Weekly highlights on optics and photonics — Dec 17th
This week our news selection covers many different fields and developments for the scientific community. Don’t miss them:
1. A new flexible solar pannel substrate is 15 times thinner than paper
A research group from Standford University is developing an efficient new solar panel material that is fifteen times thinner than paper. According to the University, this ultrathin photovoltaic materials could eventually be used in mobile applications, from self-powered wearable devices and sensors to lightweight aircraft and electric vehicles.
2. The best science images of 2021
Nature has released its selection of scientific photos of the year. Although the pandemic is still a prevalent topic, there are incredible things happening all over the world that deserve to be shooted. From huma-monkey embryos to fast fashion and ultraviolet light experiments, this collection highlights what humans have made (for good or bad) and the power of nature.
On similar lines, the European Space Agency has released the new calendar for 2022, with a selection of images published throughout 2021. Those include imagery of planets, star clusters, galaxies and other the hidden secrets from Universe.
3. Lightelligence puts new chip through its paces
A US-based company, Lightelligence, is working in an integrated photonic-electronic platform “that reportedly blazes through a specific class of “hard” computing problems at speeds hundreds of times faster than a conventional high-end electronic processor”, according to OPTICA. The company has said that there is a clear advantage of optical computing over traditional paradigms, in certaing kind of problems related to AI.
4. Lasers shapes material properties without generating excess heat
Researchers at Caltech have reported success using lasers to dramatically sculpt the properties of materials without the production of excess heat, which can damage them. One of the researchers has explained to Photonics Media hat “these tools could let you transform the electronic properties of materials at the flick of a light switch. But the technologies have been limited by the problem of the lasers creating too much heat in the materials.” Researches say that their approach can be applied to a broad range of insulating materials and could lead to dynamically designed nonlinear optical elements.
5. SPIE and Photonics Media announce finalists for 2022 Prism Awards
Industry giants and emerging challengers will be honored at the Prism Awards in a ceremony in January 2022 at SPIE Photonics West. There, the hard work of several companies that try to contribute to photonics innovations will be rewarded. This week the organizers have announced finalists for 2022 and MEETOPTICS is among them for the first time.
Congratulations to everybody and see you in San Francisco!
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