Harlem Globetrotter Coming to Lenox Laser

The CBMC Family Cookout with Choo Smith, former Harlem Globetrotter and Bill Alexson, President of SportsPower International will be held at Lenox Laser on July 30th, 2011. Go to the Events page linked below to look up more information.

CBMC Cookout flier
CBMC Events Page

Spectrum of Industrial and Scientific Lasers

The first laser ever made used a synthetic ruby crystal- a solid-state laser with an emission wavelength of 694 nanometers. 

Now, over 50 years later, lasers can be from solids, liquids, or gases. They span the electromagnetic spectrum from far-infrared to the edge of ultraviolet, and emit wavelengths from 3 micron to 157 nanometers.

The full diagram of commercial lasers here at Wikimedia Commons.

We made a new and revised chart from the data showing more specifically the industrial and scientific lasers used in micro-drilling applications.

click here to enlarge

From the description:

"Laser types with distinct laser lines are shown above 

the wavelength bar, while below are shown lasers 

that can emit in a wavelength range... the height of 

the line gives an indication of the maximal power/pulse 

energy commercially available. For the Ar+-Kr+ laser 

only the most important lines are labeled...

Currently most of the data is taken from Weber's book 

"Handbook of laser wavelengths", with newer data in 

particular for semiconductor lasers."

From the original, we switched the bar around to go from longer to shorter wavelengths, instead of the other way around. Otherwise, it's the same data. It gives a nice visual overview of the laser spectrum and their myriad types.

Next week I'll be writing about an exciting research paper from NOAA for which we made 3 key parts. It connects atmospheric research, WWII planes, Hurricane Katrina, UV-LEDs, and Lenox Laser orifices all together! So be sure to check back.

And as always, check out past posts and our company website for even more information.

www.lenoxlaser.com

Developing a Hybrid Neuroprosthesis for Epilepsy Treatment

http://faces.med.nyu.edu/research/research-articles/neuroprosthesis

Laser-Drilling Applications Google Scholar Results

We are doing a lot this year in anticipation of our 2nd International Light Seminar in October as well as in commemoration of this our 30th anniversary. 

We decided that we wanted to get a better handle on where our parts have gone and how they are being used. I have already gone through Lenox Laser in space with NASA here. Now I want to take it back down to Earth.

In order see where our parts have been used and cited, I went to Google Scholar
and searched for "Lenox Laser." Here is the link to the results: Google Scholar. What I found was fascinating.


While not all of the results are accessible, those that are provide key insights into laser-drilling applications. The three broad categories are articles, patents, and theses and dissertations. In my research, I have broken them down accordingly and ordered them chronologically by publication year. The following graph illustrates the results:

click on the picture to enlarge

Here one can see a snapshot of Lenox Laser and how we are increasingly in demand. This also illustrates how laser-drilling and nano technologies have been growing.

I, and a few others, will be going through all of the articles we can and blog about them. We will give a summary of the article and the field that it relates to. However the key will be what part or parts we made and the applications.

We are working on improving our Newsroom on our company website. It will have a page where all the articles in which we are cited will be listed, as well as direct links. That will be up and running very soon.

So for now, please peruse through the Google Scholar results. You can even add keywords to specify your search, such as aperture or orifice. And, as always, please visit our website for more about Lenox Laser's products and services.

Use of SiC in a High Power Spatial Filter for Stray Light Reduction

     Thomson scattering measurement of the electron temperature and density profiles in high temperature plasmas is a well established experimental technique.  The existence of high levels of laser-line radiation (“stray laser light”) in the detected scattered light signal can lead to difficulty in system calibration.

     Spatial filtering is a standard technique for improving the spatial profile of low-power laser beams.  Focusing a beam through a pinhole aperture allows removal of spatial irregularities caused by nonlinear effects of amplification, dust or imperfect optics.

     Silicon carbide is often used as an aperture material due to its high damage threshold. 
Lenox Laser, Inc. of Glen Arm, Maryland, has laser drilled 210 micron apertures in SiC disks for such applications as stated above.  Experiments have shown that SiC apertures perform better than copper apertures.  It was found that the steady state stray light level for SiC was significantly less than for Cu.  Thus a silicon carbide aperture performed better than copper for irradiance at the spatial filter focus. 

    

A High Power Spatial Filter for Thomson Scattering Stray Light Reduction

http://serverapam.ap.columbia.edu/HBT-EP/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php/papers:levesque_rsi_2011.pdf

Lenox Laser and NASA- Pioneering in Space

 

For 30 years, Lenox Laser has been involved in numerous NASA missions, providing quality parts and expertise. 

