TB0922

Welcome to your Digital Edition
of Tech Briefs and

Photonics & Imaging Technology
September 2022
September 2022 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 46 No. 9
September 2022
Executive
Roundtable:
Collaborative
Robots
Bolstering
Root-of-Trust
Security Measures
Gel Film Harvests Challenges of
Water from Air Fabricating and
Coating Laser Crystals
NEW! NASA Space SPECIAL SECTION:
Communications Designing a Human-Robot Technology Leaders
Workshop Collaboration System in Optics
See page 16
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September 2022 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 46 No. 9
Executive
Roundtable:
Collaborative
Robots
Bolstering
Root-of-Trust
Security Measures
Gel Film Harvests
Water from Air
NEW! NASA Space
Communications
Workshop
See page 16
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September 2022 • Vol. 46 No.9
Contents
Features 10
10 Products of Tomorrow
14 Create the Future Design Contest: Success Story
16 NASA Space Communications Workshop Preview
18 Executive Roundtable: Collaborative Robots
22 Root of Trust: A Standardization Model that Needs to

Happen Now
16
46 Application Briefs
52 Facility Focus: Virginia Tech College of Engineering
56 NASA Spinoff: Webb Telescope Mirror Tech Improves Eye

Surgery on Earth
Solutions
30 Sensors
46
30 Future Wearable Health Tech Could Measure Gases Released
from Skin
31 Sensor Breakthrough Paves the Way for a Map of the World

Under Earth’s Surface
32 Ultrathin Pressure Sensor Attaches to Skin
33 Thin, Stretchable Biosensors Could Make Surgery Safer
34 Robotics & Automation Departments

34 Advanced Humanoid Robotic Hand Technologies 8 Click
12 5 Ws
35 Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather 13 Q&A
55 Advertisers Index
36 Firefly-Inspired Robotic Lightning Bugs Take Flight
37 Mechanical & Fluid Systems
37 Corrugated Rollable Tubular Boom New for Design Engineers

37 Tiny Motors to Power a Network of Nanomachines 50 New on the Market
38 Integral Tuned Mass Absorber for Turbine Blades
39 Active Flow Control System for Simple-Hinged Flaps
40 Power & Energy
40 Enhancing Solar Option During Power Outages
(Power & Energy continued on page 6)
4 www.techbriefs.com Tech Briefs, September 2022

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3 Axis Acceleration Temperature Sensor IC Absolute Pressure Differential Pressure Humidity #SensewithMEMS
WSEN-ITDS WSEN-TIDS WSEN-PADS WSEN-PDUS WSEN-HIDS
Contents
40 New Approach to Reducing EV Battery Testing Time

Product of the Month
41 Large Format Li-Ion Calorimeter The compact optoNCDT 1420LL la-
ser sensors from Micro-Epsilon (Or-
tenburg, Germany) perform precise
42 Energy Storage Materials Make Batteries More Efficient and distance measurements on metallic
Heat-Resistant and structured surfaces. The sensor
projects a small laser line onto the
42 Room-Temperature Liquid-Metal Battery measuring object, which compen-
sates for any interference. This en-
sures stable and reliable measure-
43 Sustainable Technology ment values. These sensors are used
whenever standard laser point sen-
43 A Biodegradable Filtration System for Waste Metal Recovery
sors reach their limit.
50
43 Using AI to Help Scale Up Advanced Solar Cell Manufacturing On the Cover
The demand for collaborative robots (cobots) is steadily
44 Lignin-Based Jet Fuel Packs More Power mounting across all industries. Big manufacturing compa-
nies have been receptive to cobots. As factory automation
45 Unprinting Method Removes Toner with Xenon Light becomes accessible to even the small- and medium-enter-
prises (SMEs), will the adoption of cobots by SMEs accel-
erate in near future? What are the key challenges cobots
45 Organic Steam Generator Uses Sunlight to Purify Water need to overcome before they become ubiquitous? On
page 18, four industry experts share their views about the
future outlook of cobots.
(Image: OnRobot)
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6 Harwin NASA TB Half Page May 22.indd 1 www.techbriefs.com Tech Briefs, September 2022
06/05/2022 08:29
CLICK
VIDEO PODCAST
Four Industrial Applications of Collaborative Here’s an Idea: Wearables

Robots Sophisticated sensors do exist — the kind that can tell you
Cobots continue to prove their effectiveness in industrial that you’re getting a sunburn, that your heartrate is a bit too
applications by enabling companies to fill labor gaps, while high, or even that you have the symptoms associated with
at the same time boosting the performance of existing staff COVID-19. In this episode of our Here’s an Idea podcast series,
by taking over the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks. This vid- we speak to researchers who are building a variety of wearables.
eo highlights four applications of cobots in manufacturing. And some sensors blend in more than others.
Watch this video and more on Listen to this episode at

TechBriefs.TV TechBriefs.com/podcast
QUESTION
QUIZ INTERVIEW
BLOG
OF THE MONTH
You Don’t Know ISS — Or Do You? When AI Meets Human Intelligence

NASA plans to retire the legendary International Space The system designer’s job changes when artificial intelligence
Station by 2030 — after more than 20 years on the job — enters the mix; learn what happens when the two meet. Associate
with its operations transitioning to commercial space sta- Editor Ed Brown details how he, as a designer, now must consider
tions. Before it says goodbye, though, can you name the six back-and-forth interactions between user and device — and how
earthbound benefits that it has borne? Put your knowledge that can be trickier than it seems at first glance. A designer’s job
to the test with our quiz. gets much more complicated when AI is part of the system.
Take the quiz on Read the full interview at

TechBriefs.com TechBriefs.com/blog
Instagram: @TechBriefs Twitter: @TechBriefsMag Facebook: @TechBriefsMagazine LinkedIn: Tech Briefs Media

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This column presents technologies that have
Products of
applications in commercial areas, possibly
creating the products of tomorrow. To learn
Tomorrow
more about each technology, see the contact
information provided for that innovation.
u High-Powered
Infrared Laser
Innovators at NASA
Johnson Space Cen- u Muscle-Like Fibers
ter have developed a
high-powered infrared Researchers at The Uni-
(IR) laser that can trig- versity of Texas at Austin
ger Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cells into thermal and Penn State University
runaway (TR) without perforating the battery’s wall have created a new type of
like previous methods. Inducing TR in a battery cell fiber that can perform like
allows engineers to test and improve the safety per- a muscle actuator, in many
formance of overheated batteries that can poten- ways better than other op-
tially catch fire or explode. The primary advantage tions that exist today. And,
of this method is the heat energy delivered by the most importantly, these muscle-like fibers are sim-
laser that can be localized to the exact target spot ple to make and recycle. The researchers showed
on the battery cell, minimizing thermal biasing to that these fibers, which they initially discovered
adjacent cells. Triggering Li-ion cells with laser radi- while working on another project, are more effi-
ation could work on any commercial battery cell de- cient, flexible, and able to handle increased strain
sign with only exterior surface treatment required. compared to what’s out there today. These fibers
The technology has several potential applications, could be used in a variety of ways, including medi-
including human-occupied vehicular transport ap- cine and robotics. Such a robotic arm could be used
plications that require a high level of rigor in deter- in an assistive exoskeleton to help people with weak
mining margins of safety. arms regain movement and strength. Another po-
tential application could be a sort of “self-closing
Contact: NASA’s Licensing Concierge bandage” that could be used in surgical procedures
Phone: 202-358-7432 and naturally degrade inside the body once the
E-mail: [email protected] wound heals.
Contact: Nat Levy

Phone: 512-471-2129
E-mail: [email protected]
u Ultrasound Stickers
Ultrasound imaging currently requires bulky and specialized equipment available
only in hospitals and doctor’s offices. But a new design by MIT engineers might
make the technology as wearable and accessible as buying Band-Aids at the pharma-
cy. The engineers designed an adhesive patch that produces ultrasound images of
the body. The stamp-sized device sticks to skin and can provide continuous ultra-
sound imaging of internal organs for 48 hours. The stickers could have immediate
applications: For instance, the devices could be applied to patients in the hospital, similar to heart-monitoring
EKG stickers, and could continuously image internal organs without requiring a technician to hold a probe in
place for long periods of time. If the devices can be made to operate wirelessly, the ultrasound stickers could
be turned into wearable imaging products that patients could take home from a doctor’s office or even buy at
a pharmacy.
Contact: Abby Abazorius

Phone: 617-253-2709

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5 Who
Ws of
headline
Gel Film
headline
Water
headline
for
Harvesting
headline line
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Engineers at the
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ing
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low-cost gel film
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air
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the driest climates.
What
The researchers used renewable cellulose and a
common kitchen ingredient, konjac gum, as a
main hydrophilic (attracted to water) skeleton.
The open-pore structure of gum speeds the
moisture-capturing process. Another designed
component, thermo-responsive cellulose with
hydrophobic (resistant to water) interaction
when heated, helps release the collected water
immediately so that overall energy input to pro-
duce water is minimized. The film is flexible
and can be molded into a variety of shapes and
sizes, depending on the need of the user. Mak- An example of a different shape the water-capturing film can take. (Image:
ing the film requires only the gel precursor, UT Austin)
which includes all the relevant ingredients
poured into a mold. The materials that cost a
mere $2 per kilogram, and a single kilogram
can produce more than 6 liters of water per day
in areas with less than 15 percent relative hu-
midity and 13 liters in areas with up to 30 per-
Hygrometer
cent relative humidity.
Thermocouple
Where
The University of Texas, Austin
Condenser
Why SHPF on heating plate

The research was funded by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and drinking water
for soldiers in arid climates is a big part of the A prototype device for capturing water from the air using the new film.
project. (Image: UT Austin)
When
The researchers also envision this as something that people could someday buy at a hardware store and use in their
homes because of the simplicity.
Contact Prabhpreet Gill, Technology Licensing Associate, Office of Technology Licensing, at [email protected],
Contact Nat Levy
609-258-3653, at [email protected];
or visit 512-471-2129.
https://innovation.princeton.edu
12 www.techbriefs.com Tech Briefs,

Tech Briefs,
September
June 2022
Q& A
Focusing the Sun – A Big Gain for Solar Power Efficiency
Professor Nina Vaidya has developed a new Vaidya: Great question. If you have a magnifying glass and
kind of optical concentrator — Axially Graded then the sun, you know that the spot on the leaf or your hand
Index Lens (AGILE) — that can passively fo- will move as the sun does. Now imagine instead of that lens, you
cus the sun onto a photovoltaic cell from any have a material with a graded refractive index that goes from
angle to reduce the amount of photovoltaic a low index to a high index gradually across the height of the
material needed for a given amount of power AGILE from a larger aperture to a smaller aperture, with re-
generation. flective sidewalls. Because of that gradient index, as light enters
our funnel, it slows down and curves toward the normal due to
Tech Briefs: What led you to this project? refraction instead of travelling in straight lines. That way we
can collect light from all angles without solar tracking and can
Vaidya: While working on my PhD at Stanford, Professor even collect light diffused from cloud cover and atmosphere.
Olav Solgaard asked whether it was possible to design an opti-
cal device that can take all the light from all angles and focus it Tech Briefs: What excites you most about this project?
at the same point without moving it toward the source, and he
mentioned gradient index optics. Vaidya: In today’s energy and urgent climate crisis, AGILE’s
potential to make solar arrays more effective and cheaper is
Tech Briefs: Was this just a theoretical idea of his — to going to be very impactful.
ask that question?
Read the full transcript of this Q&A at www.techbriefs.com.
Vaidya: Yes, we started from that impossible theoretical
dream, then I worked on a feasibility study and showed that
it could work. Several people told me that to make this idea
as a real device with real materials could not be done — but I
thought it could. I built a funnel-shaped concentrator, with a OPTICALLY CLEAR EPOXY
for Bonding & Coating
refractive index graded from low to high. The challenge was
that the range of the refractive index difference needed is very
large, from about 1.0 to about 3.5. And not only that, I wanted
to be able to use the whole broadband spectrum of sunlight. TWO PART EP37-3FLF
Tech Briefs: What made it possible to cover these
wavelengths?
Very high flexibility
Elongation
Elongation 50-100%
50-100%
Vaidya: I did an extensive material search, basically character-
izing various materials and then matching them to be used as Cryogenically serviceable
the layers in AGILE. down to 4K
Tech Briefs: How did you bond the layers? Low viscosity
600-1,100
600-1,100 cps
cps
Vaidya: By basically machining it in a way similar to glass
polishing, but at a much higher level, with the help of the Excels in e-textile
crystal shop at Stanford. We wanted to have the surfaces
almost nanometer smooth so we could bond them to each
packaging
other with anodic bonding. For the anodic bonding, I built
equipment to be able to heat the joint and pass electricity Resists severe thermal
through it at the flexible cleanroom at Stanford. and mechanical shocks
Tech Briefs: I’m puzzled as to now it actually can work.

When I was burning dry leaves with my magnifying
glass, I always had to change the angle of the glass as
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Tech Briefs, September 2022 www.techbriefs.com 13

Solar Power for Carbon Capture
A solar thermal device converts carbon dioxide emissions into a clean energy resource.
A device that pulls carbon out of the air on the

cheap, with renewable energy, creating fresh
fuel in the process, would help us put a harness
on our planet’s runaway temperatures. Xiangkun
(Elvis) Cao, now a Schmidt Science Fellow at
MIT, created just such a device, the HI-Light So-
lar Thermal Chemical Reactor, while pursuing
his Ph.D. with David Erickson at Cornell. It won
the team SAE’s Create the Future Design Contest
award in 2017.
The idea was inspired by the Erickson Lab’s
prior work on biofuel production from algae.
“For algae cultivation, only the top layer will get
access to light,” said Cao. “So, our lab previously
engineered waveguides for uniform light distri-
bution within the whole reactor for better algae
production.” They decided to apply a similar sys-
tem with non-living materials. in terms of efficiency, scalability, and how it’s manufactured —
Cao set out to create a scalable reactor for photothermal cata- just how remains proprietary.
lytic CO2 conversion. In short, incoming light irradiation into And the reactor may have abilities beyond producing fuel.
the reactor is transmitted by glass rod waveguides with specially The same system can be used for other solar-driven catalytic
designed scattering surfaces to enable uniform irradiation. The processes. And people on this planet may not be the only ones
surface of those rods is coated with a catalyst that breaks apart to benefit from the technology. “It could potentially do a very
CO2 and other reactants, producing renewable solar fuels. good job on Mars,” added Cao. “There’s far more CO2 there
Things have come a long way since 2017, both for Cao and than on Earth, and there’s evidence of subglacial liquid water
for the solar reactor technology. “For me, I feel like the Create on Mars. When you feed CO2 and H2O into the reactor, you
the Future award was the starting point for my professional ca- could produce methanol to power a spacecraft and oxygen for
reer,” he said. The industrial partner for the HI-Light effort, the first Martians.”
Dimensional Energy, was a finalist for the $20 Millon Carbon Closer to home, Cao is working on pathways to integrate
XPrize. In 2019, Forbes featured Cao as one of their “30 Under various carbon capture and utilization processes. “For exam-
30” in Energy for North America. The reactor has progressed ple, taking pure CO2 out of the air — whatever the method
— can be costly. But if, instead, we created concentrations of
2017 GRAND PRIZE WINNER carbon at 1,000 parts per million (compared to air’s 420), the
result could be used in greenhouses at little cost. “1,000 is not
INNOVATORS: Xiangkun (Elvis) good for human health, but tomatoes really like it,” said Cao.
Cao (left) and David Erickson “There are many existing carbon capture and carbon utiliza-
tion processes out there. If we think outside of the box to
INNOVATION: A solar thermal bridge carbon capture and utilization, we can create new excit-
device mimics photosynthesis to ing economic opportunities while working to mitigate global
convert carbon dioxide emissions climate change.”
into a clean energy resource. He’s also turned his mind to policy issues and believes the
world needs to work together to create a roadmap for carbon
IMPACT: The HI-Light reactor capture that’s implemented immediately. “The United States
transforms CO2 and water into just banned the EPA from banning emissions from power
methanol and other high-value hydrocarbons, which could plants — that doesn’t make sense at all,” he said. “Right now we
help reduce carbon emissions and make carbon dioxide need a global system. We don’t have a global Carbon XPrize.”
capture and conversion more economical. “The problem is that we have really limited time to deal with
the massive CO2 emissions,” said Cao. “I’m thinking about the
Learn more about the 20th Anniversary Contest at whole field: with the technologies that are out there already,
www.createthefuturecontest.com what can we do right now, not 20 years later.”
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Preview
S
ince the first satellite launched over six decades ago, nologies, networking, quantum devices, and interoperabil-
spacecraft have relied on radio waves to communi- ity efforts.
cate with Earth. But radio has its limitations. With “We are hard at work bringing together NASA, other
more and more satellites now in space and entry government agencies, industry, and academia to discuss
of commercial players as well as the growing demand for the power of optical and quantum communications tech-
space services, the field of space communications is primed nologies, provide networking opportunities, and increase
for disruption. interoperability,” said Neal Barthelme, Chief, Commercial-
NASA expects the space-based market to grow signifi- ization, Innovation, and Synergies Office, NASA’s Explora-
cantly in the coming years. As space missions become more tion and Space Communications.
sophisticated and far-reaching, communication systems At this workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to
and technologies must evolve to successfully transmit data interface directly with leaders and bright minds from NASA,
between Earth, the Moon, and beyond. On October 4, other government agencies, and industry. To enhance col-
2022, NASA, other government agencies, academia, and laboration and interoperability, NASA will be providing a
industry will convene at Martin’s Crosswinds Greenbelt, unique forum to share information, discuss future technol-
MD, to discuss important advances in space communica- ogies, solicit feedback, and network.
tions at the NASA Goddard Space Communications Work- Sessions will feature speakers from NASA, other govern-
shop: The Power of Optical and Quantum Technology, Net- ment agencies, industry, and academia who will speak to
working, and Interoperability. the growing importance of developments in space commu-
Presented by NASA and Tech Briefs magazine, this nications and navigation.
in-person Space Communications Workshop will foster The keynote will be presented by NASA’s Space Commu-
discussions surrounding new and emerging technologies, nications and Navigation (SCaN) and SDA leadership. You
including optical communications, radio frequency tech- will hear directly from Badri Younes, the Deputy Associate All Images: NASA/GSC

Administrator for SCaN program office, about how SCaN panel discussion, attendees can learn more about current
currently manages communications and navigation ser- and upcoming optical communications missions.
vices for NASA and non-NASA missions and what he envi- In addition to the keynote speech and panel, there will
sions for the future of space communications. be industry demos as well as breakout sessions covering
Another key highlight of the event is the Rapid Devel- communications developments in the commercial and civil/
opment, Deployment, and Evolution of Optical Technolo- defense sectors. Whether you are from a civil or defense
gies Panel Discussion. Since the dawn of space exploration, organization, or you are from industry, there will be panels
NASA has used radio frequency systems to communicate and speakers discussing topics relevant to your field.
with astronauts and spacecraft. However, as space missions There will be many networking opportunities at this in-
generate and collect more data, the need for enhanced vite-only event, where you can join NASA in harnessing the
communications capabilities increases. Optical communi- power of the electromagnetic spectrum to communicate,
cations will allow missions to send more data per trans- navigate, and build a holistic space ecosystem.
mission — more data yields more discoveries. During this For more information, visit www.techbriefs.com/gscw.
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Executive
Roundtable:
Collaborative
Robots Gerhard Borho
ot
Rob
r/On
Katja Butterweck
tize
e
Pall
Joe Campbell
niversal Robots
Cobot Welding/U
Pneumat
ic Cobot
/Festo Kristian Hulgard
T
Background Image: ABB GoFa Electronic Assembly/ABB Global
he demand for collaborative robots (cobots) is steadily challenges cobots need to overcome before they become
mounting across all industries. By taking over the dull, ubiquitous? Tech Briefs posed questions to four industry ex-
dirty, and dangerous tasks, Cobots continue to prove perts about the current trends and future outlook of cobots.
their effectiveness in industrial applications by en- Our roundtable participants include Kristian Hulgard,
abling companies to fill labor gaps caused by the pandemic. General Manager Americas at OnRobot, Joe Campbell, Se-
Cobots are versatile and can work side-by-side with people, nior Manager of Applications Development and Strategic
just like co-workers, on a broad range of tasks. These include Marketing at Universal Robots, Gerhard Borho, Member of
material handling, machine tending, assembly, as well as the Management Board Information Technology and Digita-
testing and packaging in manufacturing, laboratories, logis- lization at Festo, and Katja Butterweck, ABB Global Product
tics hubs, and small production facilities. They can weld, as- Specialist, Collaborative Robots.
semble, package, palletize, pick and place, and conduct
quality inspections. Tech Briefs: What are some of the key trends driving the
Big manufacturing companies have been receptive to co- growth of cobots today?
bots. As factory automation becomes accessible to even the
small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs), will the adoption of Kristian Hulgard: The ongoing labor shortage, which is
cobots by SMEs accelerate in near future? What are the key happening across all industries and verticals and in many
to adopt automation — often for the
first time and with no prior robotics
“ A major driver for cobot adoption is the

