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Meet the Metamaterials

Akhlesh Lakhtakia and Tom G. Mackay

Among optics and electromagnetics researchers today, the term “metamaterials” is often taken to be synonymous with materials that have a negative refractive index, but there is much more to metamaterials than that. As research evolves, these unique composite materials will be fabricated with new, multifunctional architectures that will enable applications in sensing, security, transportation and other areas. more>>

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Optics in South Africa

Jean-Noel Maran, Erich G. Rohwer, Johan P. Burger and Lourens R. Botha

The rainbow nation is betting on the optical sciences to support its economic growth and skills development. more>>

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Report from FiO: Global Issues, Optics Solutions

Patricia Daukantas

For its 90th annual meeting, OSA returned home to its birthplace of Rochester, N.Y. Speakers challenged the optics community to work toward solving society’s most urgent problems, including the need to find alternative energy sources and halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. more>>

Did You Know?

Yvonne Carts-Powell

QD Vision Inc., a start-up company in Watertown, Mass., has announced the first electrically powered quantum-dot display prototype. more>>

Hearing One Cancer Cell in a Million

Yvonne Carts-Powell

A fast, simple, laser-based blood test that allows doctors to “hear” cancer cells could one day become a tool for cancer screening as well as evaluating how well therapy is working. more>>

Tiny Bubbles Direct Light

Yvonne Carts-Powell

Researchers at Harvard University recently demonstrated that tiny arrays of bubbles in a microfluidic device could act as tunable self-assembled diffraction gratings. more>>

Optics Innovations

Headwall Photonics Inc.: Scaling New Heights in Spectral Equipment

Jennifer D.T. Kruschwitz

This venture-backed company focuses on imaging spectrometers and high-efficiency optics. It combines the energy of a start-up with the experience, infrastructure and OEM customer base that come with 30 years of experience. more>>

The History of OSA

OSA’s Financial History: The 1960s and 1970s

John N. Howard

A look at the Society’s financial ups and downs in the years following the founding of the executive office. more>>

Conversations in Optics