Topics

Biophotonics and Medical Optics describes the interaction of light with biological molecules, cells, and tissues. It covers diagnostic sensing and imaging applications as well as therapeutic uses of light. The Biophotonics and Medical Optics topics committee is soliciting papers in this multi-disciplinary field, covering the development, or refinement, of instruments and methods involving optics and photonics technology for applications in life sciences and biomedicine. The conference focuses on the technical and engineering aspects of new technologies and innovative approaches for sensing, imaging, signal and image processing, optical actuation, and therapy rather than the use of established technologies in clinical studies.
Specific topics of interest include instruments, devices, methods, algorithms, and materials for:

• Imaging of cells and tissues:
• Microscopy, including high-throughput, high-speed and super-resolution strategies
• Quantitative phase imaging, digital holographic microscopy and other label-free coherent light microscopy techniques
• Optical tomography, including optical coherence tomography, photoacoustic imaging, and diffuse optical tomography
• Spatial frequency domain and spectroscopic imaging
• Dynamic light scattering techniques including diffusing wave spectroscopy and diffuse correlation spectroscopy
• Dynamic and functional optical imaging techniques including optical elastography and Doppler imaging
• Endoscopy and other guided-wave implementations of imaging, such as catheters and needles
• Biomedical spectroscopy, including Raman, fluorescence, and other techniques
• Wavefront engineering for biomedical imaging, such as adaptive optics, light-sheet imaging, and imaging through scattering media
• Computational imaging and computation and modeling in imaging and sensing
• Materials (nano-, meta-, plasmonic) to enable emerging biophotonics applications
• Biosensors, such as point-of-care devices, fiber sensors, and lab-on-chip, including micro- and opto-fluidics
• Light and photonics-based techniques and procedures in biological manipulation, including optical trapping and actuation
• Therapeutic uses of light and photonics-based technology
• Applications of artificial intelligence in Biophotonics and Medical Optics

The subcommittee on Detection, Sensing, and Energy solicits papers on all types of photodetectors, imaging, optical and electro-optical sensors, as well as their related materials, devices and systems. Topics of interest include:

• Novel photoconductive and photovoltaic materials and devices (including avalanche photodiodes, very high-speed detectors, and photodetectors based on organic materials) for the range of operation in the entire electromagnetic spectrum (gamma-ray, x-ray, UV, visible, near-IR, mid-IR, far-IