Photonics: An Overview

Jawahar H.K.; Rodriguez C. · Photonic Sensors for Biomedical Applications (2025) · DOI: 10.1201/9781003638025_1

Resumen

Light is the fastest entity in the universe with a staggering speed of 3 × 108 m/s. Photonics is a domain associated with the study of the properties and tran\smission of photons. The visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light are the areas of interest in the domain of photonics. The term photonics was introduced in the 20th century, but the domain has been evolving ever since the ancient Greek civilization. Technologies and techniques used for generating, transmitting, amplifying, modulating, and analyzing light for practical applications forms the core of photonics. Photonics has become an inseparable part of our lives. This domain is omnipresent. It has been used laser emitting diodes, material processing, metrology, and many other walks of lives. The study of photonics enables leveraging the advantages of the innovative technologies like lasers, optical fibers and electro-optical devices for aerospace, energy, manufacturing, information technology and many other domains. The global photonics is anticipated to be valued at US$ 837.8 billion by 2025. This domain has been growing with leaps and bounds. Quantum computing, silicon photonics, optogenetics and many other upcoming domains are gaining momentum due to every growing research in the domain of photonics. This chapter will introduce the readers to the fundamentals of photonics and the emerging technologies.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos