A report on the Sargent Group at the University of Toronto, breaking ground in the way information is communicated using light. Breakthroughs in semiconductor lasers. A discussion of the use of multi-wavelength codes to enable terabit multiple-access LANs whose intelligence lies at the edges of the network. The latest results in research pertaining to new materials—in particular, organic materials and inorganic/organic composites - are leading to new component function and enabling new levels of integration and the use of periodic dielectric media - self-organic photonic crystals, and ultimately photonic bandgap materials—which will allow analogies between electron waves and lightwaves to be realized and exploited in functional photonic networks.