Laser Focus World magazine

Silicon photonics at scale will power AI data centers Silicon photonics is system‑defining for artificial intelligence (AI) data center technology—and the ability to align design, manufacturing, and supply into a repeatable global...

GlobalFoundries Fellow Vikas Gupta shares how the acquisition of Advanced Micro Foundry supports GF's scalable silicon photonics manufacturing.
www.laserfocusworld.com/optics/artic...
#photonics #silicon

Optical cavity for each atom within a quantum computer? Microlenses inside optical cavities allow physicists to tightly focus light onto single atoms in a way that’s both efficient and massively parallel—and it looks promising for ...

Extremely cool work from Jon Simon's group at Stanford.:)
www.laserfocusworld.com/quantum/arti...
#quantum #optics

Stand Up for Science plans second rally on March 7 Public health chaos and research funding cuts are inspiring nationwide pro-science protests against the Trump administration

Scientific American article about Stand Up for Science events.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/stan...

Find you local March 7th event here:

www.standupforscience.net

What IS a Qubit? (Explained by the inventor of the word) YouTube video by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

What is a qubit?

Theoretical physicists Benjamin Schumacher and William Wootters discuss this unit of information, how it works, and how the term came to Schumacher during a car ride with Wootters.

Watch the video: youtu.be/fiS-1GFaUbo

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

Photonics Hot List: February 27, 2026 In this episode of Photonics Hot List: 0:00 Intro 0:15 Method bridges optical fiber, integrated photonics Caltech researchers are narrowing a decades-old performance gap between optical fiber and integrated photonics with a new approach that brings optical fiber-like loss onto a silicon chip. 1:30 Business news roundup Copackaged optics manufacturer Ayar Labs has appointed a new vice president of engineering, and high-performance laser and combiner designer Oxxius is expanding with the acquisition of 89 North. 2:35 New approach for neuron circuit mapping A team at Tsinghua University has designed a way to manipulate neuronal circuits in vivo and examine in depth the functional circuits within single fields of view, all in efforts to better understand neocortical processing. (Full story: https://www.laserfocusworld.com/55357103) 3:51 Outro #photonics #lasers #optics #quantum #opticalfiber #silicon #engineering #neuroscience #neuron #brainresearch #optogenetics Published since 1965, Laser Focus World—a media brand for engineers, researchers, scientists, and technical professionals—provides comprehensive global coverage of optoelectronic technologies, applications, and markets. For more information, please visit https://www.laserfocusworld.com. LISTEN TO FOLLOWING THE PHOTONS: A PHOTONICS PODCAST https://followingthephotons.podbean.com FOLLOW US ON... Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/laserfocusworld.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaserFocusWorld Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laser.focus.world LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/laser-focus-world

Photonics Hot List Friday...
@caltech.edu researchers are bridging optical fiber & integrated photonics💡Ayar Labs has a new VP of Engineering💡Oxxius has acquired 89 North💡Tsinghua University is offering a better understanding neocortical processing. Check it out--> bit.ly/470J9W6

Colorful graphic, with a quote from Jana Jágerská at the top and a photograph of Jágerská in a laboratory setting below.

This #WiOWednesday, we’re celebrating Jana Jágerská, a photonics researcher & prof at UiT whose passion, integrity, and resilience drive her work.

Her journey shows how strong mentorship can shape a STEM career. 🔭

Learn more about Jágerská: https://bit.ly/46p8bOt #WomenInSTEM #WomenInOptics

Gamechanger: A polymer infrared thermal imaging lens Traditional lenses made of germanium tend to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and can’t be repaired when damaged—but a lower-cost sulfur polymer lens option is about to become...

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#optics #imaging #lens #chemistry #cameras

Thermoelectric coolers prevent thermal drift within compact optical systems Thermoelectric coolers provide precision temperature control for lasers, detectors, and integrated photonics—where addressing thermal drift at the device level is essential.

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SPIE announcement for the Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design. The text includes an application deadline of 28 February 2026, set against a dark background with dynamic blue and yellow wave patterns.

The Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design awards US $7,500 to support PhD students working in lens, illumination, and computational optical design.

Applications for the 2026 scholarship are due 28 February 2026.💡

Learn more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4qQilza

Recurrent neural networks implemented through spatiotemporal light propagation in optical fibers Recurrent neural networks excel at temporal tasks and video processing but require energy-intensive sequential memory operations. We demonstrate that multimode optical fibers naturally implement spati...

New preprint out! 🎉
We show that multimode optical fibers can naturally implement recurrent neural networks through passive light propagation. Just light recirculating through a fiber loop, generating fading memory states via interference and nonlinear dynamics.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2602.19246

Different Views of the Winter Olympics A collection of creative photographs from this year’s games featuring infrared imaging, vintage cameras, optical filters, digital composites, unusual angles, unexpected subjects, and more

See a collection of creative photographs from this year’s games featuring infrared imaging, vintage cameras, optical filters, digital composites, unusual angles, unexpected subjects, and more.

What if optical cavities stop resonating? A novel Fabry-Pérot cavity incorporating a holographic phase mask demonstrates resonance-free operation by driving an unrestricted orbital-angular-momentum ladder-up process, ...

