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High-performance thermal imaging technology typically involves using cryogenically cooled devices. In the future, detectors based on arrays of tiny optical resonators could lead to sensitive, rapid, thermal imaging at room temperature.
Photolithography at a wavelength of 193 nm in the deep UV with water immersion lenses can now produce microelectronics containing features with a half-pitch as small as 40 nm. The big question is how much further can the technology be pushed?
There is keen interest in extending the use of laser diodes beyond traditional low-power devices. Now the techniques needed to increase the achievable output power have become available.
The development of monolithic arrays of high-power, single-mode semiconductor lasers is set to bring big benefits to the printing, coding and marking industries.
Carbon nanotubes, with their superb electron-emitting properties, are the latest nanotech wonders of the display world. These tiny structures could have a big impact on flat-panel displays.
Liquid crystal on silicon brings together silicon and liquid crystals to produce displays with unprecedented resolution and image quality. But have they arrived on the display scene too late?
What will optical communications be capable of in the next decade? Transmission of 10 Tbit s−1 over a single fibre and a reconfigurable transparent network are two possibilities.
As data rates continue to spiral upwards, electrical interconnects based on copper traces and wires are struggling to keep up and optical solutions are looking increasingly attractive.
