Optics and photonics have played a crucial role in the development of technology, enabling new devices and functionalities that have changed our daily lives and shaped the world we live in. The internet, especially the long-distance lines between continents and countries, only exists because of fiber optics, and this connection between distant lands has led to a globalized economy that has changed how the world does business. Enabled by photonics, computers and smartphones play a large role in both our personal and professional lives, allowing us to communicate instantly with people across the globe and giving us access to unlimited amounts of information.  In this talk, I will introduce the field of optics and photonics, which is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. I will review how optics and photonics are used in today’s technology, and I will discuss some of the current research areas and possible future applications.

UNC Charlotte’s Department of Physics and Optical Science is active in research in many areas of optics and photonics from fiber optics to metamaterials for high power lasers to optical spectroscopy of photonic materials. It is home to the Center for Free Form Optics and the Center for Metamaterials, both of which are funded by National Science Foundation, as well as a state-of-the-art microfabrication facility for photonic devices. I will introduce the PhD program in Optical Science and Engineering at UNC Charlotte and give some advice on graduate school applications.

Dr. Jay Mathews is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Optical Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He obtained his BS with double major in Physics and Mathematics from Colorado State University in 2007, and he received his PhD in Physics from Arizona State University in 2011. Following graduation, Dr. Mathews was awarded a fellowship in the National Academy of Sciences Research Associateship Program, where he performed research for the US Army’s Benet Laboratories at Watervliet Arsenal in NY until July 2013. From 2013 until 2023, he was a faculty member in the Department of Physics at the University of Dayton in Ohio, first as Assistant Professor and later as Associate Professor. He joined the faculty at UNCC in August 2023. Dr. Mathews received an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award in 2016, and he was awarded the 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy award from Optica (formerly OSA). He is the faculty adviser for the UNCC chapters of Society of Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma. His research is in studying the optical properties of semiconductor materials and fabrication of photonic devices.