Photonics

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Photonics (Greek photon "particles of light" and suffix ik "customer, doctrine") is a branch of science majoring in physics . It covers the fundamentals and the applications of optical processes and technologies in the areas of transmission, storage and processing of information .

In the narrower sense, photonics stands for optoelectronics ; in a broader sense, it is used beyond communications engineering for non-classical optical technologies, e.g. B. when using optical processors.

Areas

Photonics developed primarily from optical communications technology, which since the 1980s has replaced electrical transmission technology, first in the field of telecommunications , and later also for shorter distances, through the use of glass fibers as a transmission medium and the laser diode as a modulatable light source . Due to the further development of the fundamentals (understanding the propagation of light) and the components (light sources, modulators, detectors as well as micro- and nano-optical components and systems), the field of application of photonics has expanded significantly in recent years. Today photonics is not only used in traditional areas of information technology (transmission, storage and processing of information) but also related to areas such as nanotechnology (nanophotonics).

research

The current research focus in the field of photonics includes the production of micro- and nano-structured components. On the one hand, these are light sources such as LEDs , OLEDs and lasers , and on the other hand, waveguide structures such as photonic crystals , plasmonic waveguides, as well as micro-optical components and systems leading to photonic storage ( AOFF ).

After the development of the topological isolators , topological methods are developed in photonics to open up new applications ( topological photonics ).

practice

The practical areas of application of photonics can be roughly divided into four fields:

  • Lighting and displays
  • industrial manufacturing and quality assurance
  • information and communication
  • Life Sciences (see biophotonics )

Optical communication over long distances with the help of fiber-optic-based networks is now standard. Fiber optic technology offers enormous data capacities: transmission in the fixed network currently takes place at a wavelength of 1550 nm with data rates of 2.5 Gbit / s. The use of wavelength division multiplex technology ( WDM ) enables transmission capacities up to the terabit / s range.

Current developments mainly concern the area of ​​access to the fixed network, the key word here is "fiber to the home" ( FTTH ), which would provide subscribers with data rates of up to 1 Gbit / s to their home via fiber optics.

Optical processes are traditionally used in production technology and industrial manufacturing. This applies in part to the field of measurement technology for surface control and dimension measurement, with a large number of methods being used. Keywords are interferometry , holography , optical distance measurement , etc. In the processing of materials, the use of lasers for welding, cutting and drilling has increased significantly since the 1980s and 90s compared to traditional mechanical processes. The laser material processing is for. B. in the automotive industry an essential tool for fast, precise and reliable production of car bodies. But laser methods have also been used in the micro range for some time, whereby the use of short pulses with pulse durations in the picosecond and femtosecond range is of interest.

In the field of life sciences (this includes special areas of biology and medicine) the term biophotonics has been coined in recent years . Optical processes have gained additional importance here through the expansion of microscopy to include high-resolution processes such as near-field microscopy . The principle of optical tweezers is of great interest for handling microscopic and nanoscopic particles .

In the areas of lighting technology and display technology , optical processes and new components have brought about major changes. In terms of display technology, liquid crystal displays have largely replaced conventional tube monitors in recent years . Similar drastic changes could be imminent in lighting technology, where super bright LEDs (light emitting diodes), e.g. Partly based on organic materials (so-called OLEDs ) are becoming interesting for lighting in and outside of buildings.

Industry

The global photonics market was around 350 billion euros in 2011 compared to 228 billion euros in 2005. The average annual growth during this period was 7.5 percent.

The domestic production of the German photonics industry amounted to around 27 billion euros in 2011 compared to 17 billion euros in 2005, with an annual growth rate of around eight percent. In 2013 a turnover of 28.2 billion euros was achieved.

In 2011, German industry held a world market share of around eight percent. In the areas of production technology, image processing and measurement technology, optical components and systems as well as medical technology & life science, the market share was significantly higher at 10 to 16 percent and has grown compared to 2005. In Europe, Germany has a share of over 40 percent.

Around 30,000 new jobs were created between 2005 and 2011. Including suppliers, the number of employees in 2011 was 134,000. The export quota in 2011 was 66 percent, well above that of the manufacturing sector.

The USA, China, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and the Republic of Korea are among the most important destination countries for German photonics exports.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eric Meyer, Alexander Szameit: Enlightening topology . In: Physics Journal . tape 16 , no. 5 , 2017, p. 29-34 .
  2. ↑ " Currently used standards use 1 Gbit / s (EPON) or 2.5 Gbit / s (GPON) downstream data rates, to be shared by some dozens of users. A new standard for 10 Gbit / s is under development. " See: Rüdiger Paschotta: Fiber to the Home. In: RP Photonics Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Photonics Industry Report 2013, SPECTARIS / VDMA / ZVEI / BMBF, May 2013
  4. ↑ Data and facts on the German industry for optical, medical and mechatronic technologies, SPECTARIS, April 2014
  5. ^ Photonics - SPECTARIS Spotlight, Spectaris , February 2014

Trade journals

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