ScienceShot Photonics
Photonics
Photonics follows light as a carrier and as a probe. Optical fibre and why a pulse in glass travels slower than in vacuum, silicon photonics, co-packaged optics, optical computing, photodetectors from PMT to SiPM, and how photons interact with matter from visible light to gamma rays. By the end you can work out the delay of a fibre link and how much of a beam a material absorbs. Lens design and camera optics are left out.
11 articles, 1 calculator. Figures checked 1 Nov 2026.
Start here
6 articles in reading order. About 50 minutes in all.
- Are Photons Matter? The Answer Has an Error BarAre photons matter? No — but "massless" is a measured bound, not an assumption, and the number keeps moving by orders of magnitude.11 min
- How Fiber Optics Went From Lab Experiment to Backbone of the InternetDiscover how fibre optic communication has reshaped modern communication and connected the world.7 min
- Copper vs Fibre Cable: Speed, Reach and Bandwidth ComparedCopper or fibre for a data-centre link? How reach, channel checks, handling and quoted cost decide it, with three 100G examples.7 min
- Why data in optical fibre is 32% slower than lightData in fibre is often said to move at the speed of light. In standard fibre it moves at 204,107 km/s, 68.1% of it, because the glass slows the pulse.13 min
- Silicon Photonics: How This is Changing High-Speed Data CommunicationSee how Silicon Photonics will save the communication world from the Moore's Law curse6 min
- Co-Packaged Optics Is Killing the Pluggable TransceiverEveryone is cheering co-packaged optics for saving power. They are missing the real story: the pluggable transceiver, the most-swapped part in any AI data center, is being quietly executed.6 min
Instruments
The calculators behind the figures in this pillar. Free, one answer at a time, sources printed.
Photon attenuation calculator
Half-value layer and transmission for gamma and X-ray beams through common materials.
NIST XCOMFirst planned: Fibre link budget and attenuationITU-T G.652, G.657
Latest in Photonics
Why data in optical fibre is 32% slower than lightData in fibre is often said to move at the speed of light. In standard fibre it moves at 204,107 km/s, 68.1% of it, because the glass slows the pulse.SiPM vs PMT: Why Silicon Hasn’t Won Everywhere YetSiPM vs PMT: silicon wins on efficiency, voltage and magnetic immunity, but tubes still win on collecting area per euro. The numbers and a verdict.Co-Packaged Optics Is Killing the Pluggable TransceiverEveryone is cheering co-packaged optics for saving power. They are missing the real story: the pluggable transceiver, the most-swapped part in any AI data center, is being quietly executed.Optoelectronics for High Energy Experiments: Evolution and Emerging CapabilitiesOver 30 years of applying optoelectronic links in high energy physics experiments reveal key lessons. Discover which one.12 Fun Facts About Gamma Rays That Sound ImpossibleFun facts about gamma rays: 12 surprising truths about the most energetic light in the universe — where it comes from and what it can do.Are Photons Matter? The Answer Has an Error BarAre photons matter? No — but "massless" is a measured bound, not an assumption, and the number keeps moving by orders of magnitude.How Fiber Optics Went From Lab Experiment to Backbone of the InternetDiscover how fibre optic communication has reshaped modern communication and connected the world.Copper vs Fibre Cable: Speed, Reach and Bandwidth ComparedCopper or fibre for a data-centre link? How reach, channel checks, handling and quoted cost decide it, with three 100G examples.Optical Computing: Could Light Replace Electricity in Your Next Computer?Optical computing has gained renewed interest due to its potential speed and energy-efficiency advantages over electronics. Check how this is possible.Hollow Core Fibres: How Novel Fibres Smashed Loss Records Through Air GuidanceHollow core fibres guide light in air, not glass, enabling huge leaps in speed and capacity and smashing loss records. Discover how.Silicon Photonics: How This is Changing High-Speed Data CommunicationSee how Silicon Photonics will save the communication world from the Moore's Law curse