Due to the development of microscale fabrication methods, microlenses are being used more and more in many unique applications, such as artificial implementations of compound eyes, optical communications, and labs-on-chips. Liquid microlenses, in particular, represent an important and growing research area yet there are no books devoted to this top

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Microlenses" that was published in Micromachines

The general trend towards miniaturisation and parallelism in optics and electro-optics has led to a requirement for arrays of sub-millimetre sized lenses. Thus, the demand for these microlens arrays has increased dramatically over recent years. Dan Daly's book describes the technology of microlens arrays and provides a recipe for producing them. It surveys the many fabrication techniques and discusses the numerous applications which either require or enhanced by the use of microlens arrays. This book gives a full description of the processes involved in production and limitations of the techniques. Processes looked at include the Thermal Reflow of Photoresist technique and the Silicon Elastomer Replication Process. As the measurement of microlenses is an intrinsic part of the production process, the methods which can be used to evaluate lens performance are explained.

The resonator can be considered the real heart of any laser system, the key element that determines the properties of laser radiation, including mode structure or temporal and spatial characteristics. The theory of different laser types has been well-developed in the last few decades of the 20th century, starting with the pioneering papers of Fox, Li, Body and Gordon. But today, due to the development of new types of lasers (fibre, diode), new optical elements (adaptive mirrors, phase conjugation techniques, graded phase correctors), the development of optical technology, and new needs for industrial lasers, novel types of resonators are under investigation.

This book presents a comprehensive account of the recent advances and research in optical fiber technology. It covers a broad spectrum of topics in special areas of optical fiber technology. The book highlights the development of fiber lasers, optical fiber applications in medical, imaging, spectroscopy and measurement, new optical fibers and sensors. This is an essential reference for researchers working in optical fiber researches and for industrial users who need to be aware of current developments in fiber lasers, sensors and other optical fiber applications.

The Sixth International Conference on Miniaturized Chemical and Biochemical Analysis Systems, known as /JTAS2002, will be fully dedicated to the latest scientific and technological developments in the field of miniaturized devices and systems for realizing not only chemical and biochemical analysis but also synthesis. The first /JTAS meeting was held in Enschede in 1994 with approximately 160 participants, bringing together the scientists with background in analytical and biochemistry with those with Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) in one workshop. We are grateful to Piet Bergveld and Albert van den Berg of MESA Research Institute of the University of Twente for their great efforts to arrange this exciting first meeting. The policy of the meeting was succeeded by late Prof. Dr. Michael Widmer in the second meeting, /JTAS'96 held in Basel with 275 participants. The first two meetings were held as informal workshops. From the third workshop, /JTAS'98 (420 participants) held in Banff, the workshop had become a worldwide conference. Participants continued to increase in /JTAS2000 (about 500 participants) held in Enschede and /JTAS2001 (about 700 participants) held in Monterey. The number of submitted papers also dramatically increased in this period from 130 in 1998, 230 in 2000 to nearly 400 in 2001. From 2001, /JTAS became an annual symposium. The steering committee meeting held in Monterey, confrrmed the policy of former /JTAS that quality rather than quantity would be the key-point and that the parallel-session format throughout the 3.

Written from an industrial perspective this book discusses in detail the characteristics, design, construction, and performance of solid-state lasers. Emphasis is placed on engineering and practical considerations; phenomenological aspects using models are preferred to abstract mathematical derivations. Since its first edition almost 30 years ago this book has become the standard in the field of solid-state lasers for scientists, engineers and graduate students. This edition has been extensively revised and updated to account for recent developments in the areas of diode-laser pumping, laser materials and nonlinear crystals, and entire new sections have been added.

Presenting state-of-the-art research into the dynamic field of tunable micro-optics, this is the first book to provide a comprehensive survey covering a varied range of topics including novel materials, actuation concepts and new imaging systems in optics. Internationally renowned researchers present a diverse range of chapters on cutting-edge materials, devices and subsystems, including soft matter, artificial muscles, tunable lenses and apertures, photonic crystals, and complete tunable imagers. Special contributions also provide in-depth treatment of micro-optical characterisation, scanners, and the use of natural eye models as inspiration for new concepts in advanced optics. With applications extending from medical diagnosis to fibre telecommunications, Tunable Micro-optics equips readers with a solid understanding of the broader technical context through its interdisciplinary approach to the realisation of new types of optical systems. This is an essential resource for engineers in industry and academia, and advanced students working on optical systems design.

Nanotechnology has received tremendous interest over the last decade, not only from the scientific community but also from a business perspective and from the general public. Although nanotechnology is still at the largely unexplored frontier of science, it has the potential for extremely exciting technological innovations that will have an enormous impact on areas as diverse as information technology, medicine, energy supply and probably many others. The miniturization of devices and structures will impact the speed of devices and information storage capacity. More importantly, though, nanotechnology should lead to completely new functional devices as nanostructures have fundamentally different physical properties that are governed by quantum effects. When nanometer sized features are fabricated in materials that are currently used in electronic, magnetic, and optical applications, quantum behavior will lead to a set of unprecedented properties. The interactions of nanostructures with biological materials are largely unexplored. Future work in this direction should yield enabling technologies that allows the study and direct manipulation of biological processes at the (sub) cellular level.