Photonics- a discipline that deals with fundamental and applied aspects of working with optical signals, as well as the creation of devices for various purposes on their basis.
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General information
Photonics is essentially an analogue of electronics, using instead of electrons the quanta of the electromagnetic field - photons. That is, it is engaged in photonic signal processing technologies, which is associated with significantly lower energy losses, which means it has a greater possibility of miniaturization.
So photonics:
- studies the generation, control and detection of photons in the visible and near spectrum. Including ultraviolet (wavelength 10…380 nm), long-wave infrared (wavelength 15…150 µm) and ultra-infrared part of the spectrum (for example, 2…4 THz corresponds to a wavelength of 75…150 µm), where quantum technologies are actively developing today. cascade lasers.
- deals with the control and conversion of optical signals and has a wide application: from the transmission of information through optical fibers to the creation of new sensors that modulate light signals in accordance with the slightest changes in the environment.
Photonics covers a wide range of optical and optoelectronic devices and their varied applications. Primary areas of research in photonics include fiber and integrated optics, including nonlinear optics, physics and technology of semiconductor compounds, semiconductor , optoelectronic , high speed electronic devices.
Help topics
crystals
Main article:
crystals- These are solids that have a natural external form of regular symmetrical polyhedra, based on their internal structure, that is, on one of several certain regular arrangements of the particles (atoms, molecules, ions) that make up the substance.
Crystals are divided according to their properties:
Optics
Main article:
Optics(from other Greek ὀπτική - optics, the science of visual perception) - a branch of physics that considers phenomena associated with the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the visible, infrared and ultraviolet ranges of the spectrum. Optics describes the properties of light and explains the phenomena associated with it. Optical methods are used in many applied disciplines, including electrical engineering, physics, medicine (in particular, ophthalmology and radiology). In these, as well as in interdisciplinary areas, the achievements of applied optics are widely used.
In optics, the main topics are:
- Flat optics – new articles coming soon
- Plastic optics – new articles coming soon
lasers
Main article:
Laser(from English laser, an acronym for l night a mplification by s simulated e mission of r radiation"amplification of light by stimulated emission"), or optical quantum generator is a device that converts pump energy (light, electrical, thermal, chemical, etc.) into the energy of a coherent, monochromatic, polarized and narrowly directed radiation flux.
On the subject of lasers:
- VCSEL Advantage - More articles coming soon
- Lasers: Understanding the Basics – More Articles Coming Soon
- History of the laser – more articles coming soon
Devices
Main article:
A man-made object (device, mechanism, structure, installation) with a complex internal structure, created to perform certain functions, usually in the field of technology.
- Device (radio engineering) - a set of elements representing a single structure (block, board). It may not have a specific functional purpose in the product.
More about devices:
- Photometric ball – more articles coming soon
- Interferometry – new articles coming soon
History of photonics
The term "Photonics" began to be widely used in the 1980s in connection with the widespread use of fiber-optic transmission of electronic data by telecommunications network providers (although optical fiber was used in narrower usage before). The use of the term was confirmed when the IEEE community established an archived paper called "Photonics Technology Letters" in the late 1980s.
During this period, until about 2001, photonics was largely concentrated in telecommunications. Since 2001, it has also been referred to as:
- laser production (),
- biological and chemical research,
- climate change and environmental monitoring,
- medical diagnostics and therapy,
- display and projection technology,
- optical computing.
Relationship of photonics with other fields of science
Classic optics
Photonics is closely related to optics. However, optics predates the discovery of light quantization (when the photoelectric effect was explained by Albert Einstein in 1905). The tools of optics - the refractive lens, the reflecting mirror and various optical units, which were known long before 1900. At the same time, the key principles of classical optics, such as the Huygens rule, Maxwell's equations and the alignment of the light wave, do not depend on the quantum properties of light and are used as in optics , as well as in photonics.
Modern optics
The term "Photonics" in this field is roughly synonymous with the terms "Quantum Optics", "Quantum Electronics", "Electro-Optics" and "Optoelectronics". However, each term is used by different scientific societies with different additional meanings: for example, the term "quantum optics" often denotes basic research, while the term "Photonics" often denotes applied research.
Optics is one of the oldest and most respected sciences that studies the creation, distribution and registration of light.
Modern stage of development of optics
In the scientific world, it is believed that three major discoveries of recent years have largely updated optics as a science and contributed to the strengthening of its role in the development of modern technologies:
- the invention of the laser;
- creating an optical fiber that has low losses;
- construction of semiconductor lasers.
These inventions gave birth to new scientific disciplines, such as:
- electro-optics;
- optoelectronics;
- quantum electronics;
- quantum optics and others.
The term "electro-optics" is used to designate a branch of science that considers the principles of operation, phenomena and design features of optical devices in which electrical effects play the most significant role. These optical devices include, for example:
- lasers;
- electro-optical modulators;
- switches.
