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A New Nano-Twist for Unclad Optical Fibers

Jeff Hecht

High-quality bare nanofibers are a novelty, but the idea of making them actually goes back 40 years to the work of a pioneering group in Britain. Today researchers believe that unclad submicrometer fibers hold promise for applications in a range of areas, including microphotonics and environmental sensing. more>>

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Time-Multiplexed Integral Imaging For 3D Sensing and Display

Ju-Seog Jang and Bahram Javidi

We perceive the world in depth as well as in color, but the generation of high-quality three-dimensional (3D) images is still an area that is fraught with challenges for researchers. Now a ray-optics-based technique—integral imaging—shows promise for 3D TV and visualization. more>>

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White-Light LEDS

Yukio Narukawa

In the not-too-distant future, improvements in luminous flux and luminous efficacy are expected to enable use of white-light LEDS in automobile headlights, large-screen LCD backlighting and general home lighting. more>>

Quantum dots light up the body, newly mounted laser guide star system

Kim Douglass

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Light Touch

Antonio de Ulloa’s Mystery

Stephen R. Wilk

De Ulloa was remarkable for being not only a naval officer and high-level official, but also one of the most renowned scientists of his day. He was a participant in the Spanish expedition to measure the arc of longitude in 1736, a student of the geology of South America, a student of botany and an observer of optical phenomena. more>>

Optical Engineering

Transmission of Light Through Small Elliptical Apertures (Part 2)

Masud Mansuripur, Armis R. Zakharian and Jerome V. Moloney

Last month, in Part 1 of this column, we analyzed the interaction of light with a subwavelength elliptical aperture in a thin metal film. The incident plane wave was assumed to be linearly polarized along the ellipse’s major axis. In this second and final installment, we take up the case of incident polarization aligned with the ellipse’s minor axis. more>>

Optics Puzzler

The Optics Puzzler

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The History of OSA

An Executive Director for OSA

John N. Howard

Two important milestones in OSA’s history—appointment of the Society’s first executive director and the purchase of the headquarters building—are highlighted in this column. more>>