Electro Optics

Meet the finalists: Photonics Frontiers Award 2026. In Defence / Aerospace / Space, this year’s shortlist highlights how photonics is transforming the way we see, process and transmit critical information—on Earth and beyond. Here are two standout innovations shaping the future of high-performance environments: 🖥️ Immersive visualisation—without the headset BRELYON is redefining how operators interact with complex data. Its Ultra Reality display delivers panoramic, depth-rich visuals from a single compact unit—replacing multi-monitor arrays while reducing size, weight and power. The result? Faster decision-making, reduced fatigue and a more natural way to engage with mission-critical information. 📡 Next-gen optical interconnects for space The team from Xtreme Photonics Lab at Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd is developing quantum dot-based optical modulators designed for the harsh realities of aerospace. By combining indium arsenide quantum dots with silicon photonics, they’re enabling faster, more energy-efficient and radiation-tolerant communication systems—key to the future of satellites, HPC and global connectivity. From immersive command environments to resilient space communications, these finalists are tackling some of the toughest challenges in modern defence and aerospace systems. 🏆 Who will take the overall title? Find out when we announce the winner live at Optatec Messe 2026. 👉 Explore the full shortlist: https://lnkd.in/eRnd2Rqx #PhotonicsFrontiers #Aerospace #DefenceTech #Photonics #Optics #Innovation

Custom lenses vs off-the-shelf: which is the right choice? It’s one of the most common—and costly—decisions in optical system design.🔍 Off-the-shelf lenses offer speed and lower upfront cost 🔍 Custom lenses unlock performance and differentiation. But the real challenge isn’t choosing one or the other… 👉 It’s knowing when customisation actually adds value—and when it doesn’t. That’s exactly what we’ll explore in our upcoming panel discussion. 📅 May 7 | 3pm BST 🎯 Learn how to optimise your optical customisation strategy 👉 Register now: https://lnkd.in/gi837aAH #Optics #EngineeringDesign #Photonics #ProductDevelopment

If you’re working in photonics, this is one date to have in your calendar. Optatec 2026 is fast approaching—bringing together the technologies, companies and people driving the industry forward. And we’ll be there. On 6 May, we’ll be announcing the winner of the Photonics Frontiers Award 2026—recognising real-world innovations pushing the boundaries of what photonics can achieve. From cutting-edge applications to market-ready solutions, this year’s shortlist is a powerful snapshot of where the industry is heading. 👉 Meet the finalists: https://lnkd.in/eRnd2Rqx 👉 Register for Optatec: Registration-Form: https://lnkd.in/eC9GhVJg Use code: MW2BR-WS3EQ If you’re attending, make sure you don’t miss the announcement. #Photonics #Optatec #Optics #Innovation #FrontiersAward

Meet the finalists: Photonics Frontiers Award 2026. Innovation in biophotonics and medical applications is redefining what’s possible in diagnosis, imaging and surgery—and this year’s shortlist proves it. We’re proud to spotlight three standout finalists pushing photonics closer to real clinical impact: 🩺 Smarter breast cancer diagnostics The SOLUS project from Politecnico di Milano combines ultrasound and optical spectroscopy in a handheld probe—bringing real-time, quantitative tissue analysis to the point of care, with the potential to reduce unnecessary biopsies. 🔬 Adaptive optics for everyday microscopy Phaseform is making high-performance imaging more accessible with a plug-and-play module that corrects distortions in real time—no specialist setup required. 🧠 Seeing the invisible in brain surgery The HORAO project from École Polytechnique and CNRS uses polarimetric imaging to help surgeons distinguish tumour from healthy brain tissue in real time—supporting safer, more precise procedures. Each of these innovations tackles a fundamental challenge in healthcare—bringing advanced photonics out of the lab and into real-world clinical use. 🏆 Who will take the overall title? We’ll be announcing the winner live at Optatec Messe 2026. 👉 Explore the full shortlist: https://lnkd.in/eRnd2Rqx #PhotonicsFrontiers #Biophotonics #MedicalInnovation #Photonics #Healthcare #Optatec

