6 Jan 2022

Advancements in Microscope Calibration could Provide a Better Look at Viruses

 Blog

Microscopes reveal many things in the world of science, such as organisms and cells, giving us an up close and personal look at tiny lifeforms. Using new techniques, the accuracy of microscopes could be enhanced to view the cell makeup of a sneeze by studying the volume of micro droplets. This is done by methodically tinkering with the calibration of optical microscopes. Most importantly this new venture could give insight into how airborne viruses evolve and spread so rapidly. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is spearheading the research, with measurements of volume being tested on samples that are 1e-11mL, around the volume of a red blood cell. With these optical microscopes, scientists can see the various dimensions and positions of droplets, within a potential tolerance of less than 1%. The method utilized to accomplish this is known as gravimetry which relates to the measurement of weight, giving them the ability to weigh droplets and see how much could fit into specially designed containers. Some of the test tools used were calibrated plastic spears to simulate the boundaries of an image once captured.

It was found that whenever the droplets landed on the surface the liquid evaporation trail could be used for study. It is not yet known how these images will be captured and what resolutions they will be. Focus and distortion were a couple of variables that were calibrated in the microscopes to improve the captured results. While this breakthrough is still in the initial stages, it is hoped that once perfected, we can have a more complete picture of diverse types of viruses, how they function, and how we can stop them in their tracks. This is an especially huge breakthrough that could end up being a great defense against coronaviruses. We wish everyone involved the best of luck on this ongoing research.

Click here, to read previous blog entries covering recent innovations.

29 Apr 2021

2012 Psychophysics Study Using Optical Slits

 Blog

               Over the years, science has given us many ways of studying and exploring vast possibilities. One of those miraculous ways is psychophysics, which is defined as the part of psychology the deals with mental phenomena and physical stimulation. Psychophysics works by studying the specifics of physical stimulation and sensation and looking at the responses produced. In psychophysics, three models of study are most used: the method of constant stimuli, the method of limits, and the method of adjustment. The limits method determines the sensory threshold by increasing or decreasing stimulus level gradually. The method of adjustment is, as it sounds, studying the patient’s adjustment to stimulus levels. These are just some examples of what psychophysics can do. Young’s double-slit formula is another physics example using light that studies and displays light particles’ characteristics and defines light waves.

               In a 2012 study, the double-slit experiment was used in about 25 people to record their individual reactions to stimulus. With the initially planned analysis, there was no psychophysical effect found on the subjects. However, as the study notes, there may be causal links found with more detailed analyses. It will be interesting to see just how far the evolution of psychophysics will go, along with the uses of Young’s double-slit experiment. Science never stops evolving, and neither should our eagerness to learn all that we can for future endeavors. That curiosity could make the future even brighter. To look at the study more in-depth, please click here.

               At Lenox Laser, we offer various optical products including Double Slits. We have everything from apertures and slits, pinholes for photography, gas and liquid separators, and more. To see our product line, please visit us here and explore our many variations and possibilities.

6 Jul 2016

NASA Messenger Mission: Update

 NewsUncategorized

The Messenger mission came to an official end the previous year in 2015 with a planned impact with Mercury’s surface

The spacecraft began orbiting Mercury on March 17, 2011 and orbited a total of 4,105 times.The craft was successfully able to receive all the data it was sent to collect and more, wildly exceeding its expectations, recording information on magnetic anomalies, ice filled craters, and other previously undiscovered features of the planet. Lenox Laser was responsible for fabricating the High Power Ceramic Apertures used for spatial filtering aboard the NASA Messenger space craft. The filters were used to enhance the power of Messenger’s optics.

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19 Oct 2011

Nobel Physics Prizes and 2nd International Light Seminar

 Blog

Earlier this month, on October 4, we had Dr John C Mather speak at our 2nd International Light Seminar. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his part in the COBE mission regarding the Big Bang theory and the expansion of the universe.

On that very day, the Nobel Prize in Physics was given to another group of scientists also doing work on dark matter and the expansion of the universe, showing that it was in fact rapidly expanding, not slowing down as previously thought. You can read more about this year’s Nobel prize in their press release here. Dr Mather alluded to the recent prize and their work in his talk since it related specifically to the things he has studied. For Dr Mather’s talk, visit our website and click on “Light Seminar”, or click here.

19 Oct 2011

The Archimedes Palimpsest and Lenox Laser

 Blog

Lenox Laser, as mentioned in the previous post, is involved and relevant to current events such as the recent Nobel Prize in Physics and the James Webb Telescope.

Another example is the Archimedes Palimpsest at Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum. It is on a special exhibit right now until January 2012, and, believes it or not, Lenox Laser was involved with this as well! Lenox Laser was involved in the key science that allowed them to see past the monk’s writings and read Archimedes’ instead. SLAC was the organization that was heading up the research to better read the obscured text, and they contacted Lenox Laser for the special tungsten part.

From our earlier blog post about the Archimedes Palimpsest from 2006- it explains Lenox Laser’s key role.

The Archimedes Palimpsest writings lingered unseen for centuries, seemingly purged from the documents forever, until Professor Heiburg began to review small scrawls beneath the visible text. At SLAC, a revolutionary modern analysis of the writing medium has been made – revealing they do contain historically important information left behind by Archimedes, Hidden from the naked eye.When confronted with an engineering challenge involving their Synchrotron X-Ray source, SLAC issued a request to Lenox Laser to produce microscopic laser-drilled holes in thin Tungsten film. These small apertures would prove critical to the team’s success in uncovering the Palimpsest’s “hidden treasure”.

Here is the website about the ancient text: www.archimedespalimpsest.org
and the Walters Art Museum: thewalters.org

4 Oct 2011

2nd International Light Seminar

 Events

Lenox Laser’s 2nd International Light Seminar

Guest Speakers

DR. ALEXANDER E. DUDELZAK
Senior Scientist, Canadian Space Agency

“Novel Concepts & Application of Lidar: From the Bottom of the Ocean to Mars”

DR. JOHN C. MATHER
Nobel Laureate 2006 Physics
Senior Astrophysicist & Goddard Fellow, NASA
Senior Project Scientist, James Webb Space Telescope

“The Big Bang Theory” and the James Webb Space Telescope

[embedyt]https://youtu.be/rlGlOyG2FrA?list=PLCFD4859FBF4C0527[/embedyt]

DR. REZA SARHANGI
Professor of Mathematics, Towson University
President – “Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music & Science”

Please visit IIOPTICS.ORG for more information.

8 Jun 2011

Use of SiC in a High Power Spatial Filter for Stray Light Reduction

 Blog

Thomson scattering measurement of the electron temperature and density profiles in high temperature plasmas is a well established experimental technique. The existence of high levels of laser-line radiation (“stray laser light”) in the detected scattered light signal can lead to difficulty in system calibration.

Spatial filtering is a standard technique for improving the spatial profile of low-power laser beams. Focusing a beam through a pinhole aperture allows removal of spatial irregularities caused by nonlinear effects of amplification, dust or imperfect optics.

Silicon carbide is often used as an aperture material due to its high damage threshold.
Lenox Laser, Inc. of Glen Arm, Maryland, has laser drilled 210 micron apertures in SiC disks for such applications as stated above.  Experiments have shown that SiC apertures perform better than copper apertures.  It was found that the steady state stray light level for SiC was significantly less than for Cu.  Thus a silicon carbide aperture performed better than copper for irradiance at the spatial filter focus.

30 Jul 2010

Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics / Mfgr By Lenox Laser

 Blog
Read this article at Science Magazine

Abstract:

Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics

Urbasi Sinha,1,* Christophe Couteau,1,2 Thomas Jennewein,1 Raymond Laflamme,1,3 Gregor Weihs1,4,*

Quantum mechanics and gravitation are two pillars of modern physics. Despite their success in describing the physical world around us, they seem to be incompatible theories. There are suggestions that one of these theories must be generalized to achieve unification. For example, Born’s rule—one of the axioms of quantum mechanics—could be violated. Born’s rule predicts that quantum interference, as shown by a double-slit diffraction experiment, occurs from pairs of paths. A generalized version of quantum mechanics might allow multipath (i.e., higher-order) interference, thus leading to a deviation from the theory. We performed a three-slit experiment with photons and bounded the magnitude of three-path interference to less than 10–2 of the expected two-path interference,thus ruling out third- and higher-order interference and providinga bound on the accuracy of Born’s rule. Our experimentis consistent with the postulate both in semiclassical and quantumregimes.

1 Institute for Quantum Computing and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
2 Laboratoire de Nanotechnologie et d’Instrumentation Optique, Université de Technologie de Troyes, 12 rue Marie Curie, 10 000 Troyes, France.
3 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada.
4 Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

18 Nov 2008

Process Development

 Blog

The personal goal and commitment of each member of the Lenox Laser Corporation’s engineering team is to provide each customer with reliable and robust products made to specified custom requirements and conditions, such as, high energy light beam densities, aggressive chemical and biological environments, mechanical stresses and vibrations, aerospace and underwater uses, etc.

We have a wide range of tools at our disposal. Our lasers range from CW to picoseconds in pulse widths; from far IR to hard UV wavelengths; from Joules to micro-Joules in laser beam energy. We can drill to a specified gas or liquid flow or light intensity. We have a fully equipped machine shop and chemical etching capabilities. Our experienced staff can combine some or all of those capabilities in a multi-step process where a single technique application becomes impractical or impossible. In each unique case, the choice of product materials and manufacturing processes are specific and may affect future product performance.
Both our production and engineering teams are readily available to help customers to consider those specifics in the original product design. We may suggest developing and redesigning a product to create both a feasible and cost effective project.
Lenox Laser has a distinguished history of successful medical product development under the auspices of NIH grants enabling us to introduce innovative products to a highly competitive global market. We have pioneered and have become an industry standard in a metrology associated with holes drilled for leak detection in the medical, pharmaceutical, automobile and food industries.

12 Nov 2008

High Energy Aperture Holder (MT-1, MT-1R)

 Blog

Spatial filtering of a high energy laser beam is not a trivial problem when the energy density of the focused beam approaches the ablation threshold of the optical aperture material.
Materials with a high ablation threshold have very low thermal conductivity; thus, depending upon the repetition rate of laser pulses, can become subject to melting proceeded by aperture damage.

The Lenox Laser Corporation has developed the MT-1R high energy aperture holder that uses the combination of reflecting and heat dissipating parts to reduce by a few orders of magnitude the energy density that reaches the aperture. This method significantly extends the lifetime of the optical aperture. The MT-1R dimensions were selected in order to fit most of the optomechanical mounts designed for one inch mirrors or lenses provided by leading manufacturers, namely CVI-Melles Griot, Newport, New Focus, Thorlabs, Edmund Optics, etc.
When MT-1R is mounted in one of the above mentioned mounts it becomes an integrative part of the existing optical layout or device and does not require any additional adaptors.
mt-1_front

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