Sensing is a primal urge, and technology extends our view into the invisible world. Photonics is the modern science and technology of light, driving progress across sectors spanning medicine, security and communications.

Terahertz radiation sits in an unseen spectral range where even technology is challenged. However, many compounds, including biological substances, exhibit distinctive fingerprints. So, we have good reasons for exploring the Terahertz spectrum.
 
Terahertz light is the next great frontier for sensing, allowing us to bring currently unknown aspects of nature into focus. Yet, the essentials of this technology remain elusive. There are few bright sources, no simple way to detect what matters, and tiny structures – smaller than a grain of salt, where the true secrets of life and technology lie hidden – are generally inaccessible.

In his Inaugural Lecture, Professor Peccianti will show how Emergent Photonics tackles this challenge. He will discuss how he and his Team are developing approaches that detect Terahertz light and image what was previously invisible.

Drawing inspiration from natural phenomena like crystal growth and ant colonies, he will explain how complexity – the science that connects disorder to structure, and chaos to function – can unlock the hidden world with Terahertz eyes.