I need ideas for an Optoelectronics project

[misle]

My Optics class is doing an end of semester project where we need to come up with an innovative invention/method/idea using optical electronics. Basically, anything involving light and electronics.

Of course, the instructor said that this would be an end of semester project, and now has asked that we turn in the abstract, detailing the project, by tomorrow. I was sick the day he assigned it and he never posted it on the class website, so I didn't even know it was due until yesterday. So, I'm pretty much screwed unless I can come up with an idea.

So, anyone have an idea for anything, currently possible or not, that deals with light and electronics?

 

[walla]

i could name a lot of opto electronic devices. but you are needing something that doesn't yet exist?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

http://www.atomchip.com/

these guys could help

with their 6.8Ghz optical cpus and 24gig optical 3.5mm headphone jacks

and WTF is going on in that first picture?

 

[misle]

Yes, new innovative uses for opto electronics. From the Special Projects handout: "The more innovative, the higher the mark!"

Or it could be a new way of doing something using opto electronics.

 

[Coquito]

Your instructor is secretly working for GE & is using your class as a free think tank for new ideas.

 

[Wallydraigle]

lightsaber

 

[walla]

Originally posted by: Wallydraigle
lightsaber

well it have to be innovative...so how about a darksaber?

 

[walla]

ok how about this...

microscopic lasers (using photonic crystals) for use in medical applications. Essentially, if you could make very small lasers, they could be injected and navigated inside the body.

 

[misle]

Originally posted by: walla
ok how about this...

microscopic lasers (using photonic crystals) for use in medical applications. Essentially, if you could make very small lasers, they could be injected and navigated inside the body.

That's an interesting idea. Couple questions:
What are photonic crystals? Are they just crystal structures that can emit photons when an electric force is applied?

What use would they have once injected inside the body?

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

For a decent description : See Here

Basically, a lot of bandgap engineering to obtain a desired optical characteristic, eg. inhibiting / emitting / detecting light of a particular wavelength, etc. Can't really help you out as I'm working on a magneto-optics project.

 

[walla]

photonic crytals are an engineered structure which can act as a waveguide. but unlike traditional waveguides, photonic crystals can bend light at sharp angles without macrobending loss. also, photonic crystal lasing is theoretically more efficient than semiconductor lasing since the structure is much better at "trapping" light.

article: http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/13/8/9/1

as far as use inside the body...i was thinking about surgery. but the more i think about it, that would be impossible since it is unlikely you could make a laser that small and powerful and there would be no way to stop internal bleeding.

ah well. i guess microscopic lasers have more potential in optical computing. optical computing is hot research topic, but certainly it is not new.

 

[misle]

Photonic crystals are pretty cool. I'll have to see if I can do anything with them.

I was originally thinking about something along the lines of sensors and detection. Something like a less intrusive metal detection at the airport. Something like a person walks thru a small hallway and that person is hit with IR light and the wavelength of the reflected light is measured to determine what the person is carrying. I don't know if that is possible, but I think that it would be useful to judge what the person is carrying by the density of the object and shape.

Anyone know if that is actually possible?

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: walla
photonic crytals are an engineered structure which can act as a waveguide. but unlike traditional waveguides, photonic crystals can bend light at sharp angles without macrobending loss. also, photonic crystal lasing is theoretically more efficient than semiconductor lasing since the structure is much better at "trapping" light.

article: http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/13/8/9/1

as far as use inside the body...i was thinking about surgery. but the more i think about it, that would be impossible since it is unlikely you could make a laser that small and powerful and there would be no way to stop internal bleeding.

ah well. i guess microscopic lasers have more potential in optical computing. optical computing is hot research topic, but certainly it is not new.

Okay, so it won't work as a surgical technique. What do you do with a failed idea? WEAPONIZE IT. Spray a fine mist of microscopic lasers over the battlefield - enemy soldiers inhale them, it eats them from the inside out.

 

[misle]

I still haven't come up with anything definitive. Any other suggestions?

 

[walla]

Originally posted by: misle
I still haven't come up with anything definitive. Any other suggestions?

the problem with this is that if you came up with an innovative new use of optoelectronics, you would patent it - not propose it for a class project. of course, you probably know that.

 

[misle]

Originally posted by: walla

Originally posted by: misle
I still haven't come up with anything definitive. Any other suggestions?

the problem with this is that if you came up with an innovative new use of optoelectronics, you would patent it - not propose it for a class project. of course, you probably know that.

Yes, very true. Actually, my professor is pushing for that.

That is one nice thing about this professor, he's the first professor I've had that actually wants us to be creative. This is my last semester and no other class has asked us to be creative. Pretty sad, IMO.

My biggest problem is that I don't know what's out there, or what's possible in the optoelectroics realm. I took this class to learn that, and I didn't expect to need to pick a topic this early in the semester (before we've really learned anything beyond the solid state physics of light emitting semiconductors).

 

[walla]

Originally posted by: misle

Originally posted by: walla

Originally posted by: misle
I still haven't come up with anything definitive. Any other suggestions?

the problem with this is that if you came up with an innovative new use of optoelectronics, you would patent it - not propose it for a class project. of course, you probably know that.

Yes, very true. Actually, my professor is pushing for that.

That is one nice thing about this professor, he's the first professor I've had that actually wants us to be creative. This is my last semester and no other class has asked us to be creative. Pretty sad, IMO.

My biggest problem is that I don't know what's out there, or what's possible in the optoelectroics realm. I took this class to learn that, and I didn't expect to need to pick a topic this early in the semester (before we've really learned anything beyond the solid state physics of light emitting semiconductors).

Well some areas of optoelectronics that might spark some ideas:

Data reading/Storage: CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, holography
Medical: Lasers used for surgery
Industrial: Lasers used for cutting and shaping
CCD: used in cameras to capture images as digital information
Commercial: Bar code scanners
Entertainment: CRT, LCD, HDTV, plasma TV, projection TV
Computers: Data transmission, optical computing
General Applications: Detecting light, emitting light, measuring the intensity of light, generating power from light, data transmission, data reception, optical filtering, etc.

None of these ideas are new really, but maybe you can get some ideas ...

 

[misle]

Thanks, I'll definitely dive into that and see if any sparks fly.