Optoelectronics considers devices and systems connected in one way or another with light, in which the electronic nature is essential. Examples of such devices are:
- LEDs;
- liquid crystal displays;
- matrix photodetectors.
The section of quantum electronics is devoted to devices and structures, the basis of which is the interaction of a light wave with matter. Quantum electronics devices include lasers and nonlinear optical devices that are used to amplify and shift waves.
Quantum optics is devoted mainly to the quantum and coherent properties of light.
The term "optical technology" is now used to describe devices and systems that are used in optical communications and optical information processing.
Photonics as a follower of optics
The term photonics reflects the connection between optics and electronics. This relationship is reinforced by the growing role of semiconductor materials and devices in optical systems.
In this regard, electronics investigates the processes of controlling the flow of electric charges in vacuum and matter, while photonics is responsible for controlling photons in free space or a material medium. The subject fields of both scientific sections overlap, since electrons are able to control the flow of photons, and photons can control the flow of electrons.
The name "photonics" indicates the importance of understanding the particle nature of light in describing the principles of operation of many devices in optics.
Photonics studies the following processes and phenomena:
- The processes of generating coherent light using lasers and incoherent light using luminescent sources, such as LEDs.
- Transmission of light in free space, through the "classical" elements of optics (lenses, diaphragms and imaging systems) and waveguides (for example, optical fibers).
- Modulation, switching and scanning of light are used with devices controlled by electricity, acoustically or optically.
- Amplification and frequency conversion of a light wave during the interaction of a wave with nonlinear materials.
- Light detection.
The results of photonics research find applications in optical communications, signal processing, sensing, information display, printing, and power transmission.
- beam optics;
- wave optics;
- electromagnetic optics;
- photon optics.
The theory of interaction with matter.
Theory of semiconductors and their optical properties.
Four theories of light, each of these theories is more general than the previous one:
Beam optics in photonics is used to describe imaging systems, explaining why it is limited when considering processes in waveguides and resonators.
Scalar wave theory is used by photonics in considering optical beams, it is necessary for understanding processes in lasers and Fourier optics and is useful in describing coherent optical systems and holography.
The electromagnetic theory of light is the basis for considering the polarization and dispersion of light, guided wave optics, fibers and resonators.
Photon optics describes the interaction of light and matter. It explains the processes of generation and registration of light, the displacement of light in non-linear media.
Remark 1
Photonics deals with the design and use of optical, electro-optical and optoelectric devices.
Photonics as a science
Remark 2
Photonics is a science that explores the fundamentals and application of optical signals as photon streams in various devices and systems.
Photonics can be defined as the science of creating, controlling and detecting photons in the visible and infrared parts of the spectrum, propagating them in the ultraviolet part, the infrared part with long wavelengths. Quantum cascade lasers are currently being created in these areas.
The history of photonics as a science has been counted since 1960 (then the laser was invented). Photonics was formed on the basis of many sciences (in addition to optics), for example:
- solid state physics;
- materials science;
- informatics;
- semiconductor physics, etc.
Remark 3
The term “photonics” itself first appeared in the work of A.N. Terenin "Photonics of dye molecules". In 1970, photonics began to be defined as a science that considers processes and phenomena in which photons serve as information carriers.
The scientific interests of photonics are wide. If in the past she considered issues related mainly to telecommunications, now her areas of interest include:
- lasers;
- technologies in the field of semiconductors;
- research in biology and chemistry;
- environmental issues;
- nanoobjects;
- informatics, etc.
Being engaged in the creation, control and regulation of optical signals, the results of photonics research are widely used: from the transmission of information using optical fiber to the design of sensor devices that modulate light signals that occur when the environmental parameters change.
Interdisciplinary directions
Due to the high global scientific and technical activity and the huge demand for new results within photonics, new and new interdisciplinary areas are emerging:
Relationship of photonics with other fields of science
Classic optics Photonics is closely related to optics. However, optics predates the discovery of light quantization (when the photoelectric effect was explained by Albert Einstein in 1905). The instruments of optics - the refractive lens, the reflecting mirror, and various optical assemblies - were known long before 1900. However, the key principles of classical optics, such as the Huygens rule, Maxwell's equations, and the alignment of the light wave, are independent of the quantum properties of light, and are used as in optics and photonics.
Modern optics The term "Photonics" in this field is roughly synonymous with the terms "Quantum Optics", "Quantum Electronics", "Electro-Optics", and "Optoelectronics". However, each term is used by different scientific societies with different additional meanings: for example, the term "quantum optics" often denotes basic research, while the term "Photonics" often denotes applied research.
History of photonics
Historically, the beginning of the use of the term "photonics" in the scientific community is associated with the publication in 1967 of the book "Photonics of dye molecules" by Academician A. N. Terenin. Three years earlier, on his initiative, the Department of Biomolecular and Photon Physics was established at the Faculty of Physics of Leningrad State University, which since 1970 has been called the Department of Photonics.
