Infrared Locking Method Tackles Mirror Coating Challenge for Gravitational-Wave Detectors
Researchers have developed and tested a new infrared light locking method that could support mirror coating schemes for gravitational-wave detector upgrades.
Researchers have developed and tested a new infrared light locking method that could support mirror coating schemes for gravitational-wave detector upgrades.
Colorbiotics' GEM Vision system uses dynamic laser scanning to measure the volume of aggregate on conveyor belts in real time, bringing greater metering accuracy to construction materials production.
Integrating sphere and light measurement specialist Labsphere announced the acquisition of Photon Gear, which focuses on the design and manufacture of ultra-precision custom optical systems and lens assemblies and has multi-wavelength interferometric testing capabilities. The deal value was not disclosed. Combined, Labsphere will pair its light generation, control and measurement platforms with custom lens assembly and interferometric testing capabilities to serve customers in semiconductors, aerospace and defense.
A Laser Focus World article weighs building a laser beam analysis solution against buying one, noting that although high-quality cameras and low-cost computing are widely available and a home-built beam profiler may seem simple, 11 factors need to be considered in practice.
The 32nd VISION machine vision trade show, organized by Messe Stuttgart, took place in Stuttgart last week, attracting more than 9,000 professional visitors, up 14% from 2024. The event drew a record number of exhibitors and presented the VISION Start-Up Award.
Six group standards for the commercial specifications and grades of Chinese herbal medicines, issued under the Anhui Provincial Association of Chinese Materia Medica, have been released. The team led by researcher Li Xiangxian at the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (AIOFM) was among the principal drafting units, covering Peucedanum root, Clinopodium herb, Atractylodes macrocephala root, Moutan bark, red peony root, and white peony root. The standards classify grades primarily by morphological characteristics and active ingredient content. The team applied the advantages of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy - rapid, nondestructive, and multicomponent detection - to the quality evaluation of Chinese herbal medicines, and demonstrated mid-infrared and portable near-infrared FTIR analyzers.
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a new device that determines the absolute surface shape of curved mirrors without contact by measuring the local angular distribution, achieving 2 nm accuracy.
The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China have released three national standards for Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, drafted with participation from the team of Li Xiangxian at the Environmental Optics Center of the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics.
A Laser Focus World article explains that megawatt-class laser optical systems are limited by optical materials, and even the tightest coatings absorb some energy and cause thermal distortion; a new method uses thermal imaging for large-aperture wavefront sensing.
Suzhou Chenling Optics had its acquisition by Hasan Co. terminated in December 2025 over valuation disagreements, but in the same period it secured leading clients including Luxshare Precision and Dongshan Precision, and extended its optical inspection business into robotics.
Xinguang Optoelectronics announced on September 22 plans to invest RMB 100 million to establish a wholly owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Xinguang Precision Measurement Systems Co., Ltd., in Hangzhou, with an initial paid-in capital of RMB 10 million. Its main business will cover optical test systems including optical instruments, measurement and inspection equipment, optoelectronic sensors and projection objectives.
C114 Insight notes that at CIOE 2026, optical module makers are competing on 1.6T, 3.2T and 6.4T speeds, while test and measurement is another crowded arena. Lianxun Instruments, which listed on the STAR Market this April, saw its shares reach a high of 2777.77 yuan within three months of its debut, making it the most expensive stock on the A-share market. The company supplies test equipment for optical modules and CPO optical engines.
A team led by Academician Zhang Xuejun and Researcher Li Longxiang at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) has published the review Optical manufacturing and testing of large-aperture optical mirrors: a review in Light: Advanced Manufacturing, systematically surveying processing and testing technologies for large-aperture optical components using major international telescope projects as case studies.
Chengfeng Technology will exhibit nanoscale optical inspection solutions covering the entire optical communications industry chain at CIOE 2026.
The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and Harbin Institute of Technology have used a photon sieve to achieve the first absolute wavefront measurement of an EUV light source, solving the challenge of absolute wavefront measurement for extreme-ultraviolet and soft X-ray sources.
Xishi Technology, an incubatee of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics, has delivered high-precision optical film thickness measurement equipment to a global semiconductor and optical communications leader and deployed it on production lines.
Surging demand for optical interconnect test products drove Lianxun Instruments' first-half net profit up 903% year over year.
Demand for full-spectrum spectroscopic ellipsometers is strong, and the domestic industry has room to grow.
A team led by Researcher Fang Yonghua at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science has developed a dual-differential sphere-tube coupled photoacoustic-scattering system that simultaneously obtains aerosol absorption and scattering coefficients at 450 nm and 532 nm within a single sampling path and shared measurement volume. The results were published in Photoacoustics. Two laser beams are modulated at 2572 Hz and 169 Hz and demodulated by frequency using an FPGA-based digital lock-in amplifier. With a 1 s integration time, detection limits for the 532 nm absorption and scattering channels are 1.2 Mm⁻¹ and 1.32 Mm⁻¹, respectively.
The Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics attended the third Changchun International Optics Expo, held June 12 to 14, together with incubated companies including the Russell Advanced Optical Wave Science Center and Xishi Technology. The Russell Center said its proprietary 'new structure' low-loss hollow-core fiber achieved continuous drawing lengths greater than 15 km, with a minimum loss of about 0.1 dB/km in the telecom band. Xishi Technology showcased optical film thickness measurement and thin-film inspection equipment.
The Optoelectronics Center of the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics published a paper in Analytical Chemistry describing CrisprDEM, a digital hydrogel fluorescence-enhanced microsphere detection system based on CRISPR/Cas12a that enables amplification-free relative quantification of nucleic acids. The system uses hydrogel microspheres to enrich fluorescent reporter molecules, boosting the fluorescence signal by a factor of about 1,000. A microfluidic chip then spreads the microspheres into a monolayer for imaging, and a K-means algorithm distinguishes positive from negative microspheres, with the proportion of positive microspheres used for quantification.
The investment platform of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has completed an angel-round investment in Xishi Technology. The funds will be used to expand production capacity for high-precision film thickness measurement instruments, upgrade next-generation optical algorithms, and develop the market. Xishi Technology's film thickness gauge product line covers benchtop, vacuum, handheld, line-scan, and OEM modules, with a measurement range from 1 nm to 1 mm and support for both single-layer and multilayer film measurement. Its optical structure and optomechanical system are 100% domestically sourced, and its light source utilization rate is five times that of comparable imported equipment.