Archives for January 2026

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2nd International Conference on Optical Imaging and Detection Technology (OIDT 2026) - 3-5 July 2026 - Yulin, China - Website

New Developments in Photodetection - 6-10 July 2026 - Troyes, France - Website

11th International Smart Sensor Technology Exhibition - 8-10 July 2026 - Goyang, South Korea - Website

Tenth International Conference on Imaging, Signal Processing and Communications - 11-13 July 2026 - Kobe, Japan - Website

IEEE International Conference on Flexible Printable Sensors and Systems - 12-15 July 2026 - Atlanta, Georgia, USA - Website

Optica Sensing Congress - 12-17 July 2026 - Maastricht, Netherlands - Website

IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium - 15-17 July 2026 - Vitoria, Brazil - Website

American Association of Physicists in Medicine 67th Annual Meeting and Exhibition - 19-22 July 2026 - Vancouver, BC, Canada - Website

IEEE Nuclear & Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) - 20-24 July 2026 - San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA - Website

34th International Workshop  on Vertex Detectors - 20-24 July 2026 - Stoos, Switzerland - Website

If you know about additional local conferences, please add them as comments.

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Link: scitechdaily.com/this-breakthrough-image-sensor-lets-scientists-see-tiny-details-from-far-away/

Open-access paper: Multiscale aperture synthesis imager  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65661-8

A new lens-free imaging system uses software to see finer details from farther away than optical systems ever could before.

Imaging technology has reshaped how scientists explore the universe – from charting distant galaxies using radio telescope arrays to revealing tiny structures inside living cells. Despite this progress, one major limitation has remained unresolved. Capturing images that are both highly detailed and wide in scope at optical wavelengths has required bulky lenses and extremely precise physical alignment, making many applications difficult or impractical.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut may have found a way around this obstacle. A new study led by Guoan Zheng, a biomedical engineering professor and director of the UConn Center for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation (CBBI), along with his team at the University of Connecticut College of Engineering, was published in Nature Communications. The work introduces a new imaging strategy that could significantly expand what optical systems can do in scientific research, medicine, and industrial settings.

Why Synthetic Aperture Imaging Breaks Down at Visible Light

“At the heart of this breakthrough is a longstanding technical problem,” said Zheng. “Synthetic aperture imaging – the method that allowed the Event Horizon Telescope to image a black hole – works by coherently combining measurements from multiple separated sensors to simulate a much larger imaging aperture.”

This approach works well in radio astronomy because radio waves have long wavelengths, which makes precise coordination between sensors achievable. Visible light operates on a much smaller scale. At those wavelengths, the physical accuracy needed to keep multiple sensors synchronized becomes extremely difficult to maintain, placing strict limits on traditional optical synthetic aperture systems.

Letting Software Do the Synchronizing

The Multiscale Aperture Synthesis Imager (MASI) addresses this challenge in a fundamentally different way. Instead of requiring sensors to remain perfectly synchronized during measurement, MASI allows each optical sensor to collect light on its own. Computational algorithms are then used to align and synchronize the data after it has been captured.

Zheng describes the concept as similar to several photographers observing the same scene. Rather than taking standard photographs, each one records raw information about the behavior of light waves. Software later combines these independent measurements into a single image with exceptionally high detail.

This computational approach to phase synchronization removes the need for rigid interferometric setups, which have historically prevented optical synthetic aperture imaging from being widely used in real-world applications.

How MASI Captures and Rebuilds Light

MASI differs from conventional optical systems in two major ways. First, it does not rely on lenses to focus light. Instead, it uses an array of coded sensors placed at different locations within a diffraction plane. Each sensor records diffraction patterns, which describe how light waves spread after interacting with an object. These patterns contain both amplitude and phase information that can later be recovered using computational methods.

After the complex wavefield from each sensor is reconstructed, the system digitally extends the data and mathematically propagates the wavefields back to the object plane. A computational phase synchronization process then adjusts the relative phase differences between sensors. This iterative process increases coherence and concentrates energy in the combined image.

This software-based optimization is the central advance. By aligning data computationally rather than physically, MASI overcomes the diffraction limit and other restrictions that have traditionally governed optical imaging.

A Virtual Aperture With Fine Detail

The final result is a virtual synthetic aperture that is larger than any single sensor. This allows the system to achieve sub-micron resolution while still covering a wide field of view, all without using lenses.
Traditional lenses used in microscopes, cameras, and telescopes force engineers to balance resolution against working distance. To see finer details, lenses usually must be placed very close to the object, sometimes just millimeters away. That requirement can limit access, reduce flexibility, or make certain imaging tasks invasive.

