New materials platforms have long been an enabling technology for communications. Gallium arsenide was a prime mover in RF and high-speed processing. Lithium niobate improved optical modulators and amplifiers. Indium phosphide was to lead to integrated optoelectronics before the optical industry bust killed the dream. Not surprising then, with all the talk about nanotechnology, many in the optical communications business wonder if nanotech can improve their fortunes. Startups have sprung up in the past few years claiming to be commercializing "nanophotonics," and the European Union has just launched a large R&D program focused on exactly this area.
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