A. N. Terenin defined photonics as "a set of interrelated photophysical and photochemical processes." In world science, a later and broader definition of photonics has become widespread, as a branch of science that studies systems in which photons are information carriers. In this sense, the term "photonics" was first mentioned at the 9th International Congress on High Speed Photography (Denver. USA. 1970).
The term "Photonics" began to be widely used in the 1980s in connection with the widespread use of fiber-optic transmission of electronic data by telecommunications network providers (although optical fiber was used in narrower usage before). The use of the term was confirmed when the IEEE community established an archived paper called "Photonics Technology Letters" in the late 1980s.
see also
Links
- Website of the Department of Photonics and Optoinformatics
- Website of the Department of Computer Photonics and Video Informatics of the St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
- Website of the Department of Photonics, Faculty of Physics, St. Petersburg State University
- Website of the Department of Photonics and Electrical Engineering of the Kharkov National University of Radioelectronics
- Educational materials of the Laboratory of Laser Systems of Novosibirsk State University
- Glossary of Photonics Terms. Siberian State Geodetic Academy
- Journal "Photonics" Scientific and technical journal
- Problems of Laser Light Scattering in Photonics and Biophotonics Quantum Electronics, Special Issue, Vol. 36, No. 11-12, (2006)
Notes
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See what "Photonics" is in other dictionaries:
photonics- Section of electronics, including the study of the nature and physical principles of various light sources, electromagnetic oscillations of the optical wave range, as well as their use in engineering systems of generation, radiation, transmission ... Technical Translator's Handbook
photonics- Photonics Photonics The science and engineering branch that studies the generation, control and detection of photons. At the initial stage of development, photonics used visible (light wavelength from 400 to 800 nm) and near infrared (wavelength 800 nm 10 ... ... Explanatory English-Russian Dictionary of Nanotechnology. - M.
The term photonics The term in English photonics Synonyms Abbreviations Related terms photonic crystal fiber, metamaterial, nanophotonics Definition field of science and technology that studies fundamental and applied ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Nanotechnology
Photonics- photonics is a field of science and technology associated with the use of light radiation (or a photon flux) in elements, devices and systems in which optical signals are generated, amplified, modulated, propagated and detected; ... ... ... Official terminology
photonics- photo onika, and ... Russian spelling dictionary
GOST R ISO 13695-2010: Optics and photonics. Lasers and laser installations (systems). Methods for measuring the spectral characteristics of lasers- Terminology GOST R ISO 13695 2010: Optics and photonics. Lasers and laser installations (systems). Methods for measuring the spectral characteristics of lasers original document: 3.19 Allan dispersion for continuous laser radiation, : Dispersion of two ... ...
GOST R ISO 11554-2008: Optics and photonics. Lasers and laser installations (systems). Methods for testing lasers and measuring the power, energy and temporal characteristics of a laser beam- Terminology GOST R ISO 11554 2008: Optics and photonics. Lasers and laser installations (systems). Methods for testing lasers and measuring the power, energy and temporal characteristics of the laser beam original document: 3.1 relative noise level ... ... Dictionary-reference book of terms of normative and technical documentation
length- 3.1 length l : the largest linear dimension of the face of the sample to be measured.
A photonic computer, Wi-Fi from a light bulb, invisible materials, combat lasers and supersensitive sensors ... All these are the fruits of the same science - photonics. About why light today has become the object of study for almost half of physicists around the world, in our new material
Photo: GiroScience / Alamy / DIOMEDIA
The mouse in the chamber is illuminated with an infernal green light: it takes a few seconds for the laser to penetrate deep into the body and scan it to the smallest detail. An image of a tangled tangle of blood vessels appears on the screen - down to the smallest, a tenth of a millimeter in size. This is an optoacoustic microscope - a unique device, so far the only one in Russia. It converts an optical signal into an acoustic one and allows not only to "see" vessels up to microcapillaries, but also to detect the smallest particles in the blood - for example, single cancer cells.
And if you increase the intensity of the radiation, then the cell from overheating will simply burst and shatter into pieces. Do you understand? - says Professor Ildar Gabitov. - We can remove unwanted biological objects directly inside the body without surgical intervention and without affecting the entire body. These possibilities of simultaneous diagnostics and therapy are typical for a new branch of medicine - theranostics.
We are located at the Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in the Biophysics Laboratory. While scientists hone their skills on tissue samples. But in the near future, a full-fledged research vivarium will appear at Skoltech.
