The Need

Current optical correlation devices are used to analyze light using a Fourier transform. This analysis of light requires multiple paths for different beams of light. Each time a new beam is introduced the size of the device must increase; this limits the capacity of the correlation device to about 100 separate beams. In addition to size restrictions current optical correlation devices suffer from loss of amplitude due to repeated passes through fiber optic splitters. The next advance in this area of research would be a optical correlation device that could solve the problem of size by allowing multiple beams of light to travel along the same paths.

The Market

Global markets for photonic components and modules have a predicted valuation of $20.4 billion in 2017. The predicted annual growth rate is 33.1% through 2017. This field of technology is currently very heavily invested in research and is preparing to be a dominant market in the future as the need for photonics based devices increases.Markets

• Next Generation computers
• Data storage
• Academic research
• Fiber optic cables
• Encryption
• Telecommunication

The Technology

Dr. Anderson and her research team at The Ohio State University have developed a device and method for optical correlation. This device is an improvement of previous technologies because it allows for a greater number of light beams to be analyzed, concurrently. Dr. Anderson has created a device using multiple white cells to more efficiently analyze a large number of light sources. This technology separates a single incoming light source using an array of micro mirrors, then redirects the light beams to different white cells. Each white cell then has a specific duration time for a given light beam. After a light beam has passed through a given white cell the beam is directed to a final set of micro mirrors which recombines it into a signal output beam. A white cell has the capacity to carry multiple different beams of light at the same time along for significant increase in the total number of light beams for a given amount of hardware.