Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
Events
Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
26 – 30 July 2026 | Long Beach, CA, USA
The SOLITH topical (formerly Solar Energy and Light-Emitting Devices, SOLED) covers all aspects of optics and photonics for solar energy, lighting and thermal applications. SOLITH brings together experts from academia, industry and government to collaborate on these vital topics for our society and economy this century.
Optica Avanced Photonics Congress
- Bragg Gratings, Photosensitivity and Poling in Optical Materials and Waveguides (BGPP)
- Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR)
- Nonlinear Photonics (NP)
- Novel Optical Materials and Applications (NOMA)
- Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
- Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)
- Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
- Speciality Optical Fibers (SOF)
Topic Categories
Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
- Solar energy categories
- Light management for solar cells and modules
- Concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) and solar power (CSP)
- Bifacial solar cells
- Semitransparent solar cells
- Integrated photovoltaics for buildings, infrastructure, vehicles and agriculture
- Space-based solar power
- Thermophotovoltaics
- Energy-yield analysis and modeling
- Economics of Solar Power
- Lighting categories
- Optics and photonics for light-emitting diodes
- Laser-based solid-state lighting
- Visual perception and color science of solid-state lighting
- Spectral tailoring for human-centric lighting
- Novel luminaire concepts
- LEDs with emission outside the visible spectrum (e.g. UV, NIR, MIR)
- Advanced concepts and mechanisms for light-emitting applications
- Thermal photonics categories
- Directional and spectral emissivity control
- Radiative cooling and thermoregulation of buildings and devices
- Near-field radiative heat transfer
- Thermal management for devices
- Wearable photonic textiles
- Thermal management for solar modules
- Nonreciprocal thermal emission
- Thermophotonic LEDs (i.e. electroluminescent cooling)
- Cross-cutting categories
- Optical nanostructures and metamaterials
- Up and down conversion of photons
- Optoelectronic devices based on perovskites and organic semiconductors
- Optoelectronic devices with quantum dots
- Advanced characterization and measurement techniques, e.g. luminescence-based
- Advanced modeling
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Plenary Speakers
Margaret Murnane
University of Colorado, UNITED STATES
Ultrabright tabletop UV sources for nuclear-referenced optical clocks and materials metrologies
We demonstrate ~100mW of VUV light at 8.4eV at a MHz repetition rate using four-wave mixing in structured hollow fibers. The novel source has applications in photoionization and photoelectron spectroscopies, and in nuclear-referenced optical clocks.
About the Speaker
Margaret Murnane is a Professor of Physics, Fellow of JILA, Distinguished Professor of the University of Colorado, and directs the NSF Science and Technology Center for Real Time Functional Imaging called STROBE. She works with a multidisciplinary group and collaborators in ultrafast laser and x-ray science, with broad applications in nanoscale functional imaging. She was awarded the Optica Wood Prize and the Optica Ives Medal, among other honors.
Elaine Wong
University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Re-thinking Fiber-to-the-Home and Building Networks for the Next Decade: Challenges and Emerging Solutions
The telecommunications industry is transitioning toward an experience-driven era, shaped by immersive and interactive applications that place stringent demands on network latency, bandwidth and reliability. Over the past two decades, passive optical network (PON) technologies have been central to delivering high-capacity broadband access to homes and businesses. As fiber access continues to evolve beyond the curb and basement and deeper into indoor environments, this trajectory is set to accelerate. This talk examines the key drivers behind this shift, the technical and architectural challenges of deploying fiber within buildings, and emerging solutions aimed at ensuring indoor fiber networks can consistently meet user experience and application performance expectations.
About the Speaker
Elaine Wong received her Ph.D. (2002) degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and is currently Pro Vice Chancellor (People & Equity) of the University. Her current research interests focus on advancing optical communication and networking technologies to enable future human–machine immersive applications. Elaine currently serves on the IEEE Communications Society Emerging Technologies Committee and previously served on the IEEE Technical Activities Board Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She is a former elected member of the IEEE Photonics Society Board of Governors and past Chair of the IEEE Communications Society Optical Networking Technical Committee. Elaine previously served as General Chair of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2025 and has held editorial roles on several leading journals, including IEEE Network, IEEE/Optica Journal of Optical Communications and Networking and IEEE/Optica Journal of Lightwave Technology. She is a Fellow of Optica and Engineers Australia.
Rohith Chandrasekar
Leidos, UNITED STATES
Recent Advances and Future Outlooks for Optical and Photonic Materials to Address Space and Defense Applications
Recent DARPA programs have advanced optical materials and photonics, establishing new modalities for sensing and computation for Defense and space systems. This talk will provide a quick snapshot of these programs and identify areas for further investigations to support future Defense applications.
