The Quest for Noninvasive Glucose Monitoring 

Countless research groups have tried to invent a noninvasive glucose sensor and ultimately failed. Can a new generation of optics technologies provide a path to success?

by Meeri Kim

New Aids for Color Vision Deficiency

People with some color-related genetic vision problems now have more options for getting through everyday life.

by Patricia Daukantas

Squeezing In on an Electromagnetic Controversy

Recent measurements of electrostriction—a body force term commonly excluded from calculations of electromagnetic force and momentum density—cast new light on a long-standing debate in the history of electrodynamic theory.

by N.G.C. Astrath, B. Anghinoni, T. Požar, I. Brevik and S.E. Bialkowski

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

Associative learning / Birefringent art / Ultrathin probe / Nanomotors / Two-qubit gate / Lasers and the eye / Better lidar / Lumentum / Fraunhofer / Silicon photonics / Steadier satellites

Infographic

Lasers & the Human Eye

Accidental exposure to a single direct or reflected laser beam can cause irreversible damage to the human eye—depending on the wavelength, output and exposure duration. 

Market Report

Looking Back—and Ahead—at the Laser Market

For laser and optics companies, revenues and net income continue to climb, but soft stock prices reflect widespread investor uncertainty.

Conversations

Toward Programmable Microscopes

At FiO LS 2022, physicist Monika Ritsch-Marte will talk about using spatial light modulators to enable customizable views and deep tissue imaging.

Profile

Art and Light in Ukraine

After a brief interruption, Mykola Kabluka and his team at Ukraine-based Expolight are once again finding a way forward with light.

Then and Now

Making Lasers Tunable

Since the laser’s first demonstration in 1960, scientists have worked to expand the range of wavelengths the devices can emit.

President's Message

Our Most Important Responsibility

Protecting Earth’s environment is our most important responsibility.

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

Laser gynecology; dye transfer print process; polarimetric imaging

Optica in Focus

News from the Society

Eni award / Fulbright for Qiao / Online industry meetings / Optica Fellow stories / LAOP / New Edmund Optics chair / Optica Community / CLEO Pacific Rim / Advanced Photonics / Falling Walls / Thank you, editors and volunteers

Optica Foundation

Thank You to Our Donors

The Optica Foundation recognizes and fosters excellence in the next generation of the field.

After Image

Light Bird

A focused femtosecond laser pulse interacts with a glass slide—creating a colorful flying-bird pattern. The shiny colors denote the strong laser-induced breakdown.