June 2013 Issue
Feature Articles
Unraveling Bessel Beams
Since their discovery in the late 1980s, Bessel beams have found their way into many disciplines, including optical tweezing and precision drilling. Researchers are now looking to these light beams as a means of transferring data. But first they must load them with information and then unravel the encoded messages they carry.
by Angela Dudley, Martin Lavery, Miles Padgett and Andrew ForbesAccelerating Optical Beams
Thanks to their unique interference, accelerating beams appear to curve as they travel. They require no waveguiding structures or external potentials and appear even in free space. This beautiful phenomenon has led to many intriguing ideas and exciting new applications.
by Miguel A. Bandres, Ido Kaminer, Matthew Mills, B.M. Rodríguez-Lara, Elad Greenfield, Morderchai Segev and Demetrios N. ChristodoulidesLouis de Broglie and the Wave Nature of the Electron
Louis de Broglie was a Frenchman of noble birth who many believed would become a great statesman or diplomat. Instead, he changed our understanding of how the universe works by developing a theory for the wave-particle duality of electrons.
by Barry R. MastersDepartments and Columns
Scatterings
Headliners, policy news and industry updates.
U.S. Patent Reform and Photonics Companies
A new law represents the most significant patent reform that the United States has seen in over 50 years. Joseph Gortych explains what optical entrepreneurs need to know about the America Invents Act.
New Resources for Educating Precision Optics Technicians
The National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC), a National Science Foundation Center of Excellence, has always been committed to building the capacity of U.S. community colleges in order to provide more highly skilled photonics technicians—and in 2012 it expanded that mission to include precision optics technicians.
Fluorescence Front Runner
Stephen Harris has been making outstanding contributions to the field of laser science for more than 50 years.