technology’s proven ability to increase
experience. By taking the fussiness
out of automation, adoption becomes
a less daunting process, encouraging
SMEs to incorporate automation in
productivity and throughput, improve quality their workshops.
and enhance your bottom line.
” Kristian Hulgard
Joe Campbell: Our founders envi-
sioned a world in which SMEs could
enjoy the benefits of industrial automa-
tion, without the customary cost and
complexity attached. That vision re-
countries is a major driver for cobot faster, safer and (more) cost-efficiently. mains central to Universal Robots’ mis-
adoption. It’s hard to find people to More and more people are working in sion today. The arrival of cobots has
perform general operative roles, for ex- industrial production. They often lift broken down traditional barriers to
ample, which effects many manufactur- heavy loads and/or make monotonous adoption and inspired thousands of
ing processes. Cobots enable compa- movements for hours on end. Due to SMEs to deploy automation for the first
nies to fill these labor gaps, while at the demographic change, for many work- time. We want people to work with ro-
same time boosting the performance of ers this means decades of exhausting or bots, not like robots. Adoption of co-
existing staff by taking over the dull, unhealthy work. Industrial robotics, es- bots by SMEs is on an upward trend
dirty, and dangerous tasks. Cobots have pecially collaborative robotics, makes and has been for several years. Fast ROI
proven their effectiveness in industrial many people’s working lives easier by and a lower Total Cost of Ownership
applications over the past decade. A relieving them of strenuous work or (TCO) compared to traditional auto-
major driver for cobot adoption is the even taking it over completely. The mation, are additional factors driving
technology’s proven ability to increase know-how of the employees can be interest among SMEs. UR customers
productivity and throughput, improve used in other, more meaningful ways. typically see ROI within 12-18 Septem-
quality and enhance your bottom line. bers. In many cases, depending on the
The flexibility of cobot technology is Katja Butterweck: The key trends in application, it’s even quicker than that.
also a major factor driving adoption. the growth of collaborative robots are And with cobots being easy to program
With the right tooling, the same cobot flexibility and ease of use. Cobots from and deploy, eliminating the need to
could be used for sanding, screw- the leading robot OEMs remove com- hire expensive robot programmers,
driving, assembly, machine tending plexity from operations with precision TCO is vastly reduced compared to al-
and myriad other applications. Usabili- and repeatability, and, with their sim- ternative industrial robot solutions.
ty is another key driver. You don’t have ple design and engineering, can be in-
to be a robot programmer to program a tegrated into existing production lines
“
cobot cell, which creates massive possi- quickly and easily. As far as flexibility
bilities for companies with little or no goes, one of the key elements in the The arrival of
prior robotics experience. successful implementation of collabo-
rative robots is their approachable, cobots has broken
Joe Campbell: Labor shortages are sleek, compact, and lightweight design,
hitting several sectors, which in turn allowing them to be easily moved be- down traditional
drives adoption of cobot technologies. tween locations so they can be used
To take just one sector, the American when and where necessary, to support
barriers to adoption
Welding Society estimates that there is short-term process changes, or to auto- and inspired
a current shortfall of 85,000 welders in mate a task while an employee is off
the United States alone. This is a pat- sick or on holiday. thousands of SMEs to
tern that is repeated across verticals
and regions. The workers simply aren’t Tech Briefs: Big manufacturing com- deploy automation
there to take on many of the dull, dirty,
and dangerous tasks from sanding to
palletizing that are critical to a success-
ful manufacturing company.
panies have been receptive to this tech-
nology. As factory automation becomes
accessible to even the small manufac-
turing enterprises, do you think adop-
for the first time.
Joe Campbell
”
tion of cobots by SMEs will accelerate
Gerhard Borho: The world popula- in near future?
tion — and thus the demand for goods
— is growing. Factory and logistics halls Kristian Hulgard: Undoubtedly. In Gerhard Borho: For large corpora-
are increasing. Industrial robotics en- fact, acceleration of automation adop- tions, robot-based solutions are now
sures that we can increase the high pro- tion among SMEs is one of OnRobot’s standard equipment in large produc-
duction demands of a growing world primary goals. By designing hardware tion halls. In medium-sized companies,
population through efficient produc- and software that eliminates complex- however, they have by no means ar-
tion. Work steps can thus be carried out ity, OnRobot aims to empower SMEs rived across the board. Many still shy
Collaborative Robots
away from this technological leap. The contrast, following a risk assessment, for example, does not require any gears
reasons are different: some fear high cobots can be deployed without all that at all compared to electric drive solu-
investments — with comparatively lit- fencing and guarding. tions. In case of a collision, a “hard
tle added value due to too small fields stop” is not always good: e.g. jammed
of application and possibilities. In Joe Campbell: Safety is central to the condition. Then it is important to push
some cases, however, the inhibitions cobot concept which includes the free- the cobot aside again. This can be real-
also lie on the human side: Many asso- dom, following a risk assessment, to de- ized pneumatically very easily and flexi-
ciate highly complex technical systems ploy cobots in close proximity to hu- bly in balancer mode.
with it and see hurdles in terms of new man workers without all the safety
competence requirements. Festo fencing and guarding traditional in- Katja Butterweck: For a robot to be
makes collaborative robotics intuitively dustrial robots require. To make this considered collaborative, it must have
controllable, flexibly applicable and — possible, Universal Robots has incorpo- the necessary safety functions which
above all — financially affordable and rated an extensive range of safety fea- prevent injury to a human operator.
thus economically worthwhile even in tures into our cobots. The e-Series, for This means factoring in the robot’s
smaller companies. Cobots are particu- example, has 17 safety features built in speed, the combined mass of the ro-
larly attractive for SMEs when they can and are certified by TÜV Nord and in bot, its payload, and the ability of the
pragmatically and quickly take on a compliance with the EN ISO 13849-1 robot to quickly come to a halt. Built-in
new task and are not only intended for and EN ISO 10218-1 safety standards. safety features, therefore, are the pri-
permanent use. The price is a central While cobots provide levels of safety mary point of differentiation between
aspect for establishing cobots in SMEs beyond that of any other industrial ro- collaborative robots and standard in-
in large numbers. It is a decision crite- bot, it’s important to counter the mis- dustrial robots. Leading collaborative
rion when it comes to trying out the conception that cobots are inherently robots incorporate a range of features
added value simply and without great safe. For any machine to be inherently that allow it to be used directly along-
financial risk. safe, it means that there is no risk of side human workers without the space
injury in all situations. No such ma- and expense associated with physical
Katja Butterweck: Yes, SMEs are ripe chine exists. Cobots are incomplete barriers or fences. Enabling a robot
for significant growth in the installa- machines. As a standalone product and human to continuously share the
tion of cobots due to production and your cobot has no end-effector (grip- same workspace and cooperate on the
material cost pressures, labor shortag- per or other peripheral), and there is same tasks, without jeopardizing speed
es, and increasing need for flexibility. no way to know how it will be used and and safety, allows for maximum flexi-
ABB is currently witnessing a growing what it will do. Only the application of bility and efficiency. ABB’s GoFa co-
demand for automation not only in a cobot can be judged to be safe or not bot, for example, features intelligent
large companies in industries like auto- and this is determined by performing a torque and position sensors in each
motive and electronics, where robotics simple risk assessment of the cobot ap- of its six joints to offer superior power
are already in place, but also in SMEs in plication in accordance with ISO/TS and force limiting performance. These
new segments like healthcare, consum- 15066 before deployment. joints eliminate the risk of injury to hu-
er goods, logistics and retail, which cur- man workers by sensing any unexpect-
rently have a low level of robotic auto- Gerhard Borho: The safety require- ed contact between the cobot’s arm
mation. No robot can replace a person. ments for collaboration are defined. and a human to bring the robot arm to
But often, people are forced into robot- Our pneumatic robot meets these stan- a stop within milliseconds.
ic jobs — dull, dangerous, or repetitive dards and is also inherently more com-
tasks. The increasing capability, auton- pliant and softer because of the tech- Tech Briefs: How will advancement in
omy, and intelligence of collaborative nology. We owe this to the advantages technologies such as additive manufac-
robots to handle such tasks can free of pneumatic drive technology, which, turing and artificial intelligence impact
employees up for more fulfilling work the design and development of cobots?
and contribute toward a happier, safer,
and healthier society. Kristian Hulgard: Additive manufac-
Tech Briefs: Interacting with humans

in a shared workspace comes with chal-
“ In order to establish
collaborative robotics
turing offers exciting possibilities
when it comes to customizing automa-
tion and testing prototypes on the
lenges of safety. Are robot manufactur- shopfloor. OnRobot Partner EMI, for
ers installing more safety features while example, designs and builds in-stock
designing cobots?
on a broad scale, two and custom solutions for OnRobot
products, from 3D-printed vacuum
Kristian Hulgard: From the outset, aspects are indispensable: tools to machined fingers for handling
”
cobots have been designed to operate grippers. The impact is immediate –
safely close to humans, so safety has al- flexibility and simplicity. greater flexibility and faster deploy-
ways been a feature of the technology. ment times for custom applications.
This is not to say that traditional indus- Gerhard Borho Artificial intelligence is another excit-
trial automation is unsafe, but it typical- ing prospect. Software is the brains of
ly requires extensive fencing and any robot and if robots can learn from
guarding to protect human workers. In experience and then share that infor-
traditional industrial robots will remain
the better choice. What we are also see-
ing is that traditional industrial auto-
“ Artificial intelligence will allow the

realization of a lot more advanced applications
mation builders are incorporating as-
pects of collaborative robotics,
enhanced safety features and improved
”
user interfaces, for example, into their
with cobots. designs. In effect, the line between col-
Katja Butterweck laborative and industrial robotics is
starting to blur, but the differences re-
main stark in terms of affordability,
speed of ROI, and overall usability.
mation with other robots worldwide, through trial and error and therefore Gerhard Borho: In order to establish
it’s easy to imagine a world in which constantly broadening the range of ob- collaborative robotics on a broad scale,
your automation learns new skills on jects they can pick. With collaborative two aspects are indispensable: flexibili-
an ongoing basis. robots, in addition to AI, programming ty and simplicity. Our customers should
simplicity is one of the leading techno- “experience” directly — in their pro-
Joe Campbell: Additive manufactur- logical advancements. For example, duction environments — how uncom-
ing has great potential in terms of cus- end users can easily program GoFa via plicated, intuitive, and efficiency-in-
tomization of end-effectors and other lead-through programming and ABB’s creasing our product is. Ease of use is
tooling. Moreover, 3D printing allows new Wizard easy programming soft- the prerequisite for Cobots to be ac-
rapid prototyping of cobot tooling. The ware. Based on simple graphical blocks, cepted in practice by employees, espe-
extent to which this will impact on the Wizard makes it easy for non-specialists cially by customers who have not yet
design of cobots themselves remains to to automate their applications. The come into contact with them.
be seen. Many of our UR+ partners in- blocks represent actions such as ‘move
corporate AI features into applications to location’, ‘pick up an object’, and Katja Butterweck: Many companies,
such as bin-picking solutions, but we ‘repeat task’, making it easy and intui- especially SMEs, are reluctant to imple-
expect to see more widespread use of tive to build a series of simple processes ment cobots, as they regard them as
AI in the years ahead. for the robot to perform. too expensive and too complicated to
handle. Much progress has been made
Gerhard Borho: Additive manufac- Tech Briefs: What are the key challeng- by leading collaborative robot OEMs to
turing and artificial intelligence are be- es cobots need to overcome before address these issues. Simplicity is key to
coming more and more important and they become ubiquitous? unlocking automation for SMEs. The
bring with them new requirements that recent progress in making cobots easy
impact the design and development of Kristian Hulgard: Cobots are not to use has enabled more SMEs to bene-
cobots. Traditional development and suited to every type of application. For fit from cobot automation. Smaller
production processes will change, and example, if you need to manufacture end users can start working with cobots
we will see increasing flexibility. For co- millions of the same part in a Low Mix/ straight out of the box — without prior
bots, this means that they will also have High Volume environment or if you programming experience or special-
to adapt to the new challenges. Devel- need to lift extremely heavy items such ized training. When it comes to the
opment platforms help to master the as aircraft fuselages, then it’s possible costs for a cobot, the key question is
growing complexity and offer possibili- that traditional automation would be a about the return of investment. Cus-
ties for modular development. In par- better fit. Cobots are best suited to tomers tell us about unusually short
ticular, the increasing number of intel- High Mix/Low Volume manufacturing returns on investment. It is not unusu-
ligent solutions and products, inevitably processes and lighter payloads. In this al to hear that an SME has achieved an
brings with it an increasing software sense, cobots will never be ubiquitous. ROI in 12 months or less.
share. The short development cycles in
the software require even more a de- Joe Campbell: Given that cobots are
tached development of the software best suited to High Mix/Low Volume
and mechanics. production, and typically handle small-
er payloads than traditional industrial FOR MORE INFORMATION
Katja Butterweck: Artificial intelli- robots, it’s unlikely that cobots will ever
gence, especially, will allow the realiza- be ubiquitous. Some applications re- ABB
tion of a lot more advanced applica- quire robots that can handle massive www.abb.com
tions with cobots. AI allows robots to payloads in excess of 100 lbs and be- Festo
see, reason, and act in the world around yond. While payloads are increasing all www.festo.com
them, completing tasks too complex the time — the recently launched UR20 OnRobot
and varied for traditional programmed can handle payloads up to 20 kg (44.1 www.onrobot.com
robots. AI software enables robots to lbs), for example — and we are contin- Universal Robots
engage in reinforcement learning: ually improving the speed and accuracy www.universal-robots.com
adapting to new tasks on their own of our cobots, for some applications,
Root of Trust:
A Standardization Model
that Needs to Happen Now
W
e are seeing a digital trans- rising two-fold during the pandemic. This threat landscape presents a wide field
formation of all industries; means there are even more devices in our of opportunities for hackers. Howev-
new cybersecurity challeng- lives which can be attacked. This is par- er, it is encouraging to see some busi-
es are on the horizon. With ticularly true for the smaller, embedded nesses and individuals becoming more
that, comes the opportunity to act now and devices. These can often be overlooked, aware of the risks ahead and starting
build resilience against cyber threats, so we making them an easy target. Adopting a to change their priorities by adopting
can welcome the next chapter of our digi- security protocol for these devices is an es- proper security strategies for protec-
tal ecosystem with more trust than before. sential step in securing the supply chain tion. They are spending and putting
As technology plays an ever-increasing and avoiding more critical attacks. security at the forefront of their devel-
role in our lives, it brings with it a whole An average of four IoT devices are opment programmes. This is encour-
host of security challenges. The need owned which communicate with the aging as every product put into service
to make our devices secure couldn’t be cloud in any given network. With this has the potential to be attacked within
more important, from smart fridges to huge number of devices being connect- its product lifecycle, especially from re-
doorbells, from phones to tablets to the ed, it brings a wave of potential securi- mote threats.
Metaverse; for the world we now live and ty risks that must be protected. This is
work in, it is essential that cybersecurity is where Root of Trust (RoT) must be con- Security First
a priority for the Internet of Things (IoT). sidered and actioned. As manufacturers A RoT is a component that is always
In fact, the need has never been greater, make an increasing variety of IoT devic- trusted to act in an expected manner
Name/Shutterstock.com
and manufacturers and the end-user all es at a rapid rate to be the first to of- and should be provided by embedded
need to ensure it is a priority. fer the best capabilities at the cheapest systems manufacturers within the de-
price, security is often the last consider- vice. These security-first manufacturers
Rising Threat ation. This needs to change. are ensuring they embed a RoT as a
Billions of connected devices have been The reason being, that there is more set of functions in the trusted comput-
adopted within our personal eco-systems, to lose than ever before. The current ing module; serving as a separate com-
puting engine controlling the trusted
computing platform cryptographic pro-
cessor on the PC or mobile device it is
embedded in.
To ensure standardization of the adop-
tion of RoT, millions of devices are work-
ing with the Trusted Platform Module
(TPM) which provides the standardized
hardware RoT to help measure integrity
and provide health checks and authen-
tication services. We should remember
that vital to the security of any device, is
the ability to determine its integrity.
The TPM is a computer chip that can
be implemented in a variety of systems
with varying security levels, providing tech-
nicians with secure storage of boot and
runtime integrity measurements, as well as
private encryption keys and cryptograph-
ic secrets. These TPM capabilities can be
used to prevent hackers from being able
to replace code on devices and access en-
crypted data by isolating keys, so data re-
mains protected from unauthorized users.
For devices lacking a TPM, developers As security standardizations become a priority for manufacturers, engineers should also look to
can instead use Device Identifier Compo- resilience technologies and build on the protection offered by TPM and DICE.
sition Engine (DICE) based architecture.
DICE uses a combination of a small hard- es, environments, applications, and use RoT must be planted in the device to
ware engine and security code embedded cases, there is not a one-size fits all ap- begin. The TPM is the standard hard-
in boot code and later software layers to proach when it comes to cybersecurity. ware RoT that can provide integrity
provide device identity, integrity report- Rather, a diverse approach is needed to measurements, health checks, and
ing, and data protection capabilities. Sim- address unique needs. authentication services to protect em-
ilar to TPM, the DICE capabilities help To establish a foundation of secu- bedded systems. Depending on the re-
perform measurement, attestation, au- rity for every device in the system, a quirements of each unique system, the
thentication, and certification of software.
As these security standardizations be-
come a priority for manufacturers, engi-
neers should also look to resilience tech-
nologies and build on the protection
offered by TPM and DICE on IoT and
other systems. As consumer IoT con-
tinues to rapidly outnumber people, it
is key to ensure their devices have secu-
rity capabilities which have an automat-
ic way to recover a device to a trusted
state in an automated way and without
the need for manual intervention. Re-
silience encompasses better protection
and detection of compromises with a re-
liable recovery to a trusted state.
Where to Start
Securing devices and components
across all connected industries starts un-
der the operating system. A Zero Trust
approach to the system is needed where-
by the integrity of each device and its
movement of data can be determined.
Adopting trusted computing stan-
dards can help create the pervasive se-
The TPM is a computer chip that can be implemented in a variety of systems with varying security
curity validation needed in this kind of levels, providing technicians with secure storage of boot and runtime integrity measurements, as
approach. With the complexity of devic- well as private encryption keys and cryptographic secrets.

Cybersecurity
chip can be implemented at different strong security and privacy foundations To truly ensure end-to-end protection
security levels and is equipped to pro- for systems without a TPM, but it also and integrity, we need industry stan-
tect against even the most sophisticat- enhances the existing protection and dards that provide guidance for all stag-
ed attacks. privacy on those with a TPM. es of the supply chain and device lifecy-
For low-cost, low power endpoints, cle. Implementing a hardware RoT is a
DICE provides cryptographically strong Let’s Work Together fundamental place to start.
device identities which forms the foun- Good IoT security practices and By encouraging a security first ap-
dation for attestation for software up- strategies still have a long way to go. proach through the continued preven-
dates, patches and so on. It helps to There is a great need for more busi- tion of malware and viruses along with
provide viable security and privacy foun- nesses and individuals to get on board. resilience to recover a device once com-
dations for systems without a TPM and As the deployment of IoT heightens in promised, the ecosystem remains secure
enhances the security and privacy of popularity, it is crucial there are a va- and safeguarded through futureproof
systems with a TPM. In both cases it cre- riety of measures available for system measures and tools. As cyberthreats grow
ates a strong device identity, attestation developers and product manufactur- in sophistication and IoT applications
of device firmware, and security policy ers to ensure devices remain safe and become complex, the industry can be as-
with verification of software updates and secure throughout their lifetime. sured there is a safe, secure future for all
safe deployment. The first nine months of 2021 saw where information remains protected,
The DICE model offers strong attes- 40 percent more cyberattacks com- and systems remain online.
tation of device identity, firmware, and pared to the same period in 2020 with The Trusted Computing Group
security along with the secure deploy- 2022 expected to see a further in- (TCG) has developed a wealth of secu-
ment of software updates. All these fea- crease. One of the biggest, and argu- rity standards and trusted computing
tures make it a great tool for manufac- ably the most important, challenges technologies which address the securi-
turers and developers who can recover in the realm of hardware supply chain ty challenges of today and the future.
the device securely following a com- security and integrity is the number
promise, attest device firmware and of different organizations or groups This article was written by Dennis Mat-
security policy, and allow for secure involved; everyone implements differ- toon, Board Director, Trusted Computing
software updates. Suitable for low-cost, ent processes and methods to varying Group (Beaverton, OR). For more informa-
low power endpoints, DICE provides levels of success. tion, visit www.trustedcomputinggroup.org.

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Sensors
Future Wearable Health Tech Could Measure Gases
Released from Skin
New research points the way to monitoring metabolic diseases.
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
S cientists have taken the first step to cre-

ating the next generation of wearable
health monitors.
Most research on measuring human
biomarkers, which are measures of a
body’s health, rely on electrical signals to
sense the chemicals excreted in sweat.
But sensors that rely on perspiration of-
ten require huge amounts of it just to get
a reading.
A new study suggests that a wearable
sensor may be able to monitor the
body’s health by instead detecting the
gases released from a person’s skin.
“It is completely noninvasive, and
completely passive on the behalf of the
user,” said Anthony Annerino, lead au-
thor of the study.
Some wearable devices, like smart-
watches or fitness trackers, are already
capable of measuring pulse rates or tem-
peratures, but this team’s method would
allow the technology to sense biomark-
ers related to metabolic disorders, like
heart disease or diabetes. The study suggests future health sensors could work by detecting chemicals released from the skin.
“Discerning health issues through the (Image: Getty Images)
skin is really the ultimate frontier,” said
study co-author Pelagia-Iren Gouma. snapshot” of the body, Annerino said. and water to gauge its sensitivity, selec-
“The project still has a couple of years to Compared to the amount of chemicals tivity, and repeatability.
go. But in six months, we should have we release when we breathe, he said, this “We found significant bias toward
proof of concept and in a year, we’d like to team’s sensors can operate on much bending more upon exposure to cer-
have it tested in people,” said Gouma. smaller amounts of gaseous acetone re- tain chemicals over others,” said Anne-
The final product of the team’s research leased from the skin. rino. This bending happens in millisec-
would be a small device a person could Acetone is one of the substances secret- onds, and the researchers used machine
wear on low- sweat body locations, like be- ed from the skin that can tell researchers a learning and complex computational
hind the ear or on the nails, she said. And lot about the inner workings of the human algorithms to accurately record and
as more people become familiar with us- body. Concentrations of acetone in the track the film’s bending response to the
ing wearable devices in their everyday lives, breath have also been shown to be related different chemical solutions.
Gouma expects technology and medicine to blood sugar levels and fat-burning rates. Their findings showed that the films
to become even more intertwined. To test whether their sensors could de- are sensitive enough to track long-term
Scientists, including Gouma, have a tect varying amounts of these enlightening changes in the body. While focusing on a
long history of measuring the concentra- chemicals (which would signal the pres- metabolic rate sensor, another possible
tion of organic compounds in our breath, ence of the gaseous molecules), the re- use would be to track ethanol, which, in
a type of gas, as indicators of health. One searchers created a film material made the body, can spell signs of liver disease.
example would be blowing into a breatha- from derivatives of plant cellulose and More work needs to be done on how the
lyzer, a device that can measure the electroactive polymers. This film can bend films used in this study would work as ac-
amount of alcohol in a person’s blood or dramatically in response to how much of tual sensors worn on the body, the re-
be used to detect viruses. the acetone is detected in its environment. searchers said.
But such a gadget requires “active in- The team then placed the film over For more information, contact Tatyana
tent” and only provides a “momentary solutions containing ethanol, acetone, Woodall at [email protected].
Sensor Breakthrough Paves the Way for a Map of the
World Under Earth’s Surface
It has the potential to open a range of new applications for gravity survey, providing a new
lens to the underground.
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
A n object hidden below ground has

been located using quantum technolo-
gy — a long- awaited milestone with pro-
The success opens a commercial path
to significantly improved mapping of
what exists below ground level.
more about Antarctica than what lies a
few feet below our streets.”
Current gravity sensors are limited by a
found implications for industry, human This will mean reduced costs and re- range of environmental factors. A particu-
knowledge, and national security. duced delays to construction, rail, and lar challenge is vibration, which limits the
University of Birmingham researchers road projects; improved prediction of measurement time of all gravity sensors for
from the UK National Quantum Technolo- natural phenomena such as volcanic survey applications. If these limitations can
gy Hub in Sensors and Timing have report- eruptions; discovery of hidden natural be addressed, surveys can become faster,
ed their achievement in Nature. It is the first resources and built structures; and un- more comprehensive, and lower cost.
in the world for a quantum gravity gradi- derstanding archaeological mysteries The sensor developed by Dr. Michael
ometer outside of laboratory conditions. without damaging excavation. Holynski, Head of Atom Interferometry at
The quantum gravity gradiometer was Professor Kai Bongs said: “This is an Birmingham and lead author of the study,
used to find a tunnel buried outdoors in ‘Edison moment’ in sensing that will and his team at Birmingham is a gravity
real-world conditions one meter below the transform society, human understand- gradiometer. The system overcomes vibra-
ground surface. It wins an international ing, and economies. With this break- tion and a variety of other environmental
race to take the technology outside. through we have the potential to end challenges in order to successfully apply
The sensor works by detecting varia- reliance on poor records and luck as we quantum technology in the field.
tions in microgravity using the principles explore, build, and repair. In addition, This breakthrough will allow future grav-
of quantum physics, which is based on an underground map of what is current- ity surveys to be cheaper, more reliable and
manipulating nature at the sub-molecu- ly invisible is now a significant step closer delivered 10 times faster, reducing the time
lar level. to ending a situation where we know needed for surveys from a month to a few
ROBOTIC END - EFFECTORS
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Sensors
days. It has the potential to open a range of

new applications for gravity survey, provid-
ing a new lens into the underground.
“Detection of ground conditions such as
mine workings, tunnels, and unstable
ground is fundamental to our ability to de-
sign, construct, and maintain housing, in-
dustry, and infrastructure. The improved
capability that this new technology rep-
resents could transform how we map the
ground and deliver these projects,” said
Professor George Tuckwell.
Dr. Gareth Brown said: “For national De-
fense and Security, accurate and rapid mea-
surements of variations in microgravity
open up new opportunities to detect the
otherwise undetectable and navigate more
safely in challenging environments. As grav-
ity sensing technology matures, applica-
tions for underwater navigation and reveal-
ing the subterranean will become possible.”
For more information, contact Beck
An object hidden below ground has been located using quantum technology — a long-awaited
Lockwood at [email protected], milestone with profound implications for industry, human knowledge, and national secuity.
+44 (0)781 3343348. (Image: University of Birmingham)
Ultrathin Pressure Sensor Attaches to Skin

