The other chapters in this book are providing a detailed presentation of the fundamental principles and the recent advances in fabrication techniques, optical materials and devices, besides illustrating some of the many applications. The present chapter, therefore, does not aim at recalling the continuous progress occurred in the field of integrated optics in the past 50 years but focuses on the beginning and the (current) end of the journey, namely on the early times of optical waveguides and on some appealing novelties of the last years.

Chapter Contents:

• 1.1 1969: the birthyear of integrated optics
• 1.1.1 What there was before?
• 1.1.2 The activity at Bell Labs
• 1.2 The first two decades: 1969–89
• 1.2.1 Ion-exchange technique
• 1.2.2 Other materials and technologies
• 1.3 Fifty years later: 2019–20
• 1.3.1 Recent issues in silicon photonics and photonic–electronic integration
• 1.3.2 Towards full 3D integrated photonics
• 1.3.3 Flexible photonics
• 1.4 Conclusions
• References

Inspec keywords: optical waveguides; integrated optics

Other keywords: optical waveguides; optical materials; fundamental principles; fabrication techniques; optical devices; integrated optics

Subjects: Integrated optics; Optical waveguides; Optical waveguides and couplers; Integrated optics