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New tech center is serving as a cutting-edge showroom and a technological hub for advanced machining applications.

Part of Major Tool’s 52,000 square-foot building expansion includes the installation of this new Waldrich Coburg Taurus 30 vertical machining center.

ANCA CNC Machines is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a global producer of CNC tool and cutter grinders.

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All the data employed for this work will be made available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Table 1 summarizes the state-of-the-art resonance-enhanced SHG results from different SiC platforms13,19,20. Our SHG conversion efficiency on 3C-SiCoI is lower than the best value in 4H-SiCoI because of the limited Q factors of our platform at this stage. We characterize the same device for DFG and SPDC processes.

In this work, we adopted the 3C-SiC as this is the only polytype that is epitaxially grown on wafer-scale silicon substrates. This is promising for future large-scale integration and wafer-scale fabrication. Moreover, an epitaxially grown 3C-SiC layer features a well-controlled thickness, which minimizes the non-uniformity in the SiC film thickness and avoids the material waste during the grinding process which is unavoidable in the case of utilizing a bulk 4H-SiC substrate20. We demonstrate on our 3C-SiCoI platform through anodically bonding the 3C-SiC film onto a glass substrate (see Methods). We design a waveguide-coupled elliptical microring resonator using type-I (signal and idler are linearly polarized orthogonally to the pump) MPM for \({\chi }^{(2)}\)-based nonlinear and quantum light sources. We design for the conversion between 780 nm near-visible wavelengths and the 1550 nm near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. We demonstrate an SHG conversion efficiency of 17.4 ± 0.2% W−1 and difference-frequency generation (DFG) with a non-degenerate signal-idler bandwidth of up to 97 nm. We observe DFG across a bandwidth of 9.5 nm around pumping in the 780 nm wavelengths. We demonstrate a SPDC source with a photon-pair generation rate (PGR) of 4.8 MHz and a coincidence-to-accidental ratio (CAR) of \(3361\pm 84\) at an on-chip pump power of 5 mW. At this pump power, we obtain a low heralded single-photon second-order coherence \({g}_{H}^{\left(2\right)}=0.0007\) with a confidence interval of (0.0001, 0.002) with 68% confidence level using these photon-pairs. We generate a time-bin entanglement with a visibility of \(86.0\pm 2.4 \%\) in a free-space Franson interferometer23 using our photon-pair source, which was reported recently24. Our work shows the feasibility of SiC-based on-chip nonlinear and quantum light sources based on \({\chi }^{(2)}\) nonlinearity.

“Companies that have heard of the effectiveness of circle-segment tools often want to apply them to everything,” he says. But these tools, in general, have limitations—they are no good for roughing, he points out. Each of the specific tools has advantages and limitations of their own. Their different applications potentially expand the options available to the programmer and change the importance of the decisions the programmer makes for realizing a productive process. “In the past, you might have used one tool to finish a cavity,” he says. “Including circle-segment tools might mean you now think about that same cavity in terms of four different tool paths for four different tools that each do some different region of that cavity productively.”

Misapplication of these important CNC features will result in wasted time, wasted or duplicated effort and/or wasted material.

Guo, X. et al. Parametric down-conversion photon-pair source on a nanophotonic chip. Light Sci. Appl. 6, 1–8 (2017).

Here are four varieties of circle-segment tools from Emuge. Seen here from left to right are barrel, lens, taper and oval forms. (Illustration courtesy Emuge.)

This presentation focuses on the vital role that linear and angular encoders play in ensuring precision in machine tools. Attendees will learn about the common challenges compromising accuracy, such as thermal expansion, mechanical misalignments and vibration. Whether you're an OEM, integrator, or machine operator, this webinar will offer valuable insights into optimizing CNC performance. Agenda: Challenges to CNC machine accuracy Understanding encoder technology How encoders address accuracy challenges

Sunnen Products Co. is celebrating its 100th anniversary, highlighting the history of its line of honing and precision solutions.

We fabricate the devices on the same integrated 3C-SiCoI platform as described in9. We use the commercially available polished 4” (001) 3C-SiC-on-Si wafers from NOVASIC. Before the wafer bonding, we deposit a layer of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) SiO2 with a thickness of 500 nm on the 3C-SiC-on-Si dies (1 × 1 cm) to serve as a high-quality under-cladding layer. The PECVD recipe features SiH4 and N2O gas flows of 15 and 1410 sccm, respectively. The chamber is heated to 300 °C and kept at a pressure of 900 mTorr. The coil power is 30 W. We use the Karl Suss SB6 wafer bonder for the anodic bonding process between the dies and the soda lime glass substrate. We attain the bonding under 380 °C in a vacuum environment and upon an applied voltage of 1000 V. We use the standard 25% tetramethylazanium hydroxide solution to completely remove the silicon substrate at 80 °C and to expose the 3C-SiC film. The thickness of the 3C-SiC film is 1.5 μm initially. We thin down the film to our targeted thickness of ~800 nm by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process. The etching chemistry adopts SF6 and O2 gases with flows of 25 and 5 sccm, respectively. We kept the chamber pressure at 10 mTorr. The coil power and the platen power are 800 and 250 W, respectively. We then deposit a layer of the PECVD SiO2 as the hard mask. We pattern it with electron-beam lithography and with a standard SiO2 dry etching process available in the cleanroom. This SiO2 hardmask etching recipe adopts C4F8 and H2 gases with gas flows of 12 and 8 sccm, respectively. We kept the chamber pressure at 4 mTorr. The coil power and the platen power are 925 and 130 W, respectively. Then, we use the same SF6-based etching chemistry as in the film thinning-down process to dry etch the 3C-SiC patterns. To attain a steep sidewall slope, we add 3 s of C4H8 passivation steps after 5 s of dry etching steps to protect the waveguide sidewalls. The gas flow of C4H8 is 40 sccm and the coil power is 200 W. We recorded an etching selectivity of 3C-SiC:SiO2 ≈ 1.45. Afterwards, we deposit a layer of PECVD SiO2 with a thickness of 500 nm as the upper-cladding layer. Finally, we cleave the chip to expose the waveguide end-facets for coupling using long-working-distance (LWD) objective lenses.

Each tool setting technique has merit, and it depends on where you are as a shop and the type of work you do, as cost and efficiency all come into play.

where \({\omega }_{1(2)}\), \({\kappa }_{1(2),t}\), \({\kappa }_{1(2),e}\) and \({\varDelta \omega }_{1(2)}\) are the angular frequencies, the cavity total loss rates, the cavity external coupling rates and the angular frequency detuning from the cavity resonances of the 1575 nm pump (SHG) waves. The nonlinear coupling coefficient \(\gamma\) is given by:

We fabricate the device in a cleanroom (see Methods). We characterize the waveguide transmission and SHG from a waveguide-coupled elliptical microring (see experimental details in Supplementary Note 4). The operating device has a designed waveguide of 1050 nm. Given the uncertainty of the actual \({n}_{{{{{{\rm{eff}}}}}}}\) induced by the continuously varying waveguide curvature within the elliptical cavity and the variance of the waveguide width caused by the fabrication process, we consider this device width a close match to the simulated waveguide width for MPM. Figure 3a shows the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the device. Figure 3b, c shows the SEM images in zoom-in view of the sidewall and in the cross-sectional view of the waveguide end-facet, respectively. We extract a root-mean-square (RMS) of the waveguide sidewall roughness of ~7.3 nm based on analysis of the top-view SEM image (see Supplementary Note 5). This RMS is significantly larger than the previously reported value on 3C-SiC16. Figure 3d shows the near-field image measured at the through waveguide end facet by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera upon a cavity resonance at 787.7 nm. It shows three intensity maxima, suggesting the cavity resonance has an TM20 waveguide mode while the higher-order mode in the through waveguide could be redistributed due to the waveguide tapering. The actual distribution Fig. 3e shows the corresponding lens-to-lens normalized transmission spectra of the device under a stabilized stage temperature of \(22^\circ C\). The measured transmission spectra in the 780 nm and 1550 nm wavelengths show a good double-resonance alignment for SHG between the resonances of 787.7 nm and 1575.4 nm, as indicated by the zoom-in view of Fig. 3f. The loaded Q factors of the 1575.4 nm and of the 787.7 nm resonances are around \(2.5\times {10}^{4}\) and \(1.4\times {10}^{4}\), respectively. This is lower than the \({Q}_{{loaded}} > {10}^{5}\) we previously reported11. By a Lorentzian resonance lineshape fitting, shown as the magenta dashed line in Fig. 3f, we obtain an intrinsic Q factor of ~3.0 × 104 and thereby extract a waveguide loss of ~11 dB cm−1 at 1574 nm. The free spectral range (FSR) of the 1575.4 nm and the 787.7 nm resonances are ~6.9 nm (~800 GHz spacing) and ~1.5 nm, respectively. We conduct the waveguide dispersion analysis of the resonance (see Supplementary Note 6).

CAM software is critical for making use of circle-segment tools. Maintaining the precise angle of engagement required demands tool paths tailored to each of the different circle-segment tool types.

a Electric-field amplitude distributions of an TE00 mode at 1560 nm and of an TM20 mode at 780 nm. b Effective refractive indices of the pump mode (solid line) and of the signal/idler mode (dashed line) with different 3C-SiC film thicknesses as a function of the waveguide width. c Dispersion of the TM20 pump mode (solid line) and of the signal/idler TE00 mode (dashed line). d Calculated map of the non-degenerate difference-frequency generation (DFG) phase-matching condition.

When it comes to utilizing the spindle’s power, there is a lot of headroom at the upper limits, provided it’s in short bursts. Be mindful of your time at these loads so you don’t stall out.

SSP’s commitment to adopting the latest machining technology benefits not only the business, but its employees as well.

Entrepreneur Scott Colosimo found early success in China producing parts for his Cleveland-based motorcycle company in the mid-2000s. This is the story of how IP theft issues overwhelmed the business, prompting Colosimo and his team to start over from scratch — and move production back to the United States.

User-friendly inspection software for CNC machining centers is shown monitoring measurements between and after machining while performing SPC based on recorded measurement values.

where \({N}_{{s}_{1}{s}_{2}i}\) is the triple-coincidence counts for both the beam-split signal channels and the heralding idler channel and \({N}_{{s}_{1(2)}i}\) are the coincidence counts between the one split signal channel and the heralding idler channel. Equation (4) indicates that the noise from the idler (heralding) channel has a dominant effect. To reduce the influence, we assign one channel of the low-noise SNSPD for heralding, while using another SNSPD channel and one extra avalanche photodetector for detecting signals 1 and 2, respectively.

Fiorentino, M. et al. Spontaneous parametric down-conversion in periodically poled KTP waveguides and bulk crystals. Opt. Express 15, 7479–7488 (2007).

Bogdanov, S., Shalaginov, M. Y., Boltasseva, A. & Shalaev, V. M. Material platforms for integrated quantum photonics. Opt. Mater. Express 7, 111 (2017).

Chiron Group combines the best of both worlds at IMTS 2024, featuring live demonstrations of their Micro5 and Mill 2000 machines, alongside a cutting-edge virtual showroom. This innovative approach allows visitors to explore Chiron’s full product lineup without the logistical challenges of transporting large equipment.

In the latest episode of our View From My Shop series, MMS Editor-in-Chief Brent Donaldson visited the JN Shapiro Watches headquarters and production facility where Founder Joshua Shapiro—a history teacher turned watchmaker—realized his dream of "making a watch from scratch and everything in it."

Martini, F. & Politi, A. Four wave mixing in 3C SiC ring resonators. Appl. Phys. Lett. 112, 1–5 (2018).

We describe the experimental setup in Supplementary Note 4. By adopting the firing of the idler channel as the gating, we measure the signal channel as a heralded single-photon source. We utilize a fiber-based 50:50 beam splitter in the signal path to test the single-photon nature. The heralded second-order coherence is characterized by40:

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He says the chief application in which a circle-segment tool thrives is milling a contoured surface that covers a large, relatively open area of the part. This might mean machining the bottom of a mold cavity with a lens tool or machining the sides of a mold core with a taper or oval tool. In either case, a finishing operation that might have taken several hours with a ballnose tool could be reduced to less than an hour with strategic application of various circle-segment cutters.

Are AMRs the next big trend in job shop automation? System 3R’s IMTS booth will emphasize both its specialty EDM tooling and its automation products, including an autonomous moving robot.

Walter USA has acquired PDQ Workholding, intending to strengthen its offering of workholding products and develop future cutting tool sales.

So far, Made in the USA has looked into system-wide effects of broken supply chains, automation, skilled workforce issues and our perception of manufacturing jobs — examining each topic through a prism of individual experiences. For this final episode for Season 1, let’s look at one more system-wide question and bring it back to personal perspectives: Is there today a new dawn, a new moment for American manufacturing?

Looking to automate your shop floor? The Automated Shop Conference (TASC) will connect shops with experts who can advise them through this transition.

We estimate the on-chip power based on the power measured by an OSA considering the insertion losses of the lens-to-fiber coupling, the OSA and of the waveguide output end-facets. The measured insertion losses of the lens-to-fiber coupling and of the OSA are 3.0 dB and 2.4 dB, respectively. We then estimated the output power. The insertion loss of a test straight waveguide fabricated adjacent to the device is slightly below 12.0 dB for both the 780 nm and 1550 nm wavelengths. We neglect the waveguide propagation loss over this 1.2 mm long waveguide and adopted an average waveguide end-facet out-coupling loss as 5.8 dB as the maximum out-coupling loss, assuming the waveguide end-facet in-coupling loss is equal to or larger than the out-coupling loss, for estimating the on-chip power for both the 780 nm and 1550 nm light.

Wu, K., Zhang, Q. & Poon, A. W. Integrated Si3N4 microresonator-based quantum light sources with high brightness using a subtractive wafer-scale platform. Opt. Express 29, 24750 (2021).

Increasingly, this is how die/mold programmers will need to think, Mr. Trinque says. In his view, cutting tools offering complex profiles are the future. In machining contoured forms, they are the final piece bringing together the sophistication CAM software can realize with the complexity five-axis machining can achieve. Indeed, other cutting tool makers are also introducing tools with interesting and useful forms, he says. CAM software can no longer account for tools just as simple shapes. Today, Mastercam deploys circle-segment tools using libraries of tool models tailored to these forms, but he says this is just an interim step. Under development now is capability that will enable the CAM software user to input the tool profile, equipping the software to make use of whatever is the latest tool form that user needs the CAM software to apply.

Here are those same four forms in abstract versions better showing the tools’ shapes. In the case of the lens tool (second from left), the large-radius cutting edge is on the tool’s tip. (Illustration courtesy Mastercam/CNC Software.)

Table 2 summarizes the state-of-the-art microring-based quantum light sources from different second-order nonlinear platforms38,39. Although our PGR is limited by our Q factors, we have demonstrated a low-noise performance with the lowest \({g}_{H}^{\left(2\right)}\) among all the platforms.

Fan, T., Moradinejad, H., Wu, X., Eftekhar, A. A. & Adibi, A. High-Q integrated photonic microresonators on 3C-SiC-on-insulator (SiCOI) platform. Opt. Express 26, 25814 (2018).

We designed the waveguide dimensions at a thickness of 800 nm and a top width of 1000 nm, with a slab thickness of 100 nm. Figure 2c shows the numerically simulated non-degenerate DFG effective refractive indices \({n}_{{eff}}\) of the modes with wavelengths. Figure 2d shows the numerically simulated non-degenerate DFG phase-matching condition map with the non-degeneracy \(\left({f}_{s}-\frac{{f}_{p}}{2}\right)\) between the signal/idler frequencies (satisfying energy conservation) over the pump wavelength, following Fig. 2c. Here, \({f}_{s(p)}\) is the frequency of the signal (pump) light, respectively. We adopted a total accumulated phase-mismatch of \(\left|\Delta \beta L\right|=\left|({\beta }_{p}-{\beta }_{s}-{\beta }_{i})L\right| < \pi\) within the cavity as a working criterion for defining the MPM region. We notice a pumping wavelength range >10 nm and a non-degeneracy >25 THz. However, a \(\pm 50{nm}\) of the waveguide width will significantly red- or blue-shift the MPM wavelength window beyond the \(1.5 \sim 1.6\mu m\) wavelengths (see Supplementary Note 2). Finally, we adopted a bus waveguide with the same width of 1000 nm coupled to the microring cavity to input-couple the TE00 mode at NIR wavelengths while utilizing a drop waveguide with a narrower width of 400 nm to phase-match the TM00 mode in the bus waveguide and in the TM20 mode in the microring cavity. The coupling gap spacing is 200 nm for both the coupled waveguides. The interaction length is \(15\mu m\) for the through waveguide and is \(30\mu m\) for the drop waveguide. Both the waveguides are widened to a width of \(4\mu m\) for butt-coupling. Supplementary Note 3 details the device layout and the numerical simulations of the device.

Li, J. & Poon, A. W. Time-bin Entanglement Based on Integrated 3C-SiC-on-insulator Photon-pair Sources. In Proceedings of CLEO (San Jose, USA, 2023).

Lee Wimmer invited us to tour his second-generation family-owned machine shop in Perkasie, PA. This video explores the production processes behind precision-machined parts for both Wimmer Custom Cycle and LS Wimmer Machine Co., and shows how ingenuity and determination are still at the heart of American manufacturing. Today, both companies are now managed by Wimmer’s three sons.