Interestingly, the idea to combine diagnostic and treatment technologies arose from the Nobel laureate, one of the authors of the American atomic bomb, Richard Feynman. He predicted the creation of autonomous instruments that would be able to perform surgical operations directly on the human body. Feynman wrote: "... It would be interesting if you could swallow a surgeon. You will introduce a mechanical surgeon into the blood vessels, and he will go to the heart and "look around" there ...". Perhaps all this will become a reality in the next decade. To do this, we need to understand how photons interact with matter at the nanoscale and develop methods for controlling light.
computer from light
Light is the basis of everything, - adds Professor Gabitov on the way to another laboratory. - Without light, there would be nothing: life on Earth could not have arisen. There would be no modern medicine, no modern industry, and the entire modern society with its most complex information structure, economy and everyday life would not exist either. The science of photonics, whose rapid development is due to a huge number of applications, studies the properties of light, the interaction of light with matter, and develops methods for controlling light fluxes. One thing is common for these methods - they are based on manipulations with light particles - photons. (A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic radiation; unlike an electron, it has no mass and electric charge and moves in vacuum at the speed of light - "ABOUT".)
And why has photonics begun to develop so rapidly right now? All advanced countries, including Russia, have identified it as a strategically important direction...
I would name two main factors - the development of the tool base and the growing technological needs, including the information infrastructure of modern society. Today, 30-40 percent of products manufactured in the world are created using photonics, and the list of areas where discoveries will be applied is growing every day.
One of the hottest areas is computer technology. Back in 1965, Intel founder Gordon Moore formulated the law according to which the number of transistors on a chip and, therefore, the speed will double every two years. But in 2016, his law stopped working: electronics can no longer develop so quickly. Will photonic technologies replace it?
Electronics technology in some areas has really come to a certain limit. We are all witnesses to the rapid development of devices based on electronics. Many people have a smartphone in their pocket - an amazing device, the functionality of which was unimaginable 20 years ago. Its appearance well illustrates the philosophical law of the transition of quantity into quality. If we tried to make something similar to a smartphone in the days of so-called discrete electronics, then the corresponding device from radio tubes, capacitors, resistances, inductances, etc. it would be the size of a block. In addition, it would consume an incredible amount of energy and would not be able to work due to constant breakdowns due to the unreliability of the elements. Only the emergence of microcircuits with a high degree of integration (contain a large number of elements. - "O") led to the creation of a new type of device, which is now available to everyone. However, further progress, according to which electronics develops, in a number of cases is not possible.
- And what is the reason?
Secondly, the development of computers is greatly hampered by the lack of materials that can remove heat. The elements in modern devices are getting very small, but there are a lot of them, they are extremely densely packed, so that overheating cannot be avoided. Currently, industry giants such as Google and Facebook have been forced to locate their "data centers" (data processing centers. - "O") in cold climates: beyond the Arctic Circle and in the North on oil platforms, where there is a lot of cold water . And the largest data center in China is located at an altitude of 1065 meters above sea level in Hohhot, in Inner Mongolia. The problem needs to be addressed because the density of storage systems will only increase. The ability to erase or destroy something is completely disappearing from the culture of users, as it was 20 years ago when we used floppy disks or disks. Cloud space seems endless.
And the third reason, the most important, because of which the speed of computers is no longer growing, is related to the number of electrons that participate in an elementary logical operation. Now in one operation actually one electron is involved. That is, further we will have to use the "half" or "quarter" of the electron, which is an absolute absurdity. Therefore, the idea arose to try to create highly integrated devices using photons.
Will it be like the technological breakthrough of the 1970s, when fiber optics were used instead of copper cable? After all, it was this transition that essentially created the modern information society.
Yes, optical fiber - a thin thread of transparent material, through which light is transferred at high speed - an amazing material. Imagine: tens of kilometers of optical fiber have the same transparency as a meter of window glass! This makes it possible to use photons instead of electrons as information carriers. The creation of optical fiber technology and the invention of optical amplifiers led to a tremendous breakthrough in the field of high-speed transmission. Now, of course, there is a temptation to use photonic technologies not only for transmission, but also for information processing.
- Is it possible to create a photonic computer in the near future?
Here we run into unresolved problems. For example, a modern processor is a complex structure made of the smallest elements. Every year, companies improve technologies: Apple and Samsung have technological dimensions of approximately 7 nanometers (that is, today it is possible to operate with parts of this size and, accordingly, place a lot of miniature elements. - "Oh"). But a photon, as we know, is both a particle and a wave at the same time. At the same time, the length of this wave used in modern information systems is 1550 nanometers. Roughly speaking, a smartphone based on photonic technology would be about 200 times larger today than we are used to.
The second unresolved problem is the lack of effective methods for controlling photon fluxes. Electrons, as you know, have a charge, so they can be manipulated using a magnetic or electric field. Photons are neutral and this cannot be done. Today, everyone expects the emergence of new hybrid devices that would combine photonics and electronics. Research centers of key companies are struggling to solve this problem.
What will it give? Incredible performance? Does humanity have tasks that need to be solved with such productivity?
Of course, there are such tasks in the field of climate modeling, brain research, biomedical problems... This list can be continued for a long time. As for new opportunities for everyday life, you know, I cannot answer this question. Again, 20 years ago, we could not have imagined what amazing capabilities smartphones would have. Therefore, fantasizing about what functionality the creation of highly integrated photonics devices can lead to is a thankless task.
