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AnthonyDiMeglio
ProfessorSanders
ENGR1050
11July2016

Nanophotonics:TheFutureofOptics.

Nanophotonicsis
:

OtherwiseknownasNanoOptics,NanophotonicsisanareainwhichNanotechnology
andNanosciencesmeetoneanotherandmergealongsidewithPhotonics,whichfocuseson
studyingphysicalphenomenacreatedwhennanoscaleobjectsandphotonsinteractamongsteach
other.Therefore,inNanophotonicsscientiststudy,onthenanometerscale,justhowtheopticsof
lightwillbehaveandinteractswithothernanoscaleobjectsusinglight.Ithasbecomeparamount
forthescientisttostudyNanophotonicstobetterunderstandtheinteractionthatlighthaswith
matter,byrevealinginformationontwovaluablepropertiesofmatterthatofdynamicaland
structural.InNanoopticsweexploreareasofbasicsciencewhichincludeareasinatomphoton
interactions,wealsoventureintothetechnologyaspectofNanoOptics.Oneparticular
technologystudiedishighdensityopticalstorage(currentlyunderdevelopmentwithNASAand
willhave64timesmorethestorescapabilityofyouraverage4.7GBDVD)whichwillexpand
thestorageonanopticaldisc.


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SomeoftheSciencesurroundingNanophotonics
:

Angularspectrum:
TheAngularspectrumofNanoopticsrelatesandreferstoamathematicalrepresentation

oftheopticalfield.Theyareasuperpositionofplaneandevanescentwavesofphysicaland
intuitivesolutions.Thismethodhasbeenproventobeextremelypowerfulwhendescribingthe
laserbeamitselfandthelightthatitfocuseson.Thishelpsscientistsbetterunderstandthe
expansionofthearbitraryfieldofplanewavesbyusingavariableofamplitudesanddirections
tostudytheNanooptics.

QuantumEmitters:
TheQuantumEmittersaresimplytheinteractionwhichlighthaswithnanometer
structures,whicharelocatedatthecoreofNanooptics.WhentheparticlesoftheEmittersstart
gettingsmallerthequantumlawsofmechanicswillstarttotakeeffectwhichwillbecome
noticeableintheinteractionwithlight,thelightwillthenbecontinuouslyscatteredandabsorbed
whichwilleventuallybesupplementedbytheresonantinteractions.Wethenstarttoseethemost
wellknownsemiconductorwhichisthatofquantumdots,wherecolorfuleffectsareproducedby
utilizingpigmentedparticleswhicharedispersedbycollides.

PhotonicCrystals:
Thesecrystalsarecapableofspreadingoutcertainlightfrequenciesinordertoprovidea
distinctiveabilityinguidingaroundsometightturnsandthroughnarrowpassages.Photonic


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Crystalscan(undersomecircumstances)createfrequencywindowsallowingtheincreaseof
lightthroughthecrystal,thisiscomparablysimilartothatoftheelectronsfoundina
semiconductor.Eventhoughatomswillarrangenaturallyandcometogethertoformaperiodic
structure,PhotonicCrystalsneedhelpfromhumansinordertofabricatethem,thisneedtobe
doneartificiallywithnanofabrication.Inorderforthescientisttobeabletoguidethelight
properlyfromthePhotonicCrystals,theymustincorporatedefectsintothemixinordertoopen
upthewaveguideneeded.

ApplicationsandBenefitsofNanophotonics
:

WhenwetalkaboutthescienceofNanophotonics,weneedtounderstandthatitisjust
thefoundationformanyexcellentusesandapplications.Tobeabletobendandcontrolthe
angularmomentumoflightbyquantifyingthedynamicrotation,scientisthavebeenableto
accomplishanddevelopmentsomesophisticatedtechnology.Outofthenumerouspossibilities
thatNanoopticshastoofferIhavelistedonlyafewofitsprominentuses.

AdvancesinOpticalTechnologies:
WhenonethinksaboutOpticalStoragethefirstthingtocometomindmaybeaCompact
Disc(CD)whichcanholdupto700MBlittledomostknowthatsuchabignumberisvery
insignificantindatastorage.AstandardDVDcanholdanywherebetween4.7GB17GBanda
standardBluRayDisccanholdbetween25GB128GBofdata,thisissignificantlybiggerthan
whatCDcanholdandiscurrentlythemostadisccanhold.However,thankstonew


