Photonics @ Swinburne

Photonics is the use of light to transfer and manipulate information

What is Photonics?

• Photonics deals with light - its generation, manipulation, transport and detection.
• Photonics is used extensively for the control, transmission and storage of information, and continues to underpin the development of telecommunications and information systems as the internet grows year by year.
• Photonics technology has important applications in many areas, including manufacturing, medicine, sensing, telecommunications and defence.
• In the same way that electronics was critical for technological development in the 20th century, photonics is playing a profound role in the 21st century.
• Some examples of photonics in action...
  • all mass-produced semiconductor chips are manufactured using optical lithography.
  • lasers are increasingly used to replace traditional surgery.
  • new generation laser microscopes are being developed for non-invasive early detection of skin and bowel cancers.
  • new generation photonics high density data storage techniques will greatly increase DVD capacity.
  • fibre optics has transformed the telecommunications industry.
  • many everday items are photonics-based, including CD and DVD players, laser printers and bar code scanners.
  
  Become part of the photonics revolution!
  
  Visit the Questacon site - The National Science and Technology Centre, Canberra Australia - to find out more about the exciting world of Photonics!