Coherent light sources, in which the photons have highly matched frequencies and phases, are commonly produced by lasers. In a laser, the atoms of a laser medium are stimulated to excite the electrons...
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A UW-Madison researcher has developed a method for predicting subsurface mechanical properties using distributed strain measurements obtained from applied perturbations. The method relies on model cha...
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An optical sensor for sensing combustion products avoids fouling and damage to optical components by using a “windowless” design in which an air curtain through an orifice provides a constantly re...
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Optoelectronic devices that use very thin single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor films as phonon-absorbing layers in combination with non-lattice optical cavities are provided.
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Method for imaging regions of a sample using a light source and an optical detection means and at least one device for moving the sample in three dimensions, comprising the following method steps: a) ...
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A nanoscale-sized pore positioned between two reservoirs may sequence biomolecules by detecting changes in the emitted light due to a change in charge of portions of the biomolecules as they pass thro...
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A wavefront sensor system suitable for integration into an integrated circuit light detector may provide for wave angle sensors having varying functional relationships between the wave angle and signa...
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The functional effect of having additional color-sensing cone types in the human eye is implemented by an encoding of some spectral information differently for the left and right eyes. This different ...
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An optical field sensor is used to make phase measurements over an area of light reflected from an object outside a field of view of the light field sensor. These phase measurements are applied to a m...
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An apparatus for measurement of surface relief provides a phase sensitive camera and processing to reconstruct a wavefront profile matching the surface when illuminated with a known light source there...
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Optical phase tuning is highly desired in many precision and imaging tools used by industry, in medicine and in biological research. Various optical phase shifters (OPS) and methods exist, each with c...
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An optical resonator is an arrangement of optical components that allows a beam of light to circulate in a closed path. Nanoresonators are a type of optical resonator that can effectively concentrate ...
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A Fresnel lens or ‘zone plate’ is a type of compact lens made of concentric rings that alternate between opaque and transparent materials. The design is lighter and smaller than conventional lense...
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Germanium (Ge), a group-IV semiconductor material, is crucial to many established and potential technologies. In optoelectronics, Ge has been used as a photodetector material for on-chip data distribu...
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Spectrometers are optical instruments used to measure light. They work by detecting spectral lines and measuring their wavelength or intensity. Spectrometers have many applications, including telecomm...
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Although current microscopic optical systems are highly sensitive, they are generally bulky and expensive, and most have a severely limited field of vision. One alternative is adaptive microlenses tha...
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‘Variable-focus’ lenses are lenses that have adjustable focal lengths. Liquid-based, miniaturized lenses of this type are useful in photonics, display systems and biomedical tools. However...
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Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging has demonstrated its ability to monitor interactions between biological moieties in real time without the aid of chemical labels such as fluorophores and radioi...
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Responsive hydrogels can respond to external stimuli such as temperature, pH, photons and antigens, which makes them applicable as functional materials in drug/gene delivery devices, microlenses and s...
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Flexible single-crystalline semiconductors used in high-performance micro- and macro-electronics have been intensely studied in recent years.  Thin-film transistors using single crystalline silic...
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One component of lab-on-a-chip technology is on-chip microlenses for optical analysis. Prior investigators have demonstrated tiny optical lenses with variable focal lengths. These lenses use specializ...
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Lithium niobate is used in the fabrication of a wide variety of optical and electro-optic devices, including optical modulators, switches, frequency shifting devices, polarized controllers and pulsed ...
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Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have been used to create mechanical resonators for switching, filtering and other purposes in electrical systems. NEMS/ME...
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Computer chips, composed of silicon (Si) semiconductors, store and transmit information as electrons.  The negative charge on electrons, however, hinders the speed with which information can be t...
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Systems based on terahertz (THz) radiation technology show promise for communication and imaging applications.  These systems can penetrate through many materials and are sensitive enough to reso...
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