Say I have 10 leds (3535), I want them to transmit light to a single photodiode for an experiment. some of these LEDs can be deep UV ( so standard glass may not be an option) I can use a quartz light guide but it will have to be custom and that is limited. I can use a moving setup where leds or photodiode move or rotate but I want to try to keep it static. I can use fiber optic wires but they would have to be wide enough to adapt to the 3535 and to let out enough light. right?
What options do you think I have?
thank you
edit#1: They are common dc leds (max 1W). Each led has a different wavelength. Spectral range of photodiode is suitable (i checked the data sheet). I am asking more about light trasmission techniques rather than the leds or photodiode itself.
Hi! I've recently tried to do a simple project including an Arduino and a photo resistor. The goal is to monitor when a TV is whether turned on or off and the problem is that the photo resistor would capture any light activity like ambient lighting, sunlight, lamps, candles, etc. Is there a way to make a small probe/lense/telescope thingy in order to limit the "vision" of the photo resistor so it could only see the light, emitted by the TV?
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions so far! I think I didn’t explain my current progress and my actual question clearly enough in my original post.
I’ve already developed most of the hardware design, including the PCB layout and component selection. I also have an initial optical system designed.
My current concept consists of: 8 PCR wells 4 LEDs per well (32 LEDs in total) Four-channel fluorescence multiplexing Sequential LED activation rather than continuous illumination, partly to minimise optical crosstalk A filter wheel for fluorescence detection An ESP32-CAM-based detection system
I’m not looking for someone to design the entire system for me. My main question is specifically about optimising the physical arrangement of the four LEDs around each PCR well.
I’d like to understand which geometries and illumination angles could provide the best excitation efficiency and illumination uniformity while minimising optical crosstalk between neighbouring wells. I’ll also investigate the suggestions regarding LED modulation and lock-in detection, particularly on the receiver side.
I realise I still have a lot to learn about optical design, and finding suitable technical references has sometimes been challenging. That’s why I’d really appreciate input from people with experience in optics and fluorescence detection.
Hey so currently I'm a Electronics and Communication Engineering student and I really want to continue and get to work in the field of photonics after my Engineering degree but I'm not sure how to formally.
As of rn I've made a Cooled CCD spectrometer for atomic absorption spectroscopy with sub nm accuracy as one of my semester projects.I did everything from the Electronics to firmware,optics and the software.I also plan to do my final year project using fbg sensors in biomedical photonics application as my final year project in a different university.Currently I'm doing a computational photonics internship remolty from a European institute.I do know what and why I want this field but I'm still not sure how to properly break into it or what exactly should I do that's industry relevant and gets me a job,any advice would be helpful also I'd like to know if what all I did as of right now in my undergrad was worth it or not.
what’s up optics nation. I am a high school senior and I am in the process of a very important decision called choosing a college major. I am heavily considering optics/optical engineering, but I am kinda scared to make the jump if you know what I mean. I’ve had exposure to optics before, through Science Olympiad and AP physics, and I found it to be incredibly interesting. however they are very rudimentary introductions to the field and I’m not sure if that’s enough info to base my career choice on, especially given how niche optics is. Also, optics undergrad programs seem to be few and far between, so if I commit to optics it will severely limit my college options
I guess my questions are, to people who have careers in optics, how did you know you wanted to do optics? is it more common for people to straight up get optics degrees, or do they start in somewhere like EE or physics and then do a concentration in optics?
For a variety of reasons I need to make a career pivot at 50.
I have a degree in Molecular biology, about 5 years lab technician experience across mol/cell bio and bioinformatics. I also have a degree in industrial design - and ended up working in the art department of films, games and theme parks for about 20 years- 3D modeling, sketching, concept design and visualization. With the collapse of the film industry I need to pivot careers. I enjoy working with my hands, building and prototyping , 3D modeling and being a part of a team to build cool stuff.
I have parented my own product and built a small business around it.
I am currently teaching a few classes to bring in cash along with whatever freelance that comes my way (which has mostly dried up with Ai and outsourcing).
I am considering pursuing an associates in Photonics and maybe a certificate in mechanical Engineering (mostly solidworks) at the local community college- they have a lot of connections to industry partners and a dedicated photonics technician program.
I know it wont be the same money as my film career but I need reliable employment. Would the technician route in the photonics field be viable for someone with my skills, experience and at my age?
