Communication systems are essential in the modern world, and photonics is the science behind the physical transfer of data from A to B. Australia has an energetic and growing industry of fibre-optic and photonic component suppliers.

Would you like to work in the manufacture of fibre-optic communications and transmission systems? Would you like to use semiconductor materials to make state-of-the-art photonic devices for telecommunications systems and networks? High-tech? For sure!

You could work with lasers, laser amplifiers, electro-optic materials and photodiodes and work on beam propagation, sub-carrier multiplexing, wavelength division multiplexing, coherent transmission, trunk networks, video distribution systems and customer access networks.

You could even get involved in the emerging new area of photonic crystals, which are made from hydrogel nanoparticles. These self-assembling crystal structures can be used as optical waveguides and lenses.