optoelectronics

Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light. Optoelectronic devices are electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical transducers, or instruments that use such devices in their operation. Electro-optics is often erroneously used as a synonym, but is in fact a wider branch of physics that deals with all interactions between light and electric fields, whether or not they form part of an electronic device.

Optoelectronics is based on the quantum mechanical effects of light on semiconducting materials, sometimes in the presence of electric fields.

• Photoelectric or photovoltaic effect, used in:
  • photodiodes (including solar cells)
  • phototransistors
  • photomultipliers
  • integrated optical circuit (IOC) elements
• Photoconductivity, used in:
  • photoresistors
  • photoconductive camera tubes
  • charge-coupled imaging devices
• Stimulated emission, used in:
  • injection laser diodes
  • quantum cascade lasers
• Lossev effect, or radiative recombination, used in:
  • light-emitting diodes or LED
• Photoemissivity, used in
  • photoemissive camera tube

Important applications of optoelectronics include:

• Optocoupler
• optical fiber communications

See also

• Photoemission
• Photoemission spectroscopy
• Photoemissivity
• Photovoltaic effect
• Stimulated emission
• AU Optronics
• Ophir Optronics
• Simrad Optronics
• Thales Optronics
• Preform

External links

• OIDA (Optoelectronics Industry Development Association)

Suggested Revised definition: SSP light interacting devices, behaviour and applications; Laser Physics theory & applications; Optical Signal Processing methods and devices; Fibre optic transmission theory and applications of fibre sensors.