The imperceptible thin-film sensor records movement and the sense of touch.
University of Tokyo, Japan
R esearchers have developed an ultra-

thin pressure sensor that can be at-
tached directly to the skin to measure
how fingers interact with objects to pro-
duce useful data for medical and techno-
logical applications. The sensor has min-
imal effect on the users’ sensitivity and
ability to grip objects and it is resistant to
disruption from rubbing.
There are many reasons why re
searchers wish to record motion and oth-
er physical details associated with hands
and fingers. The hands are the primary
tools for directly interacting with and
manipulating materials and environ-
ments. By recording the way in which
hands perform various tasks, it could
help researchers in fields such as sports
and medical science as well as neuroen-
gineering.
Fingertips are extremely sensitive — The polyurethane and gold fingertip sensor can resist shear forces and rubbing. (Image: Someya et al.)
so much so that a superthin plastic foil
just a few millionths of a meter thick is al that is thin and porous called a nanometers thick. The second layer is a sten-
enough to affect somebody’s sensations. mesh sensor. cil-like network of lines that forms the
A wearable sensor for the fingers has to Two kinds of layers were made for the functional electronic component of the
be extremely thin, which also makes it sensors. Both layers were made by a pro- sensor. This is made from gold and uses
very fragile and susceptible to damage cess called electrospinning, which re- a supporting frame of polyvinyl alcohol,
from rubbing or repeated physical ac- sembles a spider spinning its web. One is often found in contact lenses, which af-
tions. In order to overcome this, the an insulating polyurethane mesh with fi- ter manufacture, is washed away to leave
team created a special functional materi- bers about 200 nanometers to 400 nano- only the gold traces it was supporting.
Multiple layers combine to form a functional pressure and
movement sensor.
The sensor maintained its performance as a pressure sensor
even after being rubbed against a surface with a force of 100
kilopascals (roughly equivalent to atmospheric pressure) 300
times without breaking.
For more information, contact Professor Takao Someya at
[email protected];+81-3-5841-0411.
Thin, Stretchable Biosensors

Could Make Surgery Safer
The new biosensors allow for simultaneous
recording and imaging of tissues and organs
during surgical procedures.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
and Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
A research team developed bio-inks for biosensors that

could help localize critical regions in tissues and organs
during surgical operations. The ink is biocompatible and pro-
vides a user-friendly design with workable time frames of more
than one day. Simultaneous recording and imaging could be
useful during heart surgery in localizing critical regions and
guiding surgical interventions such as a procedure for restor-
ing normal heart rhythms.
Los Alamos researchers formulated and synthesized the bio-
inks, with the goal of creating create an ultra-soft, thin, and
stretchable material for biosensors that is capable of seamlessly NEED A LIGHT?
TB Electronic Sensors Inc Ad 0922.indd 1 8/17/22 10:13 AM
interfacing with the surface of organs. They did this using

3D-printing techniques.
Silicone materials are liquid, making it very challenging to
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The printed bio-inks, however, do not have any shape deforma-
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The bio-inks are softer than tissue, stretch without experienc-
ing sensor degradation, and have reliable natural adhesion to option, go DC.
the wet surface of organs without needing additional adhesives.
For more information, contact Nick Njegomir at nickn@lanl.
gov; 505-695-8111.
LED 025 Lamp

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The new biosensors allow for simultaneous recording and imaging of tis-
sues and organs during surgical procedures. In this photo, researchers
attached the biosensor to the heart of a pig that was obtained commer-
cially. (Image: Bongjoong Kim, Purdue University)

Robotics & Automation
Advanced Humanoid Robotic Hand Technologies

The unique design of R2’s hand enables the assembly to achieve the compact form factor of
a human hand while retaining the strength required to work with human tools.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
N ASA and General Motors developed

the Robonaut 2 (R2) a state-of-the-art,
dexterous, humanoid robot capable of
performing tasks in an automated fashion
(or via teleoperation). The R2 hand and
forearm assembly represents the cutting
edge of humanoid robotics technologies.
The highly modular design provides signif-
icant improvements over prior humanoid
robotic hands, especially in the areas of
strength, speed, sensing, and ability to ap-
proximate human grasps.
R2’s hands are highly dexterous, en-
abling the robot to perform ergonomi-
cally challenging tasks. The robotic hu-
manoid lower arm design includes novel
robotic finger, thumb, and wrist assem-
blies. A novel finger actuation system
comprises an actuator, tendon, conduit,
tension sensor, and terminator. The ac- Gear Head
tuation system is packaged in the wrist Ball Screw Assembly
and reduces the number of actuators,
providing significant space savings. Con-
Flexible Conduit
trol systems include methods for ten-
sioning and controlling torque of the
tendon-driven robotic fingers.
The R2 hand and forearm assembly is
designed in a modular fashion, enabling
rapid replacement of components and
sub-assemblies. The finger actuation con-
Motor
trol system can operate using force- or
position-based control laws. R2’s hands
feature an innovative tactile system that Tension Sensor
grant the robot a sense of touch (e.g., Tendon Terminator
measurement of external contact forces,
shear force, and slippage of objects held
in the hand) an important requirement The R2 hand and forearm assembly, including avionics. (Image: NASA)
for robots designed to perform complex
tasks in an automated fashion. The tac- nication. A calibration system ensures sonal assistance and caregiving, emer-
tile system is enabled by novel six degree the sensors maintain high accuracy gency services and operations in hazard-
of freedom (DoF) force torque sensors, throughout operation. A novel grasp as- ous environment, as well as repetitive
three of which are integrated into the fin- sist device enables reliable, autonomous task automation.
gers (at the proximal, medial, and distal interaction with a broad range of objects NASA is actively seeking licensees to
phalanges) and two in the thumb (medi- (e.g., tools). A particle filter-based con- commercialize this technology. Please
al and distal phalanges). tact state estimation performs object lo- contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
The dexterous hand plus forearm is a calization and characterization. [email protected]
completely self-contained unit with all R2’s fingers have a top speed of more or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
motors and avionics packaged inside the than 200 mm/sec. The applications in- discussions. For more information, visit
forearm, reducing the number of con- clude industrial manufacturing and https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
ductors required for power and commu- maintenance, space exploration, per- MSC-TOPS-102.
Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather
A deep-learning method that can help drones cope with new and unknown wind conditions.
Caltech, Pasadena, CA
R ight now, drones are either flown un-

der controlled conditions, with no
wind, or are operated by humans using
remote controls. However, for drones to
autonomously perform necessary but
quotidian tasks, such as delivering pack-
ages or airlifting injured drivers from a
traffic accident, drones must be able to
adapt to wind conditions in real time.
To face this challenge, a team of engi-
neers from Caltech has developed Neu-
ral-Fly, a deep-learning method that can
help drones cope with new and unknown
wind conditions in real time just by up-
dating a few key parameters. Neural-Fly
is described in a study published in Sci-
ence Robotics.
Neural-Fly was tested at Caltech’s Cen-
ter for Autonomous Systems and Tech- Time-lapse photo shows a drone equipped with Neural-Fly maintaining a figure-eight course amid
nologies (CAST) using its Real Weather stiff winds at Caltech’s Real Weather Wind Tunnel. (Image: Caltech)
Wind Tunnel, a custom 10-foot-by-10-
foot array of more than 1,200 tiny com-
puter-controlled fans that allows engi-
neers to simulate everything from a light
gust to a gale.
“The issue is that the direct and specific
effect of various wind conditions on air-
craft dynamics, performance, and stability
cannot be accurately characterized as a
simple mathematical model,” said Soon-Jo
Chung, Bren Professor of Aerospace and
Control and Dynamical Systems and Jet
Propulsion Laboratory Research Scientist.
“Rather than try to qualify and quantify
each and every effect of turbulent and un-
predictable wind conditions we often ex-
perience in air travel, we instead employ a
combined approach of deep learning and
adaptive control that allows the aircraft to
learn from previous experiences and
adapt to new conditions on the fly with sta-
bility and robustness guarantees.”
Neural-Fly gets around these challenges
by using a so-called separation strategy,
through which only a few parameters of Engineers test Neural-Fly in the open air on Caltech’s campus. (Image: Caltech)
the neural network must be updated in
real time. drones equipped with the current state of Neural-Fly performed as well in flight
After obtaining as little as 12 minutes of the art adaptive control algorithms that tests conducted outside the CAST facility
flying data, autonomous quadrotor identify and respond to aerodynamic ef- as it did in the wind tunnel. Further, the
drones equipped with Neural-Fly learn fects but without deep neural networks. team has shown that flight data gathered
how to respond to strong winds so well Though landing might seem more by an individual drone can be trans-
that their performance significantly im- complex than flying, Neural-Fly, unlike ferred to another drone, building a pool
proved (as measured by their ability to the earlier systems, can learn in real of knowledge for autonomous vehicles.
precisely follow a flight path). The error time. It can respond to changes in wind For more information, contact Robert
rate following that flight path is up to 2.5 on the fly, and it does not require tweak- Perkins at [email protected]; 626-
times to 4 times smaller compared to ing after the fact. 395‑1862.
Robotics & Automation
Firefly-Inspired Robotic Lightning Bugs Take Flight

Insect-scale robots that can emit light when they fly could enable motion tracking
and communication.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
F ireflies have sparked the inspiration

of MIT researchers. Taking a cue from
nature, they built electroluminescent
soft artificial muscles for flying, in-
sect-scale robots. The tiny artificial mus-
cles that control the robots’ wings emit
colored light during flight.
This electroluminescence could enable
the robots to communicate with each oth-
er. If sent on a search-and-rescue mission
into a collapsed building, for instance, a
robot that finds survivors could use lights
to signal others and call for help.
The ability to emit light also brings
these microscale robots, which weigh
barely more than a paper clip, one step
closer to flying on their own outside the
lab. These robots are so lightweight that
they can’t carry sensors, so researchers
must track them using bulky infrared
cameras that don’t work well outdoors. MIT researchers have created soft actuators that can emit light in different colors or patterns. (Im-
Now, they’ve shown that they can track age: Courtesy of Kevin Chen, Suhan Kim,et al)
the robots using the light they emit and
just three smartphone cameras. high-frequency electric field. This elec- blue particles for the actuators they built;
“If you think of large-scale robots, they tric field excites the electrons in the zinc each actuator shines one solid color.
can communicate using a lot of different particles, which then emit subatomic They also tweaked the fabrication pro-
tools — Bluetooth, wireless, all those sorts particles of light known as photons. The cess so the actuators could emit multicol-
of things. But for a tiny, power-con- researchers use high voltage to create a ored and patterned light. Once they had
strained robot, we are forced to think strong electric field in the soft actuator, finetuned the fabrication process, they
about new modes of communication. and then drive the robot at a high fre- tested the mechanical properties of the
This is a major step toward flying these quency, which enables the particles to actuators and used a luminescence meter
robots in outdoor environments where light up brightly. to measure the intensity of the light.
we don’t have a well-tuned, state-of-the-art “Traditionally, electroluminescent ma- From there, they ran flight tests using
motion tracking system,” said Kevin terials are very energetically costly, but in a specially designed motion-tracking sys-
Chen, the D. Reid Weedon, Jr. Assistant a sense, we get that electroluminescence tem. Each electroluminescent actuator
Professor in the Department of Electrical for free because we just use the electric served as an active marker that could be
Engineering and Computer Science field at the frequency we need for flying. tracked using iPhone cameras. The cam-
(EECS) and the head of the Soft and Mi- We don’t need new actuation, new wires, eras detect each light color, and a com-
cro Robotics Laboratory in the Research or anything. It only takes about 3 per- puter program they developed tracks the
Laboratory of Electronics (RLE). cent more energy to shine out light,” position and attitude of the robots to
He and his collaborators accomplished said Kevin Chen. within 2 millimeters of state-of-the-art in-
this by embedding miniscule electrolumi- As they prototyped the actuator, they frared motion capture systems.
nescent particles into the artificial mus- found that adding zinc particles reduced In the future, they plan to enhance
cles. To fabricate a glowing actuator, the its quality, causing it to break down more that motion tracking system, so it can
team incorporated electroluminescent easily. To get around this, Kim mixed track robots in real-time. The team is
zinc sulphate particles into the elastomer zinc particles into the top elastomer lay- working to incorporate control signals
but had to overcome several challenges er only. He made that layer a few mi- so the robots could turn their light on
along the way. First, the researchers had crometers thicker to accommodate for and off during flight and communicate
to create an electrode that would not any reduction in output power. While more like real fireflies. They are also
block light. They built it using highly this made the actuator 2.5 percent heavi- studying how electroluminescence
transparent carbon nanotubes, which are er, it emitted light without impacting could even improve some properties of
only a few nanometers thick and enable flight performance. these soft artificial muscles.
light to pass through. Adjusting the chemical combination of For more information, contact Abby
However, the zinc particles only light the zinc particles changes the light color. Abazorius at 617-253-2709; abbya@
up in the presence of a very strong and The researchers made green, orange, and mit.edu.
Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Corrugated Rollable Tubular Boom
The COROTUB boom can be erected from an orbiting satellite or unfurled to set up emergen-
cy shelters, communication towers, or masts for antennas in remote areas.
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
D eployable composite booms are par-

ticularly attractive in space con-
strained applications. Their high pack-
aging volume efficiency enables relatively
large spacecraft systems required for
power generation, communications, or
propulsion to be housed within small
volumes. NASA’s new COROTUB boom
is flattened, rolled, and stowed in a small
package for easy transport to remote lo-
cations. When unfurled, it expands into
a load-bearing structural boom.
COROTUB is a monolithic closed-sec-
tion tubular thin-shelled structure that’s
been shown to scale efficiently up to
50m yet maintain its strength. Its two
corrugated thin shells form a closed sec-
tion, which yields high bending and tor-
sional stiffness, allowing for high di-
mensional stability. (Left) A traditional boom and the new COROTUB (right) of the same size. The COROTUB reaches its
Computational analysis and early tests full extension over a shorter distance compared to noncorrugated boom designs. (Image: NASA)
show that the corrugation provides in-
creased strength against buckling, en- boom bending and axial strength and to masts for antennas or solar power in re-
abling longer booms and targeting more shorten the length of the boom transi- mote areas on other planets, the moon,
demanding structural applications than tion from flat/rolled to deployed. or here on earth.
noncorrugated designs. Compared to other thin-shelled NASA is actively seeking licensees to
The corrugation geometry that dic- booms, COROTUB has improved stiff- commercialize this technology. Please
tates the boom cross-section shape was ness, strength, and stability, while main- contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
informed by parametric studies to opti- taining the package size as other booms. [email protected].
mize the parameters that most influence It might be erected from an orbiting sat- gov or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate li-
the cross-sections area moment of iner- ellite to hoist and support equipment; or censing discussions. Follow this link for
tia and torsional constant. The corrugat- may be unfurled to set up emergency more information: https://technology.
ed designs were found to improve the shelters, communication towers, or nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-341.
Tiny Motors to Power a Network of Nanomachines

A fuel-free and gear-free engine to convert light into mechanical energy for various
solid-state micro-/nano-electromechanical systems.
The University of Texas at Austin, TX
R esearchers from the Cockrell School

of Engineering at The University of
Texas at Austin recently created the first
sort, which held back their potential for
most real-world applications. “Life start-
ed in the water and eventually moved on
The researchers envision these motors
powering a variety of things. The spin-
ning motion could pick up dust and oth-
ever solid-state optical nanomotor. These land,” said Yuebing Zheng, an Associate er particles, making it useful for air qual-
tiny motors could power a network of Professor in the Walker Department of ity measurement. They could propel
nanomachines and replace some of the Mechanical Engineering. “We have drug delivery devices in the human body.
power sources used in devices today. made these micro nanomotors that have And they could power tiny drones for
All previous versions of these light-driv- always lived in solution work on land, in surveillance and measurements, as well
en motors reside in a solution of some a solid state.” as other mini vehicles.
Mechanical &
Fluid Systems
The new motor is less than 100 nano- By taking these motors out of the solu-
meters wide, and it can rotate on a solid tion and putting them onto chips, they
substrate under light illumination. It have the potential to replace batteries in
can serve as a fuel-free and gear-free en- some instances, using only light to gener-
gine to convert light into mechanical ate mechanical motion and power devic-
energy for various solid-state micro-/ es. This breakthrough arises from a novel
nano-electro-mechanical systems. design: a thin layer of phase change mate-
Bringing these nanomotors on land rial on the substrate. The thin film can
and out of water, so to speak, avoids undergo a local and reversible change
Brownian Motion, one of the biggest from the solid to a quasi-liquid phase
hurdles holding back implementation of when exposed to light. This phase change
these devices. It happens when water can reduce the friction force of the nano-
molecules push these little motors off motors and drives the rotation.
their spin. The smaller the motor, the This was the team’s first demonstra-
stronger this motion becomes. Remov- The spinning motors are 100-nanometers wide tion of the motors using nanoparticles.
and can rotate on a solid substrate under light
ing the solution from the equation side illumination. (Image: The University of Texas Going forward, the researchers will con-
steps this problem entirely. at Austin) tinue to improve their creation, working
Nanomotors are part of a large and on enhancing performance, by making
growing field of miniature power mense interest, but at this point, re- them more stable and controllable,
sources. They serve as a middle ground searchers are still trying to figure out which leads to converting light to me-
in scale between molecular machines the fundamental science to make these chanical energy at higher rates.
at the smaller end and micro-engines tiny motors more viable through in- For more information, contact Nat Levy
at the larger end. The field is of im- creased efficiency. at 512-471-2129; [email protected].
Integral Tuned Mass Absorber for Turbine Blades

The innovation addresses the resonance vibration challenges of conventionally machined
turbine bladed discs.
Marshall Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
A novel turbine blade design and

manufacturing approach devel-
oped by NASA provides a significant re-
unique resonance vibration challenges
of conventionally machined turbine
bladed discs, or blisks. Additive manu-
The design approach uses an internal
column manufactured as part of the
blade that is optimized such that the dy-
duction in turbine blade resonant vibra- facturing is used to make this unique namics of the blade damper system are
tion. This innovation addresses the structure. rearranged and reduced according to
the well-known science of tuned
mass-absorption (TMA). The TMA con-
cept has been implemented successfully
in applications ranging from skyscrap-
ers to liquid oxygen tanks for space ve-
hicles. Indeed, this theory has been
conceptually applied to bladed-disk vi-
bration, but a practical design has not
previously been reported.
The NASA innovation addresses anoth-
er important challenge for turbine blade
vibration damper designs. All existing
blade damper solutions are essentially in-
capable of being reliably predicted, so an
expensive post-design test program must
be performed to validate the expected re-
sponse. Even then, the actual magnitude
of the response reduction under actual
hot fire conditions may never be known.
The dynamic response of this
tuned-mass-absorber design is both sub-
stantial and can be analytically predict-
ed with high confidence, and thus the
response can be incorporated fully into
The design approach uses an internal column manufactured as part of the blade. (Image: NASA) the upfront design process.
Prototypes have demonstrated a 50
×107 Reduction of Blade Response using Tuned Mass Absorber
8 percent reduction in resonant vibra-
Baseline, No Absorber
With Absorber tion. The innovation also enables im-
7
proved predictive modelling of the res-
onant behavior of new blisk designs
6
because the tuned-mass absorber acts as
a linear system. In contrast, modelling
Response to Unit Load
5
of conventional blade dampers is ex-
4 tremely complex, and therefore, re-
quires an expensive iterative test pro-
3
gram dedicated to validation of the
2 damper design.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
1 commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
0
5000 5100 5200 5300 5400 5500 5600 5700 5800 5900 6000 [email protected]
Frequency (Hz) or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
Reduction of Blade Response using Tuned Mass Absorber discussions. For more information, visit
Reduction in resonant response of a turbine blade with the NASA integral tuned mass absorber. https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
(Image: NASA) MFS-TOPS-111.
Active Flow Control System for Simple-Hinged Flaps

