Photonicsoptical

Photonicsoptical refers to the field that studies the generation, manipulation, and detection of photons and the devices built to control light. It encompasses the science and engineering of optical signals, imaging, sensing, and information processing through light across a wide range of wavelengths, primarily in the visible and near infrared.

Core concepts in photonics include lasers and light-emitting diodes, modulators, detectors, waveguides, and optical fibers. Photonic integrated circuits aim to perform functions similar to electronic ICs, but using photons to carry information. Subfields such as nanophotonics and plasmonics explore light at sub-wavelength scales, while quantum photonics focuses on using single photons and entangled states for computation and communication.

Materials commonly used include silica glass for fibers, crystalline semiconductors such as indium phosphide and gallium arsenide for active devices, and silicon for integrated photonics. Advances in silicon photonics bridge electronics and photonics on a single chip, enabling high-bandwidth data transmission and on-chip sensing.

Industry-relevant applications cover telecommunications and data networks, medical imaging and therapy, environmental sensing, precision metrology, spectroscopy, and autonomous vehicles (for LiDAR). In research, photonics drives quantum information processing, nonlinear optics, and optical computing.

Historically, photonics emerged with mid-20th century studies of light and the invention of the laser, and expanded with the development of fiber optics in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, it underpins a broad ecosystem of devices and systems and continues to evolve with trends toward integrated photonics, nanophotonic devices, and quantum-enabled technologies. The term photonics is often used as a broader umbrella for optical engineering and light-based technologies.