Feature Articles

Polymer-Dispersion Technologies for Flexible Liquid Crystal Displays

Researchers are using ferroelectric liquid crystals and micro-polymers to develop thin, flexible, large-screen displays with the ability to supply moving images.

by Hideo Fujikake, Hiroto Sato and Takeshi Murashige
Laser Diagnostics in Combustion Research: Some Recent Advances

Research into controlled combustion can address modern problems in emissions and noise control, energy efficiency, fire extinction and waste management. Laser diagnostics are helping take this field to the next level.

by Mark Linne and James Gord
Fiber-Optic Sensors: Applications and Advances

Decades of research into fiber-optic sensing are now being translated into safe, precise measuring instruments—including gyroscopes, temperature probes, hydrophones and chemical monitors.

by Brian Culshaw
The Digital Blue Sky at Night

Rayleigh-scattered moonlight creates a blue sky at night. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to capture the color, but a digital camera can.

by Joseph A. Shaw

Departments and Columns

The History of OSA
George Eastman Founds a Research Lab

Known as the father of popular photography, George Eastman was also a shrewd businessman who found a way to "institutionalize innovation" by creating a corporate research laboratory at Kodak.

Washington Focus
At the Crossroads of Science, Religion and Politics

The unusual career of U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, Ph.D.

Education
Teachable Optics

Absorption, scattering and the color of the ocean.

Global Optics
Unpacking my "Optics Suitcase" in Africa

An optics Ph.D. student and her husband recently led a group of University of Rochester students to Malawi, Africa, for a three- week cross-cultural enrichment trip.


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