2017 Reader Poll

In honor of this year’s 50th anniversary, Photonics Spectra surveyed readers on what they perceived as the most monumental developments throughout the decades, from the first commercial lasers in the 1960s, to solar cells and optical communications in the 1970s, and the emergence of integrated photonics and lab-on-chip technology in the new millennium.

1. What do you see as the most important photonics advancement of the new millennium?

2. Which milestone from the breakthrough era of the 1970s do you see as the most significant for our world today?

3. In what sector do you forsee photonic integrated circuits having the most profound impact?

4. Readers were asked to rate the significance of the demonstration of the first medical laser treatment in 1961 and the demonstration of two phase-locked lasers at Bell Labs in 1965.

(left) The first medical laser treatment performed by Dr. Charles J. Campbell at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical in 1961. (right) Demonstration of two phase-locked lasers at Bell Labs in 1965.

5. Here’s a sample of what optoelectronics/photonics technology Photonics Spectra readers believe will be considered outdated or no longer in use a decade from now.