Optics & Photonics
Globally Renowned Optics Valley
By Tom Leyde
Fueled by the esteemed University of Arizona Wyant College of Optical Sciences and an expanding cluster of companies, this region is a globally recognized hub for optics and photonics.
A pillar of the growing Silicon Desert here, optics and photonics power an industry with a multi-billion-dollar economic impact in Arizona.
Optics and photonics research “is really fundamental to this community because of the knowledge, workforce, and amount of expertise and experience in Tucson. That’s why companies want to be here,” Katie Schwertz, senior manager of optical assembly technology at Edmund Optics in Tucson and chair of the Arizona Technology Council’s Optics Valley committee.
Wyant College of Optical Sciences, founded in 1964 as the Optical Sciences Center and renamed in 2019 after optical physicist James C. Wyant, sets the foundation for this region’s optics industry, driving groundbreaking research and spinning out numerous tech companies over the years.
Robert P. Breault, a Yale graduate who earned his doctorate in optics at UA, was the industry’s early champion in Southern Arizona. Breault launched his pivotal Breault Research Corporation here in 1979. He helped found the Arizona Optics Industry Association and mentored hundreds of optics entrepreneurs, scientists and students over the years.
Breault’s efforts helped brand this region Optics Valley in the 1990s–BusinessWeek did just that in 1992–and the industry has continued to soar. His company, a longtime supplier of optical software, continues to thrive in this region after being acquired in 2018 by Tucson-based tech executive Matthew Pobloske.
Schwertz’s company, Edmund Optics, is a leading global supplier of optics, imaging and photonics technology, designing and manufacturing numerous lenses, imaging assemblies and optical systems. With a presence here since 1998, Edmund Optics has continued to expand, opening a new design and assembly facility in 2021.
The company recently hosted U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani for a visit to its Tucson facility to showcase its advanced manufacturing activities, Schwertz said. As a result of that visit, Ciscomani joined the Congressional Optics and Photonics Caucus.
“His participation underscores the critical role that Southern Arizona plays in advancing optical science and technology, and we look forward to working with him to advocate for the growth of our industry and its workforce,” she said.
Another longtime tech company, NP Photonics, an early tenant of Tech Parks Arizona, is a top developer and manufacturer of specialty fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers and transport fibers for science, military and government uses. NP Photonics’ co-founder Shibin Jiang was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2024.
And there are many more.
Research in photonics, the physical science of light waves, also continues to power entrepreneurial progress.
“It’s a field that many people don’t know about, but it underpins everyone’s life,” said Schwertz. “Our field is considered to be an enabling technology – virtually every part of society depends on it.”
Photonics applications include solar panels, healthcare diagnostics, autonomous vehicles, cell phones, semiconductor fabrication, AR/VR technology, defense and security systems, lasers to process materials as well as those in computer mice, barcode scanners, laser surgery and more.
“At the University of Arizona, one research area is photonics for sensing controlling light for some purpose, such as ways of using light to sense what is in the immediate environment in terms of biomaterials and chemicals,” said Brian Anderson, interim dean and professor at UA Wyant College of Optical Sciences.
Several Wyant professors are pursuing the next horizons of optics and photonics through exciting research. A few examples:
Professor David Brady, J.W. and H.M. Goodman Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences, focuses on computational imaging, a field that uses photonics devices, such as light sensors and cameras. He led the joint Duke University and UA team that built the world’s first gigapixel camera in 2012.
Assistant Professor Judith Su’s work concentrates on label‐free single molecule detection using microtoroid optical resonators with an eye on basic research, and translational medicine through miniature field portable devices.
Professor Hong Hua, Jean M. Bennett Optica Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences, heads the 3-D Visualization and Imaging Systems laboratory. It specializes in a wide variety of optical technologies for advanced 3-D displays, 3-D visualization systems and immersive virtual and augmented environments.
9th Annual Arizona Photonics Days presented by Optics Valley
Jan. 14-16, 2026
University of Arizona Grand Challenges Research Building
For more information, aztechcouncil.org/event/apd-2026
SILICON DESERT: CLICK TO READ ABOUT SOUTHERN ARIZONA REGION’S TECH-DRIVEN CLUSTERS
