Optics and Photonics

In optics, few places in the country offer the combination of history, resources and education that Albuquerque has.

The industry grew from decades of research at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and its laboratories, as well as Sandia National Laboratories and White Sands Missile Range.

Optics is, simply, the use of light. Photonics is the science of generating, manipulating, transporting, detecting and using light information energy. The basic unit is the photon.

Albuquerque’s estimated 160 optics companies design, develop and manufacture optics systems and components for both the public and private sector. Activities include laser, sensor, component and instrument manufacturing; production of entire systems; design; and supply.

The biggest players are:

Boeing-SVS Inc. (formerly SVS Inc., acquired by Boeing in 2000), which makes electro-optical systems and image-processing for aerospace, defense and commercial customers.

CVI Melles Griot, founded in 1972, a contract manufacturer of laser optics and opto-mechanical assemblies for semiconductor, industrial, and scientific markets.

Emcore Fiber Optics, a division of Emcore Corp., which makes telecom switching equipment.

InLight Solutions, which develops light measurement devices for health-care uses, including noninvasive glucose measurement.

Applied Technology Associates Corp., which makes precision sensing, measurement and control products and services.

What Optics Companies Say

Mike Skolnick, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Laser & Electro Optical systems unit. “Boeing recognizes that New Mexico is quickly becoming the center of excellence for developing the technologies needed to field the next generation of laser and electro-optical systems. It is an area rich in talent and vision that will help define the future of our industry.”

Optics Assets

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base is a national center for high-power lasers and optics. The lab’s Directed Energy Directorate is the Air Force center of expertise for lasers, high-energy microwaves, and other directed energy technologies.

The Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM) at UNM has a national reputation for its work in optoelectronics and microelectronics. It’s an optoelectronics center for multiple federal agencies. See www.chtm.unm.edu. And UNM is the lead university for the Compact, Portable, Pulsed Power consortium funded by the DOD to shrink pulsed power systems for directed-energy applications.

Sandia National Laboratories has had a long involvement with optics. The Lasers, Optics, Plasma Science, Remote Sensing and Vision Science Department develops technology and operates the Optical Diagnostics Facility.

Workforce Training

Albuquerque has a pioneering program, started in 2001, to educate students in optics and photonics from middle school through graduate degrees. The centerpiece is the Photonics Academy at West Mesa High School, where they learn high-tech skills sufficient to prepare them for jobs or to continue studies at CNM or UNM.

Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) has had laser and optics classes since the mid-1970s. In recent years CNM developed its Photonics Technology Program , which offers both certificate and associate degrees. Based on the excellent reputation of that program, the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology at the University of California/Davis chose CNM to develop a biophotonics-technician program, the first of its kind in the nation. (Biophotonics is the use of light and radiant energy to understand living cells and tissue.)

The University of New Mexico has a well known Optical Science and Engineering Program taught by physics and electrical engineering faculty and offers Ph.D. and master’s degrees. The university is developing curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in optics. See http://optics.unm.edu/ .

Contacts

New Mexico Optics Industry Association

Directed Energy Professionals Society

Alliance for Photonic Technology : contact agun@chtm.unm.edu