Column: Lasers and Optics Interface

Articles

A recent investigation of the optical emission of plasma on industrial steel samples using LA-SD-OES and LIBS revealed new findings about the oxide composition of the slag layer.

Overcoming the Matrix Effect in the Elemental Analysis of Steel: An Interview with 2023 Meggers Award Winner Johannes Pedarnig

A brief history of fiber-optic bundles helps us understand how this technology how it has evolved from use in telecommunications to enabling extraction of three-dimensional (3D) information from two-dimensional (2D) images.

Fiber-Optic Bundles Create a World of Pure Imagination

A 3D printer can shorten the time to make prototype hardware for spectrometers from weeks to days—or less.

Three-Dimensional Printing and the Art of Making Small Working Prototype Spectrometers

, is the General Manager of the Applied Systems business at Ocean Insight, an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington, and has started and advised numerous companies in spectroscopy and in applications of machine learning. He has approximately 40 peer-reviewed publications and 6 patents. His work in practical optical spectroscopy, such as LIBS, Raman, and TDL spectroscopy, dovetails with the coverage in this column, which reviews methods (new and old) in laser-based spectroscopy and optical sensing.

Accurately measuring and quantifying the perception of color is an ongoing challenge for scientists, but understanding spectroscopic techniques can help standardize color measurements.

Where Perception Meets Reality: The Science of Measuring Color

Controlling methane is one of the highest-impact ways to reduce climate impacts, so its accurate measurement is essential. Spectroscopy offers valuable tools for this task.

Detecting Methane Emissions: How Spectroscopy is Contributing to Sustainability Efforts

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to extraordinary developments of both testing methods and vaccines. Can spectroscopy play a role in next-generation testing for Covid and other pathogens?

Catching Covid: Rapid Spectroscopic Methods Show Promise

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an ideal method for elemental analysis of geological samples, and has been used by NASA on the Mars rovers. This article details the methodology and the most successful calibration and quantification methods to date.

Geochemical Analysis Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

A frequency comb is a laser source, with evenly spaced narrow lines, potentially useful for spectroscopy applications, particularly as a source or for alignment of the wavelength axis.

A Brush with Frequency Comb Spectroscopy: A Developing Story

Tunable narrowband light sources are essential for measuring fluorescence, reaction energetics, and other challenging measurements in chemical, biological, and physical systems. In particular, the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is an indispensable tool.

Narrowband Visible Light: The OPO Reigns

Advances in lasers are expanding the capabilities of LIBS and laser ablation techniques.