Optica Nonlinear Optics Topical Meeting

Optica Nonlinear Optics Topical Meeting

04 – 07 August 2025
Honolulu, HI, USA

An international forum for discussion of all aspects of nonlinear optics Including new phenomena, novel devices, new directions, advanced materials and applications.

Nonlinear optical phenomena are now studied and applied over a wide range of energy scales and power levels, from single-photons to  zettawatts, and over broad spectral ranges, from THz to Gamma-ray frequencies.

Nonlinear optics plays a critical role in all aspects of optics and photonics, from fundamental science to a vast array of applications.  This international meeting covers all aspects of nonlinear optics, including new phenomena, novel devices, advanced materials and innovative applications.  It covers all time scales, from CW to attoseconds, energies from single photons to zettawats and frequencies from THz to x-ray and beyond. Hot topics in 2025 included the nonlinear optics of fibers and microcavities, integrated nonlinear photonics including thin-film lithium niobate, nonlinear effects at ultra-high intensities and machine learning applied to nonlinear optics.

At this meeting you:

• Discover the latest developments in the nonlinear properties of fibers, microcavities and microstructures, specifically as applied spectroscopy and sensing.
• Learn about recent advances in high intensity and relativistic nonlinear optics, including the latest in high-harmonic generation.
• Understand how nonlinear optical effects are used in many aspects of photonic integrated circuits (PICS).
• Investigate applications of nonlinear optics to materials science and biology, including biological probes, nonlinear microscopy, spectroscopy and materials processing.

 

Chairs

Mercedeh Khajavikhan

University of Southern California, USA, General Chair
 

Frank Wise

Cornell University, USA, General Chair
 

Zhigang Chen

Nankai University, China, Program Chair
 

Anna Peacock

University of Southampton, UK, Program Chair

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Committee Members

• Mercedeh Khajavikhan, University of Southern California, USA, General Chair
• Frank Wise, Cornell University, USA, General Chair
  Zhigang Chen, Nankai University, China, Program Chair
  Anna Peacock, University of Southampton, UK, Program Chair

Nonlinear Guided Waves

• Christophe Finot, Universite de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France, Subcommittee Chair
  Camille-Sophie Brès, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
  Guoqing Chang, Institute of Physics, CAS, China
  Shu-Wei Huang, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
  Natalia Litchinitser, Duke University, USA

Nonlinear Optical Materials

• Jeffrey Moses, Cornell University, USA, Subcommittee Chair
• Amy Foster, Johns Hopkins University, USA
  Takahiro Morimoto, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Ruwen Peng, Nanjing University, China
  Peter Schunemann, Onsemi, USA
  Nathalie Vermeulen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Nonlinear Optics in Cavities and Light Sources

• Scott Papp, National Inst of Standards & Technology, USA, Subcommittee Chair
• Jennifer Black, Vescent Photonics, USA
• Bart Kuyken, Ghent University - imec, Belgium
  Dawn Tan, Singapore Univ. of Technology & Design, Singapore
  Mengjie Yu, Univ. of California Berkeley, USA

Nonlinear Optics in Plasmas

• Félicie Albert, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA, Subcommittee Chair
• Patrizio Antici, INRS-EMT, Canada
• Matthew Edwards, Stanford University, USA
  Julia Mikhailova, Princeton University, USA
• Jorge Vieira, GoLP/Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal

Nonlinear Quantum Optics

• Colin McKinstrie, Futurewei Technologies Inc, USA, Subcommittee Chair
  Andrea Blanco-Redondo, University of Central Florida, CREOL, USA
• Philip Bustard, National Research Council Canada, Canada
  Lucia Caspani, University of Insubria - Como, Italy
  Hiroki Takesue, NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Japan

Novel Nonlinear Effects

• Hrvoje Buljan, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Croatia, Subcommittee Chair
• Anna Bezryadina, California State Univ. Northridge, USA
  Daniel Leykam, Singapore Univ. of Technology and Design, Singapore
  Daria A. Smirnova, Australian National University, Australia
• Luqi Yuan, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

