Optics and electronics, an option within the physics major, focuses on optical communications, one of the fastest growing high technology fields. Communicating messages via light and optical fiber has wide ranging applications in telecommunication, medicine, and manufacturing. This option is strongly connected to physical science and electrical engineering. Physics is the most basic natural science and considers physical systems ranging in size from nuclei, to atoms, to the cosmos. It is an extremely broad field, with many sub-fields. Understanding the forces and laws that underpin the interactions of matter and energy form a major part of the discipline. Applying this understanding to other sciences and technology offers numerous opportunities for the well-trained physicist.

Careers open to those with the optics and electronics option include design engineer, test engineer, and technician in companies that design and manufacture displays, communication equipment, digital cameras, electronics for the entertainment industry, and computer input/output devices. The increasing use of laser in medicine and manufacturing presents another set of opportunities for majors in the optics and electronics option.