Optics and Photonics Essential Technologies for Our Nation Committee on Harnessing Light: Capitalizing on Optical Science Trends and Challenges for Future Research National Materials and Manufacturing Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by Contract No. ECCS-1041156 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, and by the following awards: #N66001-10-1-4052 from DARPA- DSO; #N66001-11-1-4091 from DARPA-MTO; #60NANB10D266 from NIST; #W911NF-10-1-0488 from ARO; #DE-DT0002194,TO#16 from DOE-EERE; and #DE-SC0005899 from DOE-BES, as well as support from SPIE, OSA, and the NRC. Any opinions, fndings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily refect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-26377-1 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-26377-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012954592 This report is available in limited quantities from: National Materials and Manufacturing Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonproft, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientifc and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientifc and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to as- sociate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientifc and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org COMMITTEE ON HARNESSING LIGHT: CAPITALIZING ON OPTICAL SCIENCE TRENDS AND CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH PAUL McMANAMON, Exciting Technology, LLC, Co-Chair ALAN E. WILLNER, University of Southern California, Co-Chair 1 ROD C. ALFERNESS, NAE, Alcatel-Lucent (retired), University of California, Santa Barbara THOMAS M. BAER, Stanford University JOSEPH BUCK, Boulder Nonlinear Systems, Inc. MILTON M.T. CHANG, Incubic Management, LLC CONSTANCE CHANG-HASNAIN, University of California, Berkeley CHARLES M. FALCO, University of Arizona ERICA R.H. FUCHS, Carnegie Mellon University WAGUIH S. ISHAK, Corning Incorporated PREM KUMAR, Northwestern University 2 DAVID A.B. MILLER, NAS, NAE, Stanford University DUNCAN T. MOORE, NAE, University of Rochester DAVID C. MOWERY, University of California, Berkeley N. DARIUS SANKEY, Intellectual Ventures EDWARD WHITE, Edward White Consulting Staff DENNIS CHAMOT, Acting Director, National Materials and Manufacturing Board ERIK B. SVEDBERG, Study Director HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Financial Associate RICKY D. WASHINGTON, Administrative Coordinator (until August 2012) MARIA L. DAHLBERG, Program Associate (until August 2012) ANN F. LARROW, Program Associate (effective August 2012) LAURA TOTH, Senior Program Assistant (until February 2012) 3 PAUL BEATON, Program Offcer, STEP (October through December 2011) CAREY CHEN, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow, STEP (October through December 2011) 1 NAE, National Academy of Engineering. 2 NAS, National Academy of Sciences. 3 STEP, Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy. v NATIONAL MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING BOARD ROBERT H. LATIFF, R. Latiff Associates, Alexandria, Virginia, Chair DENISE F. SWINK, Independent Consultant, Germantown, Maryland, Vice Chair 1 PETER R. BRIDENBAUGH, NAE, ALCOA (retired), Boca Raton, Florida VALERIE M. BROWNING, ValTech Solutions, LLC, Port Tobacco, Maryland YET-MING CHIANG, NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge PAUL CITRON, NAE, Medtronic, Inc. (retired), Minnetonka, Minnestota GEORGE T. (RUSTY) GRAY II, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico CAROL A. HANDWERKER, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana THOMAS S. HARTWICK, Independent Consultant, Snohomish, Washington SUNDARESAN JAYARAMAN, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta DAVID W. JOHNSON, JR., NAE, Stevens Institute of Technology, Bedminster, New Jersey THOMAS KING, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee MICHAEL F. McGRATH, Analytic Services, Inc., Arlington, Virginia NABIL NASR, Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester, New York PAUL S. PEERCY, NAE, University of Wisconsin-Madison ROBERT C. PFAHL, JR., International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, Herndon, Virginia VINCENT J. RUSSO, Aerospace Technologies Associates, LLC, Dayton, Ohio KENNETH H. SANDHAGE, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta ROBERT E. SCHAFRIK, GE Aviation, Cincinnati, Ohio HAYDN WADLEY, University of Virginia, Charlottesville STEVEN WAX, Independent Consultant, Reston, Virginia Staff DENNIS CHAMOT, Acting Director ERIK B. SVEDBERG, Senior Program Offcer RICKY D. WASHINGTON, Administrative Coordinator (until August 2012) HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Financial Associate MARIA L. DAHLBERG, Program Associate (until August 2012) ANN F. LARROW, Program Associate (effective August 2012) LAURA TOTH, Senior Program Assistant (until February 2012) 1 NAE, National Academy of Engineering. vi Preface The National Research Council (NRC) undertook the writing of a study on op- tics and photonics in 1988 (Photonics: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Informa- tion Era)1 and then again in 1998 (Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century).2 Now, after 14 years of dramatic technical advances and eco- nomic impact, another study is needed to help guide the nation’s strategic thinking in this area. Since 1998 many other countries have developed their own strategic documents and organizations in the area of optics and photonics, and many have cited the U.S. NRC’s 1998 Harnessing Light study as instrumental in infuencing their thinking. The present study, Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation, discusses impacts of the broad feld of optics and photonics and makes recommendations for actions and research of strategic beneft to the United States. To conduct the study, the NRC established the Committee on Harnessing Light: Capitalizing on Optical Science Trends and Challenges for Future Research, a di- verse group of academic and corporate experts from across many disciplines critical to optical science and engineering, including materials science, communications, quantum optics, linear and nonlinear optical elements, semiconductor physics, device fabrication, biology, manufacturing, economic policy, and venture capital. The statement of task for this study (given in full in Appendix A) is as follows: 1 National Research Council. 