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#optics #photonics

Photonics Hot List: February 13, 2026 In this episode of Photonics Hot List: 0:00 Intro 0:15 THz wave-based method for wireless comms A device developed by a team led by researchers at Tianjin University in China is showcasing the potential of terahertz waves to more reliably and securely encode information for wireless communications applications. 1:31 Business news roundup Greater Rochester Enterprise and New York Photonics are joining forces to further boost the upstate New York region’s position in the photonics industry. And a recent acquisition will bring Luxium Solutions’ expertise to Excelitas. 2:42 OFCs enhance radio telescopes An international team of researchers led by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has designed an optical system they say lays the foundation to overcome some longstanding challenges associated with radio telescopes. (Full story: https://www.laserfocusworld.com/55353332) 3:57 Outro #photonics #lasers #optics #quantum #wirelesscommunication #mergersandacquisitions #radiotelescope Published since 1965, Laser Focus World—a media brand for engineers, researchers, scientists, and technical professionals—provides comprehensive global coverage of optoelectronic technologies, applications, and markets. For more information, please visit https://www.laserfocusworld.com. LISTEN TO FOLLOWING THE PHOTONS: A PHOTONICS PODCAST https://followingthephotons.podbean.com FOLLOW US ON... Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/laserfocusworld.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaserFocusWorld Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laser.focus.world LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/laser-focus-world

Have you seen the latest #PhotonicsHotList yet? Check out--> bit.ly/3OfEfyb <--to learn about...
THz waves for more secure encoding for wireless comms apps
Business news roundup
An optical system that lays the foundation to overcome some longstanding challenges associated with radio telescopes

A solution to the laser source bottleneck for DWDM copackaged optics? Scintil Photonics and Tower Semiconductor produce the world’s first heterogeneously integrated photonics dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) laser sources—moving DWDM...

In an exclusive Q&A with Laser Focus World, Scintil CEO Matt Crowley unpacks the company's latest advance in DWDM copackaged optics to meet the speed and other needs of AI data centers.
#CPO #lasers #photonics

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The end of electronic compute: AI needs new physics Artificial intelligence comes at a cost in terms of energy, economics, and environmental impact. To sustain it, we need to rethink the physics of modern computing via photonics...

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Cross-layer all-optical physiology permits neuron circuit mapping Cross-layer all-optical physiology provides an essential tool for directly probing functional connectivity and causal interactions within neuronal circuits—and achieves high-speed...

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#neuro #imaging #optogenetics

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we honor all the women and girls who dare to innovate, create, and push boundaries. 🚀
Your work shapes tomorrow, keep discovering ✨🤍

@spie.org @optica.org

Not unicorns. Not once a year. Women in science — every day #11F #WomenInScience @11defebrero-es.bsky.social @io-csic.bsky.social @csic.es @spie.org @optica.org

A new #FollowingthePhotons podcast is live! Host @jmurphoton.bsky.social talks with Travis Wood, president of Lattice Materials, about the company's ever-advancing role in photonics, workplace culture, and the growing photonics hub in Montana. Check it out! --> bit.ly/3MBBDtR

Next-gen gravitational wave detection Join us as Dr. Gretarsson reveals how advances in mirror design and laser technology are shaping the next generation of gravitational wave detectors—and what it will take to explore...

We've got a webinar coming up in March you won't want to miss...
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Metasurface holograms enable ‘optical lock’ Inspired by diffractive deep neural networks, researchers create a metasurface hologram ‘optical lock’ that reveals its image/message only under the correct physical setup.

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#metasurfaces #holograms #optics #encryption #infosec

Fabrication of silicon photonics with integrated III–V materials at scale The growing demand for high-bandwidth, energy-efficient optical transceivers has accelerated interest in heterogeneous integration of III–V semiconductors on silicon—pairing high...

www.laserfocusworld.com/optics/artic...
#photonics #silicon #interconnects #III-V

Midterm Report: Quantum Optics/ Quantum Information Thoughts after ten of twenty classes

A (very nerdy) blog post about the course I'm teaching this term on Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, which just passed the halfway mark: open.substack.com/pub/chadorze...

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Photonics Hot List: February 6, 2026 In this episode: A gold 'sponge' enhances optical behavior, this week's photonics business headlines, and nonlinear metasurfaces convert infrared light to visible.

Finally...Friday! Happy weekend, everyone.
www.laserfocusworld.com/home/video/5...
#optics #lasers #photonics @jmurphoton.bsky.social

Dual-sided laser processing can tap static beam shaping and splitting Three-dimensional (3D) beam shaping improves laser processing speed and enables new industrial laser applications.

www.laserfocusworld.com/laser-proces...
#lasers

Fabrication of silicon photonics with integrated III–V materials at scale The growing demand for high-bandwidth, energy-efficient optical transceivers has accelerated interest in heterogeneous integration of III–V semiconductors on silicon—pairing high...

www.laserfocusworld.com/optics/artic...
#optics #silicon #photonics #interconnects #transceivers

Copper welds via green laser create superfast data center connections As global demand for data centers soars, so do the stakes for flawless data transmission. Green wavelength lasers paired with AI-driven process check and inspection ensure precision...

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#lasers

Nonlinear metasurfaces convert infrared light to visible A new nonlinear metasurface retains nonlocal, high-Q enhancement while preserving subwavelength per-pixel phase control—and it’s a big step toward on-chip visible/ultraviolet ...

www.laserfocusworld.com/optics/artic...
#metasurfaces #optics #photonics