Photonics

In recent years, precision guided weapons play more and more important role in modern war. One of the greatest strengths of a precision strike missile is a reduction in the number of weapons or aircraft sorties required to destroy a target. Strategy Analytics forecasts the global Smart Weapons (SW) market …

Humans view the intensity of light as the various colors of the spectrum. Characteristics of light include amplitude (intensity), frequency (color), polarization, and coherence. The human eye has cone cells, that correspond reflected light from objects into colors which range from wavelengths of approximately 400-700nm. Polarization, the direction in which …

Sensors allow humans to feel and understand their world, and their development lays the foundation for the fulfillment of information society and has formed a huge industry. Photonic sensors are defined as sensors that sense, emit, receive and convert the light energy into electrical signals. Photonics sensors deal with the …

Sensors allow humans to feel and understand their world, and their development lays the foundation for the fulfillment of information society and has formed a huge industry. For its implementation the Internet of Things relies heavily on sensor technology.In the grand world of the “internet of things” (IoT), there are …

One of the most challenging tasks in any aerial combat situation is to determine which assets on the ground should be targeted and which ones should be avoided. This is particularly challenging in the situation where enemy assets are camouflaged or hidden amongst civilian assets. Because of this a practice …

There is virtually no part of a modern defense system that is not impacted in some way by optics and photonics, even when the system is not optically based. Modern defense systems are migrating toward optically based imaging, remote sensing, communications, and weapons.   Silicon photonics uses photons to detect …

Perovskites have generated huge interest in recent years because of their potential for solid-state lighting and displays, despite lagging behind other state-of-the-art technologies in efficiency and longevity. Now two independent teams have reported light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on perovskites that have surpassed a milestone in efficiency [Cao et al., Nature …

The capability of Russia and China to disrupt American military wireless and satellite communications using electronic warfare has been rising.  This is athreat to US Navy operations that require connectivity among a diverse set of platforms, including submarines, surface ships, aircraft, and shore sites. The links among these platforms support …

Among the uses of Laser directed energy weapons (DEW) systems are providing very short-range air defense capability, close-in protection for naval vessels, counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and protecting friendly forces from mortar and artillery attack. Laser require a power of the order of 100 kW,  to be employed as directed energy …

Currently, the most widely used technology to detect underwater objects  is sound navigation and ranging (SONAR), because acoustic waves can  penetrate the water depths to the bottom of the sea. SONAR also suffers from unwanted multipass echoes that are due to reflections from the surrounding terrain. Thus, high-resolution underwater imaging …