Optics and Photonics News

How to Staff a Growing Industry

Governments, companies and academic institutions are striving to build a photonics workforce tuned to local and regional needs—and a booming global market.

by Stewart Wills

Scaling AI Data Centers with XPO Optics

eXtra-dense Pluggable Optics are rewriting the rules of density, thermal management and reliability to future-proof artificial intelligence networks.

by Sunil Priyadarshi, Andreas Bechtolsheim, Brian Park and Vijay Vusirikala

Powering Chemistry with Light

Photon-driven reactions could offer a lower-energy alternative to some heat-intensive chemical processes, but scaling them from the lab to industry remains a formidable challenge.

by Meeri Kim

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

Single-molecule spectroscopy / Staying cool with purple fabric / LED multispectral imaging / Skyrmions resist turbulence / 3D imaging tracks seizures in real time / Industry news

Profile

20 Years of Digital Holography

The 2026 DH topical meeting showcased the depth and breadth of the field—and how much it has advanced since the meeting’s inception.

Then and Now

Activating Medicine with Light

Researchers discover that light can activate effective therapies for treating skin diseases, setting the stage for the development of photodynamic therapy.

Light Touch

The ChromaDepth Paradox

Exploring a 3D-viewing technology that leverages the chromostereopsis effect.

President's Message

Growing the Next Generation

The future workforce is not something we recruit, it is something we build.

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

Ocean optics; tabletop lasers in the extreme ultraviolet; OSA centennial snapshots

Optica in Focus

News from the Society

Eberly Symposium / FiO+LS Awards ceremony / Foundation at FiO+LS / Student Leadership / Global Photonics Economic Forum / Siegman School / In memoriam: Nicholas George and Henri Arsenault / Foundation Prizes / Thank you, editors

After Image

Melting Snowflake

A melting snowflake is shown as a quantitative phase map in which color encodes the optical path length of light through the crystal, proportional to its thickness.