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For many early thinkers and natural philosophers, optics was considered the most fundamental of the natural sciences. Human efforts to understand vision and the nature of light remained at the forefront of intellectual endeavors for well over 3000 years. A study of optics in the Western and Islamic cultures provides an understanding of the intellectual growth of these societies. This article attempts to retrace this history.

In the majority of his writings, not only in optics but also in astronomy and statics, Ibn al-Haytham (d. after 1040) pursued the realization of a program to reform these physical disciplines, which brought him clearly to take up each discipline in turn. The founding action of this reform consisted in breaking from previous conception of the relationships between mathematics and physics. In this paper, we examine this new position in both astronomy and optics.

In this chapter, the evolutionary and revolutionary developments of microscopic imaging are overviewed with focus on ultrashort light and electrons pulses; for simplicity, we shall use the term “ultrafast” for both. From Alhazen’s , to Hooke and van Leeuwenhoek’s optical micrography, and on to three- and four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, the developments over a millennium have transformed humans’ scope of visualization. The changes in the length and time scales involved are unimaginable, beginning with the visible shadows of candles at the centimeter and second scales, and ending with invisible atoms with space and time dimensions of sub-nanometer and femtosecond, respectively. With these advances it has become possible to determine the structures of matter and to observe their elementary dynamics as they fold and unfold in real time, providing the means for visualizing materials behavior and biological function, with the aim of understanding emergent phenomena in complex systems. Both light and light-generated electrons are now at the forefront of femtosecond and attosecond science and technology, and the scope of applications has reached beyond the nuclear motion as electron dynamics become accessible.

The laser is an oscillator of light using an amplification process based on stimulated emission from atoms in an optical resonator. Laser light has a narrow spectral width and a high degree of spatial coherence. Laser beams are highly directional and can be focused into a tiny spot. Pulsed lasers produce ultrashort light pulses with ultrahigh peak power. Since its invention in 1960, the laser has enabled many scientific discoveries and has been at the core of a plethora of light-based technologies. It is truly a light fantastic.

Solid-state lighting is believed to be the ultimate light source and is in the process of profoundly changing the way that humans generate and control light for various applications. Differing from conventional light sources that use tungsten filament, plasma, or gases to generate light, solid-state lighting is based on organic or inorganic light emitting diodes (LEDs), and has the potential to generate light with almost 100 % efficiency. LED lighting has long lifetime and is environmentally friendly with no toxic mercury contained. Beyond energy saving, LEDs are light sources that can be tuned and controlled to a great degree; for instance, the emission spectrum could be optimised for our health and wellbeing. In the future, we could expect LED-based solid-state lighting to combine with communication technology to become an integrated part of a smart home. In this chapter, we will focus on the most important component of white LEDs—nitride materials—and review the historical development of nitride-based LEDs, the research challenges involved, their performance and applications.

Electron optics is the discipline of focussing a fine electron beam that could then scan the surface of solids in a wide range of applications. Electron microscopy, a major branch of electron optics, is a technique that has underpinned several significant scientific and technical advancements made over roughly the last 60 years. Its principal ability to resolve sub-atomic features continues to inspire scientists and engineers and enable new discoveries to be made. Whether in biology, medicine, physics, engineering, semiconductors, or material science, electron microscopy technology is a key ‘enabling tool’ that supports researchers to discover new phenomena and enhance our understanding. It is most likely to continue to play such a pivotal role for many decades to come. One area of applications that has enormously benefited from the use of this technique is the lighting industry. Light is vital to human life and developing light sources that come as close to natural light as possible is of prime importance. Electron microscopy continues to pave the way towards achieving this goal. The fundamentals of electron optics, particularly electron microscopy and parallels to optical microscopy, are briefly covered; but whilst electron opticians struggle to achieve the ultimate resolution in microscopy, their success is dependent on ‘image correction’—an imaging problem linked to a deficiency in the use of optical lenses first identified by the eleventh century Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham. Examples showing the power of correcting for such deficiencies are presented in this chapter; alongside recent trends in electron microscopy which are also briefly reviewed.

Quantum optics and photonics are being used in a variety of bio-technologies for both plants and animals, primarily in the form of quantum optical technology. A new paradigm shift has been emerging in which the biologists define the parameters that are needed for effective use, and the quantum physicists/engineers design and develop the technology to meet those needs. For example, recent exciting developments of new radiation sources improved the detection of trace impurities via quantum coherence, and related effects improve microscopic resolution (Nobel Prize 2014). Furthermore, the use of noise-induced quantum coherence promises to open new vistas in photosynthesis and quantum effects in biology. This requires developing new techniques and pushing the envelope in quantum physics, on the one hand, and bioscience, on the other. In this review we describe recent progress in quantum biophotonics and open questions.

This chapter begins with a brief history of optical communication before describing the main components of a modern optical communication system. Specific attention is paid to the development of low-loss optical fibers as they played an essential role after 1975. The evolution of fiber-optic communication systems is described through its six generations over a 40-year time period ranging from 1975 to 2015. The adoption of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) during the 1990s to meet the demand fueled by the advent of the Internet is discussed together with the bursting of the telecom bubble in 2000. Recent advances brought by digital coherent technology and space-division multiplexing are also described briefly.

In this contribution we discuss the use of optics in remote sensing. The first remote sensing applications were passive in nature, i.e., used the light reflected or scattered from objects, etc. With the advent of the laser a perfect light source for active remote sensing became available; specifically, the light output of a laser has a high intensity in a well-collimated beam that can be propagated over large distances. After a brief review of the technical progress necessary to the development of the laser, we specifically discuss Lidar (light detection and ranging) and its applications to remote sensing in the atmosphere and oceanic research. Finally, we briefly discuss newer developments in remote sensing with ultra-short pulses.

This article presents how nanotechnology impacts optics, namely how miniaturization of matter impacts the interaction and propagation of light in matter, especially and most interestingly in metal and semiconductors. In a nanometal medium, light can be guided, confined, and focused far beyond what conventional dielectric technology offers. Whereas in a dielectric medium, focusing is wavelength-limited (diffraction-limited) to ~300 nm at best, in a nanometal medium it is independent of the incoming wavelength, with no limit as it is only limited by the size of the nanostructure, practically confining light into super intense “hot-spots.” Moreover, nanometal shows strong color change and becomes hot and highly interactive with the environment upon light illumination. On the other hand, upon miniaturization, semiconductors provide strong size-dependent luminescence covering the full range of the RGB colors of light; becoming much brighter and may turn material from dull to glowing nature; and upon functionalization can be made highly selective in its interaction with the environment. Finally synergetic functionalities have been observed upon integration of the functionalities of nanometal and semiconductor. As to application, these novel and unprecedented functionalities have the potential to enable exciting applications in service of fields as diverse as electronics, opto- and photo-electronics, elementary particles, biomedicine, nanolithography and fabrication, and energy harvest and lighting. Finally the article presents a brief discussion of the use of nanometal lighting effects in ancient stained glass and lusterware pottery as well as a historical perspective on the development of light–matter interaction since the pioneering work of Alhazen, a millennium ago.