Wanted: Optics and Photonics Technicians

The optics community continues to wrestle with a shortage of skilled technical workers for labs and shop floors—a decades-long problem that could hold back the industry’s growth.

by Stewart Wills

Meet Optica’s 2023 Fellows

Congratulations to the 109 members of the 2023 class of Optica Fellow Members.

by Meredith Smith, Kari Apter and Kiran Balan

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

On-chip femtosecond pulses / Fast 3D imaging / Magnetic reconnection / Predicting telescope performance / Erbium and quantum networks / Lasers and memory / Industry news

Infographic

The Road to Ignition

On 5 December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), USA, demonstrated fusion ignition for the first time. Here we look at key events at NIF leading to ignition.

Conversations

The Optics Behind Laser Fusion

OPN talks with Tayyab Suratwala of the US National Ignition Facility.

Career Focus

From Bad Ideas Come Good Ideas

Innovative ideas are often generated or refined by effective brainstorming.

Then and Now

Printing in 3D

Envisioned as a potential method for manufacturing since the 1940s, 3D printing saw technological success only several decades later.

President's Message

A Workforce Worry

The potential shortfall in photonic technicians is troubling.

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

Semiconductor materials; periodic structures; artificial photosynthesis.

Optica in Focus

News from the Society

Laser Congress / Optica Fellow stories / Optica community / Resource for journal authors / Johnson named Advocate of Optics / GEMM Asia summit / Remembering Arvind Marathay / Optica at ANZCOP / NAI inductees / Thank you, editors and volunteers

After Image

Glowing Raindrops

Droplets from a rainstorm collect on the panoramic glass roof of an early Tesla Model 3. The unique color is indicative of a multi-layer dichroic coating—presumably for both UV and IR blocking since the car stays quite cool in the Arizona sun.