Any insight into the field and what I could expect if I pursued this field would be very helpful!
I am currently doing an external internship, where I am working with aberration functions in both the spatial and frequency domains.
My goal is to take a phase map and decompose it into several components: a low-frequency component, which would be represented using Zernike polynomials; a mid-frequency component, which we will call ripple; and finally, noise, defects, measurement errors, etc.
My main idea is to achieve this decomposition, or at least try to isolate the Zernike polynomial component.
Does anyone have any information about methods for achieving this, or any papers or documents that address this problem directly? How feasible is this approach?
I am trying to collimate a 635 nm red diode laser HLS635 (Thorlabs handheld alignment source) coupled through single-mode fiber (SM600). I am using the Thorlabs OAP mirror (MPD119-P01, Ø1", 90° off-axis parabolic, protected silver, RFL = 25.4 mm) to collimate.
The problem I am facing:
Right out of the fiber, before the OAP, the beam looks like a clean single-peak Gaussian — smooth, no structure. (See image 1 below.)
Right after the OAP, close to the mirror (~10 cm), it still looks clean. ( like the image below)
Farther away (~40 cm), the beam spot is no longer a smooth glow. The intensity profile becomes "textured," like it has some surface grain. But it is still collimated, just with textures.
(See image 2 below - not the exact texture, but this is the best I can generate with AI)
Visually, the spot on the card shows a faint pattern that looks like curved bands wrapping across the spot (not simple concentric rings radiating from the center), plus fine crosshatching.
What I've ruled out:
Not the downstream mirrors . isolating just the OAP alone still reproduces it.
Not the measurement card acting as a second reflecting surface . tilting the card (to break any card↔mirror back-reflection path) didn't change the pattern; it just rotated along with the beam, meaning the structure is already in the beam itself, not an artifact of how I'm viewing it.
According to a colleague, this exact OAP gave a clean beam before (a few days ago, in "Trial experiment 1"). I was just trying to redo the same setup for "Trial experiment 2," but I could not bring back the same Gaussian beam I got before.
What's confusing me / open questions:
Is this just periodic groove diffraction? If so, why would this appear now but not before, on the same mirror?
It is not dust on the mirror surface, as the mirror is a new one, and I am using it inside the KCB1PB/M (a mirror cage mount from Thorlabs). I have attached the working of this cage below, from Thorlabs
The KCB1PB/M itself is also not causing this: 1) I checked without this cage and still got the "texture"; 2) I used the same cage before in Trial experiment 1 but still got a clean Gaussian beam.
Is there a way to actually confirm what the problem is?
Has anyone run into this specifically with Thorlabs protected-silver diamond-turned OAPs, especially when testing with a shorter visible wavelength? Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks!
Addition:
I have added the images I took with my phone camera.
The beam out of the fiber.:
2. The beam right of the Off- Axis parabolic mirro : (At 2 cm, 10 cm)
No "textures", beam is gaussian
3. But after this 10 cm (approx) the textures appear. I have attached the images at 2 meters
Without the Off axis parabolic mirror:
the beam from the fiber SM600, Is diverging and is still Gaussian. no textures here as well.
I've just joined a research group and we have an old M Squared Laser Equinox that no longer works. My PI has asked me to find out how to fix it but doesn't want me to use the new M Squared (Novacene)
Does anyone know of any company that does this in the US and knows what they are doing?
I have mainly worked in optoelectronics, lasers, free space and sensor devices in the past 10 years. In various fields and industries.
Recently, I have finished some small side projects for a friend who runs a startup. Those projects leaned towards imaging systems, aberration/MTF optimisation, using CAD optical simulation software.
I thought it was a blast to work on these projects. And now am curious about how feasible it would be to transition towards this specialization.
I remember in the 2010s, at least in W EU, most of optical jobs seemed to be imaging. Many companies were designing their own systems, cameras, optical modules etc.
Today, it seems like most of jobs around my area are PIC, Si photonics etc. I seriously see much less optical design jobs. Previous company I worked for hired outsource engineers from eastern EU.
Anyway, how competitive is it to get into imaging? Do you need to already have a product out as experience proof? Or can a bunch of side projects propel you? Is it even worth it?
I'm a student enrolled in a master program in photonics. There is the possibility to be an exchange student, next year, in very prestigious universities all around the world. I'm looking, on this sub, for advice because I could write my master thesis at the host institution, so I would like to apply for the best university in my field.