Understanding all the things that contribute to a machine’s full potential accuracy will inform what to prioritize when fine-tuning the machine.

Standards for surface finishes and profiles are not static; they change as technology changes or new processes come along that need to be considered.

Cutting tool maker Emuge offers a line of circle-segment milling tools—so-called “barrel cutters” and others—that offer profiles engineered to effectively finish-mill various contoured workpiece surfaces, notably in die/mold machining. However, these tools are distinctive in the demands they make related to tool paths. Using them effectively requires tool paths that keep the tool’s cutting profile engaged with the surface of the part at a precise angle proper for that tool design. To meet this need, Emuge partnered with CAM software providers to develop programming algorithms able to realize the full promise of this tooling.

The choice between buying a new machine or refurbishing the current one will become clear after a thorough assessment of the machine.

In this episode of Made in the USA, several executives and senior staff at Hardinge give their first-person account of how they formulated the plan to shift the manufacturing of its milling and turning product lines from its Taiwan plant to its plant in Elmira, New York, the major challenges they encountered and the rewards that made it worth the effort.

Job shops are implementing automation and digitalization into workflows to eliminate set up time and increase repeatability in production.

Across a range of technical presentations aimed at small and mid-sized job shops, the first-ever Automated Shop Conference (TASC) offered insights into several automated technologies, implementation strategies, shopfloor training tips, and even the untapped power of automated coolant delivery.

Xue, G. T. et al. Ultrabright Multiplexed Energy-Time-Entangled Photon Generation from Lithium Niobate on Insulator Chip. Phys. Rev. Appl. 15, 1 (2021).

Meanwhile, cutting tool forms have remained simple. Standard milling tools come in basic forms that would have been recognizable even well before the age of programmable machining. We take this for granted, but do cutting tools require simple shapes? As it turns out, not at all. Complex machines can mill complex forms using complex tools—and this last item is the piece that has now arrived and begun to find its place.

Circle-segment tools all but need five-axis machines, particularly in machining of die and mold forms, to keep them cutting at the angles they require. These tools realize the promise made possible through sophisticated machine motion plus sophisticated programming.

Working closely with customers and making careful investments has enabled this Wisconsin machine shop to tackle difficult jobs with tight deadlines as a core part of its business.

The circle-segment cutter represents a class of milling tool in which the CAM software is key for using the tool effectively. Cutting profiles presented at the proper angles realize cycle-time reductions in contoured workpieces such as molds. A CAM company engineer discusses the role of this tooling.

Luo, R. et al. Optical Parametric Generation in a Lithium Niobate Microring with Modal Phase Matching. Phys. Rev. Appl. 11, 1 (2019).

Join Mahr for an informative webinar to discover the latest advancements in precision measurement, designed to elevate your quality assurance processes and unlock peak productivity. It'll explore cutting-edge technologies — such as modern height gages and contour measuring systems — along with their applications, benefits and technical capabilities. Discover the power of height gages: Learn how intuitive and sophisticated height gages can revolutionize your measurement processes, enabling quick and accurate results in inspection and production areas. Explore the practical functions and ease of use that make height gages an ideal solution for manufacturers seeking high-performance and reliable measuring technology. Examine sample applications and industries where height gages excel, such as qualifying first parts, inspecting incoming parts and measuring series of parts in industries like aerospace, automotive and medical. Unlock efficient contour measurement: An introduction to the latest contour measuring technologies that enable fast, simple and comprehensive contour measurement in the production environment. Discover how these innovative solutions ensure reliable measurements, saving time and increasing efficiency while measuring a wide range of workpieces. Learn how to streamline your contour measuring process with speed and simplicity, achieving fast and precise measurements with incredible versatility. Register now and discover how to unlock peak productivity with new innovations in precision measurement. Agenda: Insights into the latest precision measurement technologies and their applications Understanding of how to improve quality assurance processes and increase productivity Knowledge of how to select the right measurement solutions for your specific needs Tips on how to optimize your measurement processes for maximum efficiency

We fix the pump power of the TE-mode at 1575.4 nm within the through waveguide at ~0.5 mW on-chip power (see Methods) and measure the TM-polarized SHG at the drop waveguide port. Figure 3g shows the corresponding measured SHG spectrum using an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA). The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the pump and of the SHG are limited to the equipment resolution of 0.02 nm. The inset shows the top-view of the SHG scattering signal captured by a CCD camera. As the SHG is a second-order nonlinear harmonic generation driven by simultaneously absorbing two fundamental pump photons, the SHG is signified by a parabolic dependence on the pump power. Figure 3h shows the measured pump-to-SHG power dependence in a log-log scale, revealing a fitted slope of \(1.98\pm 0.01\) that is consistent with the nature of the SHG. We estimate the on-chip SHG conversion efficiency to be \({\eta }_{{SHG}}=\frac{{P}_{{SHG}}}{{P}_{p}^{2}}=17.4\pm 0.2 \% {W}^{-1}\) with the maximum waveguide end-facet out-coupling loss of 5.8 dB (See Supplementary Note 7 for details). We calculate the theoretical SHG conversion efficiency as follows37:

Q-Mark has built its metrology business by providing what customers need, when they want it. This goes for its IMTS booth, too, with free drinks alongside custom technology.

Learn more about the variety of technology and machinery Hwacheon Machinery America, Inc. is featuring at its IMTS 2024 booth.

Weldon Solutions is demonstrating three grinders at IMTS 2024. Though they differ in size and use case, all feature the company’s hallmark customizations.

The MB45 series is designed to deliver the low cutting force benefits of positive inserts and the fracture resistance of negative inserts.

Incremental mode can be more advantageous when programming sculptured surfaces or for certain hole-machining canned cycle applications.

Li, J., Zhang, Q., Wang, J. et al. An integrated 3C-silicon carbide-on-insulator photonic platform for nonlinear and quantum light sources. Commun Phys 7, 125 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01620-x

“In the past, CAM actually hasn’t modeled cutting tools as tools,” he says. It didn’t need to. Cutting tool shapes were so simple—a cylinder for an end mill, or a cylinder with a hemispherical tip for a ballnose end mill—that just these simple geometric solids were sufficient to accurately represent the tools in CAM. Circle-segment tools change this, he says, because they require a non-simple cutting tool form to be precisely realized and precisely manipulated with respect to a workpiece form that is also not simple. This is the task to which CAM developers have been rising in equipping the software to make use of these tools.

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Women in Manufacturing is excited to announce that the 2024 SUMMIT will be a hybrid event — both an in-person and virtual experience. Both program offerings will enable you to grow through education and connections that are insightful, meaningful and actionable. Join Women in Manufacturing Oct. 6-9, 2024, in Boston or digitally for an event filled with plant tours at leading manufacturing facilities, professional development sessions, roundtable discussions on important topics, and inspiring keynotes. All while engaging and interacting with peers through social and networking events! __PRESENT __PRESENT

Wang, C. et al. High-Q microresonators on 4H-silicon-carbide-on-insulator platform for nonlinear photonics. Light Sci. Appl. 10, 139 (2021).

Refined machines at EROWA are handling heavier loads, while its precision workholding enhances stability and rigidity.

Effective team collaboration is a critical component of success in today’s manufacturing world. With cloud-based technologies that make it easy for team members to brainstorm and problem solve remotely from various locations, design-to-manufacturing processes can become faster and more efficient. This webinar will demonstrate how fully integrated CAM software can be utilized with 3DExperience SolidWorks in a seamless work environment to accelerate product development. Agenda: See how HCL CAMWorks can be used as an add-in for all SolidWorks applications working with the cloud-based 3DExperience platform Learn how fully integrated CAD/CAM saves significant amounts of time during the design to manufacturing process Gain a new understanding of how software can connect users worldwide to accelerate product development Watch a demonstration of team collaboration using platform tools in the CAD/CAM software environment

Silicon carbide (SiC) polytypes are emerging for integrated nonlinear and quantum photonics due to their wide-bandgap energies, second-order optic nonlinearity and process compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technologies. Among polytypes, 3C-SiC is the only one epitaxially grown on wafer-scale silicon substrates. However, on-chip nonlinear and quantum light sources leveraging the second-order nonlinearity of 3C-SiC have not been reported to our knowledge. Here, we design and fabricate an elliptical microring on 3C-SiC. We demonstrate a nonlinear light source with a second-harmonic generation efficiency of \(17.4\pm 0.2 \% {W}^{-1}\) and difference-frequency generation with a signal-idler bandwidth of 97 nm. We demonstrate a spontaneous parametric down-conversion source with a photon-pair generation rate of 4.8 MHz and a coincidence-to-accidental ratio of \(3361\pm 84\). We measure a low heralded single-photon second-order coherence \({g}_{H}^{\left(2\right)}=0.0007\). We observe time-bin entanglement with a visibility of \(86.0\pm 2.4 \%\) using this source. Our work paves a way toward SiC-based on-chip nonlinear and quantum photonic circuits.

FABTECH 2024 will be held October 15-17, 2024, in Orlando, Florida, at the Orange County Convention Center. FABTECH provides a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, discover innovative solutions, and find the tools to improve productivity and increase profits. There is no better opportunity to network, share knowledge and explore the latest technology, all here in one place. Future U.S. Show Dates and Locations 2025 – September 8-11 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL 2026 – October 21-23 at Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV 2027 – September 13-16 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL

Severino, A. 3C-SiC epitaxial growth on large area silicon: Thin films. Silicon Carbide Epitaxy 37, 145–191 (2012).

Dorin, B. & Ye, W. Two-mode division multiplexing in a silicon-on-insulator ring resonator. Opt. Express 22, 4547–4558 (2014).

Over time, machine tool motion has become more intricate. Precise control of five-axis machining centers allows for elaborate tool paths. Over time as well, CAM software has become more sophisticated, increasing the ease and effectiveness with which complex machines can be programmed.

Automation is no longer a luxury in manufacturing today – it’s a necessity. The Automated Shop Conference (TASC) will connect job shops with experts who offer advice and considerations for this process.

Job shops are implementing automation and digitalization into workflows to eliminate set up time and increase repeatability in production.

Attend TASC, The Automated Shop Conference, in Novi, Mich on Oct. 11, 2023 for a comprehensive look into how to use automation to transform your machine shop.

Heidenhain and Acu-Rite Solutions are offering several hands-on experiences at their booth this year, as well as internal components that reduce energy use.

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There are usually better solutions to chatter than just reducing the feed rate. Through vibration analysis, the chatter problem can be solved, enabling much higher metal removal rates, better quality and longer tool life.

Though most frequently used for diameter measurements, an air plug and platen can be readily configured to measure perpendicularity.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of (a) the device, (b) the zoom-in view of the sidewall, and of (c) the cross-sectional view of the waveguide end-facet. d Near-field image of the TM20 mode. e Corresponding lens-to-lens normalized transmission spectra of the device for 780 nm wavelengths (red) and 1550 nm wavelengths (black). f Zoom-in view of the aligned resonances with a Lorentzian resonance lineshape fitting of the NIR resonance. g Measured pump (black) and second-harmonic generation (SHG) (red) spectra. Inset: Top-view scattering of the SHG light. h Measured and fitted pump-to-SHG power dependence in a log-log scale.

Mold and die machining is not the only application, he says. Aerospace parts with large swept surfaces are also candidates, as are medical implants. Both of these latter types of parts have the advantage that they likely already are being produced on five-axis machines. “We recently assisted a company machining a titanium knee component,” he says. “It was already five-axis, but the finish-milling cycle was 70 minutes. Circle-segment tooling reduced this to 10 minutes and delivered an even better surface.”

where \({\epsilon }_{0}\) is the vacuum permittivity and \({\epsilon }_{1(2)}=6.55(6.81)\) is the relative permittivity of 3C-SiC at 1550 nm and 780 nm11, respectively (See Supplementary Note 8 for details). We estimate a nonlinear coupling of \(\gamma \,\approx \,7.6\times {10}^{5}{Hz}\). From (1), assuming a double-resonance condition, we assume \({\varDelta \omega }_{1(2)} \,\ll \,{\kappa }_{1,t}\). Given our measured loaded-Q factors at 1550 nm and 780 nm and assuming an external coupling \({\kappa }_{1(2),e} \,\approx \,{\kappa }_{1(2),t}/2\) we theoretically estimated \({\eta }_{{SHG}} \,\approx \,19 \% {W}^{-1}\), which is consistent with our experimental estimation.

The silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor industry is expanding rapidly driven by the growing needs for high-power electronics1. Meanwhile, integrated photonic platforms based on SiC polytypes are emerging in recent years, including hexagonal (4H-, 6H-) SiC and cubic (3C-) SiC. They offer a wide bandgap energy from 2.3 to 3.2 eV2, which enables transmissions of visible light and does not suffer from nonlinear two-photon absorption at the 1550/1310 nm telecommunications wavelengths. They also feature a high hardness for photon-phonon interactions3, a fast heat dissipation for high-speed directly modulated lasers4 and different color centers for single quantum emitters5,6. Owing to their non-centrosymmetric crystal lattices, SiC polytypes feature second-order nonlinear susceptibilities \({\chi }^{(2)}\). For example, 3C-SiC features \({\chi }_{{zxy}}^{(2)}\approx\) 34 pm V−1 (theoretical)7 while 4H-SiC features \({\chi }_{{zzz}}^{(2)}\approx\) −23.4 pm V−1 and \({\chi }_{{zxx}}^{(2)}\approx\) 13.0 pm V−1 8 This enables nonlinear and spontaneous quantum light sources based on \({\chi }^{(2)}\) optic processes on integrated SiC-on-insulator (SiCoI) platforms. Compared with the integrated lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNoI) platform, SiC offers process compatibility with the mature wafer-level complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatibility (CMOS) processes and an insignificant photorefractive effect9,10,11. Supplementary Table 1 (see Supplementary Note 1) summarizes and compares conventional integrated second-order nonlinear photonic platforms.

Legacy Precision Molds takes us on a tour of their moldbuilding facility. They've recently implemented two automated 5-axis cells for metal and graphite machining that run lights out during nights and weekends.

New U.S.-based event announced in 2021 finally debuts next year: focuses on complete additive manufacturing value chain. More at formnextchicago.com.

From quadruped robot dogs, to an in-booth putting green where you can test out a new golf putter, to a 3D-printed car and more, attendees enjoyed cutting-edge technology and innovations all week long. Take a look to see what (or who!) you might have missed this week!

Take a look inside James Engineering, a high-end CNC Deburring OEM that became a job shop when they decided to produce their own parts in-house.

This work is supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, under Project 16202919. We thank Yuanbin Liu from Shanghai Jiao Tong University for helpful discussions.

Weldon Solutions is demonstrating three grinders at IMTS 2024. Though they differ in size and use case, all feature the company’s hallmark customizations.

Ceratizit USA announces it has appointed Carlos Garza as its business development leader for the oil and gas industry sector.

Guidry, M. A. et al. Optical parametric oscillation in silicon carbide nanophotonics. Optica 7, 1139 (2020).

Wang, L. et al. Growth of 3C-SiC on 150-mm Si (100) substrates by alternating supply epitaxy at 1000 °C. Thin Solid Films 519, 6443–6446 (2011).

The L.S. Starrett Co. has been manufacturing precision measurement tools in Athol, Massachusetts, since 1880. Attention to U.S. manufacturing often focuses on reshoring manufacturing from other countries, but Starrett never left. The facility in Athol employs hundreds and produces thousands of tools that remain vital for measurement in machining and other fields.

When revising part designs, investigate the 3D CAD, the 2D drawing and the part’s functional requirements to determine which details should be tightened up.

Guidry, M. A., Lukin, D. M., Yang, K. Y., Trivedi, R. & Vučković, J. Quantum optics of soliton microcombs. Nat. Photonics 16, 52–58 (2022).

Formnext Chicago is an industrial additive manufacturing expo taking place April 8-10, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Formnext Chicago is the second in a series of Formnext events in the U.S. being produced by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and Gardner Business Media (our publisher).

The payoff is nothing less than vastly reduced finish-milling times for workpieces featuring geometric contours. A circle-segment tool accomplishes the same thing as a ballnose tool to the extent of using a contoured edge to mill along a contoured surface. However, a ballnose tool features a cutting-edge radius that is only as large as the radius of the tool. By contrast, a circle-segment tool such as a barrel or oval cutter manages to deliver a large-radius milling profile using a tool that remains slender. Other profile types in Emuge’s line include lens and taper. (See photo four in the slideshow above.)

Fryer Machine Systems Inc. presents its TC Series of CNC machining centers for high-performance cutting, accuracy, reliability and ease of use.

We accumulate more than 6 h of data (40 Gb) and obtain only 1 triple coincidence count \({N}_{{s}_{1}{s}_{2}i}\) while collecting \({N}_{{s}_{1}i}={{{{\mathrm{1,949,638}}}}}\), \({N}_{{s}_{2}i}={{{{\mathrm{441,670}}}}}\) and \({N}_{i}={{{{\mathrm{610,078,920}}}}}\). Assuming a Poissonian distribution40 of the triple coincidence event, we estimate a low \({g}_{H}^{(2)}\) = 0.0007 and a confidence interval of (0.0001, 0.002) within approximately one standard deviation. This is one order of magnitude below recently reported work using second- and third-order SPDC processes38,39,40,41. Hence, our device can function as low-noise heralded single-photon sources.

