on says. For instance, photonic elements can make it possible for a mobile phone to transmit a large amount of data with very low power requirements, allowing a device that is very efficient to also be made very compact. Similarly, the materials can bring greater efficiency and afford- ability to optical gyroscope systems, commonly used in aircraft navigation but also adaptable for other uses-such as vehicle navigation systems-if costs are low enough. Additionally, photonics can replace coaxial cable in many satellite systems, reducing the weight of certain components as much as 75 percent. "The cost of getting something up into space is horrendous because of weight, SO any- thing that reduces weight and power requirements is of immediate impor- tance," Dalton says. 4.2.1 New Glasses Researchers have developed a new family of glasses that will bring higher power to smaller lasers and optical devices and provide a less-expensive alter- native to many other optical glasses and crystals, like sapphire. Called REAL Glass (rare earth aluminum oxide), the materials are durable, provide a good host for atoms that improve laser performance, and may extend the range of wavelengths that a single laser can currently produce (Fig. 4-1). With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Containerless Research Inc. (CRI), based in the Northwestern University Evanston Research Park in Illinois, recently developed the REAL Glass manufacturing process. NSF is now supporting the company to develop the glasses for applications in power lasers, surgical lasers, optical communications devices, infrared materials, and sensors that may detect explosives and toxins. "NSF funded the technology at a stage when there were very few compa- nies or venture capitalists that would have made the choice to invest," says Winslow Sargeant, the NSF officer who oversees CRI's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award. "We supported the REAL Glass research because we saw there was innovation there," adds Sargeant. "They are a great compan