Photonics UK: Where the UK Leads — and What Comes Next

Photonics is becoming increasingly central to the UK’s technology ambitions, underpinning advances across AI infrastructure, communications, defence, space and quantum.

With Microelectronics UK taking place at Excel London on 29–30 September, the Photonics UK stage will bring together leaders from across the ecosystem to examine where the UK is already strong, where capability needs to grow, and what comes next.

There is a major opportunity afoot for UK to maximise its strong and growing photonics heritage as recent studies explore – and at Microelectronics UK, on September 29-30 at Excel London, the potential across industries and technologies, will be explored. 

In February, the Council for Science & Technology wrote to the then-Prime Minister to urge that, similar to the national quantum and semiconductor strategies, government should ‘work at pace with industry, funding bodies and academia to develop a national photonics roadmap to support existing UK photonics clusters with targeted support for skills, funding, scale-up infrastructure, manufacturing and collaboration.’  This roadmap is on its way, and it is the first order of business on the Photonics stage in What Will the Photonics Roadmap Mean for the UK Photonics Market? (10:45, day one). 

For the defence, aerospace and security sectors, photonic technologies are deeply embedded, from lasers, to high-precision optical instruments for advanced sensing and imaging and high-speed secure communications, providing greater speed, accuracy and security compared with traditional electronic and radio frequency technology. The afternoon of day one has a detailed look at this sector, with Enhancing Airborne Operations with Photonic Technologies (14:25) and Optical Systems for Ground & Naval Security (15:35) the key panel sessions to look for. 

With space communications, where optical systems are vital across earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and much more, as well as lasers being key for satellites deployed in low earth orbit (LEO), the UK is a leader. Sessions such as Photonics for Space-Based Systems & Orbital Infrastructure (11:55, day one), Photonics Manufacturing in Low Earth Orbit (12:40, day one) and Spectrum Policy for Satellite Communications Networks (14:00, day one) will explore the UK’s leadership and the roadmap ahead. 

While many within the industry push for a separate roadmap – including TechUK, in its recent industry report – integration with other technologies will also help determine photonics’ future. Writing for TechUK, Nick New, founder of Optalysys, noted the next step is moving from improving communications efficiency to redefining where useful computation happens in modern systems. “The systems that define the next era of computing will be hybrid, layered and increasingly shaped by how seamlessly we can integrate different physical technologies,” wrote New. Day two on the Photonics UK stage will explore these converging strands, covering 6G, AR/VR, AI, and quantum.  

Microelectronics UK takes place at Excel London on 29–30 September, bringing together the semiconductor, photonics and embedded systems communities for two days of insight, collaboration and technology discovery.

optics.org readers can register for a complimentary Access All Areas ticket here.