MASI removes this constraint by capturing diffraction patterns from distances measured in centimeters and reconstructing images with sub-micron detail. Zheng compares this to being able to examine the fine ridges of a human hair from across a desk rather than holding it just inches from your eye.

Scalable Applications Across Many Fields

“The potential applications for MASI span multiple fields, from forensic science and medical diagnostics to industrial inspection and remote sensing,” said Zheng, “But what’s most exciting is the scalability – unlike traditional optics that become exponentially more complex as they grow, our system scales linearly, potentially enabling large arrays for applications we haven’t even imagined yet.”

The Multiscale Aperture Synthesis Imager represents a shift in how optical imaging systems can be designed. By separating data collection from synchronization and replacing bulky optical components with software-controlled sensor arrays, MASI shows how computation can overcome long-standing physical limits. The approach opens the door to imaging systems that are highly detailed, adaptable, and capable of scaling to sizes that were previously out of reach.

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Link: https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2026/01/eric-fossum-awarded-draper-prize-engineering

Eric R. Fossum, the John H. Krehbiel Sr. Professor for Emerging Technologies, has been awarded the 2026 Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering, which is granted every two years by the National Academy of Engineering and is one of the world’s preeminent honors for engineering achievement.
The NAE recognized Fossum “for innovation, development, and commercialization of the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor active pixel image sensor,” an invention that remains the core technology behind roughly 7 billion cameras produced each year.

“Eric Fossum is a pioneering semiconductor device physicist and engineer whose invention of the CMOS active pixel image sensor, or ‘camera on a chip,’ has transformed imaging across everyday life, industry, and scientific discovery,” the NAE said in announcing the prize, which includes a $500,000 cash award.
The honor is the latest in a string of accolades for Fossum, who in addition to his role as a professor at Thayer School of Engineering also serves as vice provost for entrepreneurship and technology transfer and directs the PhD Innovation Program.

His other honors include the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the National Medal for Technology and Innovation awarded at a White House ceremony last year, and a Technical Emmy Award recognizing the transformative impact of Fossum’s invention. 
Today, CMOS image sensors, which were intended to make digital cameras for space faster, better, and cheaper, are behind billions of captures in a vast variety of settings—selfies, high-definition videos, dental X-rays, and space images.

“Eric Fossum’s inventions have revolutionized digital imaging across industries,” says President Sian Leah Beilock. “His work is a prime example of how the applied research our faculty foster and undertake can drive innovation and improve our world.” 

Research for NASA

Tasked with creating smaller cameras for NASA spacecraft that would use less energy, Fossum led the team that invented and developed the CMOS image sensor technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in the 1990s. The CMOS image sensor integrated all the essential camera functions on a single piece of silicon—each chip contained arrays of light-sensitive pixels, each with its own amplifier.

Fossum recalls the moment when their first image sensor worked flawlessly in testing. It was a eureka moment, but only in hindsight. His initial reaction was tempered by caution. “It seemed so straightforward that I figured others must have tried this before, and there must be a fatal flaw somewhere. So, it was exhilarating to see that it was working,” he says.

The CMOS sensor was commercialized through Photobit, the company he co-founded and helped lead until its acquisition by Micron. 

As the CMOS sensor grew in sophistication, so too did its impact, finding applications in both predictable and surprising ways, such as swallowable pill cameras that can take images inside the body and the explosion of smartphone cameras, which forever changed how we capture and share our lives.
“The impact it has had on social justice has been huge, which I did not anticipate at all, and is truly gratifying. It protects people that might otherwise be powerless, and those with power from false accusations,” Fossum says.

Fossum, a Connecticut native, received a bachelor of science degree in physics and engineering from Trinity College, and a PhD in engineering and applied science from Yale in 1984. Prior to his work at the Jet Propulsion Lab, he was a faculty member at Columbia University. After leading several startups, consulting, and co-founding the International Image Sensor Society, he joined Dartmouth in 2010.
Fossum’s many other honors include the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal, and induction into the U.S. Space Foundation Technology Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011. He also served as CEO of Siimpel, developing MEMS devices for autofocus in smartphone camera modules, and worked as a consultant for Samsung on time-of-flight sensor development. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Optica.

Counting photons: The future of imaging

Fossum continues to push the boundaries of imaging. His more recent invention, the quanta image sensor, was developed at Dartmouth and enables high-resolution imaging in extremely low-light conditions.

“We’re working on sensors that can count photons, one at a time,” he says. “Imagine being able to take a photo in almost complete darkness or measuring extremely faint signals in biology. It’s like turning the lights on in a place that was previously invisible to us.” 