The system represents a breakthrough in flow separation control technology to efficiently
achieve necessary lift performances while requiring low pneumatic power.
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
C onventional high-lift systems allow

transport aircraft to safely operate at
low speeds for landing and takeoff. These
ternally under the wings, requiring exter-
nal fairings, which increase cruise drag.
Simple-hinged flaps are less complex, and
upstream sweeping jet (SWJ) actuators
and downstream discrete jets, which
share the same air supply plenum. The
high-lift devices, such as Fowler flaps, are an ideal choice for low-drag cruise efficien- upstream (row 1) SWJ actuators provide
complex, heavy, and have high part counts. cy. However, simple-hinged flaps require good spanwise flow-control coverage with
Fowler flap mechanisms also protrude ex- high flap deflections to achieve lift compa- relatively mass flow, effectively pre-condi-
rable to Fowler flaps. These flap deflec- tioning the boundary layer such that the
tions cause severe adverse pressure gradi- downstream (row 2) discrete jets achieve
ents, which generate flow separation that better flow control authority.
is difficult to control. In response to these The two-row actuator system, working
challenges, NASA developed the High Ef- together, produce a total aerodynamic lift
ficiency Low Power (HELP) active flow greater than the sum of each row acting
control (AFC) system. individually. The result is a system that
Although simple-hinged flaps repre- generates sufficient lift performance for
sent optimal high-lift systems for reduc- simple-hinged flaps with pneumatic pow-
ing cruise drag, previous attempts to de- er requirements low enough to enable
sign flow control systems enabling such aircraft integration.
technology in transport aircraft have This simple, elegant invention can
been unsuccessful. This is largely because control flow separation resulting from
such systems generally require a tradeoff the high flap deflections required by
between (a) the ability to achieve the re- simple-hinged flap systems making such
HELP actuator
quired lift performance, and (b) possess- flaps a viable option for aircraft design-
cartridges ing sufficiently low pneumatic power to ers. Aircraft with simple-hinged flap sys-
enable feasible aircraft system integration tems will achieve reduced cruise drag,
(i.e., avoiding excess weight penalties as- thereby increased fuel efficiency.
sociated with high pneumatic power). NASA is actively seeking licensees to
NASAs HELP AFC system represents a commercialize this technology. Please
breakthrough in flow separation control contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
HELP actuator cartridges on the NASA High-Lift technology to efficiently achieve neces- [email protected]
Common Research Model (CRM-HL). Testing sary lift performances while requiring low or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
proved that HELP flow control actuators were pneumatic power relative to alternative discussions. Follow this link for more in-
very effective in controlling the substantial
flow separation on a simple-hinged flap system flow control techniques. It uses a unique formation: https://technology.nasa.gov/
with a 50-degree flap deflection. (Image: NASA) two-row actuator approach comprised of patent/LAR-TOPS-340.
Power & Energy
Enhancing Solar Option During Power Outages

A building-solar controller that optimizes solar energy with smart technology to keep
microgrids operating for up to five days.
Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL
E ngineers at the U.S. Department of En-

ergy’s Argonne National Laboratory
have designed a novel building-solar con-
ance electricity supply and demand to en-
sure a reliable power supply.”
Argonne worked with public and private
troller that optimizes solar energy with partners including utilities and education-
smart technology to keep microgrids opal and research centers on the three-year
erating for up to five days. The Argonne project completed in late 2021.
project was funded by the DOE Solar En- The team successfully tested the frame-
ergy Technologies Office to advance re- work in a real-world microgrid at the Illi-
search in solar energy technologies. nois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chica-
Utility companies can restore most pow- go. The team applied the framework to the
er outages within 7-10 days of a natural di- real-world microgrid on the IIT campus.
saster. But a five-day power supply is a rea- Chen said the team demonstrated in real
sonable threshold to allow isolated Technology developed at Argonne National time how solar, wind, energy storage and
microgrids to provide power during most Laboratory optimizes solar energy to keep mi- variable power loads keep the lights on in
crogrids operating for up to five days, offering
outages, said principal investigator, Bo critical backup during outages. (Photo: Shutter- various power outage scenarios.
Chen, an Argonne computational scientist. stock/Sergii Molchenko) A single building microgrid is limited by
Microgrids come in a variety of sizes and capacity, response speed and other factors.
can generate enough power for a few buildings, solar energy, and other energy The team showed that multiple building
homes or an entire community. The grids resources in one integrated network. microgrids can complement each other to
offer the opportunity to use more ze- While solar power is environmentally expand grid service capability and restore
ro-emission electricity sources which re- friendly, the renewable energy source is power more quickly.
duces greenhouse gas emissions. dependent on weather and is not avail- The framework is primarily targeted for
As technology gets smarter, the build- able continuously. To ensure a consis- use by utility companies, which can direct-
ings themselves can essentially be trans- tent, reliable energy supply for five ly embed the framework into their control
formed into microgrids, or grid-interactive days, the Argonne team relied on an centers. Private vendors can also incorpo-
efficient buildings. These buildings use energy storage system that captures en- rate the flexible network into existing
smart controls, sensors, and analytics to ergy for later use. products. Still in the early stages, the
communicate with the electrical grid. “Energy storage works as a buffer that framework will eventually be available in a
Argonne’s novel building-solar control- absorbs power when there is a surplus and free, open-source format.
ler is an algorithm and framework that releases power when there is a deficit,” said For more information, contact media@
coordinates multiple grid-interactive Chen. “In this way, we can continuously bal- anl.gov; 630-252-5580.
New Approach to Reducing EV Battery Testing Time

The process could drastically reduce the cost of assessing how battery configurations will
perform over the long haul.
University of Michigan, Detroit, MI
T esting the longevity of new electric

vehicle battery designs could be four
times faster with a streamlined approach.
do that using trial and error testing,” said
Wei Lu, U-M Professor of mechanical engi-
neering and leader of the research team
physical testing of new and better batteries
by about 75 percent. That speed could
provide a major boost to battery develop-
A new optimization framework created by behind the framework. “It takes such a ers searching for the right combination of
researchers at University of Michigan long time to evaluate.” materials and configurations to ensure
could drastically reduce the cost of assess- With electric vehicle (EV) battery manu- that consumers always have enough capac-
ing how battery configurations will per- facturers grappling with range anxiety and ity to reach their destinations.
form over the long haul. concerns of charging availability, the opti- Parameters involved in battery design
“The goal is to design a better battery mization system developed by Lu’s team include everything from the materials
and, traditionally, the industry has tried to could cut the time for both simulation and used to the thickness of the electrodes to
the size of the particles in the electrode cade of use. It is extremely time-consum- ates better designs,” Lu said. “We use
and more. ing to repeat this test through the huge early feedback to discard unpromising
Testing each configuration usually number of possible battery designs to battery configurations rather than cy-
means several months of fully charging discover the better ones. cling them till the end. This is not a sim-
and then fully discharging — or cycling “Our approach not only reduces test- ple task since a battery configuration
the battery — 1,000 times to mimic a de- ing time, but it also automatically gener- performing mediocrely during early cy-
cles may do well later on, or vice versa.”
The team has formulated the ear-
ly-stopping process systematically and
enabled the system to learn from the
accumulated data to yield new promis-
ing configurations. To get a sizable re-
duction in the time and cost, U-M engi-
neers harnessed the latest in machine
learning to create a system that knows
both when to quit and how to get bet-
ter as it goes.
U-M’s framework is effective in testing
designs of all battery types, from those
used for decades to run internal combus-
tion automobiles, to the smaller prod-
ucts that power our watches and cell
phones. But EV batteries may represent
the most pressing use of the technology.
For more information, contact Kate
Wei Lu, a U-M professor of mechanical engineering, cycling batteries in the Lu Lab at the George G.
Brown Laboratories building on the North Campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. McAlpine at 734-647-7087; kmca@
(Image: Brenda Ahearn, College of Engineering) umich.edu.
Large Format Li-Ion Calorimeter

The system tests lithium-ion battery cells with capacities over 100Ah.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Innovators at NASA Johnson Space

Center have developed a method to
measure the total and fractional heat re-
ion cells, engineers can gain insight to
improve the design of both the cell and
battery level. This in turn helps prevent
facilitate the direct capture and tempera-
ture measurement of a completely ejected
electrode winding a common occurrence
sponse of large format Li-ion cells (cells cell-to-cell propagation during a cell ex- in a thermal runaway event for cells of this
with capacities greater than 100Ah) plosion, reducing both consequence of size. The L-FTRC also makes use of new
when driven into thermal runaway con- failure as well as the likelihood of loss of strain relief techniques for all associated
ditions. The new hardware can handle hardware or mission. instrumentation, improving measurement
up to 40 times the energy yield of a small The Large Format Thermal Runaway reliability. The system provides a gas col-
format iteration. By understanding the Calorimeter (L-FTRC) implements a lection system capable of capturing the
thermal runaway behavior of larger Li- novel basket capture system designed to expelled gases in a manner that provides
the means to analyze the overall volume
Gas Velocity Sensor
of expelled gases, as well as flowrate, tem-
perature, and chemical composition.
Lifting Hoist
This design enables a novel overall ca-
Ejecta Bore
pability. Large format Li-ion battery man-
Ejecta Mating ufacturers can now benefit from testing
Expansion Chamber their batteries for aerospace, automotive,
Cell Chamber and Nail
military, and other heavy-duty commer-
Gas Collection and
Characterization System
Pentration Stration cial applications using this technology.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
Housing and contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
Insulation
[email protected]
Assembly and DPA Stands or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licens-
ing discussions. For more information,
The Large Format Li-Ion Thermal Runaway Calorimeter’s portability contributes to an array of appli- visit https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
cations. (Image: NASA) MSC-TOPS-98.
Power & Energy
Energy Storage Materials Make Batteries More Efficient

and Heat-Resistant
New polymer electrolytes are used as electrolytes in redox flow batteries.
Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
R esearchers have developed new poly-

mer electrolytes for redox flow bat-
teries that are flexible, efficient, and en
use. The first is the frequent use of
environ mentally hazardous and toxic
heavy metal salts, such as vanadium dis-
temperature of up to 60 °C, so that the ad-
ditional expense for sensitive temperature
management is eliminated. In addition,
vironmentally friendly. solved in sul furic acid, as electrolytes. during their tests with the new system, the
In redox flow batteries, the energy-stor- The other problem is the restriction of researchers discovered that it also works
ing components are dissolved in a solvent, the batteries to a maxi mum working more efficiently than its predecessors.
and can therefore, be stored at a decen- temperature of 40 °C, which necessitates This means that electricity can be stored
tralized location, which allows the battery the use of an elaborate cooling system. in a non-hazardous, water-based solution
to be scaled as required, from a few millili- With the help of the new material, these that is then stored temporarily in tanks
ters to several cubic meters of electrolyte two problems were solved. and the electricity in the battery can be
solution. The new type of polymer is soluble in used again the next day without significant
Thanks to this flexibility, redox flow water — which makes it suitable for use in losses or additional effort. Systems of this
batteries could become an important an aqueous electrolyte — and that con- kind can also be used in warmer regions.
means of energy storage; however, until tains iron, which provides the ability to For more information, contact Ulrich
now, they suffered from two weaknesses store electricity. At the same time, the poly- S. Schubert, Prof. Dr, at ulrich.schubert@
that have prevented their widespread mer can cope with a significantly higher uni-jena.de; +49 3641-9-48560.
Room-Temperature Liquid-Metal Battery

The battery promises more power than lithium-ion batteries and can charge and deliver
energy several times faster.
University of Texas, Austin, TX
R esearchers have built a new

type of battery that combines
the benefits of existing options
Because of the liquid compo-
nents, the battery can be scaled up
or down easily, depending on the
while eliminating their key short- 20 °C 68 °F power needed —the bigger the
comings and saving energy. Most battery, the more power it can de-
batteries are composed of either liver. That flexibility allows these
solid-state electrodes, such as lith- batteries to potentially power ev-
ium-ion batteries for portable Na-K liquid erything from smartphones and
electronics, or liquid-state elec- metal anode wearable devices to the infrastruc-
trodes including those for smart ture underpinning the movement
grids. The researchers have creat- toward renewable energy.
ed a “room-temperature all-liq- Organic electrolyte Many of the elements that con-
uid-metal battery,” which includes stitute the backbone of the new
the best of both worlds of liquid- battery are more abundant than
and solid-state batteries. some of the key materials in tradi-
Ga-based liquid
Solid-state batteries feature metal cathode
tional batteries, making them po-
significant capacity for energy tentially easier and less expensive
storage but they typically en- to produce on a large scale; how-
counter numerous problems The battery includes a sodium-potassium alloy as the anode and a ever, gallium remains an expen-
that cause them to degrade over gallium-based alloy as the cathode. sive material. Finding alternative
time and become less efficient. materials that can deliver the
Liquid-state batteries can deliver energy of 20 °C (68 °F) — a major change be- same performance while reducing the
more efficiently without the long-term cause current liquid-metal batteries must cost of production remains a key chal-
decay of sold-state devices; however, be kept at temperatures above 240 °C. lenge. The next step to in creasing the
they either fall short on high energy de- The battery includes a sodium-potas- power of the room-temperature battery
mands or require significant resources sium alloy as the anode and a galli- comes in improving the electrolytes —
to constantly heat the electrodes and um-based alloy as the cathode. It may the components that allow the electrical
keep them molten. be possible to create a battery with charge to flow through the battery.
The metallic electrodes in the new bat- even lower melting points using differ- For more information, contact Nat
tery can remain liquefied at a temperature ent materials. Levy at [email protected].
Sustainable Technology
A Biodegradable Filtration System for Waste Metal Recovery

An inexpensive biological approach to removing or adsorbing a target substance or material
from solution.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
R apid socio-economic development and

technological advancement has made
the hazardous chemical components of
tively bind to the target substance or ma-
terial and to bind to the substrate. The
substrate is fungal mycelium, and the
tionally containing substrate-binding do-
main sequence; fusion peptides/pro-
teins containing a metal-binding domain
end-of-life electronics waste (e-waste) an naturally occurring or bioengineered and a chitin-binding domain; and (nu-
imminent challenge. Conventional ex- peptide is called a target-binding do- cleic acids encoding fusion peptides
traction methods rely on energy-intensive main, which is chemically bonded to a and/or proteins containing metal-bind-
processes and are inefficient when applied selected solid substrate. ing domain sequence.
to recycling e-waste or waste streams that The target chemical species binds to The technology enables simple scale
contain mixed materials and small the target-binding domain and is re- up to a level that could be successfully
amounts of metals. NASA Ames Research moved from solution. The target can be implemented in an environment with
Center has developed an inexpensive bio- any chemical species dissolved or sus- limited resources, such as on a space mis-
logical approach to removing or adsorb- pended in the solution. Capture of the sion or on earth in developing countries
ing a target substance or material, for ex- target by the substrate can isolate and with poor access to clean water.
ample a metal, non-metal toxin, dye, or allow removal of the target substance NASA is actively seeking licensees to
small molecule drug, from solution. from solution, or for utilization in water commercialize this technology. Please
This invention is a method of remov- filtration, or recovery of targeted chemi- contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
ing or adsorbing a target substance or cal species from solution, particularly [email protected]
material, for example, a metal, non-met- aqueous solution applications. or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licens-
al toxin, dye, or small molecule drug, The peptides used include fusion pep- ing discussions. For more information,
from solution, by functionalizing a sub- tides and/or proteins containing visit https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
strate with a peptide configured to selec- metal-binding domain sequence and op- TOP2-295.
Using AI to Help Scale Up Advanced Solar

Cell Manufacturing
A new approach to machine learning could help make the next generation of solar power
a reality.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
P erovskites are a family of materials

that are currently the leading contend-
er to potentially replace today’s sili-
perienced workers, into the machine
learning process.
While most laboratory-scale develop-
rolled by. The material would then move
on to a curing stage, providing a rapid and
continuous output.
con-based solar photovoltaics. Manufac- ment of perovskite materials uses a Within that process, at least a dozen vari-
turing perovskite-based solar cells involves spin-coating technique, that’s not practical ables may affect the outcome, some of
optimizing at least a dozen or so variables for larger-scale manufacturing, so compa- them more controllable than others.
at once, even within one particular manu- nies and labs around the world have been These include the composition of the
facturing approach among many possibili- searching for ways of translating these lab starting materials, the temperature, the
ties. But a new system based on a novel materials into a practical, manufacturable humidity, the speed of the processing
approach to machine learning could product. path, the distance of the nozzle used to
speed up the development of optimized The MIT team looked at a process that spray the material onto a substrate, and
production methods and help make the they felt had the greatest potential, a meth- the methods of curing the material. Many
next generation of solar power a reality. od called rapid spray plasma processing of these factors can interact with each oth-
The system, developed by researchers at (RSPP). The manufacturing process er, and if the process is in open air, then
MIT and Stanford University over the last would involve a moving roll-to-roll surface, humidity, for example, may be uncon-
few years, makes it possible to integrate or series of sheets, on which the precursor trolled. Evaluating all possible combina-
data from prior experiments, and informa- solutions for the perovskite compound tions of these variables through experi-
tion based on personal observations by ex- would be sprayed or ink-jetted as the sheet mentation is impossible, so machine
Sustainable Technology
learning was needed to help guide the ex-

perimental process.
But while most machine-learning systems
use raw data such as measurements of the
electrical and other properties of test sam-
ples, they don’t typically incorporate hu-
man experience such as qualitative observa-
tions made by the experimenters of the
visual and other properties of the test sam-
ples, or information from other experi-
ments reported by other researchers. So,
the team found a way to incorporate such
outside information into the machine
learning model, using a probability factor
based on a mathematical technique called
Bayesian Optimization.
The system now allows experimenters to
much more rapidly guide their process in
order to optimize it for a given set of condi-
tions or required outcomes. The research
team is currently focusing on tech transfer
to existing perovskite manufacturers.
For more information, contact Abby
A machine learning system promises to speed up production of perovskite-based solar cells. (Im-
age: Photo of solar cell by Nicholas Rolston, Stanford, and edited by MIT News. Perovskite illustra- Abazorius at 617-253-2709; abbya@
tion by Christine Daniloff, MIT) mit.edu.
Lignin-Based Jet Fuel Packs More Power

A new method turns lignin from agricultural waste into a sustainable jet fuel.
Washington State University, Pullman, DC
A n experimental plant-based jet fuel

could increase engine performance
and efficiency, while dispensing with aro-
matics, the pollution-causing com-
pounds found in conventional fuels, ac-
cording to new research.
In a study published in the journal
Fuel, researchers analyzed a Washington
State University-developed jet fuel based
on lignin, an organic polymer that makes
plants tough and woody. Using a range
of tests and predictions, the researchers
examined fuel properties critical to jet
engine operation, including seal swell,
density, efficiency, and emissions. Their
results suggest that this sustainable fuel
could be mixed with other biofuels to
fully replace petroleum-derived fuels.
“When we tested our lignin jet fuel, we
saw some interesting results,” said Bin
Yang, professor with WSU’s Department A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientist helps develop a sustainable fuel component as
of Biological Systems Engineering and part of research into bio-based jet fuels. (Image: Washington State University)
corresponding author on the study. “We
found that it not only had increased en- trails, which are estimated to contribute “Aromatics are still used in fuel today
ergy density and content but also could more to the climate impact of aviation because we do not have solutions to
totally replace aromatics, which are a than carbon dioxide,” said Joshua some of the problems they solve: They
real problem for the aviation industry.” Heyne, co-author, University of Dayton provide jet fuel with a density that other
“Aromatics are associated with in- scientist and current co-director of the sustainable technologies do not. Most
creased soot emissions, as well as con- joint WSU-PNNL Bioproducts Institute. unique is their ability to swell the
O-rings used to seal metal-to-metal while meeting higher environmental confer higher energy densities and specific
joints, and they do this well.” standards. energies without using aromatics.”
Yang developed a patented process “The lignin-based fuel we tested comple- “This process creates a cleaner, more
that turns lignin from agricultural ments other sustainable aviation fuels by energy-dense fuel,” Yang added. “That’s
waste into bio-based lignin jet fuel. increasing the density and, perhaps most exactly what sustainable aviation fuels
Such sustainable fuel could help the importantly, the ring-swelling potential of need for the future.”
aviation industry reduce dependance blends,” Heyne said. “While meeting our For more information, contact Bin Yang
on increasingly expensive fossil fuels material needs, these sustainable blends at [email protected]; 509-372-7640.
Unprinting Method Removes Toner with Xenon Light

This method can help recycle paper and curb environmental costs.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
A method was created to unprint paper

that, unlike laser-based methods, can
work with the standard, coated paper used
Xenon
lamp
emissions, chemical pollution, and energy
use, according to the study. Extending
the life of paper while avoiding these re-
in home and office printers. The new meth- cycling steps would yield significant envi-
od uses intense pulses of light from a xenon Printed paper
ronmental benefits.
lamp and can erase black, blue, red, and Intense The next steps are to further refine
Pulsed Light
green toners without damaging the paper. the method by testing additional toner
The method makes it possible to unprint colors on a wider range of paper types.
and then reprint on the same paper at least Ethanol Unprinting can be done with simple
wipe
five times, which is typically as many times Unprinted paper equipment and a wipe with a very
paper can be reused with conventional re- small amount of benign alcohol. Re-
cycling. By eliminating the steps involved in searchers are working to integrate un-
conventional recycling, the unprinting printing with typical office and home
method could reduce energy costs, pollu- printers.
tion, and greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, contact Todd
A new way to unprint paper uses intense pulsed
Conventional recycling of coated paper light from a xenon lamp. (Image: Rajiv Malhotra/ Bates at [email protected]; 848-
is a major contributor to climate change Rutgers University) 932-0550.
Organic Steam Generator Uses Sunlight to Purify Water