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Topic Categories

1. Nonlinear Optics in Plasmas
   • Relativistic effects
   • Laser-plasma effects
   • Laser wakefield acceleration
2. Nonlinear Quantum Optics
   • Single-photon nonlinear optics
   • Communication and information processing
   • Multimode nonlinear quantum optics
3. Nonlinear Guided Waves
   • Nonlinear processes in integrated photonic systems
   • Fibers and waveguides
   • Self-guided nonlinear waves
   • Nonlinear light propagation, including solitons, shock waves, and rogue waves
   • Photonic switching
   • Ultrafast and spatiotemporal nonlinear processes
   • Nonlinear optics at low powers
4. Novel Nonlinear Effects
   • AI-empowered nonlinear optics
   • Novel effects and techniques in frequency conversion
   • Nonlinear magneto-optics
   • Nonlinear optics in random media
   • Topological nonlinear optics
   • Nonlinear properties of surfaces, interfaces
   • Stimulated Brillouin scattering and nonlinear optomechanics
5. Nonlinear Optics in Cavities and Light Sources
   • Nonlinear properties of microcavities and microstructures
   • Fiber Kerr resonators
   • Ultrafast phenomena in cavities and light sources
   • Optical frequency combs
   • Multimode and spatiotemporal effects in cavities and light sources
6. Nonlinear Optical Materials
   • Nonlinear materials and metasurfaces
   • Sub-wavelength structures
   • Thin-film lithium niobate
   • Novel nonlinear materials
   • New materials for frequency conversion
   • Material platforms for integrated photonics
   • Crystalline and nanocrystalline materials
   • 2D materials
   • Topological materials
   • Synthetic materials and polymers

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Plenary Speakers

Howard Milchberg

University of Maryland, USA

Spatiotemporal Optical Vortices: From Linear to Relativistic Intensities

I will introduce the new area of spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs), showing that they are necessary and ubiquitous structures in ultrashort pulse optics, and play a major role in intense laser-matter interactions.

About the Speaker

Howard Milchberg received his B. Eng. in engineering physics from McMaster University and a Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. Among his awards are the APS John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and the APS Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optica (formerly OSA). He is a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and Distinguished University Professor at Maryland.

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Michal Lipson

Columbia University, USA

Next Generation Nonlinear Photonic Devices

Silicon nitride has proven to be a near-ideal integrated platform for high-performance nonlinear photonic devices and lasers. Such devices will have broad applications in data communications, metrology, sensing, quantum technology and healthcare.

About the Speaker

Professor Michal Lipson is the Eugene Higgins Professor at Columbia University. Her research focus is on Nanophotonics and includes the investigation of novel phenomena, as well as the development of novel devices and applications.

Professor Lipson pioneered critical building blocks in the field of Silicon Photonics, which today is recognized as one of the most promising directions for solving the major bottlenecks in microelectronics. She is the inventor of over 45 issued patents and has co-authored more than 250 scientific publications. In recognition of her work in silicon photonics, she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her numerous awards include the NAS Comstock Prize in Physics, the MacArthur Fellowship, the Blavatnik Award, Optica’s R. W. Wood Prize, the John Tyndall Award, the IEEE Photonics Award and an honorary degree from Trinity College, University of Dublin. She was elected the 2021 Vice President of Optica, formerly known as The Optical Society and then served as the President of Optica in 2023. Since 2014, every year she has been named by Thomson Reuters as a top 1% highly cited researcher in the field of Physics.

