Optics and Photonics News

Entrepreneurs to Watch

In this biennial feature, OPN throws the spotlight on a selection of creative scientists and engineers—and the enterprises they’re building.

by OPN Staff

New Frontiers in Spatiotemporally Structured Light

Coupling the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom of light is providing a new perspective on the behavior and applications of pulsed optical beams.

by Ayman F. Abouraddy, Murat Yessenov, Ivan Divliansky and Abbie T. Watnik

Spectroscopy for Cultural Heritage Science

The spectroscopic analysis of historical and archaeological samples presents unique challenges and exciting opportunities for the optics and cultural heritage communities.

by Lara Heidrich and Martin Koch

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

Nanoplastics in bodily fluids / Ice loss alters ocean light spectrum / Toward quantum networks / Low-cost liquid lenses / Nonlinear photonic chips / New color comes into view / Industry news

Conversations

Building a Giant Telescope

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s William Burgett talks about managing a project on a massive scale.

Market Report

Why Capital Flows Matter to Optics and Photonics Engineers

John Dexheimer discusses financing for the optics and photonics industry.

Ideas

Frequency Combs for Chemistry, Biology and Medicine

Optical frequency combs can provide new insights into molecular diagnostics and disease mechanisms.

President's Message

Honing the Skill of Creativity

Trailblazing ideas thrive when people can assemble existing elements in new patterns.

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

Rapid production realization; high-energy petawatt capability for the Omega laser; optoelectronics in flatland

Optica in Focus

News from the Society

In memoriam: Joseph Eberly / Celebrating IDL / Virkkunen named Advocate of Optics / Koch retires from UofA / Stanford Photonics Retreat / Congressional Fellows / Thank you, editors and meeting chairs

Optica Elections

Optica Election for 2026 Offices

Review the candidates for Optica's 2026 Vice President and Directors-at-Large election.

After Image

2D Histogram of Polynomial Solutions

A 2D histogram on the complex plane of the number of solutions from a given set of polynomials generated from a set of 7×7 matrices.