Exoplanet conceptualization. Credit: NASA

So in anticipation of our 30th anniversary, we have put together those missions which we have been involved in. It is truly amazing that we have some of our parts out in distant space providing critical data about our universe.

Only a few years after its invention, the LASER was used in NASA's pre-Moon landing missions in 1967. The founder of our company, Joseph d'Entremont, was involved in the laser testing and laser measuring of the distance of the Moon from Earth. He provided the backup system, which was successfully used after the primary contractor's system failed. He recalls that the power of the return signal he received was somewhere between a giga or terawatt.

Hubble Space Telescope:
We have had several parts on Hubble over the years. Starting in 1981, Lenox Laser provided precision crosshair fiducials and slits for the Hubble Instruments. We then twice provided custom stainless steel discs with crosses- in 1989 and 1991.

Galileo spacecraft. Credit: NASA

Galileo Mission:

In 1985, Lenox Laser drilled precision holes in Hasteloy discs for the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. They were for the Helium Leak Detector on the spacecraft. Galileo spent 14 years in space- 

7 to travel to Jupiter, and then 7 orbiting Jupiter and its moons. 

Galileo was then intentionally crashed onto Jupiter at the end of its mission to prevent contamination.

Kepler Mission:
1999 brought us the unique and monumental task of making a custom Starfield Plate for the Kepler Mission. This then led to the design and production of another "starfield" in 2000 for NASA's "Starfield" Project. The project is part of a system that can find orbiting bodies around distant astronomical bodies by detecting miniscule changes in light intensity. 


Messenger Mission:
We then made High Power Ceramic Apertures for the Messenger Mission which were for spatial filtering. The Messenger, and our apertures, orbited Venus on the way to its goal Mercury, where it is currently gathering information about the planet. The parts were hand delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Light echo from a star. Credit: NASA Hubble

 
Mercury Laser Altimeter Project:
In 2003, Lenox Laser provided flight quality Alumina and Macor apertures for NASA's Mercury Laser Altimeter Project and the Space Lidar Technology Center.

STEREO Mission:
Most recently, we provided custom parts and consulting services for NASA's STEREO project which is providing revolutionary views of the Sun. The consulting was in support of testing the focus setting of one of the instruments during satellite integration at the Goddard Space Flight Center. As a result, Lenox Laser was awarded NASA's Instrument and Technology Division 2006 Contractor Team Spirit Award.

To read more about our pioneering with NASA and their missions, click through the following links:

General information

Lenox Laser Newsroom

Hubble Space Telescope

NASA site

Galileo Mission

NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

Kepler Mission

 NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

Messenger Mission

JHU-APL site

 Lenox Laser summary

STEREO Mission

NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

LENOX LASER HOSTS "SUPERBOWL WITH AN NFL STAR"

Lenox Laser, Inc.  on Feb. 6, 2011,  hosted "Superbowl with an NFL Star" sponsored by SportsPower International.  The "star"? Ray Sydnor!
Ray Sydnor was born in Baltimore and grew up in Baltimore City with his four sisters and parents.  A graduate of Northwestern High School, Ray lettered for three years in football and two years in basketball.  He graduated as a High School All-American football and basketball player and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a full scholarship to play football.  During his senior year, he was selected as All-Big Ten Tight End and was subsequently drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He later was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles and was a member of their Super Bowl team in 1980.
The former All-American football and basketball player and NFL pro was living his dream until life took a turn for the worst when drugs and alcohol ended his prof football career.  In 1998, after watching his life leave a trail of destruction and hurt, Sydnor began his recovery and new life.  He is now a father of six and a national speaker for many sport's, men's and youth organizations.
The main event consisted of watching this year's Super Bowl between the Steelers and the Packers on a huge wide screen TV.  Speeches were then presented by both Sydnor and Bill Alexson, president of SportsPower International and former Chaplain of the Boston Celtics.

NEW SERVICE PROVIDED BY LENOX LASER

     In order to meet the high quality standards expected from our customers, Lenox Laser now offers a vacuum packing service to further ensure the integrity of manufactured parts from our facility to their intended destination.

     Vacuum packing offers a wide range of advantages especially for those parts that require certain controlled conditions, such as, moisture-free or dust-free environments.  Vacuum packing also reduces part movement in transit.  Part movement or improperly packaged parts compromise a part’s integrity.  This service may be of interest to our international customers whose parts must travel great distances. 

     Whether it is a single part or several, this vacuum packing service is highly recommended for our customers in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor and optical industries.