About the Speaker
Dr. Rohith Chandrasekar is a Technical Fellow and Director of Emerging Space Technologies at Leidos, leading maturation and integration of novel technologies into Leidos’ space payloads. Rohith has significant experience in leading technology maturation and managing high-risk/high-payoff R&D programs as a Program Manager in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Rohith received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.
Nicolas Joly
Max Planck Institute , GERMANY
Microstructure fibers, a photonic playground
Microstructured fibers offer a versatile photonic platform, enabling both quantum state generation and manipulation as well as precise optical trapping of nanoparticles. We'll present recent advances in specialty fibers, highlighting their broad potential in photonics.
About the Speaker
Nicolas Joly received his PhD in Physics from the University of Lille in France in 2002. He spent 3-years as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Bath, UK, where he developed photonic crystal fibers for nonlinear optics applications. After returning to Lille as a maître de conférences, he was appointed Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, in 2009.
Since 2021, he has also led an independent research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, specializing in microstructured optical fibers and their applications in nonlinear and quantum optics. A Fellow of Optica, he has also served as an editor of Optics Express since 2022.
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Invited Speakers
Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
- Peter Bermel, Purdue University, United States
Advanced Design and Applications of Emerging Radiative Cooling Structures - Michael Deceglie, National Laboratory of the Rockies, United States
Unintended Consequences: Connections Between Optical Gains and Reliability in PV Modules - Guillermo Esparza, University of California San Diego, United States
From Perovskites to Zintls: Assessing Performance Limits in Emerging Solar Absorbers - Vivian Ferry, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States
Large-area, Nanoscale Optics for Photovoltaics, Agrivoltaics, and Radiative Cooling - Adam Overvig, Stevens Institute of Technology, United States
Customization of Narrowband Thermal Emission Using Nonlocal Metasurfaces - Michelle Povinelli, University of Southern California, United States
Designing the Angular and Spectral Properties of Thermal Emitters - Abhishek Srivastava, Hong Kong Univ of Science & Technology, Hong Kong
Quantum Rods: Materials for LED Devices - Luat Vuong, University of California Riverside, United States
Light-enhanced Evaporation with White Wick: Towards Photovoltaic Charge Transfer to Solvent - Matthew Wong, University of Texas at Dallas, United States
Development of Device Technology for Micro-Light-Emitting Diodes - Lin Zhao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Title to be Announced
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Committees
Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
- Aaswath Raman, University of California Los Angeles, United States, General Chair
- Baodan Zhao, Zhejiang University, General Chair
- Carissa Eisler, University of California Los Angeles, Program Chair
- Jyotirmoy Mandal, Princeton University, United States, Program Chair
- Christiane Becker, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Germany
- Jérémie Drevillon, Universite de Poitiers, France
- Marco Ernst, Australian National University, Australia
- Zhu Guangdong, NREL, United States
- Nikhil Deep Gupta, Visvesvaraya Nat Inst of Tech Nagpur, India
- Magnus Jonsson, Linköpings universitet, Sweden
- Wei Li, Changchun Inst of Optic, Fine Mech & Phy, China
- Ioannis Papakonstantinou, University College London, United Kingdom
- Mariama Rebello de Sousa Dias, University of Richmond, United States
- Giulia Tagliabue, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
- Susanna Thon, Johns Hopkins University, United States
- Jing Zhang, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States
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2026 Industry Programs
Industry Chairs
Jonathan Klamkin
Aeluma, Inc. USA,
Industry Chair
Junichi Kani
NTT Corporation, Japan
Industry Vice Chair
| Event name | Tuesday, 28 July |
|---|---|
| Next-Generation Scale-Up and Scale-Out Interconnects for AI: Photonic Component Requirements | 15:30 - 17:00 |
| Quantum and Low-Temperature Photonics: Component and Integration Requirements | 17:15 - 18:30 |
| Roundtable Discussions of the Challenges for Scaling | 18:30 - 19:30 |
Next-Generation Scale-Up and Scale-Out Interconnects for AI: Photonic Component Requirements
Tuesday, 28 July 15:30 - 17:00
Intra and inter data-center networking is rapidly evolving to support a variety of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications including generative AI, physical AI, autonomous driving and metaverse. Training and inference may be performed in a centralized or distributed manner, placing specific requirements on scaling architectures. This has prompted the major hyperscalers to invest at a record level in data center capex in 2025 and the level is expected to triple by 2029.
This session will explore requirements on photonic components for optical interconnect solutions including next-generation pluggable optics, near-packaged optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO). Leaders from the industry will describe performance, architecture, cost requirements and provide an overview of the most promising photonic technology solutions. The session will address the following questions:
- How will intra and inter data-center networks evolve?
