The continued development of optical communications requires fast information processing. Therefore, ultrafast, all-optical systems and switches for basic processing at both ends of an optical transmission line are replacing electronic systems. However, there are speed and fabrication limits on present all-optical switches imposed by the properties of the materials presently used. This technology provides an improved ultrafast high sensitivity all-optical switch made from a single-walled carbon nanotube.

The current high-growth nature of digital communications demands higher speed serial communication circuits. Present day technologies barely manage to keep up with the present need to communicate at high speeds (e.g., gigabit, terabit, and higher transmission speeds). New techniques are needed to ensure that methods for serial communication can continue to expand and grow. A novel approach to high-frequency communications demands on serial communications circuits has been invented.

This technology relates to adaptive optical devices, and particularly to liquid lenses. Such optical devices avoid the increased weight and fabrication complexity associated with moving solid lenses. This technology utilizes a lens magnification control for adjusting magnification of the liquid lens by increasing a volume of protruding liquid residing in a chamber.

This technology relates to liquid lenses, which are adaptive optical elements that avoid some of the drawbacks of mechanical optical elements, such as delayed movements and excess weight. This technology provides an oscillating liquid lens that includes a liquid drop with first and second droplet portions, a second liquid, and a drive that oscillates the liquid drop within a channel of a substrate.

The photonic and optoelectronic communities have long been interested in the development of tunable delay systems for optical pulses. The various systems developed suffer from shortcomings such as limited delay range for high speed devices, low duty cycles and nonlinearity in optical path-length change, the inability to provide tens of centimeter scanning range and a repetition rate in the hundreds of hertz range, and low temporal resolution and optical loss.

The crystalline lenses of the eyes undergo mechanical, physiological, morphological and refractive changes to adjust the total refractive power of the eyes to maintain sharp visual acuity whenever an object of regard is moved toward and away from the distance at which humans typically view reading material. The aggregate changes experienced by the crystalline lenses of the eyes to maintain sharp visual acuity is referred to as accommodation. At any given time the crystalline lenses and the eyes may be regarded as being in a state of accommodation.

Most lighting level measurements are characterized in terms of illuminance.While this is useful for indoor applications, illuminance levels are not always as useful for outdoor lighting efficiency characterization.Lighting designers and researchers need a method to accurately characterize their outdoor or low level lighting applications. This invention is directed to a system for approximating the flux density of light on a human retina.Different tasks require different structures of the eye.