Optics and Photonics for Energy and the Environment

Optics and Photonics are vital in energy generation, energy conservation, and monitoring the consequences of both on the environment.

Role of Photonics in Energy Conservation:

Solid-State Lighting: The electromagnetic spectrum generated from the heating of the tungsten filament in an incandescent bulb primarily covers the infrared spectrum with a small portion in the visible region.

Flat Panel Displays: The key driver for flat-panel displays was the progress made in amorphous silicon technology. In active-matrix displays, each pixel is driven with a driver circuit and large-area thin-film electronics are required.

Light Management for Display and Lighting Applications: Light management is an important aspect for both solid-state lighting and display applications incorporating either inorganic LEDs or OLEDs, particularly in relation to the light extraction efficiency of these devices.

Optical Communications and Interconnects: The use of optics in telecommunications is well known. The amount of data that will be encoded on a wave is decided by the frequency of the wave carrying the signal. The development of communication has, therefore, involved using ever higher carrier wave frequencies, rising through the radio-frequency spectrum and beyond to optical frequencies. In addition to the very high-frequency carrier wave, a decisive advantage of optical communication has been the availability of optical fibers to hold the signal over huge distances with very low loss.