Friday, October 04, 2024

Hamamatsu completes acquisition of NKT Photonics

Press release: https://www.hamamatsu.com/us/en/news/featured-products_and_technologies/2024/20240531000000.html

Acquisition completion of NKT Photonics. Accelerating growth in the semiconductor, quantum, and medical fields through laser business enhancement.

Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (hereinafter referred to as “Hamamatsu Photonics”) is pleased to announce the completion of the previously published acquisition of NKT Photonics A/S (hereinafter referred to as “NKT Photonics”).
 
NKT Photonics is the leading supplier of high-performance fiber lasers and photonic crystal fibers. Based on their unique fiber technology, the laser products fall within three major product lines:

  1.  Supercontinuum White Light Lasers (SuperK): The SuperK lasers deliver high brightness in a broad spectral range (400 nm-2500 nm), and are used within bio-imaging, semiconductor metrology, and device-characterization.
  2.  Single-Frequency DFB Fiber Lasers (Koheras): The Koheras lasers have extremely high wavelength stability and low noise, and are ideal for fiber sensing, quantum computing, and quantum sensing.
  3.  Ultra-short pulse Lasers (aeroPULSE and Origami): This range of lasers consists of picosecond and femtosecond pulsed lasers with excellent beam quality and stability. The lasers are mainly used within ophthalmic surgery, bio-imaging, and optical processing applications.

 
The acquisition enables us to combine Hamamatsu Photonics’ detectors and cameras with NKT Photonics' lasers and fibers, thereby offering unique system solutions to the customers.
 
One special market of interest is the rapidly growing quantum computing area. Here NKT Photonics’ Koheras lasers serve customers with trapped ions systems requiring high power narrow linewidth lasers with extremely high wavelength stability and low noise. The same customers use Hamamatsu Photonics’ high-sensitivity cameras and sensors to detect the quantum state of the qubits. Together, we will be able to provide comprehensive solutions including lasers, detectors, and optical devices for the quantum-technology market.
 
Another important area of collaboration is the semiconductor market. With the trend toward more complex three-dimensional semiconductor devices, there is an increasing demand for high precision measurement equipment covering a wide range of wavelengths. By combining NKT Photonics' broadband SuperK lasers with Hamamatsu Photonics’ optical sensors and measuring devices, we can supply expanded solutions for semiconductor customers needing broader wavelength coverage, multiple measurement channels, and higher sensitivity.
 
Finally, in the hyperspectral imaging market, high-brightness light sources with a broad spectral range from visible to near-infrared (400 nm-2500 nm) are essential. Additionally, unlike halogen lamps, since no heat generation occur, the demand for NKT Photonics' SuperK is increasing. We can provide optimal solutions by integrating it with Hamamatsu Photonics’s image sensors and cameras, leveraging the unique compound semiconductor technologies.
 
With this acquisition, Hamamatsu Photonics Group now possesses a very broad range of technologies within light sources, lasers, and detectors. The combination of NKT Photonics and Hamamatsu Photonics will help us to drive our technology to the next level. NKT Photonics will continue their operating structure and focus on providing superior products and solutions to their customers.

Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Conference List - November 2024

6th International Workshop on Image Sensors and Imaging Systems (IWISS2024) - 8 Nov 2024 - Tokyo, Japan - Website

Photonics Spectra Sensors & Detectors Summit 2024 - 13 Nov 2024 - Online - Website

SEMI MEMS & Imaging Sensors Summit - 14 Nov 2024 - Munich, Germany - Website

Eleventh International Workshop on Semiconductor Pixel Detectors for Particles and Imaging (Pixel2024) - 18-22 Nov 2024 - Strasbourg, France - Website

The 6th International Workshop on new Photon-Detectors (PD24) - 19-21 Nov 2024 - Vancouver, BC, Canada - Website

Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors Workshop - 19-22 Nov 2024 - Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA - Website

Compamed - 11-14 Nov 2024 - Dusseldorf, Germany - Website

If you know about additional local conferences, please add them as comments.

Return to Conference List index

SeeDevice Inc files complaint

From GlobeNewswire: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/09/13/2945864/0/en/SeeDevice-Inc-Files-Complaint-In-U-S-District-Court-Against-Korean-Broadcasting-System.html

SeeDevice Inc. Files Complaint In U.S. District Court Against Korean Broadcasting System

ORANGE, California, Sept. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SeeDevice Inc. (“SeeDevice”), together with its CEO and founder Dr. Hoon Kim, has filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), and its U.S. subsidiary KBS America, Inc. (collectively, “KBS”) for trade libel and defamation. The claims are based on an August 25, 2024, broadcast KBS is alleged to have published on its YouTube channel and KBS-america.com (“The KBS Broadcast”).

