welding performances so that the most process limits found in the first group are in principle removed. In this paper, laser welding technology is presented starting from its origin using a CO2 laser to a new wave of laser welding brought by USLP. Continue reading →