A high-efficiency steam generator that purifies and desalinates water can be built using
cheap and natural materials such as cellulose.
Linköping University, Sweden
R esearchers have developed an inex-

pensive and eco-friendly steam gen-
erator to desalinate and purify water us-
and the aerogel so that the steam gen-
erator is kept afloat. The heat from the
Sun vaporizes the water, while salt and
ing sunlight. The rate of steam other materials remain behind. The
production is four to five times higher durable aerogel can be cleaned in, for
than that of direct water evaporation. example, salt water so that it can be
The steam generator consists of an aero- used again immediately. This can be
gel that contains a cellulose-based struc- repeated many times. The water that
ture decorated with the organic conjugat- passes through the system by evapora-
ed polymer PEDOT:PSS. The polymer has tion becomes very high-quality drink-
the ability to absorb the energy in sunlight ing water.
in the infrared part of the spectrum where All the materials are eco-friendly —
much of the Sun’s heat is transported. The the system uses nanocellulose and a poly-
aerogel has a porous nanostructure, which mer that has a very low impact on the
means that large quantities of water can be environment and people. Very small
absorbed into its pores. A 2-mm layer of amounts of material are used; the aero-
this material can absorb 99 percent of the gel is made up of 90 percent air.
energy in the Sun’s spectrum. For more information, contact
The heat from the Sun vaporizes the water, while
A porous and insulating floating salt and other materials remain behind. (Image: Simone Fabiano at simone.fabiano@
foam is also located between the water Thor Balkhed) liu.se; +45 11 36 36 33 .
APPLICATION
BRIEFS
user interfaces (GUIs) allow users to design workspaces to
Raising the Reliability of Scientific display command control panels, telemetry data, and addi-
Space Exploration tional information.
OASIS-CC can be used to develop and test scientific instru-
LASP ments in the laboratory and control those same instruments
Boulder, CO during missions aboard spacecraft. By using OASIS-CC
https://lasp.colorado.edu/home/ throughout the life of a program, project managers can greatly
reduce both risk and cost by leveraging re-use.
AdaCore
New York, NY Mission-Critical Software Must Remain Reliable
www.adacore.com The heart of the OASIS-CC system — the client server por-
tion — is written in Ada. It has been certified as NASA Class B
T he Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at

the University of Colorado Boulder was founded in 1948, a
decade before NASA. It began as the Upper Air Laboratory,
software (Non-Human Space Rated Software Systems or Large-
Scale Aeronautics Vehicles). One of LASP’s big challenges, ac-
cording to Gurgel, is making sure that the mission-critical soft-
using captured German V2 rockets to ware remains reliable.
send scientific instruments into our LASP is constantly modifying OA-
planet’s upper atmosphere. SIS-CC to control new instruments.
Today, LASP continues to focus on And they need to be sure those ex-
scientific research, both in the earth’s pensive instruments will work per-
upper atmosphere and beyond. LASP fectly throughout their mission when
partners with government agencies doing so. Neither LASP nor their
like NASA and the National Oceanic partners can afford to have unde-
and Atmospheric Administration, fined code behavior or other bugs
commercial entities like Ball Aero- waste the money spent developing
space, and other universities like the and testing an instrument and send-
University of Arizona and Northern ing it into space.
Arizona University, to develop, test, “Naturally, any changes or new fea-
and operate spacecraft and scientific tures have to be thought about and
instruments. then thoroughly tested,” Gurgel said.
Projects in which LASP has partici- “That’s just the nature of the soft-
pated include NASA’s Kepler space ware; it’s mission-critical.”
telescope mission, the Mars Atmo- One of the big challenges of main-
sphere and Volatile Evolution Mis- taining the reliability of a 30-year-old
sion (MAVEN), the Solar Radiation real-time system is keeping it up-to-
and Climate Experiment (SORCE), date, manageable, and efficient.
the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1), the That’s why, in 2010, LASP decided to undertake a major over-
Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), and many others. haul of OASIS-CC.
Until then, OASIS-CC had been a monolithic system — a sin-
A Highly Scalable Command and Control gle program written in Ada 83. To make the system more effi-
System cient and maintainable, LASP decided to repartition it and
One of LASP’s key tools for fulfilling its mission is the Oper- update its code to a more modern version of Ada.
ations and Science Instrument Support–Command & Control For the latter, LASP needed a new compiler. They had been
(OASIS-CC) software suite. OASIS-CC is LASP’s in-house-devel- using a Verdix/Vads Ada 83 compiler from the 1980s. What
oped, ground-based, real-time command and control system they wanted was a modern Ada compiler supported by a vendor
for spacecraft and instruments. It can be scaled from low-level with deep Ada expertise. They were looking for a partner who
development through integration, test, and flight ops. LASP would aid them in their Ada upgrade and help them make sure
has been using OASIS-CC in all its mission roles for more than their software remained certified to NASA Class B.
30 years.
The OASIS-CC project began in 1985 and chose Ada as the A Total System Migration
implementation language. According to Jason Gurgel, the LASP decided to refactor their entire code base and migrate
OASIS-CC Program Manager at LASP, OASIS-CC uses a client it from a SPARC/Solaris system to a Linux platform. They re-
server model. The core server makes network connections to moved all the GUI portions from the Ada code and reworked
scientific instruments, spacecraft systems, ground control sys- the rest as a distributed client server, upgrading the code from
tems, other ground stations, ground instrumentation, simu- Ada 83 to Ada 95. Then, they wrote brand new C++ code for the
lators, and other systems. The OASIS-CC client graphical front end and the displays on all the GUIs.
For their new Ada compiler, they chose AdaCore’s GNAT Pro Ada Training for New Employees
compiler. “The main reason was support,” said Gurgel of why Another challenge for LASP is one that many Ada organiza-
they went with GNAT. “We wanted a supported compiler. We tions face when hiring new employees. “Few candidates know
also wanted Ada language support to help with the transition anything about the language,” said Gurgel, “but if we want them
[to Ada 95] and to check the box for keeping that software to work on the system, we’ve got to train them in Ada. Our OA-
certification in place.” SIS-CC team is small, so that’s a big challenge for us.”
AdaCore realizes that teams exist on a spectrum, from those Help with Ada training is also a big benefit of partnering with
who simply wait for new versions and features to be released AdaCore. LASP has availed itself of several of AdaCore’s train-
through AdaCore’s continuous release download page, to ing opportunities, including a live, five-day Ada Fundamentals
those who require ultra-reliable, long-term support. course. “We don’t have a formal training program,” said Gur-
For the latter, AdaCore provides GNAT Pro Assurance, a ver- gel. “From my experience in hiring a few new people, I think
sion of the standard GNAT Pro Enterprise product augmented it’s a little difficult for them to pick up Ada without some kind
by a service known as “sustained branch”— a stable develop- of basic training. If you just throw them in the deep end, I think
ment line in which critical fixes can be back-ported and accom- they’ll be overwhelmed at first. But once they get a little Ad-
panied by a thorough impact analysis. GNAT Pro Enterprise aCore training, it’s fairly easy for new team members to adapt.”
customers, like LASP, are welcome and encouraged to make Gurgel said the time and effort LASP invested in rearchi-
technology enhancement requests. Through this system, many tecting and upgrading the system 10 years ago is still paying
customer suggestions have been implemented and incorporat- dividends today. He expects it will continue to do so for many
ed into GNAT Pro over the past several years. years.“That effort has extended the system’s life well into the
According to Gurgel, Ada’s features make it the best lan- future,” he added. “We don’t have any plans to rewrite it. It’s
guage choice for the mission-critical portions of OASIS-CC. definitely fulfilling our needs.”
Two features he cited as essential are concurrency (tasking) This article was contributed by AdaCore. For more informa-
and data type security. tion, visit https://www.adacore.com/industries/space.
Upcoming...
Webinars
Improve Speed and Accuracy of Electronic Component
Inspection with Automated Video Inspection
Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 2:00 pm U.S. EDT
Manual microscopy is giving way more and more to video-measuring machines for inspection of semiconductor components, and manufactur-
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automated video measuring machines address the needs of repeatable, reproducible measurements, creating an ideal platform for inspecting
mini and micro-LEDs, MEMS and sensors, and wafer- and panel- level semiconductor packaging.
Speaker:
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Nikon Metrology Inc.
Please visit www.techbriefs.com/webinar312
The Value of Sensor Simulation for

Hardware-in-the-Loop Design Validation
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 11:00 am U.S. EDT
With the recent advances in electrification and new technology developments in propulsion methodology, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test bench-
es—historically the domain of production test—are becoming increasingly prominent in R&D. In this 60-minute Webinar, speakers will analyze new
challenges for companies designing HIL test benches and see how test and measurement companies have addressed the simulation challenges.
Speakers:
Paul Bovingdon Alexandre Leboeuf
Technical Engineering Manager, Aerospace Business Unit
Pickering Interfaces Manager,
Opal-RT Technologies
Modeling Inverse Kinematics: Improving Actuation

Control in Industrial Robots
Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 2:00 pm U.S. EDT
From small task robots to large industrial manipulators, an efficient solution to the inverse kinematics problem is a necessary part of the actu-
ation control system. Using multiple examples, this 30-minute Webinar reviews the typical challenges and computational demands of numeric
solutions and compares how the use of modern simulation tools can provide modeling options that reduce effort and make it simpler to connect
with control systems.
Speaker:
Orang Vahid, Ph.D.,
Director,
Application Engineering,
Maplesoft

Efficient Thermal Runaway Modeling for
Sensitivity, Parametric, and Variability Analysis
Monday, September 26, 2022 at 9:00 am U.S. EDT
Under certain off-nominal conditions, Li-ion cells can generate excessive heat and gas, which result in a catastrophic failure known as thermal runaway.
The complexity of the physics involved, and the variability associated with thermal runaway make it very challenging to model. This 60-minute
Webinar discusses a multi-physics solution that can be used to develop a systematically reduced thermal runaway modeling framework to
conduct sensitivity, parametric, and variability analysis.
Speakers:
Mohammad Parhizi Joseph Solomon
Research Scientist, Simulation Solutions Consultant,
Electrochemical Safety Gamma Technologies
Research Institutes
Webinars on Demand!
The Flexibility of Embedded Systems and
Automation in 2022
This 60-minute Webinar examines embedded systems designed to give developers
fast, convenient, and simplified solutions for industrial and embedded applications. Two
experts in industrial IoT will discuss the implementation of solutions that are needed for
the success of smart industry, smart cities, and smart service ecosystems.
Speakers:
Diego González Charlie Wu
Sales Development Executive, Product Manager,
Advantech Advantech
Effective Power Management:

Minimizing Downtime and Maximizing Efficiency
This 60-minute Webinar from the editors of Tech Briefs highlights how to choose the appro-
priate power distribution and monitoring equipment, control system, sensors, and data man-
agement software. This Webinar discusses how to prevent power disturbances, benefits of
continuous vibration analysis, energy consumption of rotating equipment, and more.
Speakers:
Frank DeLattre Chad Flowe Mark Wilkins
Executive VP, Senior Reliability & Engineering Manager,
Sales and Marketing, Customer Success Manager, Acopian Technical Co.
Gateview Technologies Grundfos

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FACILITY FOCUS
Virginia Tech College of Engineering
F ounded in 1872, Virginia Tech is a public land-grant research

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ing offers an advanced engineering curriculum. ence, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering
Engineering undergraduate students major in one of 15 ma- Education, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials
jors within the college and engineering graduate students Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining
choose from 18 areas of study that include traditional re- and Minerals Engineering, and the Myers-Lawson School of
search-based programs, online programs, and flexible profes- Construction.
sional-oriented programs.
Research Labs
The Advanced Engineering Design Lab is a
joint venture between Virginia Tech’s College of
Engineering and the Aerospace and Ocean Engi-
neering department. The facility houses up to 12
undergraduate design teams in the areas of rock-
etry, drone technology, aircraft technology, and
turbine energy.
The Frith First-Year Makerspace is a space where
first-year engineering students learn by dissecting,
designing, making, and analyzing engineering
products.
Located within the inVenTs residence hall, the
inVenTs Studios provide an interdisciplinary liv-
ing-learning space for students interested in ex-
ploring their ability to envision, create, and trans-
form innovative ideas into action.
The Innovation Campus features a design centered on the principles of sustainability, The Ware Lab provides space, equipment, and
health and wellness, green and social spaces, accessibility, connectivity, flexibility, and inte- facilities for undergraduates to work within design
grated technology. (Image: Virginia Tech)
student teams and removes boundaries that often
separate engineering disciplines.
The 3.5-acre Virginia Tech Innovation Campus,
which is set to open in 2024, will unite industry,
government, and academia in dynamic proj-
ect-based learning and research to shape the way
emerging technologies influence society.
Northrop Grumman has made a $12.5-million
commitment to support research and teaching in
quantum information science and engineering.
Virginia Tech is forming two centers for quan-
tum engineering — one in Blacksburg and one in
Alexandria. Each with a complementary focus
area spanning multiple fields, these centers will
work together to provide a uniquely transdisci-
plinary approach to tackle quantum challenges.
Technology Development
The future of space engineering requires effec-
tive communication and building a secure net-
work in space is crucial. Commonwealth Cyber
Christina DiMarino works in the Center for Power Electronics Lab in Arlington. (Image: Initiative (CCI) researchers at Virginia Tech have
Chelsea Seeber for Virginia Tech) partnered with the University of Surrey in the
United Kingdom to build the world’s first
hardware-in-the-loop test bed that emu-
lates the changing connectivity of a mega
satellite constellation at scale. With sup-
port from the CCI, the Virginia Tech team
and its partners have been researching new
space-based, high-bandwidth networks.
The test bed they built will be simulat-
ing mega internet constellations, includ-
ing satellites, ground stations, connected
devices such as phones, and the links be-
tween them all. By running the test bed
through different scenarios, the team is
looking at what to do when operations
are disrupted by something like a space
event or a security breach and how an ad-
jacent satellite network could compen-
sate for a compromised system.
Another research team at the college
has recently received $2.9 million in
funding from the U.S. Department of En-
ergy (DOE) to tackle power grid sustain- Assistant Professor Satoru Emori seeks to develop thin films with a big payoff. (Image: Steven
ability, innovative approaches to power Mackay for Virginia Tech)
conversion, and related technologies.
The team submitted a proposal for a new
solution called SCALED, or Substation in
a Cable for Adaptable, Low-cost Electrical
Distribution, with a goal to create a more
streamlined structure that combines the
functionality of power electronics and the
power density benefits of high-voltage ca-
bles to replace bulky power substations in
the electrical grid we use today.
This new, more compact design could
eliminate the need for large and expen-
sive power substations and enable simple
integration of renewable energy sources,
electric vehicle fast-charging infrastruc-
ture, energy storage, and efficient direct
current distribution lines. The team
hopes to make SCALED adaptable for the
future by making it bidirectional so pow-
er can flow in both directions.
The huge amount of digital data in
John Chappell (at left), an associate professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC,
the “cloud” today is stored on magnetic and research scientist Laura Beth Payne used high-resolution, time-lapse imaging and a technique
tapes and discs that are fast becoming a called transcriptional profiling to understand relationships between cells. (Image: Virginia Tech)
big part of the global energy problem. A
Virginia Tech Department of Physics team is aiming to solve showing promise for energy-efficient device applications, but
by creating new thin films made of specially engineered mag- more studies need to be done about how chemical gradients
netic materials. actually affect the magnetic switching process.
These proposed films are “vertically graded.” For example, a Researchers at Virginia Tech are closer to understanding the
vertically graded iron-nickel film may be rich in iron on the earliest beginnings of the circulatory system during embryonic
bottom and rich in nickel at the top. The magnetic films will be development — a discovery that could lead to ways to repair dam-
about 10 nanometers thick, nearly 10,000 times thinner than a age in the human body after a stroke or heart attack.
sheet of copy paper. Early research success indicated that mag- Using high-resolution, time-lapse imaging and a technique
netism in vertically graded films can be rotated with low loss, called transcriptional profiling to understand relationships
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Spinoff is NASA’s annual publication featuring
successfully commercialized NASA technology. This
commercialization has contributed to the development
SPINOFF
of products and services in the fields of health and
medicine, consumer goods, transportation, public safety,
computer technology, and environmental resources.
Webb Telescope Mirror Tech Improves Eye Surgery on Earth

Technology to measure Webb telescope mirrors boosts LASIK eye surgery precision.
T he James Webb Space Telescope is

set to show us some of the first
stars in the universe, with its enor-
Refractive Studio, which won approval
from the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-
tration in 2018.
mous and powerful mirrors captur- Once based on the limited informa-
ing bits of light from more than 13 tion of a patient’s eyeglasses prescrip-
billion years ago. Meanwhile, tech- tion, LASIK surgery today — guided by
nology developed as part of the de- the iDesign Refracted Studio — can
cades-long effort to build Webb has involve more than 1,200 measurements
already improved the vision of mil- for individualized vision correction that
lions back on Earth by driving major is also fast and safe.
improvements to LASIK eye surgery. Kristian Santana, now an electrical
Part of a process for measuring engineer at J&J Vision, has worked
Webb’s mirrors has been incorporat- with this technology from the outset,
ed into Johnson & Johnson Vision’s originally helping to develop the sys-
iDesign Refractive Studio, a device tem to measure Webb’s mirrors while
that takes precise eye measurements working at WaveFront Sciences in the
to map imperfections in visual path- early 2000s.
ways and cornea curvature. One “NASA was a very good partner,” San-
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) executive tana recalled, noting that the work on
called the resulting information “an the telescope helped the company im-
optical fingerprint unique to each pa- Johnson & Johnson’s iDesign Refractive Studio, pictured prove the algorithms in the seemingly
tient’s eye.” here, takes precise eye measurements that map visual unrelated eye-mapping system.
pathways and cornea curvature to help doctors diag-
iDesign Refractive Studio is now nose and plan treatment for eye issues. (Image: Johnson Indeed, the space agency’s work of-
available to eye doctors in 47 coun- & Johnson Vision) ten benefits people on Earth. “Ulti-
tries, and the iDesign technology has mately, the investments that NASA
enabled well over 18 million successful could diagnose eye conditions by map- made helped the company develop the
LASIK procedures worldwide, according ping the eye. technology to be useful for other appli-
to J&J. The technology changed hands sever- cations — in this case, LASIK eye sur-
The technology got its start in the ear- al times and was rolled into the iDesign gery,” NASA’s Feinberg said.
ly 2000s, when Albuquerque, New Mexi- system before J&J Vision, which is head- For more information, visit https://
co-based subcontractor WaveFront Sci- quartered in Santa Ana, CA, acquired it spinoff.nasa.gov/Telescope-Mirror-
ences worked with NASA to develop a in 2017, incorporating it into its iDesign Tech-Improves-Eye-Surgery.
system to measure deviations in Webb’s
mirrors as they were being ground and
polished to precise specifications.
“The mirrors were one of the really
critical technologies we needed to devel-
op to enable the observatory,” said Lee
Feinberg, Optical Telescope Element
Manager for Webb at NASA’s Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.
“We had to polish them in such a way
that, when they cool down, they become
the mirror shape that we want,” he said.
“We had to match the curvature of one
mirror to the next, which was a very chal-
lenging problem.”
WaveFront Sciences incorporated
some of the algorithms it developed for
the Webb mirrors into a commercial
As Webb returns some of its first images, such as this alignment evaluation image, eye surgery
product it called the Complete Ophthal- patients on Earth are benefiting from early research on the telescope’s enormous mirrors. (Image:
mic Analysis System (COAS), which NASA)

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September 2022
Challenges of
Fabricating and
Coating Laser Crystals
SPECIAL SECTION:
Designing a Human-Robot Technology Leaders
Collaboration System in Optics
Supplement to Tech Briefs

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CONTENTS
FEATURES SPECIAL SECTION
2 Time-of-Flight: Highly Reliable 3D Imaging for 10 Technology Leaders in Optics
Challenging Applications 10 Designing a Silicon Photonic MEMS Phase Shifter
7 Meeting the Challenges for Space to Earth Optical with Simulation
Communication 13 Meta Optical Elements
APPLICATION BRIEFS DEPARTMENTS

20 Challenges of Fabricating and Coating Laser Crystals 28 New Products
22 Designing a Human-Robot Collaboration System
ON THE COVER
TECH BRIEFS
Because laser crystals are sensitive optical components
24 New Technology Could Make Biopsies a Thing of the Past often used with high-power lasers, depositing the correct
coatings onto them without introducing any defects is
25 Rice ‘Metalens’ Could Disrupt Vacuum UV Market essential. Careful cleaning of all polished surfaces prior to
the deposition of the coatings is particularly important for
26 Upside-Down Design Expands Wide-Spectrum Super- preventing the introduction of any contamination such as
Camera Abilities slurry or blocking substances. Ultrasonic cleaning removes
any leftover polishing compounds before coating. To learn
27 Researchers Demonstrate 40-Channel Optical more about the technology involved in coating laser crystals,
Communication Link read the applications brief on page 20.
(Image courtesy of Edmund Optics)
Photonics & Imaging Technology, September 2022 1

Time-of-Flight:
Highly Reliable 3D Imaging for
Challenging Applications
T
ime-of-flight (ToF) technol- years. This is mainly driven by the con- Overall, the technology is being used
ogy enables new applications sumer and automotive markets, but in industries such as robotics, logis-
in multiple markets, resulting also by prosumers — amateurs who tics, construction mapping, and more
in a market boom for time-of- purchase equipment with quality or recently, intelligent transportation sys-
flight CMOS sensors over the last few features suitable for professional use. tems (ITS).
oonal/iStock.com
2 Photonics & Imaging Technology, September 2022

There are multiple technologies This article will focus on indirect to the design of ToF systems and ToF
based on the time-of-flight concept. time-of-flight (iToF) since in our opin- sensors. However, thanks to its flexi-
Generally, all of them are synchronized ion, it is a more flexible technology bility, iToF can provide accurate mea-
with a light source and estimate the dis- that addresses different markets and surements for indoor applications,
tance by calculating the time taken for applications with working distances such as factory safety, and outdoor ap-
the light to travel from the camera to lower than 50m and with challenging plications, such as surveillance or ITS.
the object and then back again. requirements. It works for applications where there
is a small range of reflectivity like pick
ToF systems can be categorized into and place robots and for applications
two main groups: Diverse Applications Drive Many with a wide range of reflectivity such
• Direct ToF: where the distance is di- Requirements and Challenges as warehouse/logistics management.
rectly calculated by measuring the The requirements coming from iToF is also suitable for short-range ap-
light travel time these markets are very diverse, in- plications like automotive in-cabin ap-
• Indirect ToF: where the distance is cluding field of view, distance range, plications and long-range ones such as
measured based on the phase of the reflectivity range, and 3D frame rate, autonomous driving. Also, it fits with
reflected light pulse. to name just a few. These are critical small field-of-view applications such as

Time-of-Flight Technology
ible sensor will allow more reliable mea-

Tlight
surements to be made.
Light Pulse
Reliable Measurement Without
Motion Artifact
As explained above, in iToF, sever-
Reflected Light al images are necessary to estimate the
distance of the objects. In the example
described, three images are necessary
Phase 1
(two phases + the background). If using
a 1-tap pixel sensor, which is the most
Phase 2 common today, it is required to expose
and read out the multiple phases se-
quentially. Shoot the light once to get
Backround phase 0, another time to get phase 1,
and then run a third acquisition without
light and readout to acquire the back-
(
ground. Only then can the 3D image be
)
computed. Therefore, if there is a mov-
c Tlight Phase2 – Background
Distance = ing object, motion artifacts will appear
2 Phase1 + Phase2 – 2Background since the object will be in a different
position within each capture. Also, the
Figure 1. Example of an algorithm to estimate the distance in iToF. light needs to be shot twice, once for
each phase.
robot navigation and with large field- liable distance measurement” mean in Using a multiple-tap pixel sensor, for
of-view applications like construction/ the context of 3D applications? It cer- instance, a 3-tap pixel for the example
building mapping. tainly means very precise and accurate shown, all exposures and readouts are
measurement, but it goes beyond that. made in an interleaved way, so that all
How does iToF work? It is necessary to ensure that the mea- phases are acquired virtually in parallel,
In iToF, multiple images (or phases) surements are precisely and accurately minimizing motion artifacts. Further-
are required to estimate the distance obtained but also have a good angular more, since the phases can be captured
of the objects. As shown in Figure 1, resolution, with minimum motion blur/ with a single train of light pulses, it re-
the first two images are obtained with artifacts, and that both dark and bright duces the average light power, which is
a 90-degree phase, so that the ratio of objects at both minimum and maximum important both from an eye-safety and
charge captured in each phase allows the distance can be sensed at a reasonable power consumption point of view.
distance to be estimated, while the third performance, etc. Therefore, a reliable Both cases are described in Figure 2.
one is used to remove the background. distance measurement is tightly linked Note that the difference between a
With all that in mind, what does “re- with very high flexibility— a more flex- motion artifact and motion blur is simi-
1 Tap
Multiple train of pulses has to be emitted by the light
source to build one 3D image, one for each phase
NIR Light
Exposure
Phase Phase Back- Phase Phase Back-

