Applications
Photonics in Digital infrastructure
Photonics is the key enabling technology for all wireless and wired broadband technologies. Already, over 90 percent of all the data transferred for telecommunications is transmitted by optical fibre, while in the microelectronics sector, storage media and microprocessors are produced using optical techniques. More information, intelligence, and data are transferred from one point to another, more quickly and precisely than ever thought possible, thanks to the miracle of optical fibers.
The photonics industry provides new added value to the established telecommunications industry, but also others like chemicals and automotive, through the development of advanced networking technologies, thereby helping to strengthen and anchor these traditional businesses and jobs in Europe. Photonics technology is also essential to the development of more energy efficient ICT solutions.
Optical networking is expected to play a major role in facilitating the demand for increased ICT capacity with reduced energy requirements, paving the way for the sustainable “green knowledge-based society” of the future.
Examples of where photonics is applied in Digital infrastructure:
- Optical networks
- Intra-chip, chip-to-chip, board level optical Interconnencts
- Active and passive components and systems for high speed optical communication
- PICs for optical communication and computing applications
- Quantum communications components
- Multicore fibres / free-form core fibres
- Internet of Things
- Visible light communication
- Laser satellite communication systems
