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Beam Engineering

Georgios Siviloglou, John Broky, Aristide Dogariu and Demetrios Christodoulides

By properly shaping the waveform, we can now control the diffraction of light. more>>

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Biophotonics

Ting-wei Su, Sungkyu Seo, Anthony Erlinger, Derek Tseng and Aydogan Ozcan

Optics has provided key tools for advancing modern and traditional biology. Now it may play a role in reducing medical costs. more>>

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Diffractive Structures

Peng Zhang, Cibo Lou, Sheng Liu, Fajun Xiao, Jianlin Zhao, Jingjun Xu and Zhigang Chen

Photonic structures began in the search for localization associated with defects. Now, however, localized states have been demonstrated in defect-free media. more>>

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Lasers

Christiano J.S. de Matos, Leonardo de S. Menezes, Antônio M. Brito-Silva, M.A. Martinez Gámez, Anderson S.L. Gomes and Cid B. de Araújo

We have created lasers with operating properties that we never would have dreamed of when the technology was invented 50 years ago. more>>

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Material Processing

A.Y. Vorobyev and Chunlei Guo

Short optical pulses provide useful material processing capability. more>>

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Microscopy

Fatih Hakan Köklü, Anthony Nickolas Vamivakas, Stephen Ippolito, Bennett B Goldberg and Selim Ünlü

We continue to find new performance enhancements even for mature technologies like optical microscopy more>>

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Nano-optics

Pietro Ferraro, Lisa Miccio, Simonetta Grilli, Andrea Finizio, Sergio De Nicola and Veronica Vespini

The coupling of micro-fluidics and array imaging opens a fascinating area of research. more>>

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Nonlinear Optics

Peter M. Moselund, Michael H. Frosz, Carsten L. Thomsen and Ole Bang

Nonlinear optical response has enhanced our ability to produce coherent light throughout the optical spectral region. more>>

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Optical Engineering

Miguel A. Preciado and Miguel A. Muriel

New waveform generation provides the experimentalist with interesting new tools more>>

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Optical Storage

Moshe Shuker, Ofer Firstenberg, Amiram Ron, Rami Pugatch and Nir Davidson

Temporal storage of optical signals is a needed capability in communications. more>>

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Optical Tweezers

Jesper Glückstad, Darwin Z. Palima, Jeppe S. Dam and Ivan P.-Nielsen

First discovered in 1970, optical tweezers can now be generated and controlled. more>>

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Plasmonics

Yuri Gorodetski, Konstantin Y. Bliokh, Avi Niv, Vladimir Kleiner, and Erez Hasman

Electron-spin-based photonic devices are a hot topic in optical research. more>>

Quantum Optics

It is now possible to conduct optical experiments on systems that exhibit strongly correlated behavior. more>>

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Remote Sensing

Haowen Li, D. Ahmasi Harris, Bingwei Xu, Paul J. Wrzesinski, Vadim V. Lozovoy and Marcos Dantus

We continue to develop more sensitive systems for the remote sensing of biological and chemical trace components. more>>

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Scattering

Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Sergej Flach, Andrey V. Gorbach, Boris S. Luk’yanchuk, Yuri S. Kivshar and Michael I. Tribelsky

We have missed the presence of resonant scattering behavior in the Rayleigh region for years, but a clue was lurking in quantum theory. more>>

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Terahertz Technology

Ki-Yong Kim, Antoinette J. Taylor, James H. Glownia and George Rodriguez

This frequency range has had a variety of names since the 1960s, and researchers continue to be interested in exploiting this spectral region. more>>

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Ultrafast Optics

Frank Wise

We describe a novel short pulse laser system. more>>

Researchers Demonstrate Single-Photon Modulation

Patricia Daukantas

A team from Stanford University has demonstrated the modulation or "shaping" of single photons in the laboratory. more>>

Did You Know?

Patricia Daukantas

Hubble Space Telescope repair mission status update. more>>

Phase Mask Could Boost Iris Recognition Systems

Patricia Daukantas

Biometric imaging devices that recognize the unique fibrous structures of the human eye have been touted for security applications. An engineer has developed a phase mask that would make image acquisition easier for subjects to use by increasing the camera’s depth of field. more>>

Education

Bridging the Gap

Amrita Prasad, Khu Tri Vu, Ting Han, Alex Minovich and Sarah Beavan

The Australian National University’s Student Chapter recently conducted an optics outreach program targeting teens in a remote part of Australia. more>>

Light Touch

Sea Change: A History of Submarine Periscopes

Stephen R. Wilk

The complicated story of a seemingly simple maritime technology. more>>

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Photo Caption Contest Results

We received many witty responses to our recent solicitation for creative descriptions of three historical photos. Here are some of our favorites. more>>

Policy Matters

The Quest for Women Scientists

Tom Price

The National Science Foundation, the National Academies of Sciences and other U.S. organizations are looking for a few good women—well, more than a few—to pursue careers in the sciences. more>>

The History of OSA

Early OSA Honors and Awards

John N. Howard

Early in OSA’s history, two special honors were created to recognize optical pioneers. more>>