The Science of Enlightenment
- How expensive is the science of photonics? What facilities do scientists need?
It is difficult to imagine gigantic projects like the hadron collider in the field of photonics - the scale of the processes here is smaller. But this science is very expensive. Typically, photonics centers that work with very small structured objects, with new materials and new devices, cost about 250-300 million dollars.
- Where is the scientific potential concentrated today and where, most likely, will new superdevices appear?
More and more research is being shifted and concentrated in large companies. Key employees are very expensive, so companies outsource some of the pilot and high-risk research to universities that have qualified professors and good students.
If we talk about countries, then a lot of work is being done in the United States. In addition, there are good centers in England, Germany, Japan, and Korea. Partly in France. Much work is being done in universities, such as the University of Rochester in New York. This is generally a well-known place for everyone who is related to optics. Such well-known optical giants as Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb started their work here.
- China has not yet made it to this list?
China is a different story. Enormous funds are allocated there for photonics. The Chinese are already dominating in certain areas of production, but may still be a little behind in the development of new devices. Although somewhere, for example in quantum communication, the Chinese have overtaken the whole world. Literally this September, with the help of the QUESS quantum satellite, they made a connection between China and Austria. At the same time, not only was the record for the distance covered by the signal broken, but it also laid the foundation for the creation of communication links that cannot be hacked.
China is developing very quickly, it attracts not only significant funds, but also human potential. Now, interestingly, Chinese students often no longer stay in the same States after their studies, they return to China, and then, becoming heads of laboratories, invite their professors there.
It's no secret that electronics is an area where, to put it mildly, Russia is far behind: in the civilian microprocessor market, we have 100 percent of imports. What can be said about Russian photonics? This is especially interesting, since in the BRICS Russia and India are responsible for it, as one of the most promising areas in science.
Yes, Russia and India will apparently carry out joint programs in the field of radio photonics. But in general, the choice, I would say, is justified. Few people remember that back in 1919, at the height of the Civil War, the State Optical Institute (GOI) was created in our country by decision of the government. By 1923 it was one of the best equipped scientific institutions in the world.
In general, this wonderful institution has solved a lot of problems. For example, before the First World War, Germany was the main manufacturer of optics, and somewhere at the height of the war, as they say now, sanctions were introduced. That is, the devices were no longer supplied to Russia. It was necessary to create an industry, in which the GOI played a huge role. On its basis, in the same 1919, a 300-meter interferometer was built for observing stars. They were engaged in both fundamental science and the creation of a technological base. Everything was created here - from medical microscopes to the most complex military optics and lenses for spacecraft.
Unfortunately, in the crazy 1990s, the GOI fell into a deplorable state. Many specialists were accepted by the leadership to work at ITMO - St. Petersburg Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. Now it is a unique educational institution where very serious scientific work is being carried out. Well, besides, it is impossible not to mention Phystech, MISIS, University. Bauman in Moscow, Novosibirsk University. Now all this direction is on the rise, and the decision of the Russian government to support the development of photonics in Russia is not accidental. Skoltech, by the way, participated in the formation of this program. Finally, there is a serious interest on the part of business: there are organizations that produce competitive products for both civilian and military applications, develop new products.
Back to the Future
Please tell us about photonic technologies that will change our everyday life. At what stage is the development of Li-Fi - Wi-Fi powered by photons?
The ancestor of this technology is the German physicist Harald Haas, who in 2011 used an LED lamp as a router. In laboratory conditions, it achieved a transfer rate of 224 Gb / s. This speed allows, for example, to download 18 films of 1.5 GB in 1 second. Another important nuance is secrecy. Radio waves can pass through walls, which means that when communicating via Wi-Fi, the radio signal can be easily read, and the data can be stolen and decrypted. Modulated light from the room will not go far, it is much more difficult to covertly intercept such a signal - it is perceived and transmitted in the line of sight. But this technology is still far from being implemented. More realistic technologies based on plasmonics.
- What are they?
Plasmonics began to develop only 15 years ago, but the phenomena associated with it have been known for a very long time. For example, even in ancient Egypt, metals were added to glass and painted in various colors. And in the British Museum there is a unique goblet made of glass in which gold is dissolved, and so, in one light it is pink, and in another it is green. The point, as it turned out, is that when dissolved in glass, gold does not disperse into molecules, but gathers into clusters - about 50 nanometers in size of a particle. If illuminated with light, the wavelength is greater than the size of the particle, and the light passes around it without scattering. This discovery led to the creation of a wide variety of technologies, such as nanolasers, which are smaller than a wavelength, and ultrasensitive sensors.
- Are there already working models?
