Photonics is the technology of generating and controlling light and particularly using light to carry information. Photonics includes the emission, transmission, amplification, detection, modulation, and switching of light. Light is used to transmit, store, display, and scan information. Photonics technology is thus closely related to information technology and will continue to be so into the foreseeable future. Photonic devices also have applications in a variety of other areas, including telecommunications, energy, and the life sciences. Nanophotonics is part of the broader field of photonics, involving the interaction of light with nanoscale structures and materials.
According to a soon-to-be-released report from Business Communications Company, Inc, RGB-314 Nanotechnology for Photonics, the global market for nanophotonic devices is projected to grow from $420.7 million in 2004 to $9,325 million in 2009, with an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 85.8% between 2004 and 2009.
Nanophotonics are closely related to nanooptoelectronics. Optoelectronics has been defined as the development, design, and manufacture of electronic devices that interact with light. Many photonic devices, such as diodes, are also commonly classified as optoelectronic devices. This study does not exclude any application that meets the basic definition of a photonic device, even if it is also classifiable as an optoelectronic device.
Nanophotonic light-emitting diodes, whose applications include flat panel and plasma displays, accounted for over 82% of the nanophotonics market in 2004. Near-field optics and nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cells accounted for the remainder of the market with shares of 14.4% and 3.3%, respectively.
Light-emitting diodes are not only the largest but also the fastest-growing nanophotonic market segment, with a projected AAGR of more than 90% between 2004 and 2009. This extremely high growth rate reflects their growing adoption in monitor and display applications. By 2009, this segment is expected to represent nearly 94% of the nanophotonics market. Near field optics and nanophotonic integrated circuits (NPICs) are the only other device types that are projected to have market shares greater than 1% in 2009.
The most important applications of nanophotonics devices over the next five years, in terms of sales, are expected to be displays and monitors, bioassays, and computing and electronics. Other applications, such as lighting, account for a much smaller share of the market.
It appears inevitable that nanophotonics technologies will have a major impact on a number of sectors of the U.S. economy. However, various technical, marketing, and other hurdles need to be overcome before nanophotonics fulfills this promise.