Fossum and two of his former Dartmouth students co-founded Gigajot to commercialize the technology.
“Eric’s achievements are not the result of a single breakthrough, but of sustained curiosity and a focus on real-world impact,” says Douglas Van Citters ’99, Thayer ’03, ’06, interim Thayer dean. “To this day, he brings exceptional dedication to teaching and research, along with a passion for entrepreneurship that permeates Dartmouth, especially Thayer. And that spirit has inspired generations of engineers at Dartmouth who, like Eric, are committed to improving lives through the technologies they create.”

When asked about where he sees the field of imaging in the next decade, Fossum imagines a world where great images can be captured using a handful of photons and where computational imaging allows humans to see the world in ways eyes themselves never could. 

“The ability to capture images in low light will continue to improve,” he predicts. “And we’re likely to see a proliferation of augmented reality technologies that will change the way we experience the world around us.”

 In his mind, the grand challenge ahead is miniaturization—creating sensors with pixels so tiny that they become smaller than the wavelength of light itself. With this breakthrough, imaging technology could scale to the point where a single chip contains billions of pixels, opening new possibilities for everything from medical diagnostics to space exploration.

Along with his continuing work on sensors, Fossum draws from his extensive experience in innovation and entrepreneurship in his role as vice provost and in overseeing the PhD Innovation Program.
He says that the program trains students not just to think creatively but to apply their research in ways that have a meaningful impact.

“It is just so much more satisfying to make a real impact with the work that you do,” he says.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C. As he did with the Queen Elizabeth prize, Fossum plans to donate the majority of the Draper Prize funds to STEM-related charities.

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Link: https://www.eetimes.com/mythic-rises-from-the-ashes-with-125-million-funding-round/

Mythic Rises from the Ashes with $125 Million Funding Round 

Excerpt: 

A separate product family, dubbed “Starlight,” will use a Mythic compute chiplet hybrid-bonded under a vision sensor’s photodiode array. The two dies will use less than 1 W between them.
Ozcelik said he noticed a gap in the market for this type of device while previously working at OnSemiconductor.

“One of the biggest challenges for image sensors is low light performance,” he said. “Dynamic range is another major problem, especially in mission critical applications.”

A Mythic AI accelerator could run a neural network to improve low-light performance and dynamic range directly next to the sensor. Image sensors made for applications like cellphones are very small (one-third of an inch), and performance suffers as they get smaller, Ozcelik said. Mythic has a unique opportunity here as its technology is compact, and crucially, it uses very little power, according to Ozcelik (photodiode arrays are extremely thermally sensitive, meaning even a small DSP couldn’t be placed directly under the photodiode array).

Mythic is going to build this sensor and AI accelerator combination itself, and both the accelerator chiplet and the image sensor product will tape out this year, Ozcelik said.

Overall, Ozcelik is pragmatic about the scale of the challenges ahead, particularly given the company’s move into the data center where it will compete with Nvidia.

“[Our advantage] has to be incredibly material,” he said. “It has to be at least one hundred times, hopefully more.”

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Press release: https://voyantphotonics.com/news/1075/

New York, NY – December 17, 2025 – Voyant Photonics, the leader in chip-scale frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) LiDAR, today announced its Helium™ Platform of fully solid-state LiDAR sensors and modules. The solution is built on a silicon photonics chip, enabling a breakthrough architecture designed to deliver unprecedented reliability, integration, and performance for industrial automation, robotics, and mobile autonomy.

Leveraging Voyant’s proprietary Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), Helium offers camera-like simplicity and unmatched flexibility. Helium uses a dense two-dimensional photonic focal plane array with fully integrated 2D on-chip beam steering — eliminating all unreliable scanning methods: MEMS, mirrors, and resulting in no moving parts. The FMCW LiDAR chip leverages a two-dimensional array of surface emitters to create a fully solid-state LiDAR in an ultra-compact, rugged design. Helium also supports multi-sensor configurations, combining for instance a wide-FoV short-range and narrow-FoV long-range sensing in one system — delivering the most versatile and cost-effective LiDAR solution for advanced perception applications.

Helium first prototype release will be demonstrated at Voyant’s booth (LVCC, West Hall, Booth #4875) at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, January 6-9, marking a major milestone in advancing silicon-photonics LiDAR from R&D into high-volume systems that are proliferating Physical AI.

“Helium represents the next step in our mission to deliver the most affordable high performance LiDAR sensor ever,” said Voyant CEO Clément Nouvel. “Industrial and consumer markets demand sensors that are small, cost efficient, and highly reliable. Helium provides all of that while delivering performance that unlocks new classes for intelligent machines.”

