Images Newsletter
 The December 2019 Edition of OSSC's Images eNewsletter is now available.
Deadline for submitting articles, corporate profiles and news briefs for the next eNewsletter is 1 January
email: Donn Silberman
Professional Education
There was an Information Session - Monday 19 August
OSSC Fellow Donn Silberman was the guest speaker.
Winter 2020 courses will begin in early January:
Go to the links above to learn more about the courses and programs.
15% discount for OSSC Members on courses
Required for a Certificate.
Laser and Photonics Technology instructors lead hands-on, laboratory-driven classes, utilizing state-of-the-art industrial equipment, based on the industry-guided photonics curricula written by industry professionals. In addition to laboratory skills, students are offered one-on-one support and career advice, including résumé and LinkedIn profile building.
Upcoming VOSA Meeting
Tuesday 10 December
Side Illuminated Optical Fiber Sensors:
From Basic Research to
a Technology Platform
by
Claudio Oliveria Egalon, Ph.D.
Abstract: In 1989, a group of Bell Lab scientists, at Murray Hill, NJ, published a paper about the first side illuminated optical fiber sensor. At the time, this group recognized one of the advantages of this technology: a very high signal to noise ratio, SNR, if compared to its competing counterpart, axial illumination. Despite this recognition, these early pioneers abandoned their own creation and dedicated their efforts to the more established technique of axial illumination. As a result, the task of championing this technology ended up in the hands of the presenter who may also be counted among its earlier pioneers.
Despite side illumination’s simplicity, reliability, low cost and high SNR, it did not get much attention in its first 15 years of life. This is very puzzling for the following reasons:
Even today, optical fiber sensors based on axial illumination are plagued with a low SNR and expensive instrumentation and
The technology required to commercialize optical fiber devices based on side illumination was available even before 1989: something we were able to recognize only recently.
In this presentation, we will cover the evolution of this concept: from its earlier laboratory experiments at AT&T Bell Labs, NASA Langley and Old Dominion University, its later reduction to practice and the present-day devices based on this technology. We will also cover the missteps taken along the way, the surprising revelations that, sometimes, were brushed aside, the lack of support for the continuing development of this technology, which still prevails today, and much of the drama that comes along with a technology that, for many years, remained hidden in plain sight.
6:00pm - Mixing and Stand Up Dinner
7:00pm - Speaker
Cost: $25
(it is a donation for food, insurance and venue.
If you need a no-food, student, old age or other discount,
please give yourself one).
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Upcoming OSSC Meeting
Wednesday 11 December
Annual Corporate Member Appreciation Event
Featuring a Presentation on:
Molecular Vibrations Imaged for the First Time
by
Professor V. Ara Apkarian,
Director of UC Irvine’s Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit (CaSTL)
Abstract: The internal vibrations of molecules drive the structural transformations that underpin chemistry and cellular function. While vibrational frequencies are measured by spectroscopy, the normal modes of motion are inferred through theory because their visualization would require microscopy with ångström-scale spatial resolution nearly three orders of magnitude smaller than the diffraction limit in optics. Using a metallic tip to focus light and taking advantage of the surface-enhanced Raman effect to amplify the signal from individual molecules, tip-enhanced Raman spectromicroscopy (TER-SM) reaches the requisite sub-molecular spatial resolution, confirming that light can be confined in picocavities and anticipating the direct visualization of molecular vibrations. Here, by using TER-SM at the precisely controllable junction of a cryogenic ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope, we show that ångström-scale resolution is attained at subatomic separation between the tip atom and a molecule in the quantum tunneling regime of plasmons. We record vibrational spectra within a single molecule, obtain images of normal modes and atomically parse the intramolecular charges and currents driven by vibrations. Our analysis provides a paradigm for optics in the atomistic near-field.
Reception & Corporate Member Exhibits:: 6:00pm
Dinner: 7:00pm
Members: $40 Non-Members: $45
OSSC Student Members: $20
Presentation: 8:00pm
OSSC Corporate Members are invited to sign up for exhibit space during registration!
Recent OSSC Meetings
Wednesday 13 November
Optical Payloads for Telescopes & Instruments: Innovation & Creativity
by
Kevin Romero, OPIR Systems Architecture,
Northrop Grumman
Abstract: Key parts of this presentation are from Kevin’s “Fundamental Principles of Creativity”. The talk will focus on methods to break psychological inertia created by our societal norms, history and our own engineering experience. The tools presented can be applied to any problem, to help develop unique solutions. Although Kevin will focus on Creativity in Engineering, the principles are general and apply to diverse subjects like science and art. Several examples of the use of these principles to break technological roadblocks in optical instrument design will be reviewed.
Wednesday 9 October
Tours of and Talk on
The James Webb Space Telescope; Its Mission, Design and Development
by
Dr. Jon Arenberg,
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
Abstract: This talk introduces the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next large astrophysics mission. Webb’s science goals; detection of the universe’s first light, assembly of galaxies, birth of stars and observation of planets and exo-planets are introduced. We will explore how the design responds to mission requirements and produces the performance necessary to achieve the mission’s goals. Many of the unique elements of the architecture will be explored. The main engineering challenges for largest telescope ever built in space are discussed and the role of materials highlighted. Finally, the current status of the hardware and path to launch will be given.
Wednesday 12 June
Abstract: Quantum computing is the use of quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform computation. A quantum computer is used to perform such computation, which can be implemented theoretically or physically.
The National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act is an Act of Congress passed on December 13, 2018 and signed into law on December 21, 2018. The law gives the United States a plan for advancing quantum technology, particularly quantum computing. OSSC Fellow Donn Silberman will briefly review the NQI and introduce our speakers.
View and download slide presentations here:
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