We are Photonics scientists here to answer your questions for the Day of Photonics, 21st October. Ask Us Anything about the science of light!

How close are we to photonic circuitry for computing? I know that IBM was working this and a University in the US made some strides as well (I think it was a special processor), but I haven't seen any new information in the last few years.

Silicon Photonic Circuits are already used as transceivers for High Power Computing. However, the next step is all optical computing, and for that, we need programmable Photonic chips, that could perform different basic optical functions. On that topic, early work has been done by the companies Xanadu, IPronics, and thr R&D center IMEC, among others. We expect the first optical processors based on programmable photonic integrated circuits to be in the market within half a decade.

Particle or wave ?

both

How did you start an organization with a focus on photonics? As you’ve said, it’s not very mainstream, so how did this come to be?

EPIC, the European Photonics Industry Consortium, was created in 2003 when after the telecoms crash, the founder Tom Pearsall, noticed a whole community of companies going bankrupt and people losing their jobs, and there was no umbrella organization representing specifically this community "photonics". Ironically Tom Pearsall is an American and he created the European association.

What are your thoughts on low-cost substitutes for LIDAR and other sensing technologies, such as episcan (epipolar scanning), epiTOF, and programmable triangulation light curtains? (more found here)

One of the current issues with effectively commercializing autonomous vehicles is the high cost of certain components (e.g., LIDAR sensors) and the technologies above seem to solve those issues for many applications. From an engineer’s perspective, how quickly do you think these types of technologies will be adopted by industry?

Excellent question! Nowadays there are different technologies that might be able to give solutions towards affordable autonomous vehicles. Some of them are among the ones you mentioned. Have you seen this video from EPIC?
https://www.epic-assoc.com/epic-online-technology-meeting-on-new-developments-in-fmcw-lidar/

What's the latest exciting development in photonic science?

I'm particularly biased towards my research group but new kinds of infrared detectors are being developed

Photonic science could revolutionize technological development in many fields and in different ways. What about quantum photonics?

Is a real "Lightsaber" from Star Wars possible?

Unsurprisingly this light saber video got 34 million views https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC6J4T\_hUKg

As a photonics researcher entering his last year of the PhD, got any resources for looking for jobs in photonics?

You could use jobsinphotonics.com to brows for opportunities

Why can't anything move faster than the speed of light?

If you look at the equations which are at the core of Einstein's theories of relativity, you find that as you approach the speed of light, your spatial dimension in the forward direction shrinks down to nothing and your clock slows to a stop. A reference frame with zero width and with no progression in time is really a reference frame that does not exist. Therefore, this tells us that nothing can ever go faster than the speed of light, for the simple reason that space and time do not actually exist beyond this point.

SLR sensors have improved dramatically in the last few years allowing low-noise photos and video that was never possible before. Have we reached the pinnacle of low-light image capture or is there room for improvement yet?

We think there is still room for improvement. Most current low light cameras are operating at ambient light conditions under 1 lux of light flux, but there are sensors in the development to be operating at 1 mlx

When are Photonic “transistors” going to replace electronic transistors?

What do you think of this video? "Beating Moore's Law: This photonic computer is 10X faster than NVIDIA GPUs using 90% less energy". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1R7ElXEyag

Do you think it could be possible for organisms to live in a light wave?

(Be s tricky one to test, obviously.)

not really

Are you familiar with any current applications of liquid crystal variable lenses? (Several patents for VR/AR headsets mention this technology to improve user experience versus the current use of non-variable lenses. On one hand, switchable liquid crystal lens technology appears to have been around for more than a decade, but there aren't a lot of actual applications that I can find.)

Liquid crystal variable lenses are not yet widely commercially adopted. It is being widely researched for ophthalmological applications, 3D vision applications, beam steering, tunable zooming, aberration correctors, astronomy, multi-optical elements, frequency controlled micro-lenses and many others

Is there anything exciting currently happening in your fields in regards to optical coatings?

Optical coating and filter were the fore-front technologies in the past year enabling all the qPCR machines used for COVID testing. We believe it is exciting

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21 October is a good date for Day of Photonics, because 21 October 1983 is when the general assembly of general weight and measure approved the speed of light.

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I would google "Photonics" + a topic that is of personal interest to you? What do you care about? Photonics is everywhere! If you are not satisfied with your google search results let me know!

Could light be used in mainstream processors one day ? What would be the benefits if so ?

Have you seen this video? "Beating Moore's Law: This photonic computer is 10X faster than NVIDIA GPUs using 90% less energy". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1R7ElXEyag

If you shoot a single photon in a dark room, can multiple people see it and if so, why?

Let's assume (1) that human eye is sensitive enough to see a single photon and (2) that the photon will reach the eye before it is absorbed by other matter, than this photon will be absorbed by rhodopsin (light receptor in the eye) to trigger the chain of biochemical reactions to send signal to brain notifying it that you see

Whats your favourite? Lasers or masers?

We believe that both are equally important. Laser technologies currently have a wider range of applications, however Masers are enabling some of the most critical functions for space industry.

Do you guys get called on by space agencies to solve energy issues for new satellites?

ESA iss EPIC member are we are have strong relationship with the agency to support their projects and technological needs. We are also in touch with other space agencies and companies and we support them in finding solutions for challenges ranging from LiDAR technology to space communication, PV, etc

Is there a limit to how many discrete photons can be in a given space?

There is no real limit, but eventually the energy density will get high enough that a black hole will be formed

I remember reading about photons being produced in a solid form at one point a few years ago. What are the properties of those masses? Do they have mass?

Likely you are referring to work of Mikhail Lukin and MIT Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic. They did not reach solid form yet but molecule-like behaviour of 2 photons.
Photons do not have a mass.