Optical materials.

Optical technologies are playing increasingly important roles in areas which were traditionally the domain of electronics: This trend is likely to continue into the forseeable future with optics and electronics being integral, mutually compatible components of systems for consumer markets, industry and defense. The basis of this progress is the development of materials having the required purity, physical properties and optical quality: glasses for optical fiber transmission, semiconductors for lasers and detectors, nonlinear materials for optical switching are examples.