CONFERENCE REVIEW: Optics East features nanotechnology
and ITCom
Gail Overton
Optics East 2004, sponsored by SPIE, the International Society
for Optical Engineering, was held Oct. 25-28 in Philadelphia, PA-a
city known for its contributions in pharmaceuticals,
telecommunications, biomedical optics, and robotics. Technical
conferences paralleled those areas with programs on semiconductor
and nanotechnology applications, information technology, and
communications (ITCom), optomechatronics (the fusion of optical and
photonic devices with electromechanical systems), and robotics
technologies and architectures.
The focus this year on nanotechnology and ITCom produced several
plenary sessions that discussed the pervasiveness of these
technologies throughout multiple industry sectors. Symposium chairs
Achyut Dutta from Banpil Photonics (San Jose, CA) and Werner
Weiershausen from T-Systems Nova (Frankfurt, Germany) were
instrumental in bringing experts from the field of nanotechnology to
present their views on the importance of this technology to
biological sensing, electronics, and manufacturing.
Nanotools
The implications of nanotechnology can even extend to the use of
biological agents as nanoscopic tools of the future. Jonathan D.
Trent of the NASA Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, CA) likened
the bones of animals used as weapons by early man to the
biologically manipulated proteins that are now being used as
nanotools to perform a variety of functions. “Just as we use wood as
a structural element without having to understand how photosynthesis
works,” said Trent, “we can isolate complex protein groups on the
nanoscale and use them to develop nanotools even without
understanding the functionality of these proteins.” Examples of
nanotools include nanosized tubes fabricated from chains of
engineered protein molecules that can assemble in a particular order
to create hollow tubes that can trap both organic and inorganic ions
(such as gold), either holding the elements in place and creating
long strands of atoms or nanowires, or holding other biological
entities in place as a kind of nanoscale test tube.
Disruptive technologies
Plenary and workshop sessions for the ITCom industry focused on
new disruptive optical-component technologies for
telecommunications, the convergence of SONET (synchronous optical
network), SAN (storage-area network), and DWDM (dense
wavelength-division multiplexing) networks via increased management
and control automation, and U.S. government support of programs that
stimulate technological innovation in the private sector.
Drug discovery
A well-attended special event at the exhibition was “Drug
Discovery: Capabilities and Opportunities for Photonics.” The
session began with a talk by Robert Herzberg of GlaxoSmithKline
Pharmaceuticals (London, England and Philadelphia, PA) on its
strategy for marrying the diverse disciplines of chemistry, biology,
optics, robotics, and information technology to realize the
potential of high-throughput screening technologies. Here, screening
of multiple diseases and drug assays can be improved through such
techniques as fluorescence polarization and fluorescence-correlation
spectroscopy, as well as improvements in laboratory robotics. The
session concluded with a discussion of the dynamics, opportunities,
and challenges that are presented for funding drug discovery in the
pharmaceutical industry.
Technical paper presentations and short courses covered topics in
optics and optomechanics, optoelectronics, homeland security,
biomedical technologies, nanotechnology, and sensors, among others
(see figure). Mohsen Kavehrad from
Pennsylvania State University’s Center for Information and
Communications Technology Research (University Park, PA) presented a
paper in the next-generation communication-networks conference on
multirate laser pulses-with wave forms shaped like dolphin-chirp
sound pulses-that offer a new way of helping free-space optical
signals penetrate clouds, fog, and other adverse weather conditions
that sometimes hamper the success of this method. On the
nanotechnology side, researchers from Princeton University
(Princeton, NJ) and the Hahn-Meitner Institute (Berlin, Germany)
presented a paper, “Stretching DNA in nanochannels”-one of the
nanotool applications that was described by Jonathan Trent from NASA
in the plenary talk.
This year, 100 exhibitors participated in the event, up from 89
in 2003. The conference topics will consolidate in 2005 into three
symposium areas: sensors (chemical, nano-, bio-, fiberoptic,
robotic, and industrial), photonics in life sciences, and photonics
in communications and information technology.
“The Optics East conference should continue to grow with the
continued focus in 2005 on sensors, photonics in life science, and
photonics in ITCom-three fields that continue to expand alongside
innovations in nanotechnology, optoelectronics, and robotics,” said
Marilyn Gorsuch, events manager for SPIE. - Gail Overton
M. Saif Islam and
colleagues at the Quantum Science Research group of Hewlett-Packard
Laboratories (Palo Alto, CA) have developed a solution to the
long-standing issue of interconnecting 1-D semiconductor nanowire
devices with conventional integrated-circuit elements, using
processes compatible with mass manufacturing. They fabricated two
opposing vertical and electrically isolated semiconductor surfaces
using optical lithography along with wet and dry etching. Then they
grew lateral nanowire devices from one surface and epitaxially
connected them to the other, forming mechanically robust bridges.
The work was presented in the conference on nanosensing at Optics
East 2004.
Laser Focus World December, 2004
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