Fiber-optic communications technology is so intrinsic to our Internet-enabled, cloud-driven, instant-video world that it has become essentially invisible to most people—a bit like the Wizard of Oz in the 1939 movie, who hides behind a curtain while performing all sorts of magic tricks for Dorothy and her companions Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. When I try to explain in the simplest terms how the magic works to non-technical friends and family, the extent of response is along the lines of, "so that's how the cat video gets on my Facebook page."
Fortunately, the engineers engaged in developing the next generation of optical communications know very well what's behind the curtain. That is clearly the case this month in our OSA Future Optics interview with Neal Bergano, vice president and CTO at TE Connectivity SubCom, who has spent his professional life helping to develop and deploy the undersea fiber-optic network that encircles the globe (see page 21). It's also evident in our Photonic Frontiers article from contributing editor Jeff Hecht, who describes the research efforts underway to extend optical fiber transmission rates beyond 100 Gbit/s (see page 42). And the same applies to the researchers of future products at the Ginzton Laboratory of Stanford University, whose article on designing silicon photonic devices provides the cover story for this issue (see page 24). Much more on these topics can be learned at the Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) Conference and Exhibition, March 20-24, in Anaheim, CA.
The Internet is not the only magic that optical fiber communications has wrought, of course. Senior editor John Wallace's article reviewing the currently available lineup of kilowatt-class fiber lasers shows that a technology first deployed for the amplification of undersea optical communications has been successfully adapted to a very dissimilar application, materials processing (see page 29).
The curtain around such engineering wizardry is not such a bad thing, as long as we know how to keep building those magical levers and switches.
Conard Holton | Editor at Large
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.