Assuming \({\kappa }_{p,e}\,\approx \,{\kappa }_{p,t}/2\), we obtain from Eq. (3) the theoretical PGR efficiency of \(\frac{{PGR}}{{P}_{p}}=2.3{{{{{\rm{MHz}}}}}}{{{{{{\rm{mW}}}}}}}^{-1}\), which is close to our measured result. Our estimated PGR values are smaller than those reported values of the AlN platform38 and of the LNoI platform39. We attribute this to our un-optimized device fabrication process, as the pair-generation efficiency is primarily determined by the total cavity loss (see Eq. (3)). Figure 5g shows the CAR of the two pairs, given by \({CAR}=\frac{{N}_{{si}}}{{N}_{{{{{{\rm{noise}}}}}}}}\). Here we integrate the rare coincidence counts 1 ns away from the central peak of the coincidence counts to obtain an average coincidence count per bin and multiply the 12 number of bins adopted in the summation of \({N}_{{si}}\) to obtain the \({N}_{{{{{{\rm{noise}}}}}}}\) (see Supplementary Note 11). We obtain a high \({CAR}=3361\pm 84\) upon pumping at the on-chip power of 5 mW from the 1569/1581 nm photon-pairs. We also characterize the SPDC process using another device with a designed waveguide width of 1000 nm (see Supplementary Note 12). As indicated by the DFG process, this device generates photon-pairs in the C-band channels.

We describe the experimental setup in Supplementary Note 4. We fix the pump wavelength \({\lambda }_{p}\) at a cavity resonance at 787.7 nm and measure the SPDC with two-channel superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). The SNSPDs feature dark counts of ~100 Hz for each of the two channels. Figure 5a shows the measured single-photon flux detected by the SNSPDs with different dense wavelength-division multiplexed (DWDM) channels that span the corresponding cavity resonance wavelengths in the NIR. The estimated on-chip pump power is 5.8 mW, which is the maximum on-chip power obtainable from our setup using a continuous-wave semiconductor laser. We register the photon arrival times from two non-degenerate photon-pairs, namely 1569/1581 nm and 1563/1588 nm, by the time-digit converter (TDC) with a resolution of 5 ps per bin. Figure 5b, c shows the measured histograms of the relative arrival times of the two pairs of channels at a pump power of 5 mW, which feature strong coincidence. We record 60 s of data for each pair for statistics. We adopted a double-side exponential decay relation \({N}_{{si}}(t)={N}_{0}{e}^{-\left|t\right|/\tau }\) to fit the data, where \({N}_{{si}}(t)\), \({N}_{0}\) and \(\tau\) are the coincidence count in the time-bin at delay \(t\), the maximum coincidence count at zero-time delay and the photon life-time. The fitted value of \(\tau =26\pm 1{{{{{\rm{ps}}}}}}\) for both the pairs correspond to the loaded Q factor of ~\(2.5\times {10}^{4}\) in the NIR wavelengths, which is consistent with our transmission resonance measurements (see Fig. 3e). We define the coincidence counts summed up from the 12 bins within the \(\pm \tau\) range of the histograms as the total coincidence count \({N}_{{si}}\).

Jiayang Li designed, simulated, fabricated and characterized the devices. Qianni Zhang and Jiantao Wang performed the characterization of the pump-to-SHG power dependence and the data analysis of SHG. Jiayang Li, Qianni Zhang, Jiantao Wang and Andrew W. Poon wrote the manuscript. Andrew W. Poon supervised this project.

Part of Major Tool’s 52,000 square-foot building expansion includes the installation of this new Waldrich Coburg Taurus 30 vertical machining center.

Kwon, O., Park, K.-K., Ra, Y.-S., Kim, Y.-S. & Kim, Y.-H. Time-bin entangled photon pairs from spontaneous parametric down-conversion pumped by a cw multi-mode diode laser. Opt. Express 21, 25492 (2013).

Powell, K. et al. High-Q suspended optical resonators in 3C silicon carbide obtained by thermal annealing. Opt. Express 28, 4938 (2020).

Mastercam 2025 incorporates big advancements and small — all based on customer feedback and the company’s commitment to keeping its signature product best in class.

We input both the on-resonance near-visible pump and NIR signal waves from the drop- and input-bus waveguides, respectively (see Supplementary Note 4). In each experiment, we fix the pump wavelength \({\lambda }_{p}\) at a cavity resonance around 780 nm and then tune the signal wavelength around different cavity resonances at the blue side of \(2{\lambda }_{p}\). We fine-tune the pump and signal wavelengths around their respective cavity resonances to maximize the output DFG idler power generated at the red side of \(2{\lambda }_{p}\) (see Supplementary Note 9). We fix the estimated on-chip power of pump and signal waves at 4 mW.

A few conventional phase-matching techniques, including periodic-poling-based quasi-phase-matching (QPM)28,29, birefringence-based phase-matching30 and cyclic QPM31, are not available for the 3C-SiC material. We chose to design for a MPM, where we adopted a higher-order TM20 mode at the pump wavelength to match the effective refractive index of the fundamental TE00 mode at the signal/idler NIR wavelengths.

Rob Guiao, Chris Hall and Bassanio Peters will demonstrate relatable situations to equip you with data to improve predictability, future-proof operations and maximize ROI. Agenda: Explore the importance of data in decision-making, especially for facility upgrades or new projects Learn how comprehensive solutions for manufacturing and construction projects can improve predictability and ROI See real demonstrations of machine integrations, facility layouts and automations to ensure proper throughput and integration

Lukin, D. M. et al. 4H-silicon-carbide-on-insulator for integrated quantum and nonlinear photonics. Nat. Photonics 14, 330–334 (2020).

Figure 4a–f show the measured spectra using the OSA. The dashed line in each figure denotes the degenerate \(2{\lambda }_{p}\) positions. The pump cavity resonances supporting triple-resonance DFG span from 786.17 nm to 795.69 nm, giving a pump spectral window of 9.5 nm. We observe cavity-enhanced DFG from at least five different signal cavity resonances. Pumping at a cavity resonance of 795.7 nm, we observe the maximum non-degeneracy of 97 nm. Figure 4g shows in a scatter plot the measured triple-resonance-enhanced DFG modes. However, in comparison with the numerically simulated waveguide dispersion (Fig. 2d), the observed overall spectral range for attaining triple-resonance DFG is narrower. We attribute this to fabrication-induced non-uniformities. While the measured triple-resonance DFG spectral windows are wider than those reported of similar microring cavity-based work on the LNoI37 and AlN38 platforms. We also characterize another waveguide-coupled elliptical microring with a designed waveguide width of 1000 nm (see Supplementary Note 10) that shows a blue shift of the overall triple-resonance DFG spectral range, which is consistent with the numerical simulation of the waveguide dispersion (see Supplementary Note 2). Figure 4h shows the measured power-dependence of the DFG. We pump at a 787.7 nm cavity resonance and input a signal at a 1569.2 nm cavity resonance and measure the generated idler power at the corresponding 1581.8 nm cavity resonance. In the log-log scale, the idler power has fitted slopes of \(0.96\pm 0.01\) and \(0.90\pm 0.01\) dependence on the pump and on the signal, respectively, as expected from a theoretical linear dependence.

Working closely with customers and making careful investments has enabled this Wisconsin machine shop to tackle difficult jobs with tight deadlines as a core part of its business.

JD Machine, 2024’s Top Shops Honoree in Human Resources, embodies its “Education for Life” core value with a robust apprenticeship program and significant continuous improvement efforts.

We demonstrated experimentally that our integrated 3C-SiCoI photonic platforms enable nonlinear and quantum light sources using waveguide-coupled elliptical microring cavities. We realized quantum interference systems, namely, time-bin entanglement using our photon-pair sources. By exploiting a wafer-scale bonding process, we envision the feasibility to fabricate on a chip large-scale-integrated cavities and on-chip interferometers. Our work thus paves the way toward future large-scale-integrated on-chip nonlinear and quantum photonic circuits based on this CMOS-compatible second-order nonlinear photonic platform. Besides, the recently demonstrated Pockels-effect-based 3C-SiC optical modulator21 can be integrated on the same quantum photonic chip to provide even more complex quantum state manipulation functionalities. Our measured SHG conversion and pair-generation generation efficiencies are, however, still below those state-of-the-art values from other on-chip second-order nonlinear photonic platforms, including LNoI38, GaAs36 and 4H-SiC19. The work reported in those platforms are based on resonators supporting loaded Q factors of \({10}^{5} \sim {10}^{6}\). We attribute our limited \({Q \sim 10}^{4}\) to our un-optimized fabrication process, where the waveguide sidewall roughness resulting from the dry etching causes significant scattering losses. Given our near-vertical waveguide sidewall slope of \(86^{\circ}\), we can fabricate thicker 3C-SiC devices with a wider waveguide width, which can increase the waveguide confinement and reduce the sidewall scattering loss. The scattering losses caused by the crystal lattice defects within the 3C-SiC film can limit the cavity Q factor as well. Those defects are generated during the epitaxial process because of the large (20%) lattice mismatch between the 3C-SiC and the Si substrates. We can mitigate this issue by adopting thicker epitaxial layers, which relax the crystal lattice defects due to the lattice mismatch gradually with the film thickness46,47,48, and by thinning down the films to the target thickness while removing the high-density crystal defects near the interface with the Si substrate.”

