Artificial intelligence has become a recurring theme at photonics conferences, but the conversation has so far been dominated by two well-established narratives: photonic hardware as an accelerator for AI workloads, and machine learning as a tool for inverse design. While both are important, they leave a broader and arguably more transformative question insufficiently explored: how can AI, and specifically agentic, generative and large language model-based AI actively augment the work of photonics researchers and engineers?

This workshop aims to open that conversation across the full R&D stack: from physical device design and simulation, through circuit-level verification, to system and network-level optimization and scientific discovery.

This year Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR) and Novel Optical Materials and Applications (NOMA) will organize a joint session to highlight the latest breakthroughs in the development of new material platforms and technologies for photonic integrated circuits. Chairs seek contributed submissions for consideration in this special session. 

This year Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR) and Nonlinear Photonics (NP) will organize a joint session to highlight the latest breakthroughs in the investigation and exploitation of nonlinear effects in integrated waveguides and devices. Chairs seek contributed submissions for consideration in this special session. 

Enjoy food and drinks with your friends and colleagues during the Congress Reception.

Admission is included for Full Technical registrants. Additional guest tickets can be purchased when registering for the meeting for USD 75.

Since the 1996 seminal paper that discussed ultrafast laser writing in transparent materials the field has grown significantly. No longer limited to laboratory experiments, the method is now used by many start-up companies for real-world applications and has, in many cases, proven competitive to existing and well-entrenched photolithographic approaches. Nevertheless, ultrafast laser direct writing remains an exciting and relevant topic for research. On the one hand, it is often the only technique that can produce optical waveguides in many important materials opening up device miniaturisation across different fields. On the other hand, improving our fundamental understanding of the modification mechanism involved with irradiating materials can still provide new and significant improvements to optical functions.

This special symposium will be delivered as part the BGPP Topical technical program and will include talks from four invited speakers covering specific topics from index modification mechanisms under few cycles laser pulses to the demonstration of laser waveguide writing within new materials that have the potential to open new applications.

Organizers

Matthieu Lancry, ICMMO, University Paris Saclay, France
Stefan Nolte, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany