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Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though covering all light's technical applications over the whole spectrum, most photonic applications are in the range of visible and near- infrared light. The term photonics developed as an outgrowth of the first practical semiconductor light emitters invented in the early 1960s and optical fibers developed in the 1970s.

History

The word 'Photonics' is derived from the Greek word "phos" meaning light (which has genitive case "photos" and in compound words the root "photo-" is used); it appeared in the late 1960s to describe a research field whose goal was to use light to perform functions that traditionally fell within the typical domain of electronics, such as telecommunications, information processing, etc.

Photonics as a field began with the invention of the laser in 1960. Other developments followed: the laser diode in the 1970s, optical fibers for transmitting information, and the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. These inventions formed the basis for the telecommunications revolution of the late 20th century and provided the infrastructure for the Internet.

Though coined earlier, the term photonics came into common use in the 1980s as fiber-optic data transmission was adopted by telecommunications network operators. At that time, the term was used widely at Bell Laboratories. Its use was confirmed when the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society established an archival journal named Photonics Technology Letters at the end of the 1980s.

During the period leading up to the dot-com crash circa 2001, photonics as a field focused largely on optical telecommunications. However, photonics covers a huge range of science and technology applications, including laser manufacturing, biological and chemical sensing, medical diagnostics and therapy, display technology, and optical computing. Further growth of photonics is likely if current silicon photonics developments are successful.

Relationship to other fields

Classical optics

Photonics is closely related to optics. Classical optics long preceded the discovery that light is quantized, when Albert Einstein famously explained the photoelectric effect in 1905. Optics tools include the refracting lens, the reflecting mirror, and various optical components and instruments developed throughout the 15th to 19th centuries. Key tenets of classical optics, such as Huygens Principle, developed in the 17th century, Maxwell's Equations and the wave equations, developed in the 19th, do not depend on quantum properties of light.

Modern optics

Photonics is related to quantum optics, optomechanics, electro-optics, optoelectronics and quantum electronics. However, each area has slightly different connotations by scientific and government communities and in the marketplace. Quantum optics often connotes fundamental research, whereas photonics is used to connote applied research and development.

The term ''photonics'' more specifically connotes:
* The particle properties of light,
* The potential of creating signal processing device technologies using photons,
* The practical application of optics, and
* An analogy to electronics.

The term optoelectronics connotes devices or circuits that comprise both electrical and optical functions, i.e., a thin-film semiconductor device. The term electro-optics came into earlier use and specifically encompasses nonlinear electrical-optical interactions applied, e.g., as bulk crystal modulators such as the Pockels cell, but also includes advanced imaging sensors.

Emerging fields

Photonics also relates to the emerging science of quantum information and quantum optics. Other emerging fields include:

* Optoacoustics or photoacoustic imaging where laser energy delivered into biological tissues will be absorbed and converted into heat, leading to ultrasonic emission.
* Optomechanics, which involves the study of the interaction between light and mechanical vibrations of mesoscopic or macroscopic objects;
* Optomics, in which devices integrate both photonic and atomic devices for applications such as precision timekeeping, navigation, and metrology;
* Plasmonics, which studies the interaction between light and plasmons in dielectric and metallic structures. Plasmons are the quantizations of plasma oscillations; when coupled to an electromagnetic wave, they manifest as surface plasmon polaritons or localized surface plasmons.
* Polaritonics, which differs from photonics in that the fundamental information carrier is a polariton. Polaritons are a mixture of photons and phonons, and operate in the range of frequencies from 300 gigahertz to approximately 10 terahertz.
* Programmable photonics, which studies the development of photonic circuits that can be reprogrammed to implement different functions in the same fashion as an electronic FPGA

Applications

Applications of photonics are ubiquitous. Included are all areas from everyday life to the most advanced science, e.g. light detection, telecommunications, information processing, photovoltaics, photonic computing, lighting, metrology, spectroscopy, holography, medicine (surgery, vision correction, endoscopy, health monitoring), biophotonics, military technology, laser material processing, art diagnostics (involving InfraRed Reflectography, Xrays, UltraViolet fluorescence, XRF), agriculture, and robotics.

Just as applications of electronics have expanded dramatically since the first transistor was invented in 1948, the unique applications of photonics continue to emerge. Economically important applications for semiconductor photonic devices include optical data recording, fiber optic telecommunications, laser printing (based on xerography), displays, and optical pumping of high-power lasers. The potential applications of photonics are virtually unlimited and include chemical synthesis, medical diagnostics, on-chip data communication, sensors, laser defense, and fusion energy, to name several interesting additional examples.

* Consumer equipment: barcode scanner, printer, CD/DVD/Blu-ray devices, remote control devices
* Telecommunications: optical fiber communications, optical down converter to microwave
* Renewable Energy: Solar power systems
* Medicine: correction of poor eyesight, laser surgery, surgical endoscopy, tattoo removal
* Industrial manufacturing: the use of lasers for welding, drilling, cutting, and various methods of surface modification
* Construction: laser leveling, laser rangefinding, smart structures
* Aviation: photonic gyroscopes lacking mobile parts
* Military: IR sensors, command and control, navigation, search and rescue, mine laying and detection
* Entertainment: laser shows, beam effects, holographic art
* Information processing
* Passive daytime radiative cooling
* Sensors: LIDAR, sensors for consumer electronics
* Metrology: time and frequency measurements, rangefinding
* Photonic computing: clock distribution and communication between computers, printed circuit boards, or within optoelectronic integrated circuits; in the future: quantum computing

Microphotonics and nanophotonics usually includes photonic crystals and solid state devices.

Overview of photonics research

The science of photonics includes investigation of the emission, transmission, amplification, detection, and modulation of light.

Light sources

Photonics commonly uses semiconductor-based light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), superluminescent diodes, and lasers. Other light sources include single photon sources, fluorescent lamps, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), and plasma screens. Note that while CRTs, plasma screens, and organic light-emitting diode displays generate their own light, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) like TFT screens require a backlight of either cold cathode fluorescent lamps or, more often today, LEDs.

Characteristic for research on semiconductor light sources is the frequent use of III-V semiconductors instead of the classical semiconductors like silicon and germanium. This is due to the special properties of III-V semiconductors that allow for the implementation of light emitting devices. Examples for material systems used are gallium arsenide (GaAs) and aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) or other compound semiconductors. They are also used in conjunction with silicon to produce hybrid silicon lasers.

Transmission media

Light can be transmitted through any transparent medium. Glass fiber or plastic optical fiber can be used to guide the light along a desired path. In optical communications optical fibers allow for transmission distances of more than 100 km without amplification depending on the bit rate and modulation format used for transmission. A very advanced research topic within photonics is the investigation and fabrication of special structures and "materials" with engineered optical properties. These include photonic crystals, photonic crystal fibers and metamaterials.

Amplifiers

Optical amplifiers are used to amplify an optical signal. Optical amplifiers used in optical communications are erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, Raman amplifier