Feature Articles

A Millennium of Liquid Crystals

Liquid crystals—the mysterious expression used to describe the class of materials that can flow yet remain ordered—have a surprisingly long history reaching well back into the last millennium. In this fly-over of the field of liquid crystals, we will see the high points and be introduced to some of the scientists who trekked through the details.

by Eileen M. Korenic
Optical Coherence Tomography: High Resolution Imaging Using Echoes of Light

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a fundamentally new type of optical imaging modality that performs high-resolution, cross-sectional tomographic imaging of the internal microstructure in materials and biological systems, by measuring the echo time delay and magnitude of backscattered light.

by James G. Fujimoto, Wolfgang Drexler, Uwe Morgner, Franz Kartner, and Erich Ippen
Cirrus, Ice Crystals, and Halos

Understanding how cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus clouds and the recognition of ice's presence are intimately tied to halos.

by David K. Lynch

Departments and Columns

Scatterings
Research and Industry News

Marine organisms and light: affecting our climate? / Hooked on photonics / Glowing mice illuminate effective cancer therapies / Duke free-electron laser breaks 2,000-angstrom wavelength barrier / Advanced Solid-State Lasers (ASSL) previewed / Remote sensing: eye in the sky helps farmers diagnose fields / Laser-polarized gases open lungs to imaging

Legal Lens
Laboratory Notebooks

How to maintain a laboratory notebook so that the entries could be used as evidence to prove the date of conception of an invention, as well as due diligence in developing it.

Capital View
End of an Era?

A look back at the previous six-year “era” in science and technology policy.

Akhmanov Laser Graduate School

A review of the Akhmanov Laser Graduate School (LGS), held at Moscow State University (MSU), September 20-26, 1999. 

Electronic Information
How to Create a Multimedia Article for Optics Express

An author describes the lessons learned while preparing the graphics and the multimedia portions for their electronic paper.

Engineering
Partial Polarization, Stokes Parameters, and the Poincaré Sphere

How a frequency domain analysis leads to a compact expression for the degree of polarization of a polychromatic beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters.

Diffractive Optics for a Keplerian Viewfinder

A discussion of the design of Keplerian viewfinders.

Recent Research
Post-Deadline Papers from OSA 1999

Silicon eye using MEMS micro-mirror / Photonic analog-to-digital conversion based on over-sampling techniques / Axial resolution in digital interference holograms by wavelength scanning / Free-space electro-optic detection of continuous-wave terahertz radiation / Fabrication and characterization of a binary sub-wavelength lens with 60 nm features for operation at 600 nm

New Product Development at OSA

In this issue, we report on the efforts made over the last year to build an effective infrastructure to handle new product development.


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Also in this Issue

From the President
From the President

2000 OSA President Erich P. Ippen outlines upcoming events and the goals of his term as OSA President.

Book Reviews
Book Reviews

Reviews of Principles of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy by K.K. Lee / Microoptics Technology: Fabrication and Application of Lens Arrays and Devices by Yakov Sidorin / Handbook of Thermo-Optic Coefficients of Optical Materials and Application by David Edwards / Optical Methods of Engineering Analysis by M.F. Mahmood