The Automated Shop Conference (TASC) will give shops of all sizes and production volumes key insights and practical guidance on how to implement automation.

FANUC’s IMTS 2024 booth includes real-time demonstrations that show the abilities of its equipment, including robots, controllers and machine tools.

Take a look inside James Engineering, a high-end CNC Deburring OEM that became a job shop when they decided to produce their own parts in-house.

AccuRounds has created synergy between culture and technology, driving a commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Communications Physics thanks Florian Kaiser and the other anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Ever wonder what sets Top Shops apart from the competition? Dive into their award-winning practices and explore behind-the-scenes strategies for operational excellence.

Wang, R., Li, J., Cai, L. & Li, Q. “Investigation of the electro-optic effect in high-Q 4H-SiC microresonators,”. Opt. Lett. 48, 1482–1485 (2023).

Did you know that the show was postponed for WWII? Or that McCormick Place was expanded in the ’70s just to accommodate IMTS? A fascinating look at the show’s history from 1927 to today.

Figure 6a illustrates the principle of generating time-bin entanglement using a free-space Franson unbalanced interferometer. The photon-pairs can simultaneously travel through the short arm together and the long arm together, which are indistinguishable. The photon-pairs can also travel through the short arm and the long arm separately, which are distinguishable. When the photons re-enter the fiber system and routed to SNSPDs through the DWDM filters, the recorded histogram of their relative arrival times is shown in the Inset. We attribute the two side peaks as the distinguishable events that the two photons propagate in different arms. The central time-bin measures the photon-pair in an entangled state as \(|\psi > =\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}({{|SS} > }_{{si}}+{e}^{i\left({\varphi }_{s}+{\varphi }_{i}\right)}{{|LL} > }_{{si}})\), where S(L) and \({\varphi }_{s}\)(\({\varphi }_{i}\)) denote the short (long) arm and the optical phase difference between the two arms of the signal (idler) photon. To separate the central peak time-bin from the side peak time-bins, we unbalance the interferometer arms by exceeding the coherence length of the photons limited by the cavity lifetime, calculated by \({L}_{c}=\tau c\), which is 7.8 mm for our case.

Here is how the circle-segment tool saves cycle time relative to a ballnose tool. The larger-radius edge permits larger stepover increments. Not only does productivity improve, but the resulting surface finish is liable to be better as well. (Illustration courtesy Mastercam/CNC Software.)

Yamaoka, S. et al. Directly modulated membrane lasers with 108 GHz bandwidth on a high-thermal-conductivity silicon carbide substrate. Nat. Photonics 15, 28–35 (2021).

Circle-segment tools finish surfaces significantly more productively than ballnose tools by cutting with an edge that is larger in radius than the ballnose’s ball. The taper tool seen here is an extreme case—its cutting edge seems almost straight. Making use of such low curvature requires a precise angle of engagement.

Wang, J. et al. Bright room temperature single photon source at telecom range in cubic silicon carbide. Nat. Commun. 9, 4106 (2018).

Brendel, J., Gisin, N., Tittel, W. & Zbinden, H. Pulsed Energy-Time Entangled Twin-Photon Source for Quantum Communication. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2594–2597 (1999).

Jiang, X., Wu, H. & Dai, D. Low-loss and low-crosstalk multimode waveguide bend on silicon. Opt. Express 26, 17680 (2018).

In this webinar, industry-leading experts will demonstrate how additive manufacturing can revolutionize your operations and answer the question: Can you afford not to? From rapid prototyping to robust fixturing and specialized custom tooling, it’ll showcase the diverse applications that can drive your business forward in a time where cost and time saving can be crucial. Discover how to reduce costs, accelerate production cycles and achieve unparalleled design freedom through the strategic integration of 3D printing technology. Phillip’s panel of seasoned professionals will share real-world examples and practical insights to help you understand the potential of additive manufacturing. Learn how to overcome production challenges, improve product quality and gain a competitive advantage. It will explore the cost-benefit analysis of 3D printing — including material and labor savings — as well as the potential for increased revenue. Join this webinar to discover why additive manufacturing is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for success. Agenda: Prototyping example: quick-change prototype Custom tooling real-world example: press brake, tube bending die CMM fixturing and workholding example: CMM fixture and soft jaw

Kaneda, F., Suzuki, H., Shimizu, R. & Edamatsu, K. Direct generation of frequency-bin entangled photons via two-period quasi-phase-matched parametric down conversion. Opt. Express 27, 1416 (2019).

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

a Schematics of a parametric down-conversion photon-pair source on a 3C-SiCoI platform. b Schematics of the Type-I phase-matching process. c Illustration of an elliptical microring cavity with the normalized effective nonlinearity \({\chi }_{{eff}}^{(2)}/{\chi }_{{zxy}}^{(2)}=\cos \varphi \,\sin \varphi\) as a function of rotation angle \(\varphi\) of the fields relative to the crystal x-axis. Purple represents the pump frequency, blue and red represent the generated signal and idler frequencies, respectively.

One such partner is CNC Software, developer of Mastercam. Application Engineer Jesse Trinque is one of the CNC Software team members who has been involved in developing the Mastercam capabilities tailored to circle-segment tools, and he has worked with shops using this tooling. He recently offered his perspective on the importance he sees for this relatively new type of milling tool, and the corresponding importance of the cutting tool and the CAM software increasingly working as a unified system.

FANUC’s IMTS 2024 booth includes real-time demonstrations that show the abilities of its equipment, including robots, controllers and machine tools.

Are AMRs the next big trend in job shop automation? System 3R’s IMTS booth will emphasize both its specialty EDM tooling and its automation products, including an autonomous moving robot.

a Measured single-photon flux detected by the SNSPDs with different DWDM channels. SNSPDs: superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. DWDM channels: dense wavelength-division multiplexed channels. FSR: free spectral range. b, c Measured histograms of the relative arrival times of the first adjacent resonances at 1569/1581 nm and of the second adjacent resonances at 1563/1588 nm, respectively. The histograms are measured multiple times to obtain the error bars for all the bins. Measured power dependence of: (d) the single-channel counts, (e) the photon-pair coincidence counts, (f) the estimated PGRs, and of (g) the estimated CARs. The error bars are the standard deviations of (b–e) the coincidence counts, (f) PGRs and of (g) CARs.

She, X., Huang, A. Q., Lucia, O. & Ozpineci, B. Review of Silicon Carbide Power Devices and Their Applications. IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. 64, 8193–8205 (2017).

Li, J. & Poon, A. W. A 3C-SiC-on-Insulator-Based Integrated Photonic Platform Using an Anodic Bonding Process with Glass Substrates. Micromachines 14, 399 (2023).

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To demonstrate the potential of building a quantum system based on our 3C-SiCoI platform, we examine time-bin entanglement using our photon-pair sources. Entangled photon-pairs constitute many quantum-enabled technologies, including quantum computing and quantum cryptography42. Among various physical dimensions for entanglement, time-bin entanglement is more robust to perturbations when the photons propagate in fiber networks42,43,44,45.