A Flexible Platform to Move Solid-State LiDAR Forward

Helium extends the technology foundation proven in Voyant’s Carbon™ product line, bringing full two-dimensional beam steering to a silicon-photonics platform for the first time. The result is a compact, high-precision 4D sensor that meets the highest industry standards for safety and reliability.

Key advantages include:

•  True solid-state — no MEMS, polygon scanners, or rotating assemblies
•  High-resolution FPA architecture spanning from 12,000 pixels to over 100,000 pixels
•  Long-range FMCW performance, per-pixel radial velocity
•  Software-defined LiDAR (SDL) enabling adaptive scan patterns and region of interest
•  Ultra Compact Size -as small as a matchbox (<150 g mass and <50 cm³ volume), ideal for drones, mobile robots, and compact industrial systems

Field of view and range can be tailored with different lenses, and the platform scales from core module options to fully enclosed sensor. Helium is built on a 2D array of surface-emitting photonic antennas combined with a fixed lens and integrated electronics, forming a rugged module ideal for embedded perception.

With no moving parts and monolithic photonic integration, Helium offers an estimated 20× improvement in MTBF over legacy ToF LiDAR architectures —a critical reliability requirement for high-duty-cycle industrial fleets.

Engineered for Scalable Manufacturing 

As with the Carbon family, Helium is built entirely on Voyant’s leading proprietary silicon-photonics platform, enabling new levels of performance and integration. This deep integration eliminates the unreliable optical alignments that limit traditional TOF LiDAR manufacturability. Helium leverages the same mature photonics foundry ecosystem as the optical datacom industry — allowing Voyant to scale production toward semiconductor-class cost structures.

From Carbon to Helium —Voyant Advances a Modular LiDAR Platform for Broader Adoption
Voyant established the company’s leadership in compact, cost-optimized FMCW sensing for compute-constrained platforms with its first-generation Carbon™ family, extended last week with the new Carbon 32 and Carbon 64 variants. Helium builds directly on these advances, expanding the architecture from 1D to 2D on-chip beam steering, with higher resolution and a fully solid-state scan engine. Voyant now enables OEMs to integrate its sensing technology directly into their machines by offering module-only access along with full design-in support. This allows partners to build customized, high-performance sensor solutions tailored to their exact requirements.

Helium sensors and modules will be available with multiple resolution and range configurations, supporting a wide choice of field-of-view options—from ultra-wide coverage approaching 180° down to narrower, long-range targeting optics. These modular variants enable OEMs and developers to select and integrate lenses that best suit their application, allowing LiDAR architectures to be tailored for mobile robots, material-handling systems, smart infrastructure, and emerging edge-compute platforms. 

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There are some recent news reports that Leica is developing its own image sensor.

Petapixel: https://petapixel.com/2026/01/02/leica-is-developing-its-own-image-sensors-again/

Lecia rumors: https://leicarumors.com/2026/01/01/leica-is-developing-its-own-camera-sensor-again-most-likely-for-the-leica-m12-camera.aspx/ 

Excerpt:

In a recent podcast, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann (Chairman of the Supervisory Board and majority shareholder of Leica Camera AG) confirmed that Leica is again developing their own sensor, most likely for the next Leica M12 camera (Google translation):

Furthermore, as has already become somewhat known, we are also developing our own sensor again. […] Up until the M10, we had a sensor of European origin. It was manufactured by AMS in Graz, or rather, developed by their Dutch development office. And the foundry itself was in Grenoble, a French company. And then there was the transition with the M11 to Sony sensors. It’s no secret that they’re in there. At the same time, we started developing our own sensor again, in a more advanced version. I think we’ve made significant progress with that. We can’t say more at the moment. 

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SPIE Photonics for Quantum - 8-11 June 2026 - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada - Website

AutoSens USA 2026 - 9-11 June 2026 - Detroit, Michigan, USA - Website

Sensor+Test - 9-11 June 2026 - Nuremberg, Germany - Website

Smart Sensing - 10-12 June 2026 - Tokyo, Japan - Website

IEEE/JSAP Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits - 14-18 June 2026 - Honolulu, Hawaii, USA - Website

International Conference on Sensors and Sensing Technology (ICCST2026)- 15-17 June 2026 - Florence, Italy - Website

International Conference on IC Design and Technology (ICICDT) - 22-24 June 2026 - Dresden, Germany - Website

Automate 2026 - 22-25 June 2026 - Chicago, Illinois, USA - Website

27th International Workshop on Radiation Imaging Detectors - 28 June-2 July 2026 - Ghent, Belgium - Website

If you know about additional local conferences, please add them as comments.

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