Research Areas & Regional Strengths
While photonics is an enabling technology, APT identified three technical and translation challenges that our region is uniquely suited to tackle. Each of these advances national strategic priorities such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, semiconductor manufacturing, and supply chain resilience and represents IP and market opportunities for IHEs, startups, and mature companies.
Energy-Efficient Optically Integrated Hardware for Information Processing: Energy consumption by communications, data centers, and computing is anticipated to double by 2026, and with the rapid growth of AI, ubiquity of internet streaming and cloud storage, there is an ever-growing need to expand low-cost capacity for communication systems. To reduce the power consumption of information processing hardware, miniaturized optical and photonic connectors and devices will be needed that can be integrated with or replace electronic components for switching, routing and detecting signals.
Advanced Materials and Optical Components: The ability to design, manufacture, package, and deploy complex materials and architectures, such as those found in new sensing platforms or 3D manufactured structures, rely on innovation in photonic materials and optical components and detailed control of light matter interactions. Opportunities abound in developing new materials, more efficient processing, and perhaps most importantly ways to scale these critical components. This will enable new materials, integrated optical components and optoelectronics that can create new devices such as wearable sensors and electronics, microdisplays for augmented and virtual reality, and ultra high-speed communications and information processing systems.
Optical Sensors: Smart phones, motion-activated light switches, health and fitness monitoring devices, screening, vehicle navigation systems, and threat detection rely on portable, non-invasive, miniaturized, and inexpensive optical sensors. New, miniature light sources, spectrometers and detectors that interface with advanced, real-time data analysis systems are needed to solve the problem. Sensors and systems that can access new parts of the optical spectrum will be developed by innovating new types of bolometers, semiconductor photodetectors, antennas and materials that can strongly interact with these parts of the spectrum.
Concentration of optical/photonics companies in the U.S. in 2021. The blue oval represents our region, illustrating the high density of existing companies.
Regional Strengths
Our region includes New Jersey and surrounding areas in Pennsylvania and Delaware. As home to much of the photonics industry in the United States, our region has a critical mass of industry in photonics, ranging from university spin-outs to major multinational corporations.
Our region also has a high density of end-user industries, including communications, pharmaceutical and med-tech, cleantech, and manufacturing, which depend on photonics technologies to drive innovation.