Astrophotonics: exploiting a new technological frontier to probe back to the Dark Ages

光子学是澳大利亚的一个关键研究力量，它诞生于电信行业。但这一令人兴奋的领域现在已经开始培育新的科学学科。最近的研究领域之一是天体光子学，这是一个与光子学和澳大利亚另一项研究强项--天文学相结合的领域。天体光子学将提供尖端技术，以确保澳大利亚在未来十年的天文领先地位。这些新设施将成为巨型麦哲伦望远镜的重要垫脚石，巨型麦哲伦望远镜是一个5亿美元的项目，有望为澳大利亚带来巨大的经济、工程和科学机会。天体光子学还将导致创新技术转移到医学、光学计算和传感器技术等领域。

Photonics, a key research strength in Australia, emerged from the telecommunications industry. But this exciting field has now begun to foster new scientific disciplines. One of the most recent is astrophotonics, a field at the interface of photonics and another Australian research strength, astronomy. Astrophotonics will deliver cutting-edge technologies to ensure Australia's astronomical lead in the next decade. These new facilities will serve as a vital stepping stone to the Giant Magellan Telescope, a $500M project promising enormous economic, engineering and scientific opportunities for Australia. Astrophotonics will also lead to innovative technology transfer to fields such as medical science, optical computing and sensor technology.