All Things Photonics

From on scene at Optica's Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science Show in Rochester, N.Y., All Things Photonics speaks with S.J. Ben Yoo, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of California, Davis and Daniil Lukin, of the Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics Lab at Stanford University. Plus, an exclusive conversation with the newly crowned winner of...

Brian Pogue, professor and chair of the Department of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin and the Maclean Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, is our guest. The episode explores the (sometimes conflict-characterized) relationship between industry and medicine, as well as cancer therapies and diagnostics, the evolution of standards, and biomedical device productization. These s...

NIL Technologies CEO and founder Theodor Nielsen discusses the road to commercialization for meta-optical elements, metalenses, diffractive optical elements, and other ultrasmall components. The interview spans the complete product life cycle — from conceptualization and design to fabrication and market placement, and focuses on high-growth, high potential industries at a critical juncture for the...

Nobel laureate Donna Strickland joins Francois Légaré and Heide Ibrahim from the Advanced Laser Light Source Laboratory (ALLS), located outside Montreal. The panel discusses the specifications of the ALLS laser systems, their functionality, and their applications in molecular imaging, agriculture, and metrology. Jan Lagerwall, head of the Experimental Soft Matter Physics group at the University of...

David Boas, director of the Boston University Neurophotonics Center, is our guest. The episode introduces techniques including functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), laser speckle contrast imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and interferometric diffuse correlation spectroscopy, with expert insight on the advances and neurophotonic applications for each method. Boas is founding edi...

Chandra Breanne Curry, coordinator of the LaserNetUS consortium, offers insights into high-intensity laser systems, supported applications, and an update on fusion science. The 10-system consortium supports research across disciplines, from biomedical science to plasma physics. Miriam Vitiello, director of research at the National Research Council of Italy, professor of condensed matter physics at...

Silicon photonics pioneer and President of Luminous Computing Michael Hochberg joins Luminous’ CEO Marcus Gomez for a conversation about advancing AI supercomputing. The company’s photonic approach is supported by a recently announced $105 million Series A award from investors including Bill Gates. A second segment revisits the notion of sending invertebrate organisms into space with help from opt...

UCLA researcher Mona Jarrahi breaks down critical achievements in the terahertz domain, with particular focus on terahertz optoelectronics. Biomedical, plasmonic, and imaging applications are explored, as are commercial pursuits. In advance of the inaugural Photonics Spectra Spectroscopy conference April 12-13, Richard Crocombe, principal at Crocombe Spectroscopy Consulting, and Ellen Miseo, presi...

Bob Hess, one of the world’s leading collectors of lasers, laser accessories, and holograms, takes us through his exhibit, "Vintage Lasers & Holograms," on now in Tempe, Ariz. Hess is a career holographer and photonics technician, and his collection features more than 500 lasers and upward of 600 holograms. Also, a check-in with the University of Southampton's Pearl John to discuss the artform...

Building on the first episode of the season, University of California, Santa Barbara scientists Philip Lubin and Joel Rothman discuss Project Starlight, a NASA project that intends to send microscopic worms — among other creatures — into space. Lubin, the brainpower behind the directed energy facet of the project, identifies the considerable photonic advances that must be made before achieving atm...

2022 SPIE Startup Challenge winner VitreaLab's glass-based waveguides are innovating the lighting and displays sector. Back from Photonics West (Jan. 2022), company CEO Jonas Zeuner details VitreaLab's laser writing technology and what it means for liquid crystal displays. In a preview of an upcoming episode, University of California, Santa Barbara scientist Joel Rothman discusses the biological i...

Jerome Faist, co-inventor of the quantum cascade laser (QCL), reflects on nearly 30 years’ worth of innovations in semiconductor lasing and the history of the QCL. Faist discusses applications in the terahertz and mid-infrared bands, frequency comb spectroscopy, and ultrashort-pulse lasing. Plus, how did the QCL get its name? All Things Photonics is produced by Photonics Media and airs biweekly, o...

The electromagnetic environment in which today’s soldiers operate is the focus of this episode, which features our discussion with physicist Kevin Cox from DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory. The advent of quantum sensors — and the applications that emerge in our conversation — range from magnetometry and accelerometry to the interferometric detection of celestial objects and chip-scale atomic timeke...

Serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CTO of Luminar Technologies Jason Eichenholz discusses the company’s technology, and shares his thoughts on lidar’s surge into the mainstream. The interview examines Luminar’s acquisition of its exclusive InGaAs chip provider, the (near) future of autonomous driving, and the optics and photonics industries’ technical workforce shortage. All Things Photonics i...

Experimental physicist Charles Falco expounds on the thesis that bears his name, and gives insight into his relationship with the acclaimed artist David Hockney — with whom he shares the thesis’s title. A panel composed of Alejandro Manjavacas, Silvia Centeno, and Andrea Schlather discuss the evolution of their co-authored 2019 paper that investigates the plasmonic properties of daguerreotype imag...

Moshe Safran, CEO of RSIP Vision US, speaks on the intersection of computer vision, AI, and medical-guided robotics. Johns Hopkins University’s Russell Taylor gives a macro look at surgical robotics — a field with implications for photoacoustic imaging, OCT, confocal microscopy, and other imaging modalities. All Things Photonics is produced by Photonics Media and airs biweekly, on Tuesdays. Contac...

Ivan Aprahamian, author of the 2020 ACS Central Science paper "The Future of Molecular Machines," kicks off Season 4 with a look at recent advancements to light-activated molecular motors. Applications include smart drug delivery and nanomedicine, applied spectroscopy, functional materials, and more. Nick Vamivakas, University of Rochester professor of quantum optics and quantum physics, discusses...

In the season's final episode, John Harvey, founder and CEO of Southern Photonics, shares his journey from nuclear physics to biophotonics, and from lasers to test and measurement equipment. The state of the photonics industry in Australia and New Zealand is among the points of discussion. Rohit Bhargava, Founder Professor of Engineering and director of the Cancer Center at the University of Illin...

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is the technology behind a newly developed forensic technique for tire chemical analysis. University of Central Florida’s Matthieu Baudelet, who introduced the method in a recent Applied Spectroscopy paper, explains the approach and how it is poised to enhance crime scene investigation. Pierre Türschmann, CEO of Interherence, talks about how the company is work...

Bishnu Pal, author of "Frontiers in Guided Wave Optics and Optoelectronics" and dean of academics at Mahindra University's Ecole Centrale School of Engineering, is our guest. From his start in semiconductor physics to numerous collaborations in the areas of fiber optics, silicon photonics, specialty fibers, and optical materials, Pal walks us through his journey in optics and photonics, which earl...

Claudio Mazzali, CTO and senior vice president of technology at Corning Optical Communications, is our guest. The 2020 elected fellow of The Optical Society (OSA) guides listeners through an unprecedented 15-month period for optical technology, and shares his thoughts on what to expect from large-scale organizations such as OSA as they reemerge from the pandemic. Trends for a bright future in nano...

Eric Fossum, inventor of the CMOS active pixel image sensor, talks about the past, present, and future of imaging applications and the technology transfer in industry and academia. CEOs Berthold Schmidt (TRUMPF Photonic Components) and Adam Piotrowski (VIGO Systems), the two newest board members of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), speak about their new platform and spurring photo...

Western New York (specifically, the city of Rochester) is a globally recognized hub for optics, photonics, and imaging innovation. From titans Kodak and Xerox to an industry’s reemergence from a global pandemic, New York Photonics’ Executive Director Thomas Battley discusses how one industry (specifically, one cluster) blends contributions from industry, academia, and government to drive economic...

Greg Quarles, former OSA chief scientific officer and current CEO of Applied Energetics, takes us beyond the defense sector and the combatting of threats along the electromagnetic spectrum, outlining current applications in directed energy. Tom Nugent, CTO and co-founder of PowerLight Technologies, talks optical power beaming - a technology that is closer than you think. Sponsored by: PerkinElmer...

2019 President of The Optical Society and Fulbright Scholar Ursula Gibson details her latest work with novel core optical fibers and their function in expanding applications spanning metrology, optical communication, and optoelectronics. Nick Harris, founder and CEO of supercomputing company Lightmatter, talks about silicon-driven advances in all-optical computing and Lightmatter’s photonic comput...