- What are the key bottlenecks to support continuous advancement?
- Is the technology ready?
- Are the customers ready to adopt new technology such as CPO?
- Are modulator and detector technologies ready for 200G/lane? 400G/lane? Which modulator technology will win: EML, SiPh, or LN?
- How much should we be concerned about energy efficiency?
Speakers
Masaki Kato
Marvell Technology Inc., UNITED STATES
Hossein Hashemi
Astera Labs, UNITED STATES
Shinji Matsuo
NTT Device Technology Labs, JAPAN
Meer Sakib
NVIDIA, UNITED STATES
Mizuki Shirao
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, JAPAN
Quantum and Low-Temperature Photonics: Component and Integration Requirements
Tuesday, 28 July 17:15 - 18:30
Quantum appears to be the new AI, or at least the partner to AI. Quantum can solve exceptionally computation heavy problems, can provide unprecedented security in communications and can achieve ultra-high precision for sensing. Photonics may play a major role in quantum computing, quantum networking and quantum sensing. The requirements for quantum photonic components, however, are new to the photonics community. Lasers need to operate at different wavelengths and be ultra stable or broadband; efficient nonlinear optics is required for entangled photon pair generation and modulation; waveguides must achieve ultra-low loss across a broad wavelength spectrum; sources and detectors must generate and detect single photons; components may need to operate at low temperature; and heterogeneous integration must be achieved to enable practical quantum photonic systems.
This session will describe a variety of quantum systems being developed by research centers and quantum companies and will explore the demanding requirements on photonic components. Leaders from industry, academia and government laboratories will come together to address topics including:
- How practical is it to scale quantum photonics for computing, networking and sensing?
- What is the best nonlinear optical material? Can it be integrated?
- What is the right laser platform to address key wavelengths and performance requirements?
- How well understood are the photonic components at low operating temperatures?
- How best shall we integrate components to realize practical and scalable systems?
- What technologies will be commercialized first?
Speakers
Pouya Dianat
Quantum Computing Inc, UNITED STATES
Domenico Di Mola
IonQ, UNITED STATES
Takuya Ikuta
NTT Basic Research Laboratories, JAPAN
Chris Myatt
QPICs Inc., USA, UNITED STATES
Grisha Spektor
Infleqtion, USA, UNITED STATES
Roundtable Discussions of the Challenges for Scaling
Tuesday, 28 July 18:30 - 19:30
The Industry Chairs have organized an engagement event to provide an opportunity to continue important conversations and to network with industry representatives. The goal of this event is to bring together the participants from both the AI Infrastructure and the Quantum panels to discuss the state of the industry, with an emphasis on needs and challenges.
Following a brief introduction from the Industry Chairs, the panelists will join round table discussions with attendees to discuss and identify critical needs for their respective industries. AI and Quantum, the focus of the industry events, are at turning points in their evolution. Other industries such as Energy, Robotics, and Consumer Electronics, face similar circumstances.
Questions to be discussed during the round table discussions include:
- What are the greatest challenges for scaling?
- Is there a sufficient workforce to support growth? What specific education and workforce development do you foresee?
- Are you concerned with the energy supply?
- What impact are global policies having on your supply chains?
- Is there sufficient R&D funding to advance your industry?
- Does your industry have sufficient standards to enable scaling? If not, why?
Refreshments will be provided during this engagement event and we strongly encourage all participants to use this opportunity to network with our distinguished industry guests.
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Special Events
| Event name | Sunday, 26 July | Monday, 27 July | Tuesday, 28 July | Wednesday, 29 July |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop: AI as Force Multiplier in Photonics | 13:00 - 17:30 | |||
| NOMA and IPR Joint Session: Novel Material Platforms for Integrated Photonics | 14:00 - 16:00 | |||
| IPR and NP Joint Session: Nonlinear Effects in Integrated Waveguides and Devices | 16:30 - 18:30 | |||
| Congress Reception | 18:30 - 20:00 | |||
| Fiber Modeling and Fabrication Technical Group Rapid-Fire Presentations & Speed Networking | 12:30 - 13:30 | |||
| BGPP Happy Hour | 18:30 - 21:30 | |||
| Special Symposium on Ultrafast Laser Processing in Transparent Material | 16:00 - 18:00 |
Workshop: AI as Force Multiplier in Photonics
Sunday, 26 July 13:00 - 17:30
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.
