The IBM Zurich Research GmbH (IBM ZRL) is the European branch of the IBM Research Division with headquarters at the T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, USA. At the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon a broad spectrum of research activities in the field of photonics is pursued. Some activities address immediate needs of the existing optical links business, while at the other end of the research spectrum, photonic bandgap structures and devices hold the promise of enormous cost-performance improvements in optical communications technology, and the eventual penetration of optical communications to the chip level and perhaps even onto the chip.