Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of
generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through
emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching,
amplification, and sensing. Photonics is closely related to quantum
electronics, where quantum electronics deals with the theoretical part of it
while photonics deal with its engineering applications. Though covering all
light's technical applications over the whole spectrum, most photonic
applications are in the range of visible and near-infrared light. The term
photonics developed as an outgrowth of the first practical semiconductor light
emitters invented in the early 1960s and optical fibers developed in the
1970s.
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