🤝⚡ 🏰 🎯 SOH modulators are available on Tower Semiconductor and AIM Photonics platforms after NLM Photonics x Spark Photonics Design partnership... A design partnership between NLM Photonics and Spark Photonics has developed high-performance silicon organic hybrid modulators for integration with Tower Semiconductor’s and AIM Photonics’ silicon photonics platforms, supporting future PDK development... The deal could scale access to low-power optical modulation for data centre interconnects and telecom networks, addressing bandwidth and energy efficiency constraints. Register for free to Electro Optics to read more on the story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/duF_eT-i Vladimir Kozlov / Brad Booth #SiliconPhotonics #OpticalModulators #DataCentres #Telecoms #PhotonicsIntegration Image: NLM Photonics, Spark Photonics

High-power single-mode fibre lasers are indispensable across advanced manufacturing, but they carry a fundamental weakness: randomly polarised outputs that cause inconsistent energy delivery, focal-plane fluctuations and direction-dependent absorption. As laser power scales into the multi-kilowatt range, the problem compounds – standard stabilisation techniques fail, active control systems add cost and complexity, and polarisation-maintaining fibres introduce their own defects. A research group from the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, a shortlisted nominee for this year's Photonics Frontiers Award, has taken a different approach to the problem. Rather than attempting to control or suppress polarisation fluctuations at source, the team developed a Random-to-Radial Polarisation (R2R) converter that simply accepts whatever polarisation state the laser produces and transforms it into a well-defined radially polarised output – making the system inherently immune to input instability. The converter uses a dual-interferometric architecture built around two modified Mach-Zehnder interferometers in sequence: the first aligns incoming light into a defined polarisation basis, while the second assigns opposite topological charges to two equal-intensity beams before recombining them into a vector vortex beam with a characteristic doughnut-shaped intensity profile and strong transverse electric field gradients. The entire process is passive – no electronics, no feedback loops and no recalibration required. TII says the resulting tighter, more symmetrical focal spot improves energy uniformity across additive manufacturing, cutting, drilling and welding regardless of scanning direction, with particular benefits for the complex geometries found in aerospace components, medical implants and precision microelectronics. Read the full article to find out more about how the R2R converter is bringing passive polarisation control to high-power laser manufacturing: https://lnkd.in/eWt2B8n7 📍 Join us in Frankfurt for the Award Ceremony of the Photonics Frontiers Award at Optatec 2026 | May 6 | 3:30 p.m. | Exhibitor Forum, Booth 625 #PhotonicsFrontiersAward #LaserManufacturing #IndustrialLaser #Polarisation #Photonics #Optatec2026 #AdditiveManufacturing #Micromachining #Optics #DeepTech

What does it really take to commercialise advanced optical technologies? We’re joined by Martin Ettenberg, founder of IRConsult and former CEO of Princeton Infrared Technologies. With 25+ years developing InGaAs detectors and imaging systems used in space and commercial applications, Martin has seen first-hand what separates scalable success from failure. In this panel, he’ll share: ✔ Lessons from bringing optical innovations to market ✔ Common pitfalls in scaling imaging technologies ✔ How to align technical and commercial strategy 📅 Join us live on May 7 👉 Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/gi837aAH #Photonics #OpticalEngineering #Innovation #DeepTech LaCroix Precision Optics

🤖 🧪 🛜 Novanta Inc. joins NVIDIA Halos lab to validate robotics sensing systems... Novanta has announced it will validate its motion control and optical sensing technologies within Nvidia’s Halos AI lab, supporting the certification and interoperability of the systems for robotics and physical AI applications... The collaboration highlights growing demand for high-performance lidar, machine vision and optical sensing in autonomous systems, where accuracy and reliability directly impact deployment risk and commercial scalability. Register for free to Electro Optics to read more on the story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/djeddba3 Chuck Ravetto #Robotics #Photonics #MachineVision #Lidar #AutonomousSystems Image: Novanta

📈 🌐 🌍 “All signs are up and to the right” for the global quantum market, says Celia Merzbacher... With #WorldQuantumDay2026 just gone, Celia Merzbacher, Executive Director of the QED-C®, discusses the steady advance of quantum technologies with James Wormald, growing industry confidence and the remaining challenges as the sector moves toward real-world applications... Organisations advancing integrated optics and single-photon sources are positioned to capture value, but must navigate scaling challenges and evolving standards to remain competitive. "Rather than just going faster, quantum helps us see information in new ways..." Register for free to Electro Optics to read the full interview here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dGM_8XGD #QuantumTechnology #Photonics #QuantumCommunication #IntegratedOptics #DeepTech Image: QED-C