Photonics

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 …

In the wake of increasing electronic gadget sales, the overheating problem for battery chargers has become an increasingly common safety issue. Overheating of chargers certainly can be caused by substandard chargers, faulty batteries, or by misuse of the chargers. In worst-case scenarios the devices melt or catch fire. Unsurprisingly, this …

GPS hacking and spoofing have made headlines around the world in recent years, from researchers successfully hacking a yacht’s navigation to bring it off its programmed course to the discovery of dozens of Russian ships whose GPS signals indicated they were on land when they were in fact out on …

Smartphone camera technology is growing in leaps and bounds in the past couple of years and continues to be a major point to differentiate their products.  More and more technologies are being incorporated including  larger sensors, better lenses, ultra-thin lens, optical image stabilization technologies, dual camera optical zoom technology that …