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NanoOpticsdiscoveries,Sonycurrentlyhasaprojectinthedevelopmentofadiscthattheyare
dubbingArchivalDisc(AD)thatisusingNanophotonicstechnology.Theirinitialreleaseof
thediscwillholdupto300GBofdataSonyplansonhavingtheirsecondreleasealmostdouble
thisbyholdingupto500GB.Finally,Sonyhopestohavetheirthirdreleasedoublethesecondto
1TBofstoragethistypeofdiscisinthegroupofdiscknownastheFourthGeneration.
Inadayandagewhendiscarerapidlybeingphasedoutandbeingreplacedbyflash
drives,whywouldanybodywanttocarryaroundamorefragilediscthanamorecompactand
portableharddrivewhichiscurrentlycapableofstoringsomuchmoredata?Thisisasubstantial
questiontobeasked,theanswerinmypersonalopinionlieswithinafewgoodpoints.Firstof
all,notallmachinescanreadflashdrivesduetosecurityprotocolstheU.S.Governmentisa
primeexampleofthis.Duetotheuserfriendlyinterfacethattheseflashmediadrivesimposeit
wouldmakeitfartooeasyforsomeonetosmuggleoutclassifiedinformation,oreveninthecase
backin2008governmentseversgotinfectedbyavirusbecausesomeonehadpluggedhisorher
digitalcameraintoacomputer.Mysecondpointismoreatestandchallenge,takeaDVDanda
Flashdrive,nextclonethemmakingthedatainsidethemexactlythesame,andfinallytakea
strongmagneticfieldandrunitacrossbothtoseewhichonegetsitsdatascrambled.Sincethe
DVDisphysicallyburnedwithalaserthemagnetwillnotharmit.However,theflashdrivewill
notbesoluckyitsbinarieswillbescrambleddestroyingallthedatacontainedonit.
NasahasalsotakenupaninterestintheuseofNanooptics,theytooareattemptingto
developadiscthatwouldbeabletoholdupto300GBworthofdataonasingledisc.Itwould
notonlybenefitNASA,buttheirgoalisforittobenefiteverybodyaswelljustlikeVelcrodid
whenNASAdevelopedit.Beingcapableofburningsomuchdataonamoreaffordabledisc


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wouldbenefitsmallbusinessesbyallowingthemtomakeandstoretheirowndatabackups.
Eventhefilmindustrywouldprofitfromthiswiththeirlatest4Kmoviestakingupsomuch
spacetheywouldeasilybeabletofitallthefootageononedisc.Finally,itisworthmentioning
thatthevideogameindustrywouldbenefitgreatlyfromthis,theyarecurrentlylimitedby
BluRaywithamaxof128GB,developerswouldnotbesolimitedinwhattheyhavetocreateor
beforcedtoplacethegameonmultiplediscswhichcanbeadeterrenttosomegamers.
ThereisalsoCloudstorage,butthisstillisnotasgoodasadiscfortwoexquisite
reasons.First,unlessyouareabletocatchadealonadiscountedlifetimesubscription,thenyou
willhavetopayamonthlyorannualfeetoutilizetheirthecloudserviceunlessyouareokwith
utilizingonly5GBoffreestorage.However,onthepositivesideofpayingfortheseservices,
yourinformationistypicallybackeduponmultipleserverssointheeventthatonegoesdown,
andallthedataislostthentheothersarestillabletomaintainthedatawhichyouentrustedthe
companytoprotect.Whichbringsmetomysecondandfinalpointofprotection,inthe
unfortunateeventthatthecompanyyouhaveyourdatasecuredwithgetsbreachedorhacked
thenyourinformationistherefortheintrudertoseeandhave.Ofcourse,alotofthese
companiesgiveyouausernameandallowyoutocreateapasswordbutwhattheydonottellyou
isthatalotofthemhavebackdoorstoaccessyourfiles,soisyourdatatrulysecure?Ifyouburn
allofyourdataontoadisc,thenyourdataissafeinyourhands.

BlackHoles:
RecentlywhilestudyingareasofNanophotonicsscientisthavehadamajorbreakthrough
inthedevelopmentofananophotonicchip,whichisabletocontroltheangularmotionoflight.


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Byharnessingthepoweroflightsangularmotion,thisnewnanophotonicchipwillbeableto
providescientistswithabetterknowledgeoftheevolutionandnaturewhichlaysbehindBlack
Holes.Itwillalsoallowforthemtobetterunderstandjusthowtheyworkwhichwouldbe
epochmakingandcouldpotentiallyunlockthesecretsoftheuniversethatweasahumanrace
havesolongedfor.Onthechiplevel,thisnewinventioncouldalsoassistingenerating,
processing,transmittingandrecordingthedataoftheangularmomentumoflight.

Conclusion
:

Nanophotonicsisalreadyprovingtobeapromisingnecessityforthefutureofopticsas
weknowit.NanoOpticsisrevolutionaryandisleadingscienceintoanexcitingnewvoyagein
understandinglightevenbetter,nottoforgettoprovidethepotentialtobetterunderstandBlack
Holesandpossiblycreationwhichlieshiddeninthem.Personally,Ithinkingthisisthemost
excitingpartofNanooptics,tobeabletoperhapsinmylifetimebeabletohaveabetter
understandingofhowwecameaboutisextremelyexciting.Furthermore,tobeabletovastly
expandourdigitalstoragecapabilitiesonadiscappearstobeextremelypromising,andsinceI
amheadingintoacareerinCyberSecurityhavingaphysicalhardcopyofabackupgoeswithout
saying,itisamust.ThefutureofNanophotonicsisexhilarating,andIembraceitsprogression
withallthatitwillgivetous.


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