All Things Photonics

The electromagnetic environment in which today’s soldiers operate is the focus of this episode, which features our discussion with physicist Kevin Cox from DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory. The advent of quantum sensors — and the applications that emerge in our conversation — range from magnetometry and accelerometry to the interferometric detection of celestial objects and chip-scale atomic timekeeping.

Serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CTO of Luminar Technologies Jason Eichenholz discusses the company’s technology, and shares his thoughts on lidar’s surge into the mainstream. The interview examines Luminar’s acquisition of its exclusive InGaAs chip provider, the (near) future of autonomous driving, and the optics and photonics industries’ technical workforce shortage.

Experimental physicist Charles Falco expounds on the thesis that bears his name, and gives insight into his relationship with the acclaimed artist David Hockney — with whom he shares the thesis’s title. A panel composed of Alejandro Manjavacas, Silvia Centeno, and Andrea Schlather discuss the evolution of their co-authored 2019 paper that investigates the plasmonic properties of daguerreotype images.

Moshe Safran, CEO of RSIP Vision US, speaks on the intersection of computer vision, AI, and medical-guided robotics. Johns Hopkins University’s Russell Taylor gives a macro look at surgical robotics — a field with implications for photoacoustic imaging, OCT, confocal microscopy, and other imaging modalities.

Ivan Aprahamian, author of the 2020 ACS Central Science paper "The Future of Molecular Machines," kicks off Season 4 with a look at recent advancements to light-activated molecular motors. Applications include smart drug delivery and nanomedicine, applied spectroscopy, functional materials, and more. Nick Vamivakas, University of Rochester professor of quantum optics and quantum physics, discusses how to build a quantum workforce: How do we educate its future members, what will they do, and how do we chart their progress?

In the season's final episode, John Harvey, founder and CEO of Southern Photonics, shares his journey from nuclear physics to biophotonics, and from lasers to test and measurement equipment. The state of the photonics industry in Australia and New Zealand is among the points of discussion. Rohit Bhargava, Founder Professor of Engineering and director of the Cancer Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, talks about a new technique for solid-tissue imaging that relies on the microscopic detection of chirality.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is the technology behind a newly developed forensic technique for tire chemical analysis. University of Central Florida’s Matthieu Baudelet, who introduced the method in a recent Applied Spectroscopy paper, explains the approach and how it is poised to enhance crime scene investigation. Pierre Türschmann, CEO of Interherence, talks about how the company is working to resolve the bottleneck of reproducibility in microscopy.

Bishnu Pal, author of "Frontiers in Guided Wave Optics and Optoelectronics" and dean of academics at Mahindra University's Ecole Centrale School of Engineering, is our guest. From his start in semiconductor physics to numerous collaborations in the areas of fiber optics, silicon photonics, specialty fibers, and optical materials, Pal walks us through his journey in optics and photonics, which earlier this year saw him recognized with the SPIE Maria J. Yzuel Educator Award in recognition of four decades of educational leadership and sustained contributions in the field.

Claudio Mazzali, CTO and senior vice president of technology at Corning Optical Communications, is our guest. The 2020 elected fellow of The Optical Society (OSA) guides listeners through an unprecedented 15-month period for optical technology, and shares his thoughts on what to expect from large-scale organizations such as OSA as they reemerge from the pandemic. Trends for a bright future in nanomaterials, hollow- and novel-core fibers, and optical fibers conclude the episode.

Eric Fossum, inventor of the CMOS active pixel image sensor, talks about the past, present, and future of imaging applications and the technology transfer in industry and academia. CEOs Berthold Schmidt (TRUMPF Photonic Components) and Adam Piotrowski (VIGO Systems), the two newest board members of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), speak about their new platform and spurring photonics innovation.