Nanophotonics

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What Does Nanophotonics Mean?

Nanophotonics refers to the use of light in nanoscale projects. This field is associated with some specific breakthroughs in using light in new technologies, including silicon-based semiconductors, where nanophotonics improve speed and performance.

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Nanophotonics is also known as nano-optics.

Techopedia Explains Nanophotonics

In this case, nanophotonics involves silicon chips that use light instead of, or in addition to, the types of traditional electrical signals common to semiconductor design. Companies like IBM have pioneered advancements in a chip that uses photodetectors and emitted light to send signals in an integrated circuit environment.

The nanophotonics concept further contributes to a more general category of nanotechnology that is revolutionizing how some of the tiniest projects are treated by the research and development (R&D) departments of various fields.

While nanotechnology has quite a bit of promise, concerns about the uses of nanoscale technologies include the potential rearrangement or disturbance of molecular structures and the effect of nanoscale materials on larger scale environments.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.