The complaint asserts that KBS Broadcast published false and misleading statements regarding the viability and legitimacy of SeeDevice and Dr. Kim’s QMOS™ (quantum effect CMOS) SWIR image sensor, as a result of having omitted the fact that in 2009, and again in 2012, the Seoul High Court and Seoul Administrative Court found Dr. Kim’s sensor to be legitimate.

Dr. Kim’s QMOS™ sensor has garnered industry praise and recognition and is the subject of numerous third-party awards. In the past year alone, SeeDevice has been recognized with four awards for outstanding leadership and innovative technology: "20 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Watch 2023" by Global Business Leaders, "Top 10 Admired Leaders 2023" by Industry Era, "Most Innovative Image Technology Company 2023" by Corporate Vision, and “Company of the Year” of the Top 10 Semiconductor Tech Startups 2023 by Semiconductor Review. 

In their lawsuit, SeeDevice and Dr. Kim seek retraction of KBS’s defamatory broadcast, and a correction of the record, in addition to significant monetary damages and injunctive relief preventing further misconduct by KBS.

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

Event Cameras for Space Applications

Dissertation defense by B. McReynolds on his thesis titled "Benchmarking and Pushing the Boundaries of Event Camera Performance for Space and Sky Observations," PhD, ETH Zurich, 2024


Courtesy: Prof. Tobi Delbruck

Monday, September 30, 2024

Quantum Solutions and Topodrone launch quantum dot SWIR camera

Press release from Quantum Solutions:

September 19, 2024

QUANTUM SOLUTIONS and TOPODRONE Unveil TOPODRONE x Q.Fly: A Cost-Effective, DJI- Ready Quantum Dot SWIR Camera for UAV Applications

Quantum Solutions and Topodrone are excited to announce the launch of the Q.Fly, a next- generation camera with Quantum Dot Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) imaging capability designed specifically for UAV (drones) platforms. The Q.Fly is fully DJI-ready, working seamlessly out of the box with DJI Matrice 300 and DJI Matrice 350 RTK, offering real-time video streaming, control, and configuration directly from the DJI remote controller.

Developed to make SWIR technology more accessible and affordable for drone service companies and drone users, Q.Fly delivers a ready-to-use solution that eliminates the complexities of integrating advanced sensors into UAV platforms. The camera system also includes an RGB camera and/or a thermal camera for enhanced vision capabilities. With plug- and-play compatibility and unmatched spectral imaging performance, Q.Fly redefines what’s possible for a wide range of airborne applications.

This unique product combines the Quantum Solutions’ Quantum Dot SWIR Imaging technology with TOPODRONE’s UAV expertise, providing a cost-effective alternative to traditional SWIR cameras. Q.Fly covers a broad spectral range from VIS-SWIR (400–1700 nm), making it ideal for a variety of airborne applications that demand precise, high-resolution imaging.

Key Features of Q.Fly:

·       Quantum Dot SWIR Sensor: 640 x 512 pixels, covering a spectral range of 400–1700 nm

·       Cost-Effective and Accessible: Q.Fly offers an affordable solution, finally making SWIR imaging technology accessible to a broader audience of drone users and service providers

·       DJI Integration: Fully compatible with DJI Matrice 300 and Matrice 350 RTK, featuring real-time video streaming, control, and configuration from the remote controller


·       Built-In RGB Cameras with optional Thermal imager: Includes a 16 MP RGB camera for visual positioning and a thermal imager (640 x 512 pixels, 30 Hz) for enhanced versatility

·       High-precision spectral images geo-referencing

·       High-Speed Spectral Imaging: Capable of operating at 220 Hz, delivering superior spectral imaging performance in real-time

·       Lightweight Design: Weighing only 650g with its 3-axis gyrostabilized gimbal, Q.Fly allows for flight times of up to 35 minutes per battery cycle

·       Built-In Linux Computer: Facilitates easy camera control and supports a variety of protocols, including DJI PSDK and Mavlink

·       Filter Flexibility: Supports quick installation of spectral filters to adapt to specific use cases