     Call 1-800-49HOLES (4-6537) or email sales@lenoxlaser.com for more information.  Be sure to visit our website at www.lenoxlaser.com to view our  extensive line of parts and services.

BLOG PONDERINGS: More Real “WOWs,” Please

By Eric J. Anderson

Joe D'Entrement of Lenox Laser, Dick Anderson of Anderson Laser,
Dr. John Wood of NASA, Dr. Charles Townes of laser & maser fame

Ever wonder what people’s “wow factor” is? I mean what does it take to get one to marvel or to gasp in thoughtful appreciation of a singularly riveting moment? For me, it is when so riveted, my breath halts, time seems to slow down and my eyes widen, and a “Wow” moment has just arrested me. I know “wow” sounds trite, but I’ve had a few of my own such “WOW” moments lately. There was that high altitude rainbow in Maine in late August when a double (nearly triple) rainbow hung in there for nearly a half hour or more. That was a definite “Wow!” Then there was a Raven’s game lately I attended where they pulled some of their eye-popping, big-boys assertiveness over the visiting team and I uttered in low tones “wow” almost reflexively. Nice, but really, a once-in-a-life-time “Wow” is bigger, and I had one recently.



Two laser pioneers, Joe D'Entrement
and Dr. Charles Townes



October 4th, I was invited a few hours before it started to sit in on a very unique science conference. I had no idea what it was to be like as was evidenced by how I showed up bearded and scruffy-looking. Quickly, my attention and respect was won. I found the conference to be unique and nearly breath-taking to say the least. I caught myself thinking at first the perfunctory thought, “How unusual to have been invited,” but I quickly left off self-consciousness, for being caught up in the substance. It was the First Annual Light Seminar, sponsored by Lenox Laser labs of Glen Arm, MD, by Joe D’Entrement, its founder and owner. Sure, I had hurried there pensive about my invitation, how the countryside being so beautiful was an unlikely context and location for the lab. Plus, the lab’s technogy itself did have its own uniqueness, reason enough to evoke a small “wow,” because coupled with the Lenox Laser cutting-edge science in small hole technology, was the fact that their lab layout is definite “Wow-level” eye candy for a “techy” guy like me. So, awed a little before the conference even started, the reflection came: “Who ever heard of a Light Seminar – Light shows maybe, but not light as a subject, and what’s more, there is an intention to establish a museum about it. Really? Hum-m-m! Fascinating!”

The momentousness then really mounted as I sat highly tuned in to the lecturer’s words. He had my attention. It was the venerable Dr. Charles Townes, now quite elderly, developer of the science behind the maser and laser. The spark of what little I knew of his story was quickly blown into a full flame as he recounted enjoying years of successful research despite many of his peers. He described working through the maser and laser problems into a real science in all its possibility. Then he digressed with humor over how the pathway was so full of scorn, derision, and disassociation by some of the world’s top scientists, like Washington’s best, university research fellows, top Bell Labs men, and even when in Europe, the father son duo of Aage and Neils Bohr, who he respects to this day, yet who also echoed the mantra “it can’t be done.” Gary Boas a contributor to Photronics Magazine sat with me during the conference and saw in the Townes story a picture of scientific persistence (Gary Boas' Blog), and as Townes put it, a picture of the open-mindedness necessary to allow inspiration to mingle into our hard work and catch us by surprise, allowing for some divine graciousness in areas where we just do not have necessary knowledge (his words!). Pinch me! Did I just hear a famous scientist who was deservedly proud, humbly admit to needing God. “Oh yeah,” I said, and I caught myself uttering a heart-felt big “WOW” to that.



Gulyam SH. Zakirov, VP of Engineering
Federation of Republic of Uzbekistanand his wife
with Joe D'Entrement



Joe and Peggy D'Entreement
with Dr. John Woods of NASA

The moment was continued with the second guest speaker Dr. John Wood of NASA who had been part of the small team most responsible for several of the NASA triumphs in waning golden age of NASA. And we heard the host, Joe D’Entrement, Lenox Laser’s founder himself who was a “wow” type guy with his infectious creativity and positive-mindedness. He had me fooled for decades while he hid the fact that the first measurements of the moon’s distance from the earth by bounced laser light in the late 1980s were actually HIS SHOT! Well, whether it was me, or the Russians I sat with, or the entourage of the Uzbekistani Vice President of the Academy of Science behind me. Between us, a few “wows” arose, and I am already booked for being at the 2nd annual Light Seminar next year at about the same time. More real “Wow’s,” please.

EJA.