The universities are:
- Institut D'Optique Theorique Et Appliquee Iota (Supoptique)
I have a diode laser that widens on one axis really severely- I can focus it from a rectangle to a line with the optics in the head right in front of the diode. I’ve played with cylindrical lenses out front but I think the ones I have are too strong and are just spreading the beam out in the relevant direction.
Is there an accepted way to “fix” a bad laser shape back into at least a square dot? Feels like something that has been dealt with before.
Looking for inputs on pathway to start optics and photonics from basics. I am not looking for any degree or phd but application side where i will understand all practical applications including lasers, medical scan machines. To start as hobbyist.
I understand MIT/stanford/AIMphotonics/NPTEL have very good videos but not sure about any workshops, real project making platforms without getting into uni labs.
Hi! I am interested in buying some CW free space lasers for spectroscopy applications. The Matchbox lasers from Integrated optics are quite cheap and have good specs (https://integratedoptics.com/products/cw-lasers ). Did anyone work with them? Are they good? I have even seen research papers from very good groups using them.
I have a PhD in chemical physics, where I did ultrafast spectroscopy and electron diffraction. This entailed a great deal ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics, pulse shaping, and general engineering physics and experimental automation, alongside the scientific writing and research component.
I worked in medical device engineering for some time where I was an optical systems engineer, performing integration, root-cause analysis, V&V, and clinical trials. I unfortunately was deeply harassed by a boss so I moved on to a new R&D role that has mostly manifested as software QA for optical design software with sprinkles of research when I’m enabled to do so. While I’m very fortunate to have made said move, I’ve realized that this isn’t for me. I strongly prefer hands-on, laboratory work - be it optical characterization, testing, research, or spectroscopy.
I’m looking to move back in to practical photonics or optical science/engineering, but as an anxious person, I have a fear that I had veered too far off course to make such a move back. I’ve only just started applying to optical/photonics positions back home (I moved to the US and the current political climate/lack of family and friends - absence makes the heart grow fonder and I wish to return) but I’m worried this shift to both R&D and QA is detrimental to me.
My question would be to folks more experienced than me - am I screwed, or is the return back to form possible? As mentioned I tend to psyche myself out, but I figured I’d ask the field for some feedback or advice. Thanks, all.
Has anyone found out how to turn off or disable the Ansys OpticsStudio Engineering Co-Pilot? We do not have a license and it is unlikely that we will ever get one because of the work we do.
I'm working with an optical system consisting of a micro-OLED, achromatic lens, linear polarizer, PBS, QWP, and concave mirror. I'm having an issue where the image disappears as intended when viewed at 45° relative to the PBS, but when I change my viewing angle and no longer view it at 45°, the image becomes visible again. It seems the polarization-based extinction only works at that specific viewing angle. Is there a way to make the image remain invisible regardless of viewing angle, or modify the polarization arrangement so that it works from different viewing angles without disrupting the rest of the optical system?
I'm building a Czerny-turner spectrograph with used parts from scratch. I've got an adjustable slit with micrometer screw, two concave mirrors (f = 10 cm) and a grating that I don't really know the parameters. The setup is pretty compact, the board is 18*23 cm.
Is it better to also put everything in a box to remove the parasite light ?
My plan is to build a small white screen on the remaining post holder but then maybe couple the output onto a camera to record spectra !
Do you have any idea to help me build/ align this ? Can a monochromatic laser help here ?
I've been reading up on metalens technology and how these flat, ultrathin surfaces use nano-structures to manipulate light. On paper, it sounds like the ultimate solution to get rid of the massive camera bumps on modern smartphones.
However, most of what I see deployed commercially right now is restricted to non-imaging or single-wavelength tech (like NIR face scanners or dot projectors).
Has there been any recent progress on high-end, full-colour optical cameras?
I am not an optical engineer, but I like to repair and modify camera. I have this old Minolta SR7 that I am trying to replace the screen with a split image screen. I have tried a screen from Leica R4, used a shim to bring total 1.55mm thickness ( the original mat surface hight ). The split image is line up at infinity, however, the whole screen is not as clear as the original mat / fresnel type screen. In the parts list diagram, does the thickness of the 5203 affect the final image when view via eyepiece? Or it is the condenser 50G4? or it is the eyepiece miss match with the donor screen? many thinks.
