Background Ultrathin photonic nanostructures, such as plasmonic and dielectric metamaterials and metasurfaces, have broad applications in electromagnetic wave manipulation, high resolution imaging, and computation. However, conventional production of these metastructures relies on precise nano-machining techniques that are difficult to manufacture...

Background Polarization techniques are widely used to inspect sample material scattering, optical birefringence, and other material properties. One of polarization microscopy’s major limitations is that it evaluates sample polarization properties qualitatively due to the lack of complete polarization information. Mueller matrix microscopy (MM)...

­Potential Applications • Quality control for photovoltaic module manufacturing • Operation and maintenance (O&M) of photovoltaic plants • Drone-mounted inspection systems Benefits and Advantages • Rapid and efficient inspection of PV module defects, degradation, and failure • Ultra-compact form factor...

Background Generation of ultra-short pulses is in demand for a variety of applications ranging from telecommunication and optical computing to ultrafast science and high-resolution spectroscopy. In spite of the relative maturity of ultra-short pulse generation in the visible and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, there remains...

Background Polarization detection and manipulation techniques have wide-ranging applications, from glare-reducing glasses, liquid-crystal displays and 3D movies to optical communication, spectrometry, hologram generation, biomedical diagnosis, chemical analysis, and target detection. Conventional methods for polarization detection and manipulation...

Background By converting sunlight to heat, concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) technology presents a viable form of thermal energy storage that directly addresses grid integration and storage challenges. Current CSP mirror manufacturing processes require depositing multiple layers of films, including silver which requires physical vapor deposition...

Background Recent innovations have allowed us to manipulate light for uses in a variety of applications such as information processing and quantum computing. More specifically, polarization of light has become an attractive method for communicating optical data, demonstrating better sensitivity, signal in free space, and capacity than conventional...

Background 3D stereolithography (SL) printing is a relatively new scientific phenomenon, enabling the creation of virtually any object from a digital file using additive processes, meaning the object is created by laying down subsequent layers of the material until the desired object takes shape. This technique is highly effective in printing polymeric...

High speed mid-infrared (MIR) photodetectors are crucial in numerous applications, ranging from hyper-spectral imaging and biomedical sensing to environmental monitoring and astronomy. However, fundamental limitations in current technologies restrict the scope of use for these photodetectors. Current technologies suffer from weaknesses such as reduced...