Q.Fly is designed to serve industries that require precise, reliable, and easy-to-use drone-based imaging solutions, including:

  • Agriculture
  •  Fire Safety and Rescue
  •  Security&surveillance
  •  Industrial Inspection and Surveying

 

Product Launch at INTERGEO 2024
The TOPODRONE x Q.Fly will be officially unveiled at the INTERGEO 2024 exhibition in Stuttgart from September 24–26. This breakthrough technology will be showcased, highlighting its cost-effectiveness and how it can transform UAV imaging for various industries.
Attendees are invited to visit TOPODRONE Booth: Booth Hall 1 - Booth: B1.055 to experience the Q.Fly and learn more about its unparalleled ease of use and advanced SWIR capabilities.
 
Unparalleled Ease of Use for Drone Operators
Q.Fly is designed with drone operators in mind, offering a hassle-free solution that simplifies the often-complex process of integrating advanced sensors into UAV platforms. With its plug- and-play compatibility with DJI drones, users can quickly deploy the Q.Fly for a wide range of applications without the need for complex setup procedures.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

ITE/IISS 6th International Workshop on Image Sensors and Imaging Systems (IWISS2024)

The 6th International Workshop on Image Sensors and Imaging Systems (IWISS2024) will be held at the Tokyo University of Science on Friday November 8, 2024.

In this workshop, people from various research fields, such as image sensing, imaging systems, optics, photonics, computer vision, and computational photography/imaging, come together to discuss the future and frontiers of image sensor technologies in order to explore the continuous progress and diversity in image sensors engineering and state-of-the-art and emerging imaging systems technologies.


Date: November 8 (Fri), 2024
Venue: Forum-2, Morito Memorial Hall, Building 13, Tokyo University of Science / Online
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LyecM4XUYazco5D79
Address: 4-2-2, Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0825, JAPAN

 

Online registration fees information is available here.
Registration is necessary because the number of seats in person is limited. Online viewing via Zoom is also offered.
Registration deadline is Nov. 5 (Tue).
Register and pay online from the following website: [Online registration page]

[Plenary Talk]
"CMOS Direct Time-of-Flight Depth Sensor for Solid-Sate LiDAR Systems"
by Jaehyuk Choi (SolidVue, Inc., Korea & Sungkyunkwan Univ. (SKKU), Korea)

[8 Invited Talks]
Invited-1 “Plasmonic Color Filters for Multi-spectral Imaging” by Atsushi Ono (Shizuoka Univ., Japan)
Invited-2 (online) “Intelligent Imager with Processing-in-Sensor Techniques” by Chih-Cheng Hsieh (National Tsing Hua Univ. (NTHU), Taiwan)
Invited-3 “Designing a Camera for Privacy Preserving” by Hajime Nagahara (Osaka Univ., Japan)
Invited-4 “Deep Compressive Sensing with Coded Image Sensor” by Michitaka Yoshida (JSPS, Japan), et al.
Invited-5 “Event-based Computational Imaging using Modulated Illumination” by Tsuyoshi Takatani (Univ. of Tsukuba, Japan)
Invited-6 “Journey of Pixel Optics Scaling into Deep Sub-micron and Migration to Meta Optics Era” by In-Sung Joe (Samsung Electronics, Korea)
Invited-7 “Trigger-Output Event-Driven SOI pixel Sensor for X-ray Astronomy” by Takeshi Tsuru (Kyoto Univ., Japan)
Invited-8 “New Perspectives for Infrared Imaging Enabled by Colloidal Quantum Dots” by Pawel E. Malinowski (imec, Belgium), et al.

Sponsored by:
Technical Group on Information Sensing Technologies (IST), the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE)
Co-sponsored by:
International Image Sensor Society (IISS)

Group of Information Photonics (IPG) +CMOS Working Group, the Optical Society of Japan
General Chair: Keiichiro Kagawa (Shizuoka Univ., Japan)
Technical Program Committee (Alphabetical order): Keiichiro Kagawa (Shizuoka Univ., Japan), Hiroyuki Suzuki (Gunma Univ., Japan), Hisayuki Taruki (Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation, Japan), Min-Woong Seo (Samsung Electronics, Korea), Sanshiro Shishido (Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Japan)

Contact for any question about IWISS2024
E-mail: iwiss2024@idl.rie.shizuoka.ac.jp (Keiichiro Kagawa, Shizuoka Univ., Japan)