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Our technical coverage can appear quite diverse but actually almost everything we do relates to at least one component of the system shown below. In the example, the substrate is a film coated with active materials. However, the substrate can also be human skin, including the surface of internal organs or the leaf of a plant.
We have experience with the system shown in a wide variety of final markets. We also have experience in the supply chain.
We believe we understand the technical and economic and interactions of this system to a very high degree and can offer marketing, investment and technical advice that can give your organisation a competitive edge in dealing with the complexities that arise. This is particularly the case when you are dealing with novel technology or new markets where your greatest expertise is related to one component of the system. We can help you put your expertise in its technical and marketing context to help you make best use of your resources. Typically our engineering contribution is at a system rather a component level, however in the field of semiconductors lasers, superluminescent diodes and photodetectors, we can assist you with bespoke sources and specification to a very detailed level.
Our interest in signal generation is not related to designing the
electronics. We get involved in the software and firmware for managing
the signal to be applied to the medium. This includes error correction,
data & image compression, encryption, other coding and secure
transmission.
The signal is typically delivered to an energy producing
mechanism. This could be a magnetic write head for disk and tape drives,
a semiconductor laser, a more powerful laser for marking, patterning and
medical applications, LED’s for illumination, electron beams for
activating phosphors in displays, inkjet print heads for marking and
patterning.
The energy is typically delivered through air to an active layer.
Sometimes, however the transmission medium is of principal interest.
Analysis of gas or particles in the transmission medium can be required.
Sometimes, the interaction of a laser source with the gas in a gas filled
photonic crystal fibre will produce phenomena of interest.
Usually however, it is the interaction of the energy source with an
active layer that is of interest.
Often, the active layer has been
manufactured to absorb the energy source, typically by a coating process.
Designing and producing the relevant material will require more than one
coating. Some substrates for coating can be rigid. Aluminium or
titanium for computer disks or glass for displays. Other substrates can
be flexible, typically polyester or polycarbonate. Resins, adhesives,
barrier layers etc can all be required.
Mechanical movement between the energy source and the active layer can
also be a significant issue. Small imperfections in the disks of disk
drives moving at 10,000 rpm or higher can have large impacts. The
mechanical stresses on the materials can be significant. Tapes and wires
unreeling at 10,000 rpm start to introduce significant aerodynamic limitations
into the system. Nevertheless, at these speeds, many systems need to
deliver to accuracies of nanometres. Sometimes, rather than marking these
systems the requirement is to inspect them.
At times the active layer is a natural surface requiring analysis or
treatment. For example, the surface to be examined could be human skin or
the surface of an internal organ accessed by endoscope. One of our
associate consultants is a principal inventor of optical coherence tomography,
a technique for medical diagnosis. Our practice in medical devices for
diagnosis is expanding rapidly.
Looking at green bioscience, we have been involved in systems for seed
treatment.
The interaction with the active layer needs to be detected,
often by a camera. The image needs analysis and we can contribute image
processing skills.
Our work with lasers and fibres for Storage Area Networking has given us a background in photonics and optoelectronics.
© Customer Refocus 2002-2006, contact owenpc @ customerrefocus.co.uk, +44 01656 767 545
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