Terahertz (THz, 1012 Hz) technology is based on light sources with frequencies much lower than of visible light, and slightly higher than of microwaves. Such light sources have a number of unique capabilities, for example that it can propagate through…
Moore’s Law which stated that the number of transistors on a chip will double approximately every two years has been the driver of semiconductor industry in boosting the complexity, computational performance and energy efficiency while reducing cost. The increase in…
Quantum Key Distribution, or QKD, enables two remote parties, “Alice” and “Bob”, who are connected by a passive optical link to securely generate secret key material. Single-photon sources (SPSs) and single-photon detectors (SPDs) are key devices for enabling practical quantum key…
Fiber optical circulators are used to separate optical signals that travel in opposite directions in an optic fiber in order to complete bidirectional transmission. Optical circulators are also known as non-reciprocal optics, which means when the light travels in the…
Conventional optical fibers are fabulously successful, but they have profound limitations. They contain a glass core at the center of the fiber through which light is transmitted. However, not only does this glass center limit the speed of the light…
Conventional daylighting scheme employing windows and skylights are no longer so useful especially for daylighting of high-rise and intensive buildings. Residential buildings with limited natural lighting are generally lit by fuel-based electricity which contributes to increase of CO2 concentration in…
The volume of space between the Earth’s surface out to geosynchronous orbit is enormous—equivalent to 240,000 times all the Earth’s oceans. Yet the number of objects calling that volume home is growing all the time—not just with satellites but with…
A U.S.-developed space surveillance telescope has been assembled at a new facility in Western Australia and is expected to start operating in 2022, the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center announced April 2020. The telescope, designed to track and…
Free-space optical communication (FSO) is an optical communication technology that uses light propagating in free space to wirelessly transmit data for telecommunications or computer networking. “Free space” means air, outer space, vacuum, or something similar. FSO operates on the Line-of-Sight…
Michelson proposed an interferometric apparatus in 1890 following an earlier suggestion by Fizeau. The invention became the precursor of many important modern optic measurement techniques. The Michelson Interferometer, as it is called, is used to measure small optical path length…