What is Photonics and How Does it Work
                     What is Photonics and 
How Does it Work?
Introduction
Photonics is the physical science of 
light waves. It deals with the science 
behind the generation, detection and 
manipulation of light.
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Electromagnetic wave
Light has a dual nature known as the 
wave-particle duality. That is to say 
that light has characteristics of both a 
continuous electromagnetic wave and 
a particle (photon). 
Which nature of light is operative 
depends on the kind of interaction 
being observed.
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History
The term “photonics” came into wider 
use in the 1960’s with the invention 
of the laser and later the laser diode. 
It was originally intended to describe 
a field where the goal was to use light 
to perform functions traditionally 
accomplished using electronics, thus 
the name.
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What is the difference 
between optics and 
photonics?
Optics is a general area of physics 
covering a wide range of topics 
related to the study of light. Optics 
includes such subfields as 
geometrical optics, physical optics, 
and quantum optics. Photonics is a 
subset of the optics discipline. 
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Why is photonics 
important to us today?
Photonic devices have become 
ubiquitous in everyday life but often 
go unnoticed. Light sources such as 
LEDs and laser diodes have found 
their way into countless applications 
where light must be created. 
These devices are relatively cheap, 
extremely lightweight and compact, 
and are quite rugged with a long 
usable life span. 
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Why is photonics 
important to us today 
cont.
In addition, these solid-state sources 
generate less heat and require less 
power compared with more 
traditional light sources. LEDs are 
being deployed widely as a 
replacement source technology due 
to their significant energy and 
replacement cost savings.
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Opportunity
Photonics represent a growing 
opportunity for designing and 
manufacturing devices, systems and 
integrated circuits for applications in 
high-speed data communications, 
advanced sensing, and imaging. 
Photonic technologies promise 
orders-of-magnitude speed 
improvements with reduced power 
consumption for data transmission 
and ultrasensitive sensing capabilities 
in multiple domains.
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CMOS image sensors 
(CIS) 
Photonic-based detectors such as 
CMOS image sensors (CIS) have 
transformed how we take 
photographs and have all but 
replaced film as a media for capturing 
images. 
CIS share some of the same benefits 
as solid state sources in that they are 
small, rugged, and lightweight.
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Real-world photonic 
applications
Photonics devices effect a very wide 
range of applications. 
Telecommunications is heavily 
dependent on photonics devices for 
fiber optic networks that greatly 
increase the capacity and speed of 
internet communications all the way 
down to the home.
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Thank you