Astrophotonics: recent and future developments

Astrophotonics is a burgeoning field that lies at the interface of photonics and modern astronomical instrumentation. Traditionally, optical fibres have been used in innovative ways to vastly increase the multiplex advantage of an astronomical instrument, e.g. the ability to observe hundreds or thousands of stars simultaneously. But modern instruments are using many new photonic functions, some emerging from the telecom industry, and others specific to the demands of adaptive optics systems on modern telescopes. I will present an overview of cutting-edge astrophotonic instruments including miniature photonic spectrographs, OH suppression fibres, and wave-front sensors, as well as looking to a future in which instruments could exploit the properties of individual photons through quantum entanglement and quantum networks to provide extremely long baseline optical interferometry.