PHOTONICS: LIGHTS THE WAY TO INNOVATION

摘要

Photonics-the generation, control, and detection of photons-supports technologies in our daily lives, from smartphones, to computers, to the internet, to medical instruments. The great minds of our age are toiling in laboratories in quests to unlock the next steps in understanding and creating groundbreaking technological advances. Stories of astounding progress and discoveries emerge in media reports on a daily basis. Following are a few eureka developments from the recent past: A UCLA team of electrical and computer engineers, using a 3D printer, has created a physical artificial neural network that is able to analyze immense volumes of data and identify objects at the speed of light. The device, termed a "diffractive deep neural network," uses the light reflected from the object itself to identify that object as quickly as It would take for a computer to "see" it, and doesn't need advanced computing programs. Its creators claim that no energy is needed to run the device, which uses diffracted light. The invention could be used with autonomous vehicles, as well as microscopic imaging and medicine.