In short
- Agriculture: mid-infrared photonic chips on drones sense the gases ripe fruit releases, photonic sensors guide irrigation and pest control, and tuned LED spectra raise indoor yields.
- Internet: a fingernail-sized optical micro-comb chip carried a then-record 44.2 terabits per second.
- Space navigation: chip-scale optical gyroscopes and laser communication make small, smart spacecraft possible.
- Industry: lasers reshape manufacturing, hyperspectral imaging and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) improve mining, and photonics drives quantum sensing and optical data storage.
Photonics, the science and technology of generating, guiding and detecting light, is transforming industry after industry. This article looks at six areas where light-based technology is making the biggest difference today: agriculture, high-speed internet, space navigation, manufacturing, mining, and data storage and sensing.
Photonics in agriculture
Photonics can tell farmers when fruit is ripe. Drones carrying photonic chips detect the mid-infrared light absorbed by the gases that ripe fruit releases. These chips are smaller, cheaper and more accurate than today’s tools, so growers can time the harvest precisely without touching or damaging the trees.
Photonic sensors also support precision irrigation and pest management. By assessing plant health and soil moisture, they let farmers apply water and pest control only where needed, which cuts both use and environmental impact. In controlled-environment agriculture, LEDs with tailored spectra raise yields, even in harsh climates or where natural light is scarce. Together these tools move farming toward a more sustainable model that can meet growing global food demand while conserving resources.
Plants respond to photons, not watts. Growers therefore rate lights by photosynthetic photon flux (µmol/s) and by photon flux density at the canopy (PPFD, µmol/m²/s) in the 400–700 nm photosynthetically active range (PAR). The calculator below converts the optical power of an LED into these units. To measure the real spectrum and power of a lamp, see the Multi-Channel Spectro-Radiometer, and for the background read The Basics of Light Measurement: Radiometry and Photometry.
Grow-light photon flux calculator
Enter the optical (radiant) output power of a narrow-band LED, its peak wavelength and the area it lights. The tool returns photons per second, photon flux in µmol/s and the average PPFD on that area.
Photon energy E = hc/λ, so photons per second = P·λ/(hc). Photon flux in µmol/s = photons per second / NA × 10⁶; PPFD = flux / area (assumes all light reaches the area evenly). Use radiant power in watts, not electrical input power; multiply by the LED’s wall-plug efficiency if you only know the electrical power.
Choosing and testing LEDs for these systems is a field of its own: see Understanding LEDs: From Basics to Applications and the IZAK LED Tester for color and intensity checks in production.
High-speed internet through photonics
Researchers built an optical micro-comb chip the size of a fingernail that reached a then-record data rate of 44.2 terabits per second. Speeds like this could strengthen the global internet infrastructure that medicine, education, finance and e-commerce rely on.
Photonic chips such as micro-combs allow far higher data rates than electronic transmission. That means faster downloads and streaming, and the capacity that 5G, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) demand. Further progress should make high-speed internet more widely accessible and open the way to quantum communication networks. For how light travels in a fiber, read A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Fiber Optics.
Advanced navigation systems
Photonics is helping build compact, intelligent spacecraft for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Optical gyroscopes on photonic chips detect tiny differences in motion through the Sagnac effect, a consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity: light travelling around a rotating loop in opposite directions takes slightly different times. This allows precise inertial navigation without external signals.
Laser communication lets spacecraft send large volumes of data to Earth much faster than radio-frequency systems, which is vital for deep-space missions. Photonic sensors are also being studied for environmental monitoring and hazard detection on board, which supports navigation and crew safety. These advances bring more ambitious missions closer, including crewed journeys to distant planets and moons.
Enhancing manufacturing with lasers
Laser technology is changing production in the automotive, photovoltaic cell and semiconductor industries. Industrial lasers deliver high quality, mass customization and flexible, on-demand production.
Laser photonics also serves aerospace (cutting and welding high-strength components for aircraft and spacecraft), biomedicine (precise medical devices and implants) and consumer electronics (ever smaller devices). Compared with traditional methods, laser processes can reduce waste and energy use, which supports green manufacturing. A laser process is only as good as its beam, so beam size, shape and pointing are verified with a laser beam profiler; see also The Role of Laser Beam Profiling Across Industries.
Improving mining operations
Hyperspectral technologies map, survey and monitor geological formations, which improves exploration and lowers extraction costs. They also support resource management, reduce environmental impact and improve worker safety.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and other photonic techniques determine ore composition on site, enabling faster sorting and processing with less energy and shorter processing times. Photonic sensors that monitor the structural integrity of a mine give early warning of collapses and other hazards, which reduces accident-related downtime.
Photonics in data storage and sensing
Photonics enables advanced imaging and quantum sensing, with better resolution, sensitivity and accuracy. Applications include gravitational-wave detection, magnetic-field sensing and atomic clocks (see more about NV centers, and What Makes Quantum Sensing So Special?).
Holography and optical data storage can hold large amounts of data in multi-dimensional formats, beyond what magnetic and electronic storage achieve. In sensing, photonic biosensors and environmental sensors detect biological or chemical substances at very low concentrations, which helps early diagnosis in healthcare and environmental monitoring.
From farms to data centers, spacecraft, factories and mines, photonics is reshaping how we produce, communicate and measure. Follow IZAK Scientific for more on photonics and its industrial applications.
IZAK products for this application
Instruments from our catalog that match the measurements and set-ups in this article.
Laser metrologyLaser Beam ProfilersUV to LWIR families, packaged, OEM or software, with Test mode and reports.View product →
RadiometryMulti-Channel Spectro-RadiometerSpectral and radiometric measurement on several channels at once.View product →
Production testLED TesterLED colour, brightness and position, with pass/fail per board.View product →Need something that is not in the catalog? We design custom electro-optical systems →
References
- Laser revolution: transforming industries with optics and photonics (open-access review)
- University research news on photonics, May 2022
- University research news: how photonics is transforming technology, July 2020
- Shaping the future with photonics: European start-ups light the way
Frequently asked questions
QHow is photonics used in agriculture?
QHow do I convert LED watts to PPFD?
QWhy is laser communication better than radio for spacecraft?
Tzachi Sabati
CEO, IZAK Scientific
Physicist specializing in photonics and quantum technologies, with deep expertise in quantum sensors and advanced optical systems. Leads the Advanced Quantum Lab course at the Technion, bridging academic excellence with industry innovation. At IZAK Scientific, provides cutting-edge photonics-based solutions, developing customized inspection and sensing systems for R&D and production. Passionate about advancing quantum sensing applications and integrating novel technologies to meet industry needs.
