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A growing research and development sector is a sign of a healthy economy. South Africa hopes that a focus on photonics technologies will help drive the country's socio–economic development.
Sophisticated imaging technology will be important for the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme, which aims to answer fundamental questions about the Universe and its origins.
Examples of structural phase changes abound in the natural world around us. But if we can exploit such changes on the nanoscale using light, new nanophotonics technology may be just around the corner.
Semiconductor quantum dots that are engineered to have both fluorescent and paramagnetic properties offer great potential as biological probes for imaging cellular activity. However, before such probes can be used in vivo, several challenges need to be overcome.
The photonics industry is in excellent health, with more job opportunities than have been seen in a number of years. The key is to find a position that's right for you.
Issues concerning intellectual property often rank low on the list of priorities of scientists focused on primary photonics research. However, ignorance of such matters can lead to missed opportunities, litigation or severely hinder the success of a start-up company.
Nanophotonics has emerged as an exciting new arena concerned with the interaction of light with nanostructured materials. But if nanophotonics is to maximize its impact on the market and the next generation of technology, those within the field will need to form a cohesive plan.
Researchers are increasingly toying with the idea of taking their ideas out of universities and into the marketplace. Starting your own company can be extremely rewarding, but it requires perseverance and a great deal of hard work.
In the future, equipping rooms with 'optical wireless hotspots' that enable fast free-space data transmission to laptops or mobile phones by means of light beams rather than radio waves, could dramatically boost the speed of wireless communication.
Many people believe that the LED was discovered by US researchers working in the 1960s. In fact, Henry Round at Marconi Labs noted the emission of light from a semiconductor diode 100 years ago and, independently, a forgotten Russian genius — Oleg Losev — discovered the LED.
A new Internet is emerging. One in which dedicated optical circuits allow researchers to connect to computers all over the world and interactively work with massive datasets in real time. The technology is opening up new avenues in science, and this is just the beginning.
