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Slow-light techniques originally conceived for buffering high-speed digital optical signals now look set to play an important role in providing broadband phase and true time delays for microwave signals.
The photosensitive optical fibre — a work-horse of the telecommunications industry for many years — is now seeing rapid uptake in the sensor and laser industries.
Twisting and microforming an optical fibre provides it with unique chiral properties that are useful for polarization control, harsh-environment sensing and dense multichannel coupling to photonic integrated circuits.
Important developments in fibre technology now allow the realization of fibre lasers with reliable and stable single-mode operation at power levels beyond 1 kW.
A growing body of medical evidence suggests that disrupting the body's biological clock can have adverse effects on health. Researchers are now creating the photonic tools to monitor, predict and influence the circadian rhythm.
Scaling IT infrastructure from microscale processors to macroscale data centres and telecommunications networks requires high-bandwidth technologies that are cheap, low-power and small. Silicon photonics that utilizes scalable CMOS technology may offer a highly integrated photonics transmission platform for such applications.
The advent of ophthalmic imaging instruments equipped with adaptive optics technology now makes it possible to visualize the retina at the cellular level, allowing the early detection of eye diseases.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has allowed the realization of cost-effective, high-performance deformable mirrors for adaptive-optics-enhanced imaging.
