MSc Photonics and Optoelectronic Devices

MSc Photonics and Optoelectronic Devices - why?

Optoelectronics and Lasers (sometimes also referred to as Photonics) is a growth area, and is strongly dependent on the science underpinning the topics. Our MSc course teaches this underlying science, leading to an appreciation of how this science can be used in the development of devices and thus systems.

A 2011 report for the European Commission notes that 10% of the European economy depends on photonics.

A 2009 Visions Brochure from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Institute of Physics seeks to show how UK research in photonics is important to the the nation and the world.

Research in the School on tunable coherent light sources The USA-based OIDA says of Optoelectronics:-

"Optoelectronics, the alliance of optics and electronics, [is] one of the most exciting and dynamic industries of the information age. As a strategic enabling technology, the applications of optoelectronics extend throughout our everyday lives, including the fields of computing, communication, entertainment, education, electronic commerce, health care and transportation. Defense applications include military command and control functions, imaging, radar, aviation sensors, and optically guided weapons.

Optoelectronics businesses manufacture components such as lasers, optical discs, image sensors, or optical fibers, and all sorts of equipment and systems that are critically dependent on optoelectronics components. Optoelectronics technology is a key enabler of the $1.5 Trillion global information industry."

Dr Tom Brown with an ultra-short pulse optical system developed in the School The Quantum Electronics and Photonics Group of the UK Institute of Physics comments on lasers and optoelectronics:-

"Lasers and related devices are now being used widely in many different fields; for example materials working, communications, medical surgery and therapy, printing, semiconductor processing, chemical processing, remote sensing, etc. They also provide a unique research tool that has had a considerable impact on many scientific disciplines while, at the other extreme, they have a significant entertainment value through the development of laser light shows and holographic displays. The remaining major division of the field of quantum electronics deals with the interactions of coherent light with matter and again leads to a wide range of all-optical and opto-electronic devices. The devices too are rapidly becoming important commercially in areas such as communications, military technology and computing."

An optical communication module The Scottish Optoelectonics Association says:-

"The merger of optics and electronics is increasingly present in our everyday lives through familiar technology such as televisions, compact disc players, fibre optic communication systems, barcode scanners in the supermarket and mobile telephones. However this is the tip of the iceberg, as the technology expands in such fields as displays, transportation, medicine, environmental monitoring, computers and construction. Optoelectronics will be the all-pervasive technology that continues the propulsion of progress in the new millennium that has been driven by electronics over the past 35 years. The Optoelectronics global market was worth over £100 billion in 1998."

People skilled in the science of Lasers and Optoelectronics are thus of value to many companies. This can be seen by the list of companies who have employed recent graduates from our course. The subject is also of great interest in itself, and forms a major part of the research carried out at St Andrews, Heriot Watt, and many other universities.

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