Optics

Glass conference in Sicily to focus on energy, information; student scholarships available

By / October 19, 2012

The International Materials Institute for New Functionalities in Glass, in association with the Engineering Conferences International, is sponsoring a conference Jan. 6–11, 2013, under the theme of “Functional Glasses: Properties and…

Read More

New alkali halide scintillator single crystals for better homeland security, medical diagnosis

By Eileen De Guire / October 4, 2012

Scintillator single crystals glowing under exposure to UV light. The compositions are (left-to-right) Lu2SiO5:Ce, Gd3(Ga,Al)5O12:Ce and Lu2SiO5:Ce,Eu (Eu is a codopant ion). The diameter is about 30 mm, and the…

Read More

NC State’s Narayan finds, patents and licenses new and efficient transparent conductors

By / September 27, 2012

Transmission spectra of the MoOx /5% Ga-doped films deposited at (a) 200 °C and 10-3 Torr of oxygen pressure on sapphire; (b) same parameters on glass; and (c) on glass…

Read More

‘Engineering Guy’s’ videos form nice resource for entry-level science, materials instruction

By / September 19, 2012

Fiber optic cables: How they work. Credit: EngineeringGuy.com. There apparently are a number of readers of this blog who are always on the search for videos to introduce basic materials…

Read More

Femto-second photography can capture the seen and unseen

By Eileen De Guire / August 28, 2012

The imaging work of MIT associate professor, Ramesh Raskar, is revolutionizing our knowledge of how light interacts with objects. In this TED talk from June 2012, he explains how his…

Read More

The who, what and how of staying ahead of an economic downturn

By Eileen De Guire / August 22, 2012

A packed plenary session from last year’s MS&T. This year’s conference focuses on the latest materials science and engineering—all part of gaining and keeping the competitive edge in tough economic…

Read More

High-alumina optical fibers get around Brillouin scattering limitations

By Eileen De Guire / August 20, 2012

A sapphire-derived optical fiber transmitting light. Credit: Dragic; UIUC. If Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte could reduce the drag of their bodies against the water in the pool by an…

Read More

Ceramics and glass business news of the week

By / August 16, 2012

Here’s what we are hearing: Ceradyne acquires interest in Graphite Machining Services and Innovations Ceradyne Inc. nnounced that it has acquired a minority interest with an option to acquire all…

Read More

Fraunhofer IWM molded chalcogenide glass approach delivers low-cost infrared lenses

By / August 14, 2012

The upper blue-tinted image is an example of a thermal image that can be provided by a vehicle-based IR detection system. The image are samples of lenses made for low-cost…

Read More

Optical fibers and optimal sails

By / August 7, 2012

To measure the forces acting on the sail, researchers have fitted it with a web of glass fibers. Credit: Fraunhofer HHI. As mentioned in the previous post about Corning’s production…

Read More