Cover Story
One Boy’s Auroral Expedition
Dennis W. Fantone
Take a high school student with a fascination for the sciences, a yen for travel and some sophisticated equipment on loan from a professional photographer. Transport to Iceland, one of the best sites for viewing the aurora borealis. more>>
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A Quasiperiodic Approach to Ultrashort Pulses
David R. Walker, Deniz D. Yavuz, Miroslav Y. Shverdin, Guang-Yu Yin and Stephen E. Harris
To optically control atomic and molecular processes, it must be possible to shape the optical waveform with a high level of precision. This involves maximizing the number of phase-adjustable frequencies. The authors demonstrate a technique to multiplicatively increase the number of generated frequencies through the use of modulators in series. more>>
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Optical Metrology Enables New Generation of Fuel Injectors
Thomas J. Dunn
The auto industry has long been driven by demands for better fuel economy and lower emissions. In Europe, these forces have led to the renaissance of the diesel engine. The latest generation of passenger car diesels is clean, efficient and powerful. These improvements have been enabled in part by advances in optical metrology. more>>
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The Telescopes of Seventeenth-Century Italy
Giuseppe Molesini
The seventeenth century was an important period of development for optical instruments. In 1600, the field was in its infancy. Fewer than 50 years later, a handful of inventors had created devices that were as perfectly optimized as available technologies would allow. more>>