Session I Speakers
Dusan Gostimirovic
PreFab Photonics, CANADA
Designing Photonic Chips from the Command Line
Tanmay Gupta
OptixLog, UNITED STATES
Accelerating Photonics R&D with Knowledge Graphs and AI
Prashanta Kharel
Flexcompute, UNITED STATES
Agentic Design Loops in Photonics: From Device Physics to Chip Layout
Eugene Sokolov
VPIphotonics, UNITED STATES
ML-Driven Inverse Design of Microring Resonator Demultiplexers for DCIs
Session II Speakers
Joaquin Matres Abril
GDS Factory, UNITED STATES
GDSFactory: The Open-Core AI-Native EDA Platform Powering the Next Generation of Photonic and Quantum Chip Design
Jake Taylor
Axiomatic AI, UNITED STATES
Accelerating Photonics with Verifiable AI
Simon Thibault
Université Laval, CANADA
AI-Augmented Optical Engineering Tools: From Lens Design to Scientific Discovery
NOMA and IPR Joint Session: Novel Material Platforms for Integrated Photonics
Monday, 27 July 14:00 - 16:00
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.
IPR and NP Joint Session: Nonlinear Effects in Integrated Waveguides and Devices
Monday, 27 July 16:30 - 18:30
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.
Congress Reception
Monday, 27 July 18:30 - 20:00
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.
Fiber Modeling and Fabrication Technical Group Rapid-Fire Presentations & Speed Networking
Tuesday, 28 July 12:30 - 13:30
International III
This informal, networking-oriented session aims to spark discussion and foster meaningful connections among participants at the Optica Advanced Photonics Congress, with a particular focus on the Specialty Optical Fiber (SOF) community. The session will feature a series of short, high-level lightning talks from invited speakers across academia and industry, highlighting emerging applications of specialty fibers, recent advances in fiber design and manufacturing and pathways from fundamental research to commercialization.
The program will consist of five to eight 5-minute lightning presentations, followed by open and/or structured networking, transitioning into themed roundtable discussions. A brief wrap-up session will conclude the event. Proposed discussion topics include: yield bottlenecks in hollow-core fiber production; alignment and scalability challenges in multicore fibers; overlooked material limitations; machine-learning-designed fibers versus real-world fabrication tolerances; and draw-tower constraints often underestimated in modeling. Attendees will gain insight into current challenges in specialty fiber technologies while building connections across academia and industry.
Speakers:
Leonard Budd
University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Works on hollow-core optical fibers, with a focus on fiber fabrication and metrology.
Amy Van Newkirk
Penn State University, United States
Works on multi-core and hollow-core optical fibers and their applications.
Joel Villatoro
University of the Basque Country, Spain
Works on optical fiber sensors, including fiber Bragg gratings, interferometric and plasmonic sensing, with applications in biosensing and multiparameter measurement.
Christopher Holmes
University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Works on optical fiber and speckle-based sensing, with a focus on integration into composite materials, structural health monitoring and manufacturing-aware photonic systems.
Francesco Tani
CNRS, University of Lille, France
Works on ultrafast nonlinear optics in hollow-core fibers, including frequency combs, attosecond pulse generation and measurement and high-intensity pulse dynamics in gas-filled fibers.
Additional invited speakers, particularly from industry, will be included in the final program.
Goals of the session:
Facilitate meaningful networking and new collaborations among specialty fiber researchers and practitioners. This will be achieved by keeping presentations concise and informal, allowing ample time for discussion and direct interaction among participants.
Highlight emerging trends and key challenges in specialty fiber technologies. Invited speakers will provide high-level perspectives on applications, design and commercialization, establishing common ground for discussion.
Encourage cross-sector engagement between academia, industry and early-career researchers. The session format and speaker selection will intentionally bring together diverse backgrounds and career stages, creating an inclusive and accessible environment.
BGPP Happy Hour
Tuesday, 28 July 18:30 - 21:30
The Auld Dubliner, 71 South Pine Ave Long Beach, CA 90802
Join BGPP colleagues for a special evening at The Auld Dubliner (15 minutes walking distance from the conference venue). After brief welcoming remarks, enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres at this Irish Pub. Participation is free for full congress registrants from the BGPP community, but confirmation through this form will be appreciated.
Thank you to our sponsors LumIR Lasers and Paris Saclay University for their support of this event and BGPP!
Special Symposium on Ultrafast Laser Processing in Transparent Material
Wednesday, 29 July 16:00 - 18:00
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
Invited Speakers
Matthieu Bellec
Institut de Physique de Nice, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, FRANCE
Jason Grenier
Corning Inc., UNITED STATES
Alexandre Mermillod-Blondin
Max-Born Institute, GERMANY
Jianping Yao
University of Ottawa, CANADA