1988. Photonics: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Information Era. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. 2 National Research Council. 1998. Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. vii viii P r e f a c e 1. R eview updates in the state of the science that have taken place since pub- lication of the National Research Council report Harnessing Light; 2. I dentify the technological opportunities that have arisen from recent ad- vances in and potential applications of optical science and engineering; 3. A ssess the current state of optical science and engineering in the United States and abroad, including trends in private and public research, market needs, examples of translating progress in photonics innovation into com- petitiveness advantage (including activities by small businesses), workforce needs, manufacturing infrastructure, and the impact of photonics on the national economy; 4. P rioritize a set of research grand-challenge questions to fll identifed tech- nological gaps in pursuit of national needs and national competitiveness; 5. R ecommend actions for the development and maintenance of global lead- ership in the photonics-driven industry—including both near-term and long-range goals, likely participants, and responsible agents of change. It became apparent from the outset that various funding agencies and profes- sional societies that deal with optics and photonics felt a keen need for the NRC to provide an authoritative vision of the feld’s future. If the feld is indeed a key enabling technology that will help drive signifcant economic growth, then such a study should attempt to make recommendations that can be used to help policy makers and decision makers capitalize on optics and photonics. It was in this spirit that the committee conducted this study. Several factors, including the following, made the committee’s task a challeng- ing one: 1. T he feld of optics and photonics is extremely broad in terms of the technical science and engineering topics that it encompasses. 2. T he feld impacts many different market segments, such as energy, medicine, defense, and communications, but as an enabling technology it is not always highlighted in available data about these areas. 3. T he feld has expanded greatly beyond the United States, such that many other countries have invested heavily in research and development and manufacturing. Additionally, the area of optics and photonics is typically subsumed as an enabling technology under the heading of other disciplines (e.g., electrical engi- neering, physics). Therefore, it was challenging to gather data specifc to optics and photonics in terms of workforce and economic impact. For example, optics enables common DVD players, but is the economic impact to be gauged by the P r e f a c e ix value of the whole DVD player or just the inexpensive yet high-performance laser that makes the whole system work properly? Similarly, how do we place a value on the fact that the society-transforming Internet could not have grown at such a fast pace, or achieved even close to its current level of performance, without low-loss optical fber, which by itself is not particularly expensive? The committee grappled with many such questions. In the course of the study, the committee observed that exciting progress has been made in the feld and believes that the future holds much promise. A small anecdotal indication in the popular press of the breadth and depth of the feld is that roughly 12 of the 50 best inventions of 2011 listed by Time magazine had optics 3 as a key technological part of the invention. Our entire community owes its sincerest gratitude to the generous sponsors of the study, which include the Army Research Offce, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the Optical Society of America, and the International Society for Optics and Photon- ics (SPIE). Each sponsor was critical to enabling the study to proceed with the necessary resources, and key champion(s) in each of these organizations stepped forward at a crucial time to help out. We also wish to thank the many individuals who helped the committee accomplish its task, including the workshop speakers and study reviewers, and we are extremely grateful to have worked with outstand- ing committee members. It was with a deep sense of appreciation that the committee was able to rely on the dedication, professionalism, insight, and good cheer of the NRC staff, primar- ily Dennis Chamot, Maria Dahlberg, Erik Svedberg, Laura Toth, and Ricky Wash- ington. As the manager of the study, Erik has been a superb and tireless partner, whose keen perspective was invaluable. The committee also extends its thanks to Stephen Merrill, executive director of the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, for engaging his staff during the latter part of this study, especially Paul Beaton, program offcer, and Carey Chen, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow. In addition, the committee would like to thank Kathie Bailey-Mathae, director of the Board on International Scientifc Organizations, for critically helping with the preliminary groundwork leading up to the start of the study. We sincerely hope that readers of this study fnd some perspectives that will 3 Grossman, L., M. Thompson, J. Kluger, A. Park, B. Walsh, C. Suddath, E. Dodds, K. Webley, N. Rawlings, F. Sun, C. Brock-Abraham, and N. Carbone. 2011. Top 50 Inventions. Time. Available at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2099708,00.html. Accessed October 16, 2012. x P r e f a c e help guide future actions, whether such readers are congressional staffers, funding agencies, corporate chief technology offcers, or high school students. Paul McManamon and Alan E. Willner, Co-Chairs Committee on Harnessing Light: Capitalizing on Optical Science Trends and Challenges for Future Research