Applications

• 3D MEMS Switch:   Suitable for compact, large-scale switching fabrics because they utilize spatial   parallelism, which enables high-density, 3D interconnections. The ability of this architecture to achieve input- and output-port counts of over one thousand is the primary driver of the large-scale optical switches (OXC's). In particular, these types of switches provide high application flexibility in network design because of low and uniform insertion loss with low wavelength dependency under various operating conditions.

• Alexandrite Laser: Similar to the Ruby Laser, the Alexandrite Laser contains a rod of synthetic chrysoberyl. It emits a deep red light at 755 nm, and has properties similar to the ruby laser. It's slightly longer wavelength permits slightly deeper penetration into skin, with slightly less absorption by melanin. Principal uses include laser hair removal in millisecond-range pulsed mode, and tattoo removal in Q-Switched mode.
• Arthroscopy:   A minimally-invasive diagnostic and treatment procedure used for conditions of a joint. Originally, arthroscopy was a diagnostic tool only, used primarily for planning a standard open surgery. However, because of the development of new instruments and advanced surgical techniques, many conditions can also be treated with arthroscopic surgery.
• Astronomical Data Analysis:   Provides facilities for calibration, editing, image formation, image enhancement, and analysis of images and other astronomical data.
• Astronomy Laser Guide Stars:   Based on correcting the incoming optical wavefront using a laser to probe the index of refraction variations of the atmosphere along the path.
• Atmospheric Remote Sensing:   Spectrographic imagers are used to measure the wavelength-dependent atmospheric extinction of starlight while a co-aligned imager is used to measure the atmospheric refraction along the same line of sight. By simultaneously measuring both the refraction and extinction of the starlight, the composition-dependent extinction measurements can more accurately probe the Earth's lower atmosphere, where refraction effects are significant. The refraction measurements provide the bulk atmospheric properties and the actual light path through the atmosphere, both of which are necessary to correctly infer the total extinction in the refractive regime. The technique is demonstrated on a proof-of-concept basis using data from the Ultraviolet and Visible Imagers and Spectrographic Imagers (UVISI) on the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite. These preliminary results show that the combined approach has the potential to be a powerful, self-calibrating method for remotely sensing the Earth's atmosphere in general and for the determination of ozone profiles in the stratosphere and upper troposphere in particular.
• Chromatography:   Involves a sample (or sample extract) being dissolved in a mobile phase (which may be a gas, a liquid or a supercritical fluid). The mobile phase is then forced through an immobile, immiscible stationary phase . The phases are chosen such that components of the sample have differing solubility in each phase. A component which is quite soluble in the stationary phase will take longer to travel through it than a component which is not very soluble in the stationary phase but very soluble in the mobile phase. As a result of these differences in motilities, sample components will become separated from each other as they travel through the stationary phase.

• Colorimetry:   M easurement of the wavelength and the intensity of electromagnetic radiation in the visible region of the spectrum. It is used extensively for identification and determination of concentrations of substances that absorb light.
• Control of a Wideband Array Transmitter:   A wideband transmit array with two-dimensional fiber-optic true time-delay steering. The separate azimuth and elevation steering control stages are based on a simple dispersive fiber-optic prism approach. The prism's individual fiber feeds include an amount of dispersion proportional to the relative position of the radiating element in the array.
• Copper Vapor Laser: Vaporized copper bromide is the lasing medium in the Copper Vapor Laser (CVL), which emits yellow light at 577 nm and green light at 511 nm, delivered through a fiber optic cable. Unlike the PDL, there is no purpura because of the longer pulse duration. However, a long warm up time and short laser cavity life make the CVL a less popular choice than the PDL for vascular lesions .
• DNA Micro-Array Technology:   An array is an orderly arrangement of samples. It provides a medium for matching known and unknown DNA samples based on base-pairing rules and automating the process of identifying the unknowns. An array experiment can make use of common assay systems such as microplates or standard blotting membranes, and can be created by hand or make use of robotics to deposit the sample. In general, arrays are described as macro - arrays or micro-arrays, the difference being the size of the sample spots. Macro-arrays contain sample spot sizes of about 300 microns or larger and can be easily imaged by existing gel and blot scanners. The sample spot sizes in micro-array are typically less than 200 microns in diameter and these arrays usually contain thousands of spots.

