| Image Credit: Romana Maalouf Photography |
The July/August issue of Optica’s Optics and Photonics News (OPN) offers the latest edition of a biennial feature that highlights scientists and engineers building enterprises in optics and photonics. The 10 entrepreneurs profiled by OPN have embarked on journeys in businesses ranging from laser fusion to AI-enabled drones, from portable spectrometers to UV disinfection, from inertial sensors to raw-milk testing.
Although each story focuses on a company’s founder or cofounder, taken together, they illustrate the fundamental relationships that underlie a successful venture—including with cofounders, mentors, funding partners, and more. |
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The new polymer whispering-gallery-mode microlaser sensor is easier to integrate into lab-on-a-chip devices, which could enable early disease diagnosis.
Image Credit: A. Ping Zhang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| In a recent news release from Optics Letters, researchers describe how they developed a 3D micro-printed sensor for highly sensitive on-chip biosensing. The new polymer whispering-gallery-mode microlaser sensor could be used for early diagnosis of diseases or for fighting major health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Artistic illustration of a roadmap through the landscape of nonlocal responses in natural and artificial photonic materials.
Image Credit: The image was generated by the design team at Ella Maru Studio (https://scientific-illustrations.com). |
| Announcing publication of the first roadmap article in Optical Materials Express (OMEx). Roadmaps are speculative articles that provide an overview of both the current state-of-the-art and future directions in an emerging area of optics and photonics, with the goal of stimulating research efforts in those directions. The OMEx roadmap explores the growing area of nonlocal (spatially dispersive) photonic materials, which go beyond traditional local-response models to capture complex light-matter interactions. It outlines key challenges and emerging opportunities for designing materials with customized wavevector-dependent properties, paving the way for advances in wavefront shaping, optical computing, and future photonic technologies. |
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Researchers carried out an extensive coordinated comparison of optical clocks, including this ytterbium ion optical clock at NPL. The experiment is a step toward using optical clocks for international time keeping.
Image Credit: Andrew Brookes |
| In a new study published in Optica, researchers conducted the largest coordinated comparison of optical clocks to date across six countries, using both satellite and optical fiber links. The study marks a major step toward redefining the second using highly precise optical clocks, which are now 100 times more accurate than cesium clocks. |
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| Shape the future of the society by selecting its next leaders. Vote today for the 2026 Vice President and 2026-2028 Directors at Large. Instructions on how to access your ballot were sent via email from Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS). To learn more about the candidates, review their biographies and election statements. The election results will be announced at the Optica Annual Business Meeting on 28 October in Denver, Colorado, USA. |
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| Photo courtesy of Tatiana Novikova |
| In her work today, Tatiana Novikova enjoys the freedom of her position. Discussions with colleagues sometimes lead to entirely new research areas, which is stimulating for Tatiana. She also gets encouraged when her work has a real-life application, and a highlight is always “[when] you see something invisible before, and especially when a medical doctor says, ‘Wow! I have never seen images like this...Beautiful!’” In looking more broadly, Tatiana observes that hard core optics still plays an important role. To scientists just starting research in optics, she advises, “Go on and do not hesitate…despite a long history of discoveries in optics, there is a lot of bright future ahead.” |
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| Register early and save. |
| Join global leaders in Denver for FiO LS 2025. Register by 12 September to save up to USD 190 and get access to top sessions and exhibits. |
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| Submit your OFC paper. |
| Share your research and gain global visibility. Accepted papers are published in IEEE Xplore, the Optica Publishing Group's platform and indexed in top databases. |
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