SPIE

19th annual award honors exceptional new products transforming light-based technologies Dubbed the "Oscars of Photonics," the SPIE Prism Awards provide scientists and engineers in the optics and photonics industry the opportunity to showcase their latest light-based technologies. BELLINGHAM, Washington - SPIE invites the optics and photonics community to apply for this year's SPIE Prism Awards , which recognize outstanding new products making waves on the market.

Driving around south Florida, it's not uncommon to see cannons or anchors from centuries-old shipwrecks decorating the storefronts of gas stations, mini markets, mom-and-pop eateries, and the like. They symbolize the state's epic maritime history that reaches back to Florida's first human inhabitants. But, to archaeologists, such artifacts symbolize history lost; stories from the past erased by looting, commercial salvage, and treasure hunting.

Quantum metamaterials enable ultrasensitive far-infrared sensing by exploiting the in-plane photoelectric effect Detecting terahertz radiation using a quantum metasurface-based photoelectric tunable-step terahertz detector - a path to high sensitivity imaging and sensing in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Image courtesy of W. Michailow and R. Xia. Being able to see light and detect radiation is of utmost importance at any frequency.

Budget cuts threaten scientific innovation leadership Though the President's FY27 budget proposal makes selective investments in nuclear security, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies, it also proposes drastic cuts to some of the most key scientific agencies in the United States.

Special source-detector configuration and layered tissue models enhance noninvasive optical sensing of the brain A three-layer model-with the first layer representing the combined scalp and skull layers, the second layer representing the subarachnoid space filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and the third layer representing the brain tissue-successfully reproduced in-vivo data collected with the special two-source/two-detector configuration. Image courtesy of J.

Signals are everywhere, shaping how we understand and respond to the world around us. Some are obvious—a weather siren or a phone alert—while others are far more subtle, like a faint change in an image that reveals disease long before symptoms appear. In today’s world of constant information, headlines, and distractions, separating meaningful signals from noise has become increasingly difficult. As an optical designer, when I hear the word “signal,” I immediately think of the image detector.

In this issue of Photonics Focus, we detect signals. One feature considers single photon detectors and their role in picking up faint signals that life may exist on other worlds. A second feature follows the quest to build new spectrographic instruments to aid in the detection of exoplanets. Finally, a third feature describes how astronomers are using fast radio bursts, energetic waves that offer a new window on some of the mysteries of the cosmos.

SPIE Fellow and former Board President Brian Culshaw passed away on 21 June 2026. A photonics engineer who lived in Glasgow, Scotland, Culshaw began his career with a BSc in Physics and, in 1969, earned his PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from University College London (UCL). He went on to join the UCL staff in 1975, where he developed an interest in fiber optics for sensing and measurement.

At the time of receiving the SPIE-Franz Hillenkamp Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2025, Morgan Fogarty was still pursuing her PhD in Imaging Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She received the $75,000 award to support her translational research, applying diffuse optical tomography to improve recovery of post-stroke patients. “The award was fundamental to continuing my research,” Fogarty says.