• Diode Lasers: Diode lasers are solid state devices similar in construction to LED's. The familiar "laser pointers" are in fact diode lasers. Diode lasers used clinically emit near-infrared light in the 800-900 nm range. Currently their principal application is in millisecond-range pulsed mode for laser hair removal, and for periodontal surgery. Other applications include treatment of leg and facial veins. Diode bars are also used to excite or "pump" more traditional laser media, for example YAG rods. Because of their relative simplicity and low maintenance requirements, Diode lasers and diode-pumped solid state lasers will be used more in the near future as more wavelengths become available.
• Dissolution Testing:   A critical test for measuring the performance of a drug product. The dissolution test has been a relatively new analytical technique with equipment modifications and improvements spanning the last decade. The importance of the test has also increased considerably in the last 10 years. It is a quality control tool and an aid to formulation development. Dissolution testing measures change on stability, and is used to establish an in-vitro and in-vivo correlation for some products.
• Down Hole Sensing:   offshore oil and gas R&D has been the ongoing development of improved reservoir and production monitoring technology implemented using fiber-optic sensors.

• Er:YAG Laser: Often referred to as the "Erbium" laser, it emits a mid-infrared beam at 2940 nm, which coincides with the absorption peak for water. Its principal use is to ablate tissue for cosmetic l aser resurfacing for wrinkles. The Erbium laser has been advertised to offer advantages of reduced redness, decreased side effects and rapid healing compared to the pulsed or scanned CO2 laser, but does so by its limited penetration into tissue, which limits the results compared to the more versatile CO2 laser. It has also been used as a dental drill substitute to prepare cavities for filling.
• Excimer Lasers: Noble gas: Halide, or Excimer Lasers, emit invisible ultraviolet (UV) light that triggers a photochemical reaction on the target tissue. This very short wavelength is capable of high resolution and microscopic surgery-note the letters etched into the human hair at right. The most common medical application is the Argon: Fluorine (Ar:F) laser at 193 nm, used for PRK and LASIK (Laser in-situ Keratomileusis) vision correction. The laser beam is delivered through an operating microscope integrated with the laser housing and operating table.
• Fiber Optic Switch:   Optical communication systems transmit information from source nodes to destination nodes in the form of modulated optical signals. A typical optical communication system includes a network of nodes interconnected by optical fibers. Fiber optic telecommunication lines are being widely used to provide higher bandwidth and greater reliability than copper wire lines, microwave relay stations or satellites. Optical fibers offer much higher bandwidths than copper cables and are less susceptible to various kinds of electromagnetic interference and other undesirable effects.
• Flow Cytometry:     A technique for counting, examining, and sorting microscopic particles suspended in a stream of fluid. It allows simultaneous multi - parametric analysis of the physical and/or chemical characteristics of single cells flowing through an optical and/or electronic detection apparatus.
• Fluorescence Spectroscopy:   or fluorometry or spectrofluorimetry is a type of electromagnetic spectroscopy which analyzes fluorescence from a sample. It involves using a beam of light, usually ultraviolet light , that excites the electrons in molecules of certain compounds and causes them to emit light of a lower energy, typically, but not necessarily, visible light . A complementary technique is absorption spectroscopy .

• Free Space Parallel Interconnects (FSOI's):   W idely seen as a potential solution to present and future bandwidth bottlenecks for parallel processors. Different topologies can be implemented using an FSOI system called optical highway (OH).
• Genomics:   The study of an organism's entire genome . The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis , epitasis , pleiotropy and other interactions between loci and alleles within the genome. In contrast, the investigation of single genes, their functions and roles, something very common in today's medical and biological research, and a primary focus of molecular biology , does not fall into the definition of genomics, unless the aim of this genetic, pathway, and functional information analysis is to elucidate its effect on, place in, and response to the entire genome's networks.
• Ho:YAG Laser: Relatively new to the medical/dental fields, the Ho:YAG laser emits a mid-infrared beam at 2070 nm. Its principal use is to precisely ablate bone and cartilage, with many applications in orthopedics for arthroscopy, urology for lithotripsy (removal of kidney stones), ENT for endoscopic sinus surgery, and spine surgery for endoscopic disc removal. The Ho:YAG laser was recently approved for TURP (prostate removal).
• Intense Pulse Light (PL: Although not a laser, Intense Pulsed Light is currently being used to treat a variety of skin conditions including tattoos, telangiectasia (spider veins), leg veins, as well as for hair removal. Basically, the device is a flash lamp attached to a power source. Pulses of broadband light are applied through colored filters which can be adjusted to match the patient's skin type and the target lesion.
• Interferometer Techniques:   A method of measuring very low thermal expansion of composites utilizing a laser beam and a system of mirrors for obtaining a higher degree of sensitivity.
• KTP Laser: When Nd:YAG laser light at 1064 nm is passed through a potassium-titanyl-phosphate ( KTP ) crystal, the wavelength is halved to 532 nm, a brilliant green light used in CW mode to cut tissue, in pulsed mode for vascular lesions including facial and leg veins, and in Q-Switched mode for red/orange tattoo pigment. Delivery is through an insulated fiber optic, fiber handpiece, scanner, or microscope for CW/pulsed mode, and articulating arm for Q-Switched mode.
• Laser -Assisted in situ Keratomileusis ( LASIK ):   A type of refractive laser eye surgery performed by ophthalmologists for correcting myopia , hyperopia , and astigmatism .   The procedure is generally preferred to photorefractive keratectomy , PRK, (also called ASA, Advanced Surface Ablation) because it requires less time for the patient's recovery, and the patient feels less pain, overall; however, there are instances where PRK/ASA is medically indicated as a better alternative to LASIK.
• Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS):   A simple, inexpensive analytical technique to determine the elemental composition of a sample, regardless of whether the sample is a solid, liquid or gas.  The beauty of LIBS is its sensitivity to all elements, with typical limits of detection between 0.1-200 parts per million (depending on the sample and the element of interest).  No sample preparation is needed making it quick and easily adaptable to automated chemical monitoring equipment or portable units.
• Laser (LADAR) Technology in Geology, Seismology and Remote Sensing: An optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target. The prevalent method to determine distance to an object or surface is to use  laser  pulses. Like the similar  radar  technology, which uses radio waves instead of light, the range to an object is determined by measuring the time delay between transmission of a pulse and detection of the reflected signal.
• Laser Ordnance Initiation:   A method for generating a high order detonation by using fiber optics and a pherical glass focusing head to distribute the initiating light pulse and a low energy laser to initiate the explosive material.
• Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR):   Optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target. The prevalent method to determine distance to an object or surface is to use laser pulses. Like the similar radar technology, which uses radio waves instead of light, the range to an object is determined by measuring the time delay between transmission of a pulse and detection of the reflected signal.

