Good News: Photonics Is Mainstream. Now We Must Scale.

Lidar for autonomous vehicles. Virtual reality for immersive entertainment and new interactive applications. Wearable health sensors. Photonic computing — computation by propagation. Quantum technology. Optical cables that extend fast buses in flexible new ways. Interconnects for RAM modules and GPUs. Cameras everywhere. And big data that grows more central to our lives by the day.

These are just a few of the new application fields that have propelled photonics into a three-orders-of-magnitude ramp-up that we, together, must navigate over the next few years. And let’s not overlook the global tide of manufacturing flowing back to first-world countries.

Riding this tsunami of change requires an ecosystem of interlocking capabilities. Toolmakers, integrators, contract manufacturers, consortia, research institutions, and regulators must all contribute.

The challenge boils down to three things: automation, innovation, and cooperation. Jordan spotlights recent advancements for each and their essential contributions to photonics as a mainstream technology.

About the presenter
Scott Jordan is head of photonics for PI (Physik Instrumente) LP and is a PI fellow. A physicist with an MBA in finance/new ventures from the University of Southern California, Jordan has made multiple contributions to the fields of photonics alignment automation, precision motion control, and optimization technologies.