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Invited Speakers

Optica Nonlinear Optics Topical Meeting

• Matteo Clerici, Universita dell'Insubria, Italy
  Twin Beams for Sensitivity Enhancement in Time-Domain Spectroscopy
• Costantino De Angelis, Universita degli Studi di Brescia, Italy
  Space-time Image Processing in Nonlinear and Nonlocal Metasurfaces
• Scott Diddams, University of Colorado Boulder, United States
  Quantum Metrology with Optical Frequency Combs
• Benjamin Eggleton, University of Sydney, Australia
  Progress in Brillouin Integrated Photonics: Heterogeneous Integration, Surface Acoustic Wave Engineering, and Lasing Inhibition
• Nicolas Englebert, California Institute of Technology, United States
  Quadratic Dark Solitons in On-chip Degenerate Optical Parametric Oscillators
• Yeshaiahu Fainman, University of California San Diego, United States
  Nonlinear Properties of Si Rich SiN and its Applications
• Sasan Fathpour, University of Central Florida, CREOL, United States
  Advances in Nonlinear Integrated Photonics Based on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate
• Alexander Gaeta, Columbia University, United States
  Achieving the Schawlow-Townes Linewidth and Beyond in Nonlinear Photonic Oscillators
• Aurelien Houard, Ecole Polytechnique, France
  Controlling Laser-produced THz Radiation in Air with Flying Focus
• Chan Joshi, University of California Los Angeles, United States
  Applicability of the WKB Method in Plasma Instabilities
• Guixin Li, Southern Univ of Science & Technology, China
  Geometric Phase Controlled Plasmonic Metasurfaces and Related Applications
• Junqiu Liu, Univ. of Science and Technology of China, China
  Ultralow-loss Microcomb Integrated Photonics
• Alireza Marandi, California Institute of Technology, United States
  Ultrafast Quantum and Classical Nonlinear Nanophotonic Circuits
• Christelle Monat, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France
  SiGe Based Integrated Optics for Mid-IR Nonlinear Applications
• Marco Ornigotti, Tampere University, Finland
  Nonlinear Quantum Electrodynamics of ENZ Media
• Jens Osterhoff, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States
  Laser-plasma Accelerator R&D at the BELLA Center: Compact, Ultrafast Sources of Electrons, Muons, and Photons
• Eileen Otte, University of Rochester, United States
  Structured-Light-Matter Interaction: From Motion Sensing to Quantum Cryptography
• Ke Ou, Stanford University, United States
  Optimization of High-damage-threshold Transient Gas Optics for High-power Lasers
• Reza Safaei, Institut National de la Recherche Sci., 
  Robust Multidimensional Solitary States in Hollow-Core Fibers for Ultrafast Light Source Applications
• Moe Soltani, Raytheon BBN Technologies, United States
  Nonlinear Frequency Conversion using Metasurfaces: Scaling and Limits
• Karolina Stefanska, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
  Spatial Beam Freezing in a Few-Mode Optical Fiber
• Birgit Stiller, Max-Planck-Inst Physik des Lichts, Germany
  Sounds Waves Harness Photonic Neuromorphic Computing and Quantum Signal Processing
• Jianwei Wang, Peking University, China
  Scaling Up Integrated Quantum Photonic Devices
• Xiaoxiao Xue, Tsinghua University, China
  High-efficiency Microcombs Revisited
• Kiyoul Yang, Harvard University, United States
  Title to be Announced
• Yi Yang, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  Synthetic Non-Abelian Gauge Fields for Photons
• Shota Yokoyama, RIKEN, 
  Optical Quantum Computer with 101 Inputs in RIKEN
• Sixian You, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
  Self-localized Beams for Deep Volumetric Nonlinear Imaging
• Mengjie Yu, University of California Berkeley, United States
  Integrated Nonlinear Lithium Niobate Photonic Circuits: Towards Ultrafast, Low-Power, and Scalable Light–Matter Interfaces
• Xi-Cheng Zhang, University of Rochester, United States
  Recent Study on Second Harmonic Generation with Dual-Laser-Induced Air Plasma
• Dongping Zhong, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 
  Optical Quantum Control of Electron Transfer in Biology

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