CONTENTS & LEADER
Electro Optics
Contents Analysis: Networking Analysis: UV sterilisation
With increased interest in using UV light to deactivate viruses, Robert Yeo at Pro-lite Technology discusses the safety and effectiveness of UVC devices
Women in optics 10
Emily Gallagher, Imec, on applying her skills in photomask-related semiconductor development towards tackling climate change
Feature: Single photon counting 12 Andy Extance on extending single photon counting further into the infrared to advance environmental applications
Feature: Optical 18
communications Progress is being made on quantum entanglement methods that can work in conventional networks, finds Andy Extance
4
Christina Willis gives practical advice on how to create a lasting network successfully
6 Tech focus: Photovoltaics 26
US researchers have proposed a photovoltaic cell that could generate power throughout the night
EOS news
An EU project involving the European Optical Society aims to tackle the skills shortage in photonics
EPIC news Products Suppliers
Find the suppliers you need Interview: Entrepreneurship
32
Linking the automotive lighting and ADAS industries with photonics
34
The latest photonics products from around the world
36 38
Carlos Lee, EPIC, talks to Thierry Georges, CEO of Oxxius, a developer of continuous-wave laser modules
30
LEADER JESSICA ROWBURY
Beam clean
Photonics is contributing to the fight against Covid-19 and the lift of lockdown restrictions, from the 3D printers able to produce protective gear quickly and cheaply, to the analytical equipment used in testing, or the super-resolution microscopy techniques helping microbiologists study the virus in more detail. One technology that’s been a big talking point – even among politicians – is UV light and its ability to disinfect surfaces, medical devices or even the air we breathe. It could help countries coming out of lockdown to keep public spaces hygienic and safe. However, a greater interest in this technology, and a greater number of UV devices being marketed as killing viruses, brings up issues of safety, as some of our readers have pointed out. Not only this; the quality and effectiveness of some devices have been pulled into question. In his article on page 6, Robert Yeo, of
Pro-Lite technology, says that ‘the Covid-19 pandemic is being seen by a number of opportunistic business people as an excuse to market low-cost, UV light “wands” as a kind of miracle cure for disinfecting domestic surfaces of the virus. Some of these devices are of very questionable efficacy and it is clear that uninformed consumers are being taken advantage of.’ More on this discussion about the effectiveness and safety of emerging UV technologies can be read in Yeo’s article.
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