We insert the free-space interferometer into the down-stream of the SPDC experimental setup to prepare the entanglement. We pump at 787.7 nm with an estimated 5 mW on-chip power and measure the photon-pair channels of 1569/1581 nm. Figure 6b shows the measured histograms at two different piezo-voltage settings fine-tuning the interferometer long arm. The three-peak time-bins are separated by a time difference of 0.58 ns, corresponding to a path difference of 17.4 cm. The coincidence counts at the \({{|SS} > }_{{si}}\) and \({{|LS} > }_{{si}}\) time-bins are not sensitive to the piezo-voltage while the total coincidence counts in the central time-bin vary sinusoidally with the piezo-voltage. The quantum interference between the superposed photon-pair states \({{|SS} > }_{{si}}\) and \({{|LL} > }_{{si}}\) yields a sinusoidal modulation of the coincidence counts (assuming 50:50 beam splitters) as \(0.5{N}_{\max }[1+V\cos \left({\varphi }_{s}+{\varphi }_{i}\right)]\), where \({N}_{\max }\) and \(V\) are the maximum transmitted central time-bin counts and the visibility of the quantum interference. Figure 6c, d shows the measured channel counts of the signal/idler photons and the measured coincidence counts of the central time-bin, respectively. Each data point corresponds to a data collection spanning 30 s. We do not observe first-order (single-photon) quantum interference as the interferometer path difference is significantly longer than the photon cavity coherence time so the two wave-packets of the same photon simultaneously traveling in the two different interferometer arms cannot meet each other. We observe second-order quantum interference in the coincidence counts in the central time-bin. Using a sinusoidal fitting, we extract a visibility of \(V=86.0\pm 2.4 \%\). This is significantly exceeding the Bell’s inequality limit of \(70.1 \%\)23\(,\) indicating a clear time-bin entanglement. We attribute the non-ideal visibility to the drifts of the optical alignment and collimation conditions of the two interferometer arms during the experiment. We note that our Franson interferometer is not actively stabilized, and thus phase drift is potentially the main source of fringe visibility degradation. In our future work, we could employ active stabilization on the interferometer to overcome the issue. We note that the superposed \({{|SS} > }_{{si}}\) and \({{|LL} > }_{{si}}\) states do not have the same probability amplitudes in practice due to different setup insertion losses for the two interferometer arms.

We must account for the \(\bar{4}3m\) crystal point-group symmetry of 3C-SiC32 for designing a microring cavity. When the three mixing fields propagate in an arbitrary direction within the (001) 3C-SiC film, the projection of the field of the TE-mode onto the x- and y-crystal axes results in an angle-dependent effective susceptibility \({\chi }_{{eff}}^{(2)}=\cos \varphi \,\sin \varphi \,{\chi }_{{zxy}}^{(2)}\)33. The \({\chi }_{{eff}}^{(2)}\) is optimized with the waves propagating in directions \(45^\circ /135^\circ\) between the x- and y-crystal axes. The nonlinear polarization of a \(\bar{4}3m\) crystal has a \(\pi\)-phase flip with the wave propagation directions rotated by \(90^\circ\). While we may leverage this characteristic property to attain \(\bar{4}\)-QPM, as theoretically studied and experimentally demonstrated in compound III-V material systems featuring the \(\bar{4}3m\) crystal symmetry34,35,36, this method typically imposes a few-micron cavity size for microdisk resonators which may limit the Q factor34,35. The design principle also involves careful alignment of resonances with a certain mode-order difference34,35,36. These impose an overall tight tolerance for device fabrication. Figure 1c schematically illustrates our mitigation of adopting an elliptical cavity. In our scheme, to attain efficiently phase-matched nonlinear processes within microring cavities, we designed an elliptical microring cavity, with a major-to-minor-axes aspect ratio of 2 to increase the MPM interaction length along the flat arc waveguide in one \(90^{\circ}\) rotation of the fields while decreasing the reverse conversion around the two high-curvature poles. We adopted a semi-major axis \(a=30\mu m\) and a semi-minor axis \(b=15\mu m\), which corresponds to a circumference \(L=145\mu m\), to enable a smaller mode volume compared with mm-sized cavities.

Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. appoints Joseph Farkas as its director of sales West and Terry Ritterbush as its director of sales East.

Tool-holder-spindle-machine combinations each have a unique dynamic response in the same way that each person has a unique fingerprint, which can be revealed using modal testing.

Photonic Device Laboratory, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China

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Each tool setting technique has merit, and it depends on where you are as a shop and the type of work you do, as cost and efficiency all come into play.

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The latest episode “Made in the USA” podcast explores a company that uses collaborative robots, one of the key tools helping US machine shops and other manufacturers compete with lower cost countries by automating production.

Zoller’s open house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, provided attendees with a glimpse of the connectivity and efficiency the company’s products offer to users.

Horn USA’s new booth concept is designed to enable attendees to (literally) get a better feel for its various tooling offerings.

Ever wonder what sets Top Shops apart from the competition? Dive into their award-winning practices and explore behind-the-scenes strategies for operational excellence.

Dong, N., Chen, F. & Vázquez de Aldana, J. R. Efficient second harmonic generation by birefringent phase matching in femtosecond-laser-inscribed KTP cladding waveguides. Phys. Status Solidi Rapid Res. Lett. 6, 306–308 (2012).

What angle? Mr. Trinque says the tool with an oval form is limited to a 15-degree range of motion at which the tool is effective. The taper-form tool is far more limited than this; its angle of engagement cannot vary by more than 0.1 degree. The ballnose, by contrast, is effectively unlimited in its range of motion. This is why ballnose tools are routinely used on even basic machining centers, but circle-segment tools are applied almost entirely on five-axis machines.

The new SolidMeister barrel end mills are efficient tools for complex 3D-surfacing operations used in mold making, orthopedic implants and the machining of other freeform surfaces.

Sato, H., Shoji, I., Suda, J. & Kondo, T. Accurate measurements of second-order nonlinear-optical coefficients of silicon carbide. Mater. Sci. Forum 615 617, 315–318 (2009).

The Walter Turn toolholder features rake-face cooling to help break and control chips, and double flank-face cooling directly at the cutting edge to extend tool life.

MaxiMill 491 features eight cutting edges per newly expanded 9-mm insert size, a precise 90° profile and a durable, nickel-coated tool body.

Romijn, J. et al. Integrated Digital and Analog Circuit Blocks in a Scalable Silicon Carbide CMOS Technology. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 69, 4–10 (2022).

FANUC’s IMTS 2024 booth includes real-time demonstrations that show the abilities of its equipment, including robots, controllers and machine tools.

Mariani, S. et al. Second-harmonic generation in AlGaAs microdisks in the telecom range. Opt. Lett. 39, 3062–3065 (2014).

Manufacturers continue to feel the pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and meet their sustainability strategies. As the industry evolves to keep pace with these priorities, there are opportunities within metalworking processes to use less resources with advanced lubricants and technical expertise. Agenda: An overview of metalworking lubrication Evolutions in metalworking lubrication Experience on the shop floor Key takeaways

Tool-holder-spindle-machine combinations each have a unique dynamic response in the same way that each person has a unique fingerprint, which can be revealed using modal testing.

Chang, L. et al. Strong frequency conversion in heterogeneously integrated GaAs resonators. APL Photonics 4, 036103 (2019).

Finally, there are rooms for our elliptical microring to further enhance the cavity-roundtrip nonlinear interaction coefficient \(\gamma\). For example, the ellipse of a larger \(a/b\) aspect ratio can further align the cavity along the orientation that enables the maximum \({\chi }_{{eff}}^{(2)}\) (see Supplementary Note 13). However, the design tradeoff is reducing the bending radius of the high-curvature poles by the relation \({R}_{{pole}}=\frac{{b}^{2}}{a}\). To provide further elongation while avoiding a larger bending curvature, other non-circular microring configurations can also be explored, including racetracks with Euler bending49 and Bezier bending50 designs. However, special optimization of these bending structures may be required to reduce the straight-to-curve transition loss of the two different modes at the pump/signal wavelengths simultaneously. Nonlinear and quantum light sources based on the 4-bar QPM are possible due to the point-group symmetry of 3C-SiC.

Wu, I. J. & Guo, G. Y. Second-harmonic generation and linear electro-optical coefficients of SiC polytypes and nanotubes. Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 78, 1–10 (2008).

For the SPDC, which is a spontaneous second-order nonlinear generation of photon pairs by down-converting one pump photon, the SPDC is signified by a linear dependence on the pump power. Figure 5d, e shows the measured power-dependence of the single-channel counts and of the photon-pair coincidence counts. We estimate the PGR inside the cavity by \({PGR}=\frac{{N}_{s}{N}_{i}}{{N}_{{si}}}\), where \({N}_{s(i)}\) are the single-channel counts from the signal (idler) flux. Figure 5f shows the estimated PGR. We observe a good linearity of the estimated PGR and obtain by linear fitting a pair generation efficiency of \(0.94\pm 0.02\) MHz mW−1 (1569–1581 nm) and \(1.32\pm 0.07\) MHz mW−1 (1562–1588 nm). We calculate the theoretical PGR assuming the triple-resonance condition as follows38:

Lu, X., Lee, J. Y., Rogers, S. & Lin, Q. Optical Kerr nonlinearity in a high-Q silicon carbide microresonator. Opt. Express 22, 30826 (2014).

Orais, N. M. et al. Directionally induced quasi-phase matching in homogeneous AlGaAs waveguides. Opt. Lett. 42, 4287–4290 (2017).

FANUC’s IMTS 2024 booth includes real-time demonstrations that show the abilities of its equipment, including robots, controllers and machine tools.