• Lithotripsy:   A medical procedure that breaks up stones that form in the kidney, bladder, urethra, or gallbladder.   A fiber optic instrument resembling a long, thin telescope (ureteroscope) is inserted through the urethra and passed through the bladder to the stone. Once the stone is located, the urologist either removes it with a small basket inserted through the ureteroscope (called basket extraction) or breaks the stone with a laser or similar device. The fragments are then passed by the patient.
• Mobil Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL):   Uses directed energy (laser beam) to intercept aerial targets such as rockets, missiles, artillery shells and other aerial threats. The target destruction is achieved by projecting a highly focused, high-power laser beam, delivered by a chemical laser, with enough energy to affect the target, and explode it in midair.
• Nd:YAG Laser: Emits a near-infrared invisible light at 1064nm or 1320nm. It may be delivered in CW or "long pulsed" (millisecond domain) mode through a fiber optic to a sapphire tip to cut tissue, or because of its deep penetration, used to directly coagulate tissue. The Q-Switched Nd:YAG is effective for black tattoo ink , and has been used with fair results for hair removal. Millisecond-range Nd:YAG laser light is very effective for long-term hair removal.
• Optical Crossbar Switch :   C omprised of a first plurality of first optic fibers having optical ends, each one of which optical ends is mounted to a different first moveable element; a second plurality of second optic fibers having optical ends, each one of which optical ends is mounted to a different second moveable element; and at least one motor controllable to translate each first moveable element and each second moveable element so as to align the optical end of any first fiber and the optical end of any second fiber adjacent to and facing each other
• Optical Pyrometer:   A device which allows contact less temperature measuring by using the incandescence color. It is based upon the fact that all black bodies do have the same incandescence color at a given temperature.
• Optical Tomography:   A form of computed tomography that creates a digital volumetric model of an object by reconstructing images made from light transmitted and scattered through an object. Optical tomography is used mostly as a form of medical imaging .
• Photobiomodulation :   Also known as low level laser therapy ( LLLT ), cold laser therapy , and laser Biostimulation , is an emerging medical and veterinary technique in which exposure to low-level laser light can stimulate or inhibit cellular function leading to beneficial clinical effects. [1] The technique is also known by the more ambiguous terms phototherapy and laser therapy, which may also be used to describe other medical techniques. The "best" combination of wavelength, intensity, duration and treatment interval is complex and sometimes controversial with different diseases, injuries and dysfunctions needing different treatment parameters and techniques.
• Photochemistry to Analyze Details of Protein Folding and Function:   Through the process of mode locking , can produce extremely brief pulses of light - as short as picoseconds or femoseconds. Such pulses can be used to initiate and analyze chemical reactions. The short pulses can be used to probe the process of the reaction at a very high temporal resolution, allowing the detection of short-lived intermediate molecules where it is used to analyze details of protein folding and function.
• Photolithography:   The process of using light to create a pattern. For integrated circuits, photolithography is used to remove areas of a protective layer so that chemical reactions can take place on the exposed areas.
• Pulsed Dye Laser (PDL): Because the yellow light at 577-585 nm coincides with the peak absorption of hemoglobin in blood, is useful to treat vascular lesions. A lasing medium of rhodamine dye is excited by flash lamps, emitting a pulse in the range of 450 microseconds (1500 microseconds in some of the newer PDL's), just less than the thermal relaxation time of minute blood vessels. The preferred laser for the treatment of vascular lesions, including spider veins, strawberry birthmarks and port wine stains, replacing the Argon Laser because of the PDL's decreased heat damage and decreased chance of scarring. However, the PDL's short pulse and high absorption ruptures the targeted blood vessels, causing unsightly purpura (black and blue marks) which can last up to 2 weeks. Currently, less expensive, more reliable green light lasers such as the KTP and other Frequency doubled Nd:YAG is used for most vascular lesions.
• Raman Scattering: or the Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon when light is scattered from an atom or molecule , most photons are elastically scattered ( Rayleigh scattering ). The scattered photons have the same energy ( frequency ) and wavelength as the incident photons. However, a small fraction of the scattered light (approximately 1 in 1 million photons) is scattered by an excitation, with the scattered photons having a frequency different from, and usually lower than, the frequency of the incident photons
• Raman Spectroscopy:   The measurement of the wavelength and intensity of inelastically scattered light from molecules. The Raman scattered light occurs at wavelengths that are shifted from the incident light by the energies of molecular vibrations. The mechanism of Raman scattering is different from that of infrared absorption , and Raman and IR spectra provide complementary information. Typical applications are in structure determination, multi-component qualitative analysis, and quantitative analysis.
• Reflection / Backscattering:   Used for measuring specular or diffuse reflectance from a surface, fluorescence from solid surfaces, or backscattering and fluorescence in solutions and powders
• Ring Laser Gyroscope (RLG): Used as the stable elements (for one degree of freedom each) in an inertial reference system. The advantage of using a RLG is that there are no moving parts. Compared to the conventional spinning gyro, this means there is no friction, which in turn means there will be no inherent drift terms. Additionally, the entire unit is compact, lightweight and virtually indestructible, meaning it can be used in aircraft.
• Ruby Laser: The Ruby laser emits red light with a wavelength of 694 nm. The lasing medium is a synthetic ruby crystal of aluminum oxide and chromium atoms, which is excited by flash lamps. Ruby laser light is strongly absorbed by blue and black pigment, and by melanin in skin and hair. Modern ruby laser systems are available in Q-Switched mode, with an articulating arm, "free running" (millisecond range) mode with a fiber optic cable delivery, or as dual mode lasers.

• Signal Processing:   Potential uses include analog-to-digital converters, delay-line devices (including transversal filters), pseudorandom sequence generators, RF spectrum analyzers, and switching networks are described and analyzed in some detail. Applications for these devices in the improvement of signal processing for radar, electronic warfare, communications, and multi-sensor data collection
• Space and Wavelength Multiplexed Data Channels:   A network for multi-bit word parallel communication between optoelectronic chips on a two dimensional array of optical input and output channels carried on a single dimension of optical fibers. Each bit of a word is carried on a different wavelength and the multiple wavelengths carrying a word are wavelength multiplexed onto a single optical fiber. Multiple fibers can be joined into a one dimensional array of fibers.
• Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP):   Green light laser photo-selective vaporization of the prostate (PVP). This is a new method of treating BPO (B enign Prostatic Obstruction ) in which a laser emitting green light is used to vaporize a passage through the prostate, so reducing it in size.