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For over 50 years, Teruo Hiruma, the president of the Japanese firm Hamamatsu Photonics, has been striving to make photonics a practical technology that can benefit society and industry. Oliver Graydon spoke to him about the challenges the firm faced in its early days and his opinions on the future.
A new method for slowing down light pulses while minimizing pulse distortion could help create practical photonic devices that route bits of information in optical-telecommunication systems.
By adding a tiny hole into the solid-core of a photonic-crystal fibre, scientists have been able to beat the diffraction limit and confine and guide light in the subwavelength regime.
The realization of compact and reliable diode-pumped solid-state lasers that emit UV light is now opening the door to new industrial applications. Neil Savage describes the uses of the technology and a round-up of products in the area.
For optical devices to be truly useful, they must be able to control light of any polarization. A group at MIT has now made this possible, bringing us a step closer to unlocking the potential of on-chip optics.
Most optical probes measure the size of the electromagnetic field, but not its direction. A new development in near-field imaging now makes it possible to map vector fields on the nanoscale as never before.
Controlling light with light using devices small enough to fit on a chip is tricky, but it is crucial for any integrated all-optical logic scheme. Scientists have now produced modulators that control light at breakneck speeds, bringing the vision of all-optical chips closer to reality.
Nichia of Japan pioneered the development of gallium nitride blue LEDs and lasers and is now turning its attention to UV devices. Adarsh Sandhu reports from Tokushima, where he interviewed senior executives from the firm.