There is. The first papers on such lasers were published several years ago by Misha Noginov, a Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology graduate living in the United States. He was the first to build a laser measuring 40 nanometers - a million times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. Information about this appeared in 2011 in the journal Nature. Since then, the experimental life of nanolasers has begun. In particular, our other former compatriot Mark Stockman, a student of academician Spartak Belyaev, rector of Novosibirsk State University, came up with SPASER - a plasmonic nanosource of optical radiation. It is a particle 22 nanometers in size, that is, hundreds of times smaller than a human cell. Thanks to a special coating, SPASER particles are able to "find" metastasizing cancer cells in the blood and, sticking to them, destroy them. According to Stockman's extremely optimistic estimates, the first devices of this kind may appear within the next year.
- What will supersensitive sensors be used for in the first place?
For example, for marking explosives. It is very important for anti-terrorist activities to know where this or that explosive came from, to find the source from which it leaked. Great efforts are being made all over the world to mark explosives, because then, by collecting what was left after the explosion, one can understand where the substance was made - right down to the shift and time. And so that the enemy could not understand what is added there. And this problem is solved simply: several molecules get into the explosive, which can be recognized by a sensor based on photonic technologies.
Another area is drug labeling. It is known that in any tablet there is a very small amount of active substance, and the bulk is made up of the filler and the shell. We can mix, say, five dyes in a certain proportion, then dilute to low concentrations and thus label genuine tablets through a certain coating composition. To distinguish them from fakes, you just need to put the tablets on a special substrate and see what spectrum they emit. This promising direction is widely developed in the world.
In our laboratory at Skoltech, we are developing a sensor that can detect the level of cortisol, the stress hormone, in a person's blood. It will be a wearable gadget that transmits information in real time. Can you imagine what an invaluable thing for people whose work is connected with constant concentration of attention?
In the late 1960s, there was talk in the world about the creation of combat lasers. Our program was led by Nobel laureate Nikolai Basov. Under his leadership, a combat laser was created capable of hitting a ballistic missile. What areas of photonics are of interest to the military?
Of course, work in the field of combat lasers is being carried out in all countries, but this is not a topic that can be covered. More actively discussed today are possible metamaterials (as materials are called, the properties of which have been enriched by nanotechnology. - "O") for masking.
- Yes, companies have repeatedly stated that they are ready to create an invisibility cloak, as in the novel by HG Wells.
This is an extremely popular trend in the media space. In Wells' novel, invisibility was based on the principle of material transparency. This principle, or rather its imitation, is currently being implemented. Now, for example, in Seoul, a project is being discussed to build a tower, which becomes "transparent" from time to time. The surface of the building will be illuminated with LEDs, and a number of cameras located on the facades will broadcast an image of the sky to its surface in real time. A fully "activated" tower should become invisible against the sky. True, it is not very clear how aviation security issues will be resolved, given that there is an airport not far from this place.
Another technology was described in a fantasy book - "The Invisible Woman". There, the lady is surrounded by a shell that distorts the course of the rays.
This principle is realized with the help of metamaterials. Metamaterials can bend light rays in such a way that the object behind it becomes invisible. But the problem is that this is only possible with very small objects - on the order of a centimeter - and in a narrow region of the spectrum.
In both cases, it is too early to talk about real invisibility.
Physics for tomorrow
In the twentieth century, the development of a particular area of physics was determined, as a rule, by a political order. In one of his last interviews, Academician Ginzburg said that when the Americans dropped the atomic bomb, his salary tripled... And what, in your opinion, drives the development of this or that area of physics today?
In the last few decades, the order is determined not by political, but rather by industrial needs. After all, how was it before? Some discovery was made, some phenomenon was studied, some mathematical facts were revealed, and after a rather considerable time they were embodied in applications. Now the speed of implementation is such that it takes just a few months from discovery to the appearance of technology. All biophotonics arose about seven years ago, and today not a single large center of photonic technologies can do without an appropriate laboratory.
Therefore, now in the West, the development of physical disciplines is shifting from physics departments to engineering ones. It is there that financing is better today and there is an industrial order. In parallel, the funding of physics faculties is declining. This is such a general trend that I see both in Europe and in the US.
- Does this mean that a redistribution of funds between fundamental and applied science is coming?
Quite possibly. The progress of fundamental science often requires very large capital investments. Fundamental science is becoming very expensive, which is why there is international cooperation and financial consolidation. This is a general phenomenon. At one time, we at the Landau Institute had such a point of view that only incomprehensible and unknowable phenomena are real physics. Everything else is an application. So from this point of view, in our days, the fundamental science will be, suppose, the study of dark matter and dark energy.
In one of your interviews, you said that the quality of students' education in physics departments is declining catastrophically. You teach in the USA and in Russia. Does this apply to both countries?
The decline in interest in science is a worldwide problem. It is clearly visible almost everywhere. Apparently, humanity should think about it, because sooner or later it will lead to some negative consequences. Yes, I am stating the fact that the quality of education of students after school is declining. There are many reasons for this, one of them is the destruction of the search system and subsequent care for talented guys, especially from the provinces.
In addition, the modern Russian system of boarding schools is experiencing great difficulties, because they are allocated funds like ordinary schools. Academic institutions find some third-party sources of funding, but this is not their profile. The state should systematically deal with this. In Soviet times, this system, which China has now borrowed from us, worked very well.