Readout 2D 0 1 ground 0 1 ground
3D Frames Acquisition & Acquisition & Acquisition & 3D Image 3D Image
RO Phase 0 RO Phase 1 RO Background Computation

of 3D image
3 Tap
A single train of pulses is emitted
NIR Light to capture all phases! In this example, frame rate has been
maintained, so average light power
consumption is much lower!
Exposure
Acquisition & RO of But light power can be traded-off to get
Phases 0, 1 and Background higher frame rate or higher precision
(through multiple acquisition)
Phase Phase
Readout 2D 0,1, Bg 0,1, Bg
Computation
3D Frames 3D Image of 3D image 3D Image
Figure 2. Differences between single-tap and multi-tap pixels.

lar to the difference between rolling and
global shutters in 2D vision. Motion blur
can slightly warp the objects, which are
moving fast but it does not provide false
information, while motion artifacts can
drastically change the appearance of the
Motion blur
objects and provide false measurement,
which can have major consequences in
some applications.
Reliable Measurement with High

Dynamic Range
Another crucial matter in ToF is dy-
namic range. ToF is intrinsically a very
high dynamic range application, due Example in ToF Analogy in 2D
to the combined contribution of the re-
flectivity of the objects and the distance
range required. To illustrate this point,
Motion artifact
assume an original application targeting
the detection of objects with reflectivity
between 15 percent and 85 percent and
a distance from 0.5m to 6m that needs
to be improved to detect objects with
reflectivity between 1.8 percent and 95
percent reflectivity and up to 10m dis-
tance. In these conditions, the new case
requires more than 25-times more dy-
namic range than the original one. This
is large enough to need much more than
a good Full Well Capacity in the pixel. Figure 3. Motion Blur/Motion Artifact — two different phenomena.
Teledyne e2v’s Hydra3D ToF CMOS
image sensor embeds specific tech-
niques to manage this huge dynamic • HDR due to the distance
range, such as non-destructive readouts Hydra3D technology

( )
2
based on multiple captures combined ∆DR =
dmax
dmin
with a high frame rate, making it suitable d
2d
• High flexibility combined
4d
for most application cases.
( )
Rmax
with high frame rate
• HDR due to significant differences in reflectivity ∆DR =
Rmin • HDR based on multiple
Reliable Measurement in All captures
Conditions with High Flexibility • Example • Non-destructive
• Distance from 0.5m to 6m and readouts
Having said that, brute force is nor- reflectivity range from 15% to 85%
=> ∆DR > 800 • Highest exposure before
mally not a good idea in ToF. Having saturation
high flexibility to adapt to a very wide • Distance from 0.5m to 10m and
reflectivity range from 1.8% to 95%
range of situations in terms of distance => ∆DR > 21000
range, reflectivity, dynamics, etc., is It implies more than 26 times more Dynamic Range
clearly a significant asset. In Hydra3D, a
single trigger initiates a sequence of ac- Figure 4. ToF is intrinsically a very high dynamic range application, and the sensor must manage it.
quisitions and readouts and is very easy
to program, resulting in a tool that can or to perform 2D captures. This happens acquisition (only the first blue outline
adapt to the conditions of each applica- all with a single trigger. On top of that, rectangle) will be enough. In this case,
tion. This illustrated in Figure 5. the sequence is changeable from frame- the dynamic range won’t be the largest,
The first blue outlined rectangle is to-frame, live, without halting the sensor. but it is possible to reach a 100 fps frame
the exposure and readout of the three This high configurability can be used rate, with a total lack of motion blur.
phases, resulting in one 3D image. Mul- to find the best trade-off for every appli- For an application where it is required
tiple acquisitions (blue outline rectan- cation between distance range, reflec- to use the HDR capabilities due to the
gles) can be done in each measurement ∆ tivity range, precision, frame rate, light large distance range and/or reflectivity
sequence (green outline rectangles), power, etc. range, several acquisitions and readouts
either to increase the dynamic range or can be performed (several blue outline
to improve the precision. Also, having Examples of Flexibility rectangles) to increase the dynamic range.
multiple measuring sequences allows For an application where the distance With such an application, around 25 fps
measurement at different distance rang- range and the reflectivity range are can be achieved with a 10m range and tar-
es, or with different levels of precision, small, a configuration with a single 3D gets between 15 percent and 85 percent.
Time-of-Flight Technology
Trigger allowing reliable 3D detection without

3D Frame
motion artifacts even with fast-moving ob-
Measuring Sequence 1 Measuring Sequence 2
jects. It also reduces power consumption
B1 R1,0 G1,1 R1,1 G1,2 R1,2 G1,m R1,m Idle1 B1 R2,0 G2,1 R2,1 G2,2 R2,2 G2,n R2,n Idle2 and improves eye safety. In addition, it is
Reset
extremely flexible in the way it manages
Readout high dynamic range (which is really cru-
Gating
cial in ToF), making it adaptable to all
Idle
environments. And it can be configured
Figure 5. High flexibility allows having different measuring sequences to perfectly fit the application needs. for distance measurement, including in-
terleaving 2D and 3D captures. Finally, it
For an application covering a 10m area. This can lead to incorrect distance incorporates an on-chip function provid-
distance range but using three differ- measurements. To be robust to this in- ing robustness to interference caused by
ent ranges to keep high precision in the terference, multi-system management is other systems working in the same area,
whole range, several measuring sequenc- embedded on-chip in the Hydra3D sen- so camera-makers don’t need to solve this
es (green outline rectangles) can be sor. Because of this, systems can run with- issue when designing their systems.
used switching from one to another in out causing any mutual interference and As industries – such as robotics, logis-
real-time, depending on where the tar- without any connection between them. tics, construction mapping, and ITS – re-
geted object is. Therefore, the precision quire more precise and reliable measure-
is achievable with a small distance range, Sensor Level Innovations ment, indirect time of flight techniques
but the covered distance range is larger. Innovations at the sensor level help to will enable that measurement with ro-
overcome the challenges that made many bustness, flexibility, and without artifacts.
Reliable Measurement with time-of-flight applications too difficult to
Robustness to the Environment implement effectively. A sensor like Tele- This article was written by Yoann Lo-
The last challenge is to address dyne e2v’s Hydra3D implements all these chardet, Marketing Manager 3D, Tele-
multi-system interference. Since ToF innovations: it has above average spatial dyne e2v, and Sergio Morillas, Business
requires active illumination, one system resolution, with 832 x 600 pixels, sup- Manager for 3D products and applica-
can suffer from interference caused porting a high field of view with a good tions, Teledyne e2v. For more informa-
by the light emitted by another system angular resolution. It’s a 3-tap pixel, suit- tion, visit https://www.teledyne-e2v.
working simultaneously in the same able for the three-phase iToF technique, com/en/home/

Meeting the Challenges
for Space to Earth
Optical Communication
A
nyone who has a satellite dish
at home depends on radio
communication between a
geostationary satellite and
Earth. Consumer satellite services are
capable of broadcasting hundreds of
channels of high and standard defini-
tion TV simultaneously over an RF link
that is reliable in nearly all conditions
except heavy rain.
Satellite radio communication is
in fact widely used in industry and
government for high-bandwidth data
transfers. But what happens when
even this bandwidth is not enough?
This is the problem faced by the Eu-
ropean Space Agency (ESA), an insti-
tution backed by 22 European member Figure 1. ESA’s technical heart, the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC).
states, the mission of which is to push
the frontiers of science and technology, links will soon not be able to mee tthe while in optical communication, carrier
and to promote economic growth in demand. This is because the bandwidth frequencies are four orders of magni-
Europe. is dependent on the carrier frequency. tude higher, with correspondingly high-
Just as in terrestrial networks, the In radio communication, the ceiling for er bandwidths.
requirement for bandwidth in satellite carrier frequencies is around 30 GHz, The geostationary satellites of the Eu-
communications is increas- ropean Data Relay System
ing rapidly, and (EDRS) already
radio use
metamorworks/Shutterstock.com

Space to Earth Optical Communication
the bandwidth of its radio communi-

cation links will be too low. So, what
comes next?
Optical, laser-based communication is
the obvious answer since it is a technique
already used to transfer data between the
LEO satellites and the EDRS network.
And optical communication, which
forms the backbone of the internet, is a
proven technology on Earth. The fiber
optic cables that run at the bottom of
the oceans and cross continents are the
medium through which billions of page
views are served to computer and smart-
phone screens every day.
So, communication via optical fiber is
a proven technology that offers extraor-
dinarily high bandwidth. But optical
communications in free space between
the Earth and a satellite, or between sat-
ellites calls for special laser technology
— and an incredibly accurate piece of
measurement equipment.
Optical signals transmitted between
the Earth and space are subject to inter-
Figure 2. Helmos Observatory, Aristarchos telescope. ference from various sources — the diffi-
culty in maintaining an optical link there
is far higher than for satellite-to-satellite
optical communication, since in space
there are no clouds or other weather
phenomena, or indeed any other ob-
jects, to interfere with their signals.
Optical communication systems need
to achieve a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio
to maintain the link between transmitter
and receiver. In the ESA’s EDRS, signals
are transmitted at a very precisely speci-
fied infrared wavelength of 1064.625 nm
±11 pm, with almost zero variance in the
peak wavelength. This allows the receiv-
er to lock on to the transmitted narrow-
band signal and to eliminate interfering
signals. With this technology, the EDRS
satellite can operate even when the sun is
in its line of sight.
ESA is implementing optical Earth-
to-satellite communications technolo-
gy in its optical ground station (OGS)
on the Spanish island of Tenerife and
at the Aristarchos 2.2m telescope at the
Helmos observatory in the Peloponnese
in Greece.
Maintaining the exact transmitter
wavelength is a critical part of the Aris-
Figure 3. Yokogawa test setup at Helmos Observatory. tarchos system’s operation. To accom-
plish that, the ESA uses a complex ar-
optical links to communicate with a con- ellites’ images and other data to terres- rangement in which the transmitter
stellation of European Low Earth Orbit trial servers. laser, a so-called nonplanar ring oscilla-
(LEO) satellites called Sentinels, the job But in the foreseeable future the tor made of neodymium-doped yttrium
of which is to monitor the Earth. Howev- amount of information from LEO and aluminium garnet, is pumped by an 808
er, the EDRS satellites today use radio geostationary satellites and satellite nm laser diode to generate an accurate
communication to upload the LEO sat- constellations will become so great that 1064.625 nm ±11 pm output. This accu-
racy of the wavelength is controlled by adjusting the operating
temperature of the transmitter laser.
The tuning of the laser is a critically important part of the
Aristarchos system’s operation, ensuring that the laser’s output
is centered precisely at the required wavelength. This means We see your
FUTURE
that the ESA team needs a precise and accurate method for
measuring the wavelength of the laser’s output in real time.
In the ESA’s test set-up, the optical measurement instrument
is connected to the nonplanar ring oscillator laser to sample its
output. The requirement is to verify that the peak wavelength is
centered precisely at the target, 1064.625 nm ±11 pm.
Measurement of optical communications systems is usually
performed using an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), a high-
differently.
ly accurate and reliable instrument that analyzes optical wave-
length, among other factors.
OSAs such as the AQ6370D from Yokogawa Test & Mea-
surement Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, achieve a wavelength
measurement accuracy of ±10 pm at a reference wavelength of
1550 nm and ±100 pm at 1064.625 nm. Although this is highly
accurate, it is still not accurate enough to meet the demands of
the Aristarchos installation.
Zoran Sodnik is the optical communications technology
manager at the ESA’s telecommunications and integrated ap-
plications directorate. He is responsible for the optical com-
munications system installed with the Aristarchos telescope.
Said Sodnik: “The EDRS operates at frequencies measured in
multiples of terahertz and the transmitter and receiver wave-
lengths are no more than 28 Gigahertz apart. This means
that the laser’s frequency has to be set with Gigahertz pre-
cision, and then measured with the same level of precision
and accuracy.”
Working with Simac Electronics, a Netherlands-based sup-
plier of connectivity and measurement technologies, the ESA
selected a specialist optical wavelength meter, the AQ6151B
from Yokogawa. The instrument uses a Michelson interfer-
ometer, capable of measuring wavelength very accurately. Its
accuracy is specified at ±0.2 ppm. The Aristarchos installation
uses the Wide Range version, covering wavelengths from 900
nm to 1700 nm. It also has the ability to acquire, analyze, and
transfer a measurement to a PC within 0.2 seconds with its
built-in analysis functions. As well as high accuracy, the in-
strument can perform simultaneous measurements of up to
1024 wavelengths and can handle input signal power as low
as -40 dBm.
The installation at the Helmos observatory is part of a long-
term project to build the ESA’s optical communications capa- PRECISION POLYMER
OPTICS
bility for ground-to-satellite communications. The installation
at the Aristarchos telescope is using the ±0.2 ppm accuracy of
the AQ6151B to tune the laser output. Eventually, backed by
the accuracy of the Yokogawa technology, it is envisaged that
optical communications could take over the high bandwidth
traffic from radio communication systems.
Simplify Design • Trim Weight
Improve Performance
An Optical Future
According to Sodnik, the ESA expects that optical transmis-
Reduce Costs
sion could take on the burden of handling high bandwidth
traffic, replacing radio communication as the primary means
of sending and receiving data from satellites.
(909) 559-1300
This article was written by Kelvin Hagebeuk, Marketing Man- DIVERSEOPTICS.COM
ager — Test & Measurement, Yokogawa Europe B.V. For more
information, visit https://tmi.yokogawa.com/us/
diverse-optics_tech-briefs-one-half-vertical_3375 x 9625_1-21-21.indd 1 1/26/21 12:01 PM
TECHNOLOGY LEADERS Optics
Topic
Designing a Silicon Photonic MEMS Phase

Shifter with Simulation
A team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) Uses Simulation
to Design Nanoscale Silicon Photonic Network Components
T
he modern internet-connected Lighting a Path Toward All-Optical Net- ago, we were not able to reliably pro-
world is often described as works duce integrated movable structures for
wired, but most core network Using photonic devices to process use in these devices,” Sattari says. “Now,
data traffic is actually carried by photonic signals seems logical, so why silicon photonics and MEMS are be-
optical fiber — not electric wires. De- is this approach not already the norm? coming more achievable with the cur-
spite this, existing infrastructure still “A very good question, but actually a rent manufacturing capabilities of the
relies on many electrical signal process- tricky one to answer!” says Hamed Sat- microelectronics industry. Our goal is
ing components embedded inside fiber tari, an engineer currently at the Swiss to demonstrate how these capabilities
optic networks. Replacing these com- Center for Electronics and Microtech- can be used to transform optical fiber
ponents with photonic devices could nology (CSEM) specializing in photon- network infrastructure.”
boost network speed, capacity, and reli- ic integrated circuits (PIC) with a fo- The phase shifter design project is
ability. To help realize the potential of cus on microelectromechanical system part of EPFL’s broader efforts to de-
this emerging technology, a multina- (MEMS) technology. Sattari was a key velop programmable photonic com-
tional team at the Swiss Federal Insti- member of the EPFL photonics team ponents for fiber optic data networks
tute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) that developed the silicon photonic and space applications. These devices
has developed a prototype of a silicon phase shifter. In pursuing a MEMS- include switches; chip-to-fiber grating
photonic phase shifter, a device that based approach to optical signal pro- couplers; variable optical attenuators
could become an essential building cessing, Sattari and his colleagues are (VOAs); and phase shifters, which mod-
block for the next generation of optical taking advantage of new and emerging ulate optical signals. “Existing optical
fiber data networks. fabrication technology. “Even ten years phase shifters for this application tend
to be bulky, or they suffer from signal
loss,” Sattari says. “Our priority is to
create a smaller phase shifter with low-
Phase shifter off (no optical coupling)
er loss, and to make it scalable for use
in many network applications. MEMS
Mechanical stopper Coupler Waveguide Bus waveguide actuation of movable waveguides could
modulate an optical signal with low
power consumption in a small foot-
print,” he explains.
How a Movable Waveguide Helps Modu-

late Optical Signals
The MEMS phase shifter is a sophis-
ticated mechanism with a deceptively
Outer electrodes (on-off switching) simple-sounding purpose: It adjusts
the speed of light. To shift the phase
of light is to slow it down. When light
Phase shifter on (continuous tuning) is carrying a data signal, a change in
its speed causes a change in the sig-
nal. Rapid and precise shifts in phase
will thereby modulate the signal, sup-
porting data transmission with mini-
mal loss throughout the network. To
change the phase of light traveling
through an optical fiber conductor, or
Inner electrodes (phase shifting) bus waveguide, the MEMS mechanism
moves a piece of translucent silicon
called a coupler into close proximity
Figure 1. Two stages of motion for the MEMS mechanism in the phase shifter. with the bus.

TECHNOLOGY LEADERS Topic
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6 L=0µm g=185nm L=15µm g=185nm L=30µm g=185nm
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 L=0µm g=85nm L=15µm g=85nm L=30µm g=85nm
Figure 2. Left: Light passes from left to right through a path composed of an optical bus and a coupled movable waveguide. Right: Cross-sectional slices of a simulated
light waveform as it passes through the coupled device. By adjusting the distance between the two optical elements in their simulation, the EPFL team could determine
how that distance affected the speed, or phase, of the optical signal. (Images courtesy EPFL and licensed under CC BY 4.0)
The design of the MEMS mechanism

in the phase shifter provides two stag-
es of motion (Figure 1). The first stage
provides a simple on–off movement of
the coupler waveguide, thereby engag-
ing or disengaging the coupler to the
bus. When the coupler is engaged, a
finer range of motion is then provided
by the second stage. This enables tun-
ing of the gap between the coupler and
bus, which provides precise modulation
of phase change in the optical signal.
“Moving the coupler toward the bus is
what changes the phase of the signal,”
explains Sattari. “The coupler is made
from silicon with a high refractive in-
dex. When the two components are
coupled, a light wave moving through
the bus will also pass through the cou-
pler, and the wave will slow down.” If the
Figure 3. Simulation showing deformation of the movable waveguide support structure. The thin elements that
optical coupling of the coupler and bus suspend the movable waveguide will flex in response to an applied voltage. (Image courtesy EPFL and licensed
is not carefully controlled, the light’s under CC BY 4.0)
waveform can be distorted, potentially
losing the signal and the data. phase relationship. “Voltage vs. phase is help achieve this, we can determine the
a complex multiphysics question. The eigenmode of our system in COMSOL®.”
Designing at Nanoscale with Optical and COMSOL Multiphysics® software gave Along with determining the physical
Electromechanical Simulation us many options for breaking this large forms of the waveguide and actuation
The challenge for Sattari and his team problem into smaller tasks,” Sattari says. mechanism, simulation also enabled
was to design a nanoscale mechanism to “We conducted our simulation in two Sattari to study stress effects, such as
control the coupling process as precisely parallel arcs, using the RF Module for unwanted deformation or displacement
and reliably as possible. As their phase optical modeling and the Structural Me- caused by repeated operation. “Every
shifter would use electric current to phys- chanics Module for electromechanical decision about the design is based on
ically move an optical element, Sattari simulation.” what the simulation showed us,” he says.
and the EPFL team took a two-track ap- The optical modeling (Figure 2) in-
proach to the device’s design. Their goal cluded a mode analysis, which deter- Adding to the Foundation of Future Pho-
was to determine how much voltage had mined the effective refractive index of tonic Networks
to be applied to the MEMS mechanism the coupled waveguide elements, fol- The goal of this project was to demon-
to induce a desired shift in the photon- lowed by a study of the signal propaga- strate how MEMS phase shifters could be
ic signal. Simulation was an essential tion. “Our goal is for light to enter and produced with existing fabrication capa-
tool for determining the multiple values exit our device with only the desired bilities. The result is a robust and reliable
that would establish the voltage versus change in its phase,” Sattari says. “To design that is achievable with existing

Excess
Loss [dB]
2.0 2.890 0.12 2.0
Vertical Gap [nm]
0.11
2.885 0.11 180 ΔΦ/π
Los [dB]
1.5 1.5
2.880 0.10 175 0.10
Phase Shift [π]
Vertical Gap [nm]

170
1.0 2.875 0.09 1.0 0.09
165
2.870 0.08
0.5 0.5 0.08
160
2.865 0.07
155 0.07
0.0 2.860 0.06 0.0
180 175 170 165 160 155 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Effective Excess
Vertical Gap [nm] Index Loss [dB] Phase
Actuation Voltage at Inner Electrode Pair [V]
Shift [π]
Figure 4. Optical simulation (left) established the vertical distance between the coupler and waveguide that would result in a desired phase shift in the optical signal.
Electromechanical simulation (right) determined the voltage that, when applied to the MEMS mechanism, would move the coupler waveguide to the desired distance
away from the bus. (Images courtesy EPFL and licensed under CC BY 4.0)
surface micromachined manufacturing are creating building blocks for the fu- References
1. H. Sattari et al., “Silicon Photonic MEMS
processes, and occupies a total footprint ture, and it will be rewarding to see their Phase-Shifter,” Optics Express, vol. 27, no. 13, pp.
of just 60 μm × 44 μm. Now that they potential become a reality,” says Sattari. 18959–18969, 2019.
have an established proof of concept, 2. T.J. Seok et al., “Large-scale broadband digital sili-
con photonic switches with vertical adiabatic cou-
Sattari and his colleagues look forward This article was written by Alan Petril- plers,” Optica, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 64–70, 2016.
to seeing their designs integrated into lo, COMSOL. For more information, vis-
the world’s optical data networks. “We it https://www.comsol.com.
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w


The Technology of Flat Metalenses
O
ptical technology predates Ar- neered subwavelength-spaced arrays of in the sense that they offer significant-
chimedes by more than two nanophotonic phase-shifting elements ly more than the (refractive) lenses we
thousand years. In ancient that can be programmed to manipulate have today. Previously, low efficiency has
Egypt, early refractive lenses wavefront and polarization. been the main barrier to manufactured
were used for artistic purposes. Though Depending on the application, NILT’s meta optics. With the introduction of
centuries have passed, comparable tech- meta optical elements are comprised of this new technology, the barrier has fi-
nology is still used today for the cam- arrays of pillars to sub-100 nm diameters nally been removed. In late 2021, NILT
era lenses in many products, including with vertical sidewalls. Instead of the designed, built, and characterized multi-
smartphones. curved surface of a traditional lens ele- ple meta optical element (MOE) lenses
Traditionally, lenses are made with ment, MOEs are entirely flat but effec- with 94% absolute efficiency.
multiple bulky refractive lenses or lens tively create the same result. They bend High efficiency makes MOEs ideal for
elements stacked on top of each other. and redirect the light, using a single sensing and machine vision applications
Though they produce high-quality imag- MOE in place of several lenses stacked that target consumer electronics, indus-
es, their downside is their large size and on top of each other. trial, IoT, medical, and automotive mar-
weight. Luckily, the size and complexity The benefits of MOEs are many. For kets. These innovative markets will great-
of lens systems can be reduced through example, MOEs reduce the number of ly benefit from MOE optical solutions, as
flat optics that are based on pioneering elements in the optics system, are easier market requirements call for precision,
meta optical elements (MOEs). to assemble, and provide increased func- excellent performance, and lightweight,
tionality. compact designs.
Meta Optical Elements They allow you to rethink how you MOEs have enormous potential. They
Meta optical elements — also known define your optical system and hold the can advance numerous applications,
as metasurfaces — are artificially engi- promise of the perfect lens — perfect such as simplified Time-of-Flight (ToF)
systems, with high relative illumination
and ultra-compact NIR cameras used for
eye-tracking and driver monitoring.
Meta Optical Elements Compared to Dif-

fractive Optical Elements
Although most lens systems today are
based on refractive optics, MOEs are
not the first generation of optical system
miniaturization. For many years, flat op-
tics have been developed using diffrac-
tive optics technology. Diffractive optical
elements (DOEs) are created by struc-
turing the surface of transparent mate-
rials to produce wavelength-scale height
variations. The contour map of spatially
1µm varying heights results in spatially vary-
Figure 1. Electron micrography of an NILT meta optical element. ing phase shifts that shape the wavefront
as light propagates through the element.
The phase-inducing mechanism remains
similar to a refractive lens, which is based
on the length of the ray path inside the
lens material. In this way, the thickness
of the optical element is reduced to ~1
substrate substrate µm (comparable to the wavelength)
with the expense of a higher sensitivity
to wavelength variation (in optical lingo,
Metalens DOE lens this is called “chromatic aberration”).
This contrasts with MOEs, where the
Figure 2. Illustration of the differences between a metalens and DOE lens, showing cross-sections of the typical phase shift is induced via the response
building blocks. of nanoantennas. Nanoantennas are bi-

ization, and wavelength. This results signed to meet required specifications.

Meta Optical Elements (MOE), are in single-surface optical elements that The MOE itself is made in silicon on a
groundbreaking in their form, performance, would otherwise require multiple op- glass substrate, making it strong, rigid,
compactness, and efficiency, compared to tical components, or — especially in reliable, and thermally stable. It can be
traditional refractive lenses. polarization optics — require compo- customized for wavelengths in NIR and
• COMPACTNESS: MOEs are flatter, nents that do not have a counterpart in SWIR bands.
thinner, and lighter than refractive lenses, conventional optics. NILT has more than 15 years of ex-
having a lens simplicity not demonstrated Comparing lenses allows us to high- perience in high precision nanostruc-
before.
light the underlying differences in phys- turing and is applying this expertise to
• SUPERIOR IMAGING: MOE lenses ical mechanisms for imparting phase realize fast prototyping and mass MOE
have significantly better imaging quality with delays. A DOE lens is typically made by production. The entire process of MOE
a wide field of view, low F-number, high
MTF, and high relative illumination, all at a
multi-layer etching to form a digitized production, from design, prototyping,
low total track length. version of the sawtooth Fresnel lens. In manufacturing, and assembling is done
the metalens, varying the nanopillars’ internally.
• COST-EFFICIENCY: Lower assembly
diameter is a common way of imparting Production of customized single sur-
costs and integration complexity.
the phase delay. Each nanopillar can be face MOEs is based on a combination
• ROBUSTNESS: Silicon on glass-sub- treated as a truncated waveguide; the of high expertise, and proven, validat-
strate makes for strong, thermally stable
smaller the diameter, the more the elec- ed, and reliable methodology. NILT is
lenses.
tric field leaks into the air, lowering its an established company with more than
effective index. 1,500 purchase orders of experience. In
addition, we have made customized pro-
nary subwavelength structures with vary- Ready for Mass Production totypes for many years.
ing geometry built on the surface of the Whereas most of the work in MOEs in
substrate material. This further reduces the last 20 years has been concentrated E-Beam Lithography versus Deep UV
the thickness of the element. The prin- in academia, NILT is now ready to com- Lithography
ciple of an MOE is still diffractive, but mercialize MOE technology. Because of the sub-wavelength later-
the optical parameters are mainly con- MOEs from NILT are ready to be al size of nanostructures, most meta-
trolled by geometric parameters rather delivered and mass-produced to cus- surfaces demonstrated by academic
than the material composition of the tomers’ specifications. A design can be institutions are fabricated with E-beam
nanostructures. generated and made into a prototype in lithography (EBL). EBL is a high-res-
This opens new degrees of design only two weeks. MOEs can be designed olution, high-fidelity technology that
freedom to allow unprecedented con- with complex phase functions and multi- is ill-suited as a standalone technology
trol over the phase, amplitude, polar- MOE stacked components can be de- for commercial purposes due to the
time-consuming rasterization of the
electron-beam.
However, combined with Nano-Im-
print Lithography (NIL), EBL provides
the possibility of fabricating high-quali-
ty, low-cost MOEs in batch sizes suitable
for mass production. This is obtained
by using mechanical deformation of
imprint resist to create copies of the
initial E-beam written master.
2 mm 2 mm
The fabrication of an NIL master using
EBL secures high design freedom and
A single metalens A refractive lens low-cost prototyping. It provides a sig-
20.0 nificantly quicker turnaround time than
DENC, Samp=2, Wave=0, Field=0,Frac=0.8, Type=1,Refp=4, I Samp=0,I Delta=0
20.0
DENC, Samp=3, Wave=0, Field=0,Frac=0.8, Type=1,Refp=4, I Samp=0,I Delta=0
Deep UV Lithography (DUV), which

requires the fabrication of a new mask
16.0 16.0
12.0 12.0 when a design parameter is changed.

8.0 8.0
Extensive experience in EBL and
NIL, combined with sophisticated op-
4.0 4.0
tical design methods and advanced in-
0
0 0.055 0.11 0.164 0.219 0.274 0.329 0.384 0.438 0.493 0.548
0
0 0.055 0.11 0.164 0.219 0.274 0.329 0.384 0.438 0.493 0.548
house optical characterization allowed
y Field 1
NIL Technology to recently introduce a
single surface metalens. This metalens
Figure 3. A single metalens compared with a refractive lens for collimating the light from a VCSEL array. Shown
below is the residual divergence vs VCSEL position after collimation, illustrating the metalens’ increase in per- is groundbreaking in its form, perfor-
formance. To reduce the divergence, more refractive lenses are typically introduced, which increases the size. mance, compactness, and efficiency.

Single meta optics lenses, fabricated
on silicon wafers, have the potential to
replace the several refractive lenses cur-
rently used in today’s mobile devices,
eliminating the so-called “smartphone
camera bump.”
NIR MOE Camera Module

A demonstration of the capabilities of
NILT MOEs is a 940 nm near-infrared
(NIR) wavelength imaging lens with a
single metasurface, used for 3D sensing
and face recognition in smartphones
and driver-monitoring in automobiles.
A complete NIR camera module is
built using a 940 nm single meta optical
element and an NIR sensor. Both demon-
strator and customer-specific metalenses
are currently being prototyped, shipped,
and made ready for mass production.
This article was written by Theodor

Nielsen, CEO and founder, and Michael
Juhl, Optical Engineer, NIL Technolo-
Figure 4. An image from a near Infrared imaging system using a single meta optical element surface (1M MOE)
designed for 940 nm wavelength. The demonstrated NILT image has excellent resolution for edge-to-edge NIR gy. For more information, visit https://
imaging and is comparable to images captured with a multi-element refractive lens. www.nilt.com.
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Available on Demand!
Webinar Next-Generation Optics and

Coating Technology
Precision optics are used in a variety of industrial, scientific, medical, astronomical,
and military/defense applications. In addition to material selection and rigorous design
specifications, their performance is often enhanced by the addition of thin film coatings,
but how do you know which types of optics will work best for your application and which
coatings will deliver the best performance?
Speakers:
Dan Bukaty, Jr., Barbara Herdt, Olivia Wheeler,
President, Head of Business Ph.D.,
PG&O Unit, Ultrafast Laser
Laser Optics, Optics Engineer,
Laser Components Edmund Optics
Photonics & Imaging Technology, September 2022

PIT Webinar Ad 0922.indd 1
8/23/22 9:58 AM
19
Challenges of Fabricating and Coating Laser Crystals
L aser crystals can be considered the
“engines” of solid-state lasers. They are
used for gain media, for frequency con-
must be considered. Some common crys-
tal shapes include rods, cubes, and zig-
zag slabs used to reduce thermal lensing
the crystal inside a laser cavity is crucial
to proper functioning. Protecting previ-
ously polished surfaces while polishing
version, and to manage laser characteris- and stress-induced birefringence. the other surfaces is critical to maintain-
tics and performance. Like the engine of Raw boules, or synthetically grown in- ing surface quality. Polishing is carefully
a car, if laser crystals are clean and work- gots, of crystals are cut, ground, and pol- monitored to minimize subsurface dam-
ing properly, they allow the larger system ished to the tightly-toleranced specifica- age, which could lead to light loss and
to operate at a higher level. In the case of tions needed for the application. The even complete failure if high-power laser
a laser system, operating at a high level parallelism and perpendicularity of the light scatters off of defects or is absorbed.
means creating a stable beam and reach- different faces of the crystal must be In-process metrology ensures that
ing high optical powers. Some advan- tightly controlled since the alignment of requirements for surface figure, paral-
tages of laser crystals over other solid-state
gain media are that they typically offer
less absorption, a narrower emission
bandwidth, higher transition cross-sec-
tions, and higher thermal conductivity.
Laser crystals are critical for enabling a
wide variety of applications including
laser materials processing, laser surgery,
sensing, defense applications like range-
finding, and more.
Because laser crystals are sensitive opti-
cal components and are often used with
high-power lasers, depositing the correct
coatings onto them without introducing
any defects is essential. While the complex
geometries and high laser-damage thresh-
old (LDT) requirements make the fabrica-
tion of laser crystals challenging, keeping
several key considerations in mind helps
ensure that the crystal and its coating be-
have as intended.
Fabricating Laser Crystals

Laser crystals are optical crystals typi-
cally doped with transition metals or rare
earth ions. There are many different
crystal types and shapes and each crystal
has its own unique set of attributes that
Figure 1. Laser crystals are optical components

often doped with rare earth ions or transition
metals. They can be thought of as the “engines” Figure 2. Ultrasonic cleaning uses high-frequency sound waves in a liquid to knock off any contaminants
of solid-state lasers. from the optics being cleaned.

lelism, perpendicularity, dimensional
specifications, and surface quality have
been met. Careful cleaning of all pol-
ished surfaces prior to the deposition
of the coatings is also important for pre-
venting the introduction of any contam-
ination such as slurry or blocking sub-
stances. Ultrasonic cleaning removes
any leftover polishing compounds be-
fore coating. This is especially helpful
for cleaning ground surfaces, as they
are harder to clean by hand than pol-
ished surfaces. Finally, a manual inspec-
tion using a high-magnification micro-
scope verifies cleanliness and quality,
determining if an additional manual
cleaning step is required.
Coating
Most laser crystals have two surfaces that
need to be polished and coated, but de-
pending on the crystal geometry, up to six
different polished and coated surfaces
may be needed. Coating multiple surfaces
increases the complexity of the coating Figure 3. Thin film coatings are added to laser crystals to maximize light throughput.
process. The specific order in which coat-
ings are applied must be considered to AR @ 532, & 1064nm @ 0° AOI
preserve the surface quality of the remain- 1.00
ing crystal faces and not damage any coat- 0.95
ings that have already been applied. The 0.90
tooling and blocking techniques used 0.85
during coating are also critical to protect- 0.80
ing already-coated surfaces and prevent- 0.75
ing unwanted overspray onto other surfac- 0.70
es. Tooling is designed to allow for the 0.65
expansion of different materials during

REFLECTION %
0.60
coating without getting damaged. In cer- 0.55
tain cases, polishing and coating steps are 0.50
alternated. This is common when the sur- 0.45
faces adjacent to each other are both coat- 0.40
ed all the way to their edges. 0.35
Thin film coatings are deposited to im- 0.30

prove transmissive and reflection proper- 0.25
ties. The specific coatings used are entire- 0.20
ly dependent on the end application’s 0.15
wavelength, power levels, environmental 0.10
requirements (temperature, humidity, 0.05
vacuum, radiation, salt spray, etc.), laser 0.00
design, and other factors. The coatings 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150
are applied as single-band and multi-band WAVELENGTH (nm)

wavelengths according to the customer’s
specifications. Chamber geometry and ROOM TEMPERATURE @ 120° C
evaporation techniques are important pa- Figure 4. Coatings must be designed for and tested at the actual use conditions of the end application, as this
rameters that must be met in order to plot shows how temperature differences can shift the spectral performance of an anti-reflection (AR) coating.
have perfect uniformity between all the
parts. Multiband coatings are very careful- Electron-beam (e-beam) coatings are data and testing at the end-application’s
ly designed for repeatability with very dis- slightly porous, and their behavior can operating conditions inform how the crys-
crete layer thickness control to get low- slightly shift based on absorbing moisture tal will behave in the field. Other coating
loss, non-absorbing films. Sometimes a or temperature increases, which drive out techniques such as ion-assisted deposition
whole crystal slab is coated, diced into absorbed moisture. Figure 4 shows an ex- (IAD) and ion beam sputtering (IBS) can
smaller pieces, and then coated again to ample of how a change in temperature can minimize shifting or eliminate it altogether
cover the newly-created surfaces. impact spectral performance. Historical by compressing the films to limit moisture
intrusion. However, these techniques may band coatings, the placement of each if they will affect the crystal’s final per-
introduce stress to the crystal and lower its individual crystal in the coating cham- formance.
laser damage threshold (LDT), so all re- ber is important to maintain repeat-
quirements must be prioritized against ability (Figure 5). Parts are specifically Confirming Laser Crystal Quality
each other. arranged in the chamber to ensure A wide range of in-process and post-pro-
For extremely difficult specifica- uniformity among all parts. Any thick- cess metrology including spectrophotome-
tions such as narrow-band or multi- ness errors are evaluated to determine ters, interferometers, high-power micros-
copy, dimensional gauging, photothermal
1.00
AR @ 355, 532 & 1064nm @ 0° AOI absorption, and laser damage testing is
0.95
used to verify key specifications. This is
0.90
essential for optical suppliers to be confi-
0.85
dent that all customer requirements are
0.80
actually met.
0.75
As many laser applications continue to
0.70 move to higher powers, maintaining tight
0.65 dimensional tolerances, high laser dam-
0.60 age thresholds, and precise spectral per-
REFLECTION %
0.55 formance becomes increasingly important

0.50 for laser crystals. Speak to your optical
0.45 component supplier when sourcing laser
0.40 crystals to ensure that they have factored
0.35
in the above considerations into their
0.30
quotes and designs. Aligning on these re-
0.25
quirements early on will reduce the likeli-
0.20
hood of design iterations and make it
0.15
more likely that your crystals will behave as
needed in your final system.
0.10
0.05
0.00
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 This article was written by Karl
WAVELENGTH (nm) George Jr., Laser Optics Business Devel-
opment Manager, and James Karchner,
Figure 5. This multi-band anti-reflection (AR) coating has little-to-no room for error in its spectral Laser Optics Sales Manager, Edmund
performance because the wavebands are so narrow. Multiband coatings like these are common for laser
crystals that will be used with a laser source with multiple harmonic wavelengths (like a Nd:YAG laser Optics. For more information, visit
operating at 1064 nm with 532 nm and 355 nm harmonics). https://www.edmundoptics.com
Designing a Human-Robot Collaboration System

Today’s industrial robots maneuver
heavy and dangerous workpieces at high
Mikrotron Image
speeds and cannot safely operate near hu- EoSens 4CXP
Infrared LED Light
mans, which is why most process steps are Camera
either fully automated or fully manual. In-
creasingly, however, it is being recognized
that the best choice is to combine the
strength, precision, and speed of indus- Image
trial robots with the ingenuity, judgment, processing
PC
and dexterity of human workers.
This approach, dubbed human-robot
collaboration (HRC), was the recent Board
topic of a study at the University of To-
kyo. Scientists there sought to develop Board state
and evaluate a real-time HRC system High-speed Robot Hand
that could achieve concrete tasks such
as collaborative “peg-in-hole” exercises
using an algorithm for visual sensing to
control a robot hand interacting with Motor Real-time
a human subject. Scientists analyzed Current driver controller
Torque
the stability of the collaborative system input
based on speed and accuracy, as well as
the conditions required for successfully Figure 1. Experimental setup for the collaborative peg-in-hole exercise.

In a study conducted by MIT, for exam-
left and right up and down Guidance
ple, idle time was reduced by 85% when
people work collaboratively with a hu-
torsion
man-aware robot compared to when work-
ing in all-human teams.
Visual Visual
feedback feedback To test their HRC system’s speed, ef-
ficiency, and accuracy, the University of
Tokyo scientists conducted a peg-in-hole
exercise at different angles and hand-off
speeds. The holed board had retro-reflec-
Following and
Compensation of pitch angle and board state compensation tive markers attached at the four corners
following to left, right and torsion motion
to simplify corner detection by the Mikro-
Figure 2. Robot hand with two degrees of freedom. tron camera, while the peg itself was sim-
ply made of stainless steel and fixed to a
performing tasks from geometric, force, with an Intel® Xeon® W5-1603 v3 2.8 GHz frame by a magnet.
and posture viewpoints. processor, 16 GB of RAM, a Microsoft Motion flow was as follows:
As a start, the scientists devised a vision Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) operating •The human subject moved the board,
system consisting of a camera and an im- system, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 changing its position and orientation, an
age-processing PC. For the camera, they image-processing software. A CXP frame action that is captured by the Mikrotron
selected a Mikrotron EoSens 4CXP CoaX- grabber board acquired the 1024 × 768-pix- camera.
Press monochrome camera (MC4086) el, 8-bit gray-scale raw image data from the • Tracking of the markers attached to the
featuring a 4/3" CMOS sensor. While the Mikrotron camera. After acquiring the four corners of the board was executed
EoSens 4CXP offers 2,336 × 1,728-pixel image data every one millisecond, the PC by image-processing with the board’s po-
resolution at speeds up to 563 frames per measured position and orientation of ob- sition and posture calculated based on
second (fps), in this experimental setting a jects and sent the measurement results to the information of the marker positions.
higher frame rate of 1000 fps was required, a real-time controller via an Ethernet con- • The reference joint angle of the robot
so it was configured at 1024 × 768 pixels. nection using the User Datagram Protocol. hand was obtained by solving inverse ki-
An image-processing PC was equipped The robot hand featured three fingers: nematics of the robot hand, based on the
a left thumb, an index finger, and a right position and posture of the board
thumb with a closing speed of 180° in 0.1 • The torque to be input to the servo mo-
second, which is a level of performance be- tor of the robot hand was generated by
yond that of a human being. Each finger proportional derivative (PD) control for
had a top link and a root link, with the left the reference joint angle.
and right thumbs able to rotate around a • The robot hand is moved according to
palm. Therefore, the index finger had two the torque input and assists in placing
degrees of freedom. the board onto the pin.
Manufacturing processes are faster, In the experiment, the collaborative
Figure 3. Mikrotron EoSens 4CXP CoaXPress more efficient, and more cost-effective motion was performed in time spans vary-
monochrome camera. when humans and robots work together. ing from 2 to 15 seconds. Because of the
high frame rate of the Mikrotron camera
combined with the low latency of the
CoaXPress interface, any collaborative
error could be successfully suppressed to
within 0.03 radian angle even when the
board was moved by the human subject at
a high rate of speed or in a random fash-
ion. Furthermore, the torque input could
be suppressed. As a result, collaborative
motion between the human and the ro-
bot hand using the proposed method was
successfully confirmed.
Applying its new system, the University
of Tokyo team plans to demonstrate oth-
er tasks that cannot currently be achieved
with conventional HRC methods, and
to continue to add flexibility and intelli-
gence to the system.
This article was written by Stephen W.

