Applied and Pure Sciences

Join the two pure sciences of Chemistry and Physics then add the two applied sciences of Electronics and Optics and here lies the beginning of the Photonics Supply chain.

Advanced Materials and Optical Components

There continues to be a great deal of activity in advanced materials science such as special glass, co-polymers, poly-crystallines, silicon, compound semi-conducting materials and new materials for holography. Many of these materials are used in the photonics industry in applications such as optical components, optical coatings and innovative optical devices such as printable electronics and organic LEDs.

Opto-electronic components

With continuing development and process improvement, smaller yet more capable components have paved the way for miniaturisation with lower costs both in financial and energy usage terms.

System design

A significant proportion of our membership is able to offer tailor made systems to customer specification. This is a valuable service that catalyses the advance of Photonics into new application spaces.

Applications

The number of applications for photonic systems and techniques continues to grow. Photonics is seen very much as an enabler in many industrial sectors such as Aerospace, Automotive, Bio-Medical, Electronics, Energy, Communications and the Food Industry.

UK ingenuity creates new applications and delivers new and emerging technologies while generating valuable intellectual property to build the growth in our technology economy. The UK is again becoming recognized as the world’s great inventor, so the time is right to support these commercial and technological ambitions to grasp the advantage in a global technology economy.