In the United States, it was as if they copied the Soviet system of mathematical schools at one time, but I have not heard about China yet ...
When I talk with colleagues in China, I see a lot of familiar things - what we went through in our time. For example, the Soviet system of Olympiads and the selection of the best students is copied there. This is very close to me, because I myself got into science that way. My mother was a teacher and subscribed to the Teacher's Newspaper, where the tasks of the Physics and Mathematics Olympiad were printed. I solved them immediately for all classes and sent the solutions by mail. Moreover, the tasks were compiled by very wise teachers, because they leveled the difference between specialized schools, which gave very good training, and rural ones. In other words, the emphasis was on intelligence, on resourcefulness, on people with potential. Now in Russia this is not the case.
Many people call the 20th century the century of nuclear physics. What field of physics will become the flagship in the 21st century?
The most amazing area of modern physics, in my opinion, is the science of the universe. Dark matter and dark energy are mysterious, amazing phenomena that have been discovered and are still waiting to be explained. The study and unraveling of these phenomena will lead to tremendous progress in our understanding of the structure of the world. But photonics, which we talked about today, will play the same role in the 21st century as the steam engine in the 19th century or electronics in the 20th century.
Calculate Light
Business cardThe physicist Ildar Gabitov got interested in photonics through mathematical formulas. Now he works in three directions at once - he studies the properties of light, implements developments in life and creates programs for the development of science
Ildar Gabitov - Professor of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Arizona (USA), Director of the Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics. L.D. Landau RAS.
He was born in 1950 to a teacher and mining engineer. He studied at the Leningrad University at the Faculty of Physics. At the Department of Mathematical Physics, his teachers were famous professors - Olga Ladyzhenskaya and Vasily Babich. For some time he worked in a closed institution near Leningrad, in Sosnovy Bor. Then - at the Institute of Mathematics in Bishkek. From there he moved to the Landau Institute, to Academician Vladimir Zakharov. At the very beginning of the 1990s, he moved to Germany, and then to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA, after which he settled at the University of Arizona. Spends most of the year there.
Professor Gabitov is the author of over 100 scientific papers on theoretical and mathematical physics, nonlinear optics, the theory of integrating systems, fiber optic communications, multiscale phenomena and nanomaterials, nanophotonics and nanoplasmonics. He is recognized as an expert by many international professional associations, including the National Science Foundation (USA), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, US Civilian R&D Foundation (USA), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK). He is a member of the Academic Council of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. He participated in the preparation of the "Interdepartmental program for research and development in the field of photonics for the period 2017-2020" of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
Photonics- the field of science and technology associated with the use of light radiation (or photon flux) in systems that generate, amplify, modulate, propagate and detect optical signals.
Optoinformatics- the field of photonics that has emerged and dominated in recent years, in which new technologies for transmitting, receiving, processing, storing and displaying information based on photons are being created.
Photonics and optoinformatics is a vigorously developing high-tech industry, the annual income from sales of devices and systems of which is tens of trillions of rubles in the world.
Egor Litvinov, student
Photonics for me is the art of controlling light, the art of using light for the benefit of man. Like any art, photonics has many images, ideas and interpretations, and each person sees it in his own way. By doing this kind of art, you get a whole range of tools from which you can choose the ones you need, learn how to use them to perfection and apply them to get photonics as you see it. Possession of this art can bring inspiration and just pleasure. And in an effort to get something new, you risk being completely captured.
Tatyana Vovk, student
I am a student of the educational program "Physics and Technology of Nanostructures", and it would be logical to assume that the area of my knowledge and interests is precisely nanophotonics, the science of the interaction of light with various nanostructures and particles. This is true: as a scientific work, I am conducting research on the optical cooling of nanocrystals. However, in my third year, the teacher of our group in quantum mechanics, Yuri Vladimirovich Rozhdestvensky (also my supervisor), analyzed the classical problem of the states of electrons in the Earth's gravity field. He suggested that the most active students consider this problem not near the Earth, but near a neutron star with a powerful gravitational field. It was great to discover that this problem could explain the radio emission from neutron stars, about which there is still no consensus among astrophysicists. As a result, my classmate and our leaders published a study in a highly-rated foreign journal - The Astrophysical Journal! This recognition of the scientific community is very valuable, because none of us have ever dealt with astrophysics before. It was very interesting for us to develop and get results in a completely different area of physics - the "Physics of Nanostructures" has everything you need for this. Our leaders and teachers always welcome the initiative and are happy to "start the process" of scientific creativity. With due perseverance, this sometimes leads to surprising results!