Ferrell, Director of Business Development,
Americas, Mikrotron. For more informa-
Figure 4. Human-robot collaboration (HRC) process. tion, visit https://mikrotron.de/en/
New Technology Could Make Biopsies a Thing of the Past
Columbia University New York, NY
A Columbia Engineering team has

developed a technology that could
replace conventional biopsies and his-
them make informed decisions about
how best to cut out a tumor and ensure
there is none left behind.”
standard histology,” said Kripa Patel,
lead author of the study. “Most impor-
tantly, we didn’t add any dyes to the
tology with real-time imaging within Another major benefit of the ap- mouse —everything we saw was natural
the living body. Described in a new proach is that cutting tissue out, just to fluorescence in the tissue that is usually
paper published in Nature Biomedical figure out what it is, is a hard decision for too weak to see. Our microscope is so
Engineering, MediSCAPE is a high- doctors, especially for precious tissues efficient that we could see these weak
speed 3D microscope capable of cap- such as the brain, spinal cord, nerves, signals well, even though we were also
turing images of tissue structures that the eye, and areas of the face. This imaging whole 3D volumes at speeds
could guide surgeons to navigate tu- means that doctors can miss important fast enough to rove around in real time,
mors and their boundaries without areas of disease. scanning different areas of the tissue as
needing to remove tissues and wait for Although some microscopes for surgi- if we were holding a flashlight.”
pathology results. cal guidance are already available, they As she “roved around,” Patel could
For many medical procedures, partic- only give doctors an image of a small, even stitch together the acquired vol-
ularly cancer surgery and screening, it single 2D plane, making it difficult to umes and turn the data into large 3D
is common for doctors to take a biopsy, quickly survey larger areas of tissue and representations of the tissue that a pa-
cutting out small pieces of tissue to be interpret results. These microscopes thologist could examine as if it were a
able to take a closer look at them with a also generally require a fluorescent dye full box of histology slides.
microscope. “The way that biopsy sam- to be injected into the patient, which The researchers found many exam-
ples are processed hasn’t changed in takes time and can limit their use for ples where they would not have been
100 years, they are cut out, fixed, em- certain patients. able to identify a structure from a 2D
bedded, sliced, stained with dyes, posi- Over the past decade, Hillman has section on a histology slide, but in 3D
tioned on a glass slide, and viewed by a been developing new kinds of micro- they could clearly see its shape. In renal
pathologist using a simple microscope. scopes for neuroscience research that pathology in particular, where there are
That is why it can take days to hear news can capture very fast 3D images of liv- very limited amounts of tissue, the more
back about your diagnosis after a biop- ing samples like tiny worms, fish, and information able to be derived from the
sy,” said Elizabeth Hillman, professor of flies to see how neurons throughout sample, the better for delivering more
biomedical engineering and radiology their brains and bodies fire when they effective patient care.
at Columbia University and senior au- move. The team decided to test wheth- The team demonstrated the power of
thor of the study. er their technology, termed SCAPE MediSCAPE for a wide range of applica-
Hillman’s group dreamed of a bold (for Swept Confocally Aligned Planar tions, from analysis of pancreatic cancer
alternative, wondering whether they Excitation microscopy) could see any- in a mouse, to non-destructive, rapid
could capture images of the tissue while thing useful in tissues from other parts evaluation of human transplant organs
it is still within the body. “Such a tech- of the body. such as kidneys. The team got fresh
nology could give a doctor real-time “One of the first tissues we looked at samples from human kidneys to prove
feedback about what type of tissue they was fresh mouse kidney, and we were that MediSCAPE could see telltale signs
are looking at without the long wait,” she stunned to see gorgeous structures of kidney disease that matched well to
explains. “This instant answer would let that looked a lot like what you get with conventional histology images.
The team also realized that
by imaging tissues while they
are alive in the body, they
could get even more informa-
tion than from lifeless excised
imaging
biopsies. They found that they
cap could actually visualize blood
flow through tissues and see
Light
Shoot the cellular-level effects of
Scans
ischemia and reperfusion
tongue moves
(cutting off the blood supply
to the kidney and then letting
it flow back in).
“Understanding whether
New technology could relegate biopsies to the history books. (Image: Kripa Patel-Hillman Lab/Columbia Engineering) tissues are staying healthy
and getting good blood supply during dard SCAPE microscopes in Hillman’s Eager to take this technology to the
surgical procedures is really import- lab to something that would fit into an next level with a larger clinical trial, the
ant,” said Hillman. “We also realized operating room and could be used by a team is currently working on commercial-
that if we don’t have to remove (and surgeon in the human body. ization and FDA approval. “We are just so
kill) tissues to look at them, we can So, the team worked to develop a amazed to see what MediSCAPE reveals
find many more uses for MediSCAPE, smaller version of the system with a every time we use it on a new tissue, and
even to answer simple questions such better form factor, and a sterile imag- especially that we barely ever even needed
as ‘what tissue is this?’ or to navigate ing cap. PhD candidate Malte Casper to add dyes or stains to see structures that
around precious nerves. Both of these helped with the team’s first demonstra- pathologists can recognize,” said Hillman.
applications are really important for tion of MediSCAPE in a living human, Hillman and her team hope that Me-
robotic and laparoscopic surgeries collecting images of a range of tissues in diSCAPE will make standard histology a
where surgeons are more limited in and around the mouth. These results in- thing of the past, putting the power of
their ability to identify and interact cluded rapidly imaging while a volunteer real-time histology and decision making
with tissues directly.” literally licked the end of the imaging into the surgeon’s hands.
A critical final step for the team was probe, producing detailed 3D views of For more information, contact Holly
to reduce the large format of the stan- the papillae of the tongue. Evarts at [email protected].
Rice ‘Metalens’ Could Disrupt Vacuum UV Market

Rice University, Houston, TX
R ice University photonics research-

ers have created a potentially dis-
ruptive technology for the ultraviolet Excitation
Matelens
optics market. (394 nm)

By precisely etching hundreds of tiny ZnO
Glass
triangles on the surface of a microscop-
ic film of zinc oxide, nanophotonics
pioneer Naomi Halas and colleagues Nanoresonators
created a “metalens” that transforms
incoming long-wave UV (UV-A) into a
focused output of vacuum UV (VUV)
radiation. VUV is used in semiconduc-
tor manufacturing, photochemistry, Vacuum UV output
and materials science and has histori- (197 nm)
cally been costly to work with, in part
because it is absorbed by almost all
types of the glass used to make conven-
tional lenses.
Halas’ team showed its microscopic Focal point
metalens could convert 394-nanometer By precisely etching hundreds of tiny triangular nanoresonators in precisely configured concentric
UV into a focused output of 197-nano- circles on a microscopic film of zinc oxide, photonics researchers at Rice University created a “metal-
meter VUV. The disc-shaped metalens is ens,” a transparent, solid-state device thinner than a sheet of paper that bends light like a conventional
lens. Rice’s metalens converts 394-nanometer ultraviolet light (blue) into 197-nanometer “vacuum UV”
a transparent sheet of zinc oxide that is (pink) and simultaneously focuses the VUV output on a small spot less than 2 millionths of a meter in
thinner than a sheet of paper and just diameter. (Image: M. Semmlinger/Rice University)
45 millionths of a meter in diameter. In
the demonstration, a 394-nanometer electrodynamics to redirect it at the in- don’t generate VUV,” Arndt said. “It’s
UV-A laser was shined at the back of the terface where we generate it.” made today with nonlinear crystals,
disc, and researchers measured the light Violet light has the lowest wavelength which are bulky, expensive, and often
that emerged from the other side. visible to humans. Ultraviolet has even export-controlled. The upshot is that
The key feature of the metalens is its lower wavelengths, which range from VUV is quite expensive.”
interface, a front surface that is studded 400 nanometers to 10 nanometers. The team demonstrated they could
with concentric circles of tiny triangles. Vacuum UV, with wavelengths between transform 394-nanometer UV into
The interface is where all of the physics 100 and 200 nanometers, is so-named 197-nanometer VUV with a zinc oxide
is happening,” said Catherine Arndt, co- because it is strongly absorbed by ox- metasurface. Like the metalens, the
first author of the study. “We’re actually ygen. Using VUV light today typically metasurface was a transparent film of
imparting a phase shift, changing both requires a vacuum chamber or oth- zinc oxide with a patterned surface.
how quickly the light is moving and the er specialized environment, as well But the required pattern wasn’t as
direction it’s traveling. We don’t have to as machinery to generate and focus complex since it didn’t need to focus
collect the light output because we use VUV. “Conventional materials usually the light output.
“Metalenses take advantage of the fact able systems for that can fill cabinets as Tests at Rice showed the metalens they
that the properties of light change when large as refrigerators or compact cars made could focus its 197-nanometer out-
it hits a surface,” Arndt said. “For exam- and cost tens of thousands of dollars, put onto a spot measuring 1.7 microns
ple, light travels faster through air than she said. in diameter, increasing the power densi-
it does through water. That’s why you get “For a metalens, you’re trying to both ty of the light output by 21 times.
reflections on the surface of a pond. The generate the light and manipulate it,” Arndt said it’s too early to say whether
surface of the water is the interface, and Arndt said. “In the visible wavelength re- the technology can compete with state-
when sunlight hits the interface, a little gime, metalens technology has become of-the-art VUV systems. “It’s really funda-
of it reflects off.” very efficient. Virtual reality headsets use mental at this stage, but it has a lot of
Their prior work showed a metasur- it. Metalenses have also been demon- potential. It could be made far more ef-
face could produce VUV by upconvert- strated in recent years for visible and ficient. With this first study, the question
ing long-wave UV via a frequency-dou- infrared wavelengths, but no one had was, ‘Does it work?’ In the next phase,
bling process called second-harmonic done it at shorter wavelengths. And a lot we’ll be asking, ‘How much better can
generation. But VUV is costly, in part, of materials absorb VUV. So, for us it was we make it?’”
because it is expensive to manipulate just an overall challenge to see, ‘Can we For more information, contact Jade
after it’s produced. Commercially avail- do this?’” Boyd at [email protected].
Upside-Down Design Expands Wide-Spectrum Super-Camera Abilities

Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering, Durham, NC
B y turning a traditional lab-based

fabrication process upside down,
researchers at Duke University have
nanocubes and their spacing from each
other as well as the metal base below, the
system can be tuned to absorb specific
ibly tight tolerances, this is easier said
than done.
To meet this challenge, the research-
greatly expanded the abilities of wavelengths of light. ers essentially flipped the traditional
light-manipulating metasurfaces while These so-called plasmonic metasur- fabrication process upside down. Rather
also making them much more robust faces consist of three layers — a met- than starting with a metal surface and
against the elements. al base is coated in a nanometer-thin putting a thin transparent substrate on
The combination could allow these transparent substrate and topped with top followed by nanocubes, they start
quickly maturing devices to be used in silver nanocubes. While this configu- with the nanocubes, which they cover
a wide range of practical applications, ration has worked well for laboratory with a precisely thin spacer coating that
such as cameras that capture images in a demonstrations, it leaves little room follows the underlying shape, and top
broad spectrum of light in a single shut- for creativity. Because an area of the off with a metal coating. It’s almost like a
ter snap. nanoparticle must be within a few pineapple upside-down cake, where the
Plasmonics is a technology that essen- nanometers of the metal surface below, nanocubes are the pineapples that get
tially traps the energy of light in groups researchers couldn’t use a wide variety covered in caramelized sugar and baked
of electrons oscillating together on a of shapes. into a thin bottom.
metal surface. This creates a small but To get around this need for flatness, Because more than one surface of the
powerful electromagnetic field that in- the team decided to try to put each nanocubes could now trap plasmons be-
teracts with incoming light. nanoparticle in its own dimple or well. tween gaps, they could experiment in 3D
Traditionally, these groups of elec- This would surround the entire lower with new nanoparticle shapes. In their
trons — called plasmons — have been halves of the nanoparticles with metal, paper, the team tried out solid spheres
excited on the surfaces of metal nano- allowing the sides as well as the bottoms and cuboctahedra — a shape consisting
cubes. By controlling the size of the to host plasmons. But because of incred- of eight triangular faces and six square
Sputter Metal
Grow Spacer
Assemble NPs
NP
Cubes Cuboctahedra Spheres Transparent

Substrate
A new upside-down fabrication method for light-manipulating metamaterials envelops nanoparticles with a transparent spacing layer followed by a coating
of metal. The way the metal coating envelops part of the nanoparticle while maintaining tight, nanometer tolerances, allows for a much larger design space
than was previously possible. (Image: Duke University)

faces — as well as metal spheres with a nus of essentially weatherizing the entire “What is really significant here, is
quartz core. device by enveloping the nanoparticles, that large, macroscopic areas can be
Test results showed that not only can the new technique could potentially ex- covered by the metasurfaces very in-
the new fabrication method match or expand the technology’s use into driving expensively, as we use entirely lithog-
ceed the capabilities of previous methods chemical reactions or thermal detectors. raphy-free fabrication techniques,”
using silver nanocubes, but it can also ex- Professor Maiken Mikkelsen is apply- Mikkelsen said. “This means the meta-
pand the range of frequencies that are ing the fabrication technique to her $7.5 surfaces can be integrated with other
harnessed by using these different shapes million Department of Defense project existing technologies and also create
and metals. The research also revealed to create a “super camera” that can cap- inspiration for new plasmonic metasur-
that these variations change where the ture and process a wide range of light’s face applications.”
nanoparticles capture energy on their properties, such as polarization, depth, For more information, contact Ken
surfaces. Combined with the added bo- phase, coherence, and incidence angle. Kingery at [email protected]
Researchers Demonstrate 40-Channel Optical Communication Link

Optica, Washington, DC
R esearchers have demon-

strated a silicon-based op-
tical communication link that
combines two multiplexing
technologies to create 40 op-
tical data channels that can si-
multaneously move data. The
new chip-scale optical inter-
connect can transmit about
400 GB of data per second
— the equivalent of about 10 µm
100,000 streaming movies.
This could improve data-in-
tensive internet applications Researchers demonstrated a silicon-based optical communication link that combines two multiplexing technologies
to create 40 optical data channels. The ring-shaped photonic crystal resonator (left) features a nanopattern inside
from video streaming services (right) that splits a selected resonant mode for comb generation. Images taken with scanning electron microscopy.
to high-capacity transactions (Image: Su-Peng Yu, NIST)
for the stock market.
A multi-institutional group of re- oscillation on the inner wall. The result- while offering smaller footprints, better
searchers have described the new optical ing photonic crystal micro-ring resona- efficiencies, and new functionalities.
communication link in the Optica Pub- tor turns a laser input into ten different Tests of the new device matched well
lishing Group journal Optics Letters. wavelengths. They also designed and with simulations and showed that the
It achieves 40 channels by combining a optimized a mode-division multiplexer channels exhibited a low crosstalk of less
frequency comb light source based on that transforms each wavelength into than −20 dB. Using less than −10 dBm
a new photonic crystal resonator devel- four new beams that each have different of received optical receiver power, the
oped by the National Institute of Stan- shapes. Adding this spatial dimension link performed error-free data transmis-
dards and Technology (NIST) with an enables a fourfold increase in data ca- sion in 34 out of the 40 channels using a
optimized mode-division multiplexer pacity, creating the 40 channels. PRBS31 pattern, a standard used to test
designed by the researchers at Stanford Once the data is encoded onto each high-speed circuits under stress.
University. Each channel can be used to beam shape and each beam color, the The researchers are now working to
carry information much like different light is recombined back into a single further improve the device by incor-
stereo channels, or frequencies, trans- beam and transmitted to its destina- porating photonic crystal micro-ring
mitting different music stations. tion. At the final destination, the wave- resonators that produce more wave-
In addition to improving internet data lengths and beam shapes are separated lengths or by using more complex
transmission, the new technology could so that each channel can be received beam shapes. Commercializing these
also be used to make faster optical com- and detected independently, without devices would require the full inte-
puters that could provide the high levels interference from the other transmit- gration of a transmitter and receiver
of computing power needed for artificial ted channels. chip with high bandwidth, low power
intelligence, machine learning, large- To optimize the mode division mul- consumption, and a small footprint.
scale emulation, and other applications. tiplexer, the researchers used a compu- This could enable the next generation
The researchers created the optical tational nanophotonic design approach of optical interconnects for use in da-
link using tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) called photonic inverse-design. This ta-center networks.
waveguides on a silicon substrate fabri- method provides a more efficient way to For more information, contact
cated into a ring with a nanopatterned explore a full range of possible designs [email protected].
Large Polished Optics Co-Packaged Optics Platform
Precision Glass & Optics (Santa Ranovus Inc. (Ottawa, Canada)
Ana, CA) offers precision optics recently demonstrated a co-pack-
on large polished substrates up to aged optics platform using a Xilinx
30” in diameter. Customer speci- Versal ACAP (adaptive compute
fications that can be applied to acceleration platform) and Ran-
the large format glass include pol- ovus Odin™ 800 Gbps CPO 2.0.
ishing up to 30", flatness/trans- The joint demonstration between
mitted wavefront equal to Lamb- Ranovus and AMD highlights the
da/30 over any 6" diameter, with parallelism at 1 arc second, arrival of the CPO 2.0 solution for AI/ML platforms that demand
angles to 1 second, and surface roughness at 2 angstroms. power efficient, high throughput and high-density optical inter-
The company’s scratch-dig specifications for prisms and oth- connect. RANOVUS’ Odin™ scales from 800 Gbps to 3.2 Tbps
er large optics are at 20/10, also known as “high precision” in the same footprint by leveraging Ranovus’ 100 Gbps per lamb-
quality. With eleven continuous planetary polishers (CPs), da monolithic Electro-Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC) IP, la-
including a state-of-the-art 96" CP, PG&O manufactures fin- ser platform, and advanced packaging technologies. CPO is an
ished plano optical components with exceptional flatness and innovative approach that provides Nx100 Gbps PAM4 Optical
uniformity. I/O channels for Ethernet switch and ML/AI silicon in a single
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-230 packaged assembly that significantly reduces the cost and power
consumption of the complete system.
Meniscus SAC For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-235
Focuslight Technologies Inc.
(Xi’an, China) has announced the OLED DDIC
Focuslight Blue Meniscus slow-axis Magnachip Semiconductor Cor-
collimator (SAC). This new SAC poration (Seoul, South Korea)
with an effective focal length (EFL) announced that the company has
of 9.7 mm has a concave-convex, commenced full-scale mass pro-
acylindrical lens design for the col- duction of an organic light-emit-
limation of the slow axis of laser diodes. Blue diode lasers contin- ting diode display driver integrated
ue to revolutionize the processing of different materials such as circuit (OLED DDIC) for OLED TVs. The new DDIC supports
copper and aluminum. The high absorption of blue light com- a maximum of 960 source output channels, and, coupled with a
pared to infrared light results in a great advantage for typical in- Chip On Film (COF) package and high-speed serial interface,
dustrial applications such as cutting or welding. A material with it is an ideal solution for UHD OLED TVs. With Magnachip’s
low absorption is the key to prevent the detrimental effects of advanced technology for optimizing resolution, the new prod-
heating. In addition to material processing, other applications in uct supports various resolutions between HD (1,366 x 768) and
medicine (bacterial treatment and surgery), lighting, or pump- UHD 4K (3,840 × 2,160). It also can be applied to different
ing also enjoy recent interest. sizes of panels, ranging from 40 to 80 inches.
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-231 For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-243
3D Scanner High-Speed InGaAs Photodiodes

Evatronix SA (Bielsko-Biala, Po- Fermionics Opto-Technology
land) recently unveiled its latest eviX- (Simi Valley, CA) introduced
scan 3D Quadro+ scanner. Two scan- the ultra-compact FD80 Series
ning ranges allow both the precise of high-speed, low-dark-current,
measurement of small parts with very low-capacitance photodiodes.
high accuracy and the rapid geometry The innovative InGaAs product
measurement of large objects. The de- line is designed specifically for
vice’s inner range enables objects from 120 to 450 mm in size use in extremely tight spaces, such as high-speed communi-
to be scanned efficiently. In case of the outer range the recom- cation systems. The FD80 series features a planar-passivated
mended size of the scanned objects is from 250 to 1000 mm. device structure with an 80 µm diameter active area on a ver-
Quadro+ is equipped with high-resolution cameras: 9 Mpix for tical or horizontal-mount S8 ceramic package pigtail assembly
the outer range and 12 Mpix for the inner range. The combi- in solderable surface-mount configurations. For added conve-
nation of modern matrixes and lenses with low distortion level nience, the high-speed indium gallium arsenide PIN photo-
makes the scanner obtain as much as 350 ptk/mm2 in the inner diodes are coupled directly to a single- or multi-mode pigtail
range. The device has a new projector equipped with a blue fiber. The devices are also available with an internal fiber tip
LED light source in DLP technology, allowing it to obtain an angle which is polished for low back reflection, and other cus-
image of 1080p resolution. tomizable options.
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-232 For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-239

3D Surface Inspection System Soft X-Ray and
Chromasens (Konstanz, Germany) has intro- EUV Imaging
duced a 3D inspection system expressly designed Camera
for detecting imperfections on the surface of met- Andor Tech-
al cylinder heads requiring large field of views. nology (Belfast,
Leveraging the Chromasens 3DPIXA wave dual UK) announced
30µm stereo line scan camera, the Chromasens Corona II LED illuminator with the launch of its
controller, and the Chromasens 3D Application Programming Interface (CS-3D- new Marana-X plat-
API), the turnkey imaging system achieves 100% inline inspection at frequencies form for high energy physics.
up to 30 kHz at full resolution. Every part coming down a high-speed line can be The product integrates the latest in
imaged and inspected including larger parts requiring fields of view (FOV) up to scientific CMOS technology (sCMOS)
450 mm (17.8 inches) wide. Images are captured simultaneously in both 2D and designed specifically for ultrafast soft
3D by the 3DPIXA wave dual camera at a GPU accelerated speed of 552 mm (21.7 X-ray/EUV tomography and High
inches) per second. Resolution up to 30µm is possible in 2D using the 3DPIXA Harmonic Generation (HHG) applica-
wave dual camera, with object dependent height resolution up to 5.87µm. tions. Marana integrates the first “un-
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-234 coated”, 4.2 Megapixel sCMOS sensor
with >90% quantum efficiency in the 80
NanoRF Optical Modules eV-1keV range, 74 frame/s full frame
TE Connectivity (TE) (Harrisburg, PA) has intro- and superb dynamic range. sCMOS’ in-
duced its NanoRF optical hybrid modules for the de- herent shutterless technology addresses
fense industry’s VPX-based embedded computing the inconvenience associated with tra-
systems that require increased bandwidth and radio ditional mechanical shutters lifetime
frequency (RF) signaling. The new hybrid modules and limited repetition rates. Moreover,
feature high-density RF and optical connections with- the Marana-X features a convenient
in common connector module applications like radar, USB3 plug and play interface and a ro-
electronic warfare (EW) missile guidance and tactical communications, along with bust CoaXPress interface.
any other small footprint applications where high-frequency RF and optical signals For Free Info Visit:
are critical. The NanoRF optical hybrid module’s cable mechanical transfer (MT) http://info.hotims.com/82325-258
and edge-mount transceivers provide additional modularity and options for imple-
mentation. Intermateability and interoperability among VPX suppliers is accom-
plished by multiple slot profiles and connector modules added to the VITA 65.0 and
VITA 65.1 compliant backplanes and board-level profiles.
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-237
Full HD Digital Microscope

The new F35 HD optical inspection system from
INSPECTIS (Solna, Sweden) offers full HD 1080p, 60 UV curable epoxy meets NASA
frames per second lag-free video with true colors, bring- low outgassing requirements
ing digital microscopy to a new level with more precise
imagery of objects ranging from increasingly compact
miniaturized electronic assemblies to medical devices.
Thanks to its fast optics and large image sensor, F35 pro-
Outstanding
vides images of objects under inspection such as solder optical clarity
joints on electronic PCBs and metallic parts with minimum glare and reflections. Refractive index 1.52
Camera and lens attributes including optical zoom, lens aperture size, focus and
color balance can be adjusted directly by integrated on-board controls, via INSPEC-
TIS software, or through a range of remote-control consoles. The F35 offers a 35:1 Nanosilica
motorized zoom lens with auto-focus and iris-controlled depth of field, and is sup- reinforced
plied with a wide range of lenses, lights, and other accessories. • Linear shrinkage <1%
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-240 • Abrasion resistant
Hydrogen Alpha (H-alpha) Emission Line Filters High temperature resistant

Alluxa, Inc. (Santa Rosa, CA) announced the develop-
ment of two Hydrogen Alpha (H-alpha) Emission Line Fil- • Serviceable from -60°C to 175°C
ters for astronomy applications. The novel 5 Cavity H-alpha • Tg (with post cure) 135°C
Filter has a 50% BW of only 0.35 nm, a 1% BW of <0.6 nm,
and a peak transmission of approximately 80% and is fully
blocked to OD6 out of band. Alluxa’s 2 Cavity H-alpha Fil-
ter features an even narrower design with a FWHM of 0.12
nm and peak transmission of greater than 90%.
+1.201.343.8983 ∙ [email protected]
For Free Info Visit: http://info.hotims.com/82325-249 www.masterbond.com

[email protected] • 1-800-824-7662 • chroma.com

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