Nonetheless, none of the crystalline SiC polytypes offers a large refractive index contrast with their native substrates. Photonic devices on SiC are thus often fabricated on suspended SiC films12,13,14,15 and on the SiCoI platforms11,16,17,18,19,20,21. Integrated SiCoI platforms rely on molecular bonding16,17,18,19,20,21 or anodic bonding11 to transfer the SiC films onto SiO2 substrates, which enables a better scalability for larger-scale integrated photonic circuits. The optical nonlinearity of SiC have been studied last decade13,15. Optical parametric oscillation and soliton generation are demonstrated based on high-quality-factor (high-Q) (\( > {10}^{6}\)) microresonators on a 4H-SiCoI platform17,18 while four-wave mixing is demonstrated on a suspended 3C-SiC platform with relatively lower Q factors (\(\sim 7400\))14. The demonstration of \({\chi }^{(2)}\) nonlinearity-based sources remains a challenge partly due to the difficulty to attain the phase-matching condition across an octave while engineering the waveguide dispersion. Recently, second-harmonic generation (SHG) with efficiencies of 360% W−1 and 3.91% W−1 were demonstrated in 4H-SiCoI using modal phase matching (MPM) and a suspended 4H-SiC microdisk19,20, respectively. A time-averaged efficiency of 15% W−1 using a pulsed laser was demonstrated by using a suspended 6H-SiC photonic-crystal cavity13. Moreover, Pockels-effect-based microring modulators have been demonstrated on both 4H- and 3C-SiCoI platforms21,22. To our knowledge, spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC)-based photon-pair sources have not been demonstrated on SiC platforms.

When Puneet and Neelam Neotia moved from India to the United States several years ago, they brought with them a family background in manufacturing and CNC machining. Now the couple is working to get their startup machine shop off the ground, sourcing new customers and getting the word out about their shop in Clarksville, Indiana. The couple — proud to publicize their "Made in the USA" parts — is leveraging family connections and manufacturing capabilities back in India, but not in the way that some people assume.

Kuo, P. S., Bravo-Abad, J. & Solomon, G. S. Second-harmonic generation using 4-quasi-phasematching in a GaAs whispering-gallery-mode microcavity. Nat. Commun. 5, 1–7 (2014).

Zielinski, M. et al. Structural Quality, Polishing and Thermal Stability of 3C-SiC/Si Templates. Mater. Sci. Forum 924, 306–309 (2018).

Yamada, S. et al. Second-harmonic generation in a silicon-carbide-based photonic crystal nanocavity. Opt. Lett. 39, 1768 (2014).

Thoughtful considerations will set you on a shortened path to the most optimized solution once cutter meets metal.

The CoroMill Dura range is designed for roughing and finishing with different engagements in all applications and materials.

Thoughtful considerations will set you on a shortened path to the most optimized solution once cutter meets metal.

a Illustration of the principle of generating time-bin entanglement using a free-space Franson unbalanced interferometer. Inset (i): Illustration of the three-time-bin histogram. b Measured histograms at two different piezo-voltage settings. c Measured single-channel counts with different piezo-voltage settings. d Measured coincidence counts of the central bin upon various piezo-voltage settings and fitted with a sinusoidal function.

Lu, X., Lee, J. Y. & Lin, Q. High-frequency and high-quality silicon carbide optomechanical microresonators. Sci. Rep. 5, 1–9 (2015).

Though most frequently used for diameter measurements, an air plug and platen can be readily configured to measure perpendicularity.

New tech center is serving as a cutting-edge showroom and a technological hub for advanced machining applications.

Ma, C. et al. Silicon photonic entangled photon-pair and heralded single photon generation with CAR > 12,000 and g(2)(0) < 0.006. Opt. Express 25, 32995 (2017).

Ballnose tools remain important. Frequently, complex parts have hard-to-access features for which only a ballnose can do the machining at the restricted angle that the part itself makes possible. Indeed, Mr. Trinque says this point suggests one of the main challenges and mindset changes he sees related to the adoption of the newer tooling.

Thoughtful considerations will set you on a shortened path to the most optimized solution once cutter meets metal.

When it comes to utilizing the spindle’s power, there is a lot of headroom at the upper limits, provided it’s in short bursts. Be mindful of your time at these loads so you don’t stall out.

Sheng, Y. B. & Zhou, L. Deterministic polarization entanglement purification using time-bin entanglement. Laser Phys. Lett. 11, 085203 (2014).

AccuRounds has created synergy between culture and technology, driving a commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

We first fix the pump wavelength at 780 nm and assume degenerate signal and idler wavelengths at 1560 nm. Figure 2a shows the numerically simulated electric-field amplitude distributions of a TE00 mode at 1560 nm and a TM20 mode at 780 nm, respectively, using a finite-difference eigenmode tool. To search for the potential waveguide geometry to match the effective refractive index of the two modes, we systematically vary the thickness and the width of the rib waveguide structure. Based on our previous device fabrication results, we assumed a symmetric waveguide sidewall slope of \(86^{\circ}\). We kept a thin 3C-SiC slab of 100 nm un-etched to avoid undercutting the SiO2 layer underneath the SiC waveguide. The 3C-SiC is clad by a SiO2 layer with a thickness of 500 nm. We adopted a Cauchy model with A, B coefficients of 2.553 and 0.03539 to calculate the material index of 3C-SiC. To simplify the simulation and design, we assume a straight waveguide structure. Figure 2b shows the numerically simulated effective refractive indices of the two modes with different 3C-SiC film thicknesses as a function of the waveguide width. The width corresponds to the top side of the trapezoidal waveguide cross-section. We can attain the MPM with a waveguide width of 1000 nm and a thickness of 800 nm. The MPM width increases with the 3C-SiC film thickness while the mismatch between the effective refractive indices becomes more tolerant to the waveguide width variation with a thick film.

Figure 1a schematically illustrates our elliptical microring resonator as a parametric down-conversion photon-pair source on an integrated 3C-SiCoI platform. We discuss our device design principles starting from classical nonlinearity based on DFG. The zinc-blende unit cell of 3C-SiC features tensor elements \({\chi }_{{zxy}}^{(2)}={\chi }_{{xyz}}^{(2)}={\chi }_{{yzx}}^{(2)} \,\approx \,34{pm}\,{V}^{-1},\)7\(.\) We adopt this theoretical value because experimental Maker-fringes measurements on bulk 3C-SiC is not available yet25,26,27. These elements mix three waves that are linearly polarized along three orthogonal crystal axes upon satisfying the energy conservation of \({\omega }_{p}={\omega }_{s}+{\omega }_{i}\), where \({\omega }_{p,s,i}\) are the angular frequencies of the pump, signal and idler. To minimize the number of waveguide eigenmodes involved in the nonlinear processes, we chose Type-I phase matching noting that 3C-SiC is non-birefringent. As shown in Fig. 1b, based on the (001) 3C-SiC film, we set the NIR input signal and the idler waves around 1550 nm to be transverse electric (TE)-polarized (parallel to the chip) with the x- and y-components of the fields, while the pump wave around 780 nm to be transverse magnetic (TM)-polarized with the z-component of the field. We must satisfy the phase-matching condition of \({\beta }_{p}={\beta }_{s}+{\beta }_{i}\), where \({\beta }_{p/s/i}\) are the propagation constants of the three waveguide modes.

Jerphagnon, J. & Kurtz, S. K. Maker fringes: A detailed comparison of theory and experiment for isotropic and uniaxial crystals. J. Appl. Phys. 41, 1667–1681 (1970).

Heidenhain and Acu-Rite Solutions are offering several hands-on experiences at their booth this year, as well as internal components that reduce energy use.

Structured light scanning is used to create a digital twin of a manufactured part, but we must understand the measurement reproducibility to best use the data.

Xu, Y. et al. Mitigating photorefractive effect in thin-film lithium niobate microring resonators. Opt. Express 29, 5497 (2021).

Lin, J. et al. Phase-Matched Second-Harmonic Generation in an On-Chip LiNbO3 Microresonator. Phys. Rev. Appl. 6, 1–6 (2016).

a–f Measured difference-frequency generation (DFG) spectra with different input pump and signal resonances. Different colors represent various groups of pump, signal and generated idler wavelengths. g Scatter plot of the triple-resonance-enhanced DFG modes. The region between the two dashed lines corresponds to the simulated MPM zone in Fig. 2d. h Measured power-dependence of the DFG with varying pump and observed signal powers.

The advantage of the ballnose tool is that this classic tool type is agnostic on engagement angle. At whatever angle the tool is used, the tip still presents the same circular profile. The ballnose’s disadvantage, Mr. Trinque says, is cycle time. The tool requires a small stepover increment to machine a smooth surface, leading to long cycle times when the surface is large. Circle-segment tools can bring large stepovers and short cycle times to the same surfaces, but these tools have to be held at just the correct angle so that the large-radius profile comes into play.

Fall 2015 Tool Catalog - miniature carbide end mills

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