CSOI: Beyond Silicon-on-Insulator Photonics

Compound semiconductor on insulator—an emerging, potentially revolutionary platform—is enabling radically new photonic devices with superb functionality.

by Lin Chang, Garrett D. Cole, Galan Moody and John E. Bowers

Entanglement Levels Up

Extending a key resource of quantum technology, entanglement—either by having more than two quantum objects or using “qudits” instead of “qubits”—offers prospects for improvements in quantum communications, computation and other technologies.

by Jacquiline Romero and Markus Rambach

The First Time the Laser Was Classified

An argument between Bell Labs and ARPA in 1959 led to classification of a million-dollar ARPA project to make the first laser—and delayed the laser efforts of both parties.

by Jeff Hecht

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

Climate-neutral fuel / Data storage / Lung phantoms / InGaN LEDs / Tudor relic / Photonics firm results / UK-US quantum agreement / Holographic lens for astronomy

Infographic

The Global Supply Chain

An October 2021 International Monetary Fund report noted continued pandemic-related supply chain disruptions that could slow the global economic recovery. Here are a few highlights.

Market Report

Supply Chains and Pricing in Optics and Photonics

As 2022 begins, Optica’s senior industry adviser examines trends for optics and photonics products against the backdrop of the pandemic’s broader disruptions.

Light Touch

Mistbow Versus Glory

Exploring the subtle differences between two atmospheric optical phenomena—one ghostly pale, the other gaudily colored.

Then and Now

Size-Controlled Colors

Since their first synthesis in the 1980s, quantum dots—small yet bright semiconductor nanocrystals—have illuminated various fields of science.

President's Message

Building on Progress in a New Year

I am pleased to greet you as the 2022 President of Optica.

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

Christiaan Huygens; mysterious X-rays; optical communications.

Optica in Focus

News from the Society

Chang Pivoting Fellowship / 2021 Honorary Member / Amplify Scholarship / Optica Fellow stories / Diversity and inclusion awards / An Emmy for Fossum / RAE induction for Riza / Gapontsev remembered / Bayvel receives Young Medal / Jagadish named AAS president / Thank you, editors and volunteers

In Memoriam

Bruce W. Shore, 1935 – 2021

Remembering an internationally celebrated theorist in atomic physics.

After Image

A Bacterial Colony

Recovered phase image―obtained using a lensless ptychographic sensor―of a live bacterial colony cultured on an uneven agar plate.