Sources, Detectors, and Displays Group

The Sources, Detectors and Displays Group conducts research on the characterization of lasers, detectors, displays, and related components. Principally through calibrations services, the group provides the optoelectronics industry with traceability to national standards. Activities of the group are currently carried out in three project areas: Display Metrology, High Speed Measurements, and Laser Radiometry. Members of the Display Metrology Project work closely with industry to identify and develop appropriate metrology for displays. Displays are used convey information from the mundane such as totals from cash registers to the critical such as MRI images for medical diagnostics. These diverse applications require different approaches for evaluating a display's performance. The High-Speed Measurements Project focuses on laser and detector temporal properties, such as detector and receiver frequency response and laser and optical amplifier noise. The Laser Radiometry Project is concerned with measuring laser, detector, and component properties such as laser power, laser beam profile, detector spectral responsivity, detector linearity and the attenuation of transmission components.

To calibrate detectors and instruments used to measure the power or energy produced by a laser, the Group has developed a family of standards that allow the accurate comparison of absorbed optical power to dissipated electrical power. Together, these standards permit calibrations at power levels from nanowatts to hundreds of kilowatts and energy levels from femtojoules to megajoules. Wavelength ranges include the visible through the near infrared, and selected wavelengths in the ultraviolet and mid infrared. For more information, see the Calibration Services section of this site. Instruments designed to receive power either in collimated beams or through optical fibers can be accommodated.