One of the premier events for optics and photonics gets under way next week in Munich, Germany. It combines LASER World of PHOTONICS, the world’s largest exhibition of optical components, systems and services, with Europe’s leading scientific conference for optics and photonics.

The LASER trade show, which takes place once every two years, takes over six halls of the Messe München convention center with companies exhibiting everything from precision optics through to imaging systems and huge industrial lasers used for car manufacture. Meanwhile, CLEO Europe joins forces with the European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEQ) to deliver more than 80 invited talks and 8 keynote presentations, including plenary lectures by Michal Lipson of Columbia University and Anton Zeilinger of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Anyone who has been to LASER knows that it can be a little overwhelming, so here’s a few highlights to look out for on the show floor.

Ocean Optics changes name and expands its mission

At this year’s LASER World of PHOTONICS, Ocean Optics will be transformed into Ocean Insight to reflect the company’s evolution from a supplier of spectroscopy products to a provider of spectral knowledge. Ocean Insight says that it will work with customers to “unlock the unknown”, using applied spectral knowledge to solve problems and deliver solutions that will deliver a safer, cleaner, healthier future.

Ocean Optics launched its first miniature spectrometer almost three decades ago, pioneering the concept of bringing the instrument to the sample. Now, the company is responding to rapid change by embracing new ways of working, and providing scientists and engineers with improved tools for research and discovery. As part of its ongoing evolution, Ocean Insight says that it will put “unprecedented technology and information systems in the hands of the world’s most visionary scientists, engineers and businesses”.

Ocean Insight will continue to offer robust, scalable optical sensing tools, complemented by application knowledge, design and manufacturing expertise, and a global support and service network. The company has locations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and last year consolidated the multispectral imaging offerings of FluxData, Inc. into the Ocean Insight portfolio of optical sensing products and custom solutions.

Fast and precise positioning boosts throughput and lowers costs

Physik Instrumente (PI) will be showcasing its broad portfolio of motion and positioning solutions, with its booth featuring many live demonstrations of equipment for laser material processing and for fabricating photonic and optical components. The largest of these will be a double-sided fibre alignment system integrated in a gantry setup, which exploits several coupling stations to speed up and automate the production of integrated photonic components.

Also being demonstrated will be a multi-axis motion system that uses laser cutting to separate individual silicon and photonic chips with high precision, exploiting air-bearing rotary and planar scanners to achieve good repeatability at high speeds.

Meanwhile, for applications in laser processing such as drilling and marking, PI will be showing a system designed for workpieces larger than the scanner image field. To process such large workpieces continuously without stitching, the system provides simultaneous control of the galvanometer scanner, the laser, and an additional XY positioning system – which delivers higher throughput and greater precision.

TRIPODs offer six degrees of freedom with continuous rotation

SmarAct, which develops high-performance solutions for handling and positioning at the micro- and nanoscale, will be featuring the newest addition to its portfolio of compact and modular multidimensional positioning systems. The TRIPOD product series combines serial and parallel kinematics in a hybrid design and, unlike classical hexapods, the system offers continuous rotation capability and high stiffness over the whole working range.

The central component of a TRIPOD positioning system is the 3D TRIPOD Core, a tip-tilt stage offering two rotational and one translational degree of freedom in a very compact design. Because the TRIPOD is fully compatible with the SmarAct Modular System, it can be mounted on top of a high precision XY platform. The top plate offers a mounting space for an additional rotation stage, thus creating a modular positioning system with six degrees of freedom, while the rotation around the Z-axis is continuous by design.

SmarAct will also be introducing its new electromagnetic direct drives, which combine speed and precision with high duty cycles and durability. Ideal for industrial applications, lab automation and compact positioning solutions, the stages are equipped with SmarAct’s contactless linear motors and – with speeds of up to 1 m/s – can be used for highly dynamic processes. Three sizes are available, allowing them to be easily combined into multi-axis systems or integrated into existing equipment.