Photonics & Optoelectronics Research
Photonics and optoelectronics are two closely related fields that deal with the interaction of light and matter. Photonics is the broader term, encompassing the study and application of light of all wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared. Optoelectronics is then a subfield of photonics that focuses on devices and components that emit or detect light.
With applications from healthcare to renewable energy, photonics and optoelectronics provides solutions to challenges in the modern world. As a rapidly growing field that explores the generation, manipulation, and detection of light, photonics and optoelectronics research is driving the development of new technologies in a wide range of fields, including telecommunications, computing, healthcare, energy, and manufacturing.
Key areas of photonics and optoelectronics research include:
- Light generation and manipulation: This includes the development of new types of lasers, optical fibres, and other devices for generating, transmitting, and manipulating light
- Optical materials: This includes the development of new materials with unique optical properties, such as metamaterials and photonic crystals
- Optical devices: This includes the development of new optical devices for a variety of applications, such as sensors, microscopes, and telecommunications components
- Photonics systems: This includes the development of new photonics systems for applications such as optical computing, quantum communication, and biomedical imaging
- Metamaterials: Metamaterials are artificially structured materials that have unique optical properties. They are being used to develop a wide range of new photonic devices, such as super-lenses and cloaking devices
- Quantum photonics: Quantum photonics is a rapidly developing field that is concerned with the manipulation of light at the quantum level. This has the potential to lead to new technologies such as quantum computers and quantum communication
PI-KEM's Photonics and Optoelectronics Research Team is actively involved in collaborative projects with universities, research institutes, and is committed to supporting the photonics and optoelectronics research and their excellent customer service has made them a trusted partner for photonics and optoelectronics researchers around the world.
Research Focus
- Communications: Photonics plays a vital role in modern telecommunications, with optical fibres carrying most of the world's data traffic. Researchers are working to develop new photonic technologies to increase bandwidth and reduce latency, and to enable new types of communication systems, such as quantum computing and communication networks. Researchers at the University of Southampton are developing new types of optical fibres that can transmit more data and over longer distances than current fibres. This could lead to significant improvements in the speed and capacity of the internet.
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- Medicine: Photonics is used in a wide range of medical applications, including diagnostics, imaging, and surgery. Researchers are developing new photonic devices and techniques for earlier and more accurate diagnosis of diseases, for minimally invasive surgery, and for the delivery of drugs and other therapies to the body. Photonic sensors for early skin cancer detection that work on monitoring the permittivity of human skin are at the prototype testing stage at The Department of Optoelectronics at Universität Duisburg Essen, Germany. The next stage in the development is to make these mobile so they can be used to reduce the number of invasive biopsies required.
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- Manufacturing: Photonics is used in a variety of manufacturing processes, including laser cutting, welding, and engraving. Researchers are developing new photonic technologies to improve the efficiency and precision of these processes. The Optoelectronics Research Centre at Tampere University, Finland specialises in research focused on investigate the possibilities of molecular beam epitaxy for the growth of new III-V semiconductor alloys and nanostructures.
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- Energy: Photonics is used in multiple energy technologies, including solar cells, LED lighting, and lasers for fusion power research. Researchers are working to develop new photonic devices and materials to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these technologies. The Energy Harvesting Research Group at the University of St Andrews is focused on research into innovative materials combined with emerging technologies such as wearables to achieve energy sustainability – the balance of clean, affordable and secure energy.
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- Security: Photonics is used in a variety of security applications, such as fibre optic sensing, night vision goggles, and laser rangefinders. Researchers are developing new photonic technologies for improved border security, surveillance, and anti-counterfeiting.