Maxim Masyukov, student
Having a broad outlook, it was quite difficult for me to choose my future profession. Basically, I was interested in three disciplines: computer science, physics, mathematics, and it was important for me that these three disciplines were dominant in the learning process. While participating in an Olympiad for schoolchildren, I heard about the Faculty of Photonics and Optoinformatics at ITMO University. Having studied the site and the training disciplines, I realized that this is what I need. Photonics is one of the youngest and fastest growing branches of science. Inflamed with the desire to contribute to scientific progress, I entered this faculty, and was satisfied. Since the 2nd year I have been doing scientific work, which includes the study of fresh foreign articles in this scientific field, programming, mathematical calculations, computer modeling. Versatile knowledge guarantees success in a future career.
Vladimir Borisov, postgraduate student
Photonics, if you will, is the optics of the 21st century. Why not keep calling it optics? The fact is that over the past 50-60 years, the science that studies the physics of light has stepped so far forward that it can hardly be compared with generally accepted optics. There are nonlinear effects, and ultra-high power densities, and ultra-short pulses. Here, of course, a variety of quantum effects and their applications. In short, the cutting edge of optical science. And, since such a science no longer resembles an old optician, she found a new word - "Photonics".
Photonics is an applied science in many respects. Before photonics, no one could have imagined how useful light could be in our lives. Now we are moving towards the fact that more and more of the latest technologies use light. We already know how to transmit information over vast distances at the speed of light. And soon we will learn how to encrypt it so that no one can “eavesdrop” on us. We are moving towards treating various serious diseases with the help of light technologies. Now, during the most complex operations, surgeons use laser scalpels to make the most accurate incisions. And imagine that soon the advances in photonics will allow us not to make an incision at all to remove a tumor or patch an artery. Thanks to photonics, deep space exploration is not such an unattainable goal for us. And if scientists, including those at our faculty, do their best, then photonics will soon give us a real invisibility cap and, perhaps, a lightsaber. And, of course, one should not forget about the quantum computer - one of the pinnacles of modern science, the achievement of which is impossible without photonics.
In short, photonics is now at the forefront of modern science. It combines the opportunity to explore still unexplored issues, as well as to apply their knowledge for the benefit of society. Perhaps this is the area of physics where an inquisitive student can maximize his potential, fulfilling himself as a scientist in the best possible way.
Yaroslav Grachev, Ph.D., assistant, graduate of the faculty
Photonics is currently called optics in its modern aspect. The faculty is engaged in the development of relevant areas of optics using modern information technologies, and these are:
- and work with laser pulsed radiation of high energy and ultrashort duration;
- and vice versa, the use of low-energy radiation of the terahertz range of electromagnetic waves for non-contact, non-destructive diagnostics and visualization of objects with substance recognition;
- and holography, including both imaging holography and the creation and processing of three-dimensional digital copies of an object in real time.
For me, working in this field of science has become an excellent opportunity to acquire practical skills in design and experimental activities. A person with practical skills and knowledge is always in demand.
Olga Smolyanskaya, Ph.D., Head of the Laboratory "Femtomedicine" of the International Institute of Photonics and Optoinformatics
The term "Photonics" was first mentioned in 1970 at the 9th International Congress on High Speed Photography in the USA, Denver. And at the first stage, “photonics” was understood as a field of science that studies optical systems in which photons were carriers of information. In connection with the development of laser technologies and the invention of laser diodes and fiber-optic communication systems, the concept of "photonics" included optical telecommunications. Today "photonics" is: optical and quantum communication systems; transmission, recording and storage of information; medical diagnostics and therapy (biophotonics); development and production of lasers; biological and chemical studies of various objects; environmental monitoring; lighting design, etc.
Biophotonics is related to photobiology and medical physics. Therefore, on the one hand, biophotonics deals with the diagnosis and study of biological molecules, cells and tissues. On the other hand, it uses light to affect biological tissues, such as in surgery and therapy. Biophotonics studies various aspects of the interaction of biological objects and photons. Therefore, the scope of biophotonics is, first of all, human health. Specialists in the field of biophotonics are also engaged in the creation of medical light sources, detectors, visualization systems and mathematical processing of optical signals.
Maria Zhukova, PhD student
Photonics is the science of light, it is the technology of its creation, transformation, application and detection. Light has always played an important role in human life - think about it, thanks to it we orient ourselves in space, see each other. First, people learned to create artificial light sources to ensure a comfortable existence, and now we have a huge number of high-tech devices that are used in numerous and diverse fields of technology.
Photonics includes the use of lasers, optics, crystals, fiber optics, electro-optical, acousto-optic devices, cameras, complex integrated systems. Photonics today is both scientific research and real developments in the fields of: medicine, alternative energy, fast computing, creation of high-performance computers, new materials, telecommunications, environmental monitoring, security, aerospace industry, time standards, art, printing, prototyping, and almost everything that surrounds us.
Today in Russia, as well as throughout the world, more and more companies and large manufacturing enterprises are beginning to create and use new technologies related to photonics. F otonics opens up wide opportunities and prospects for development in the scientific academic environment, as well as in the field of real developments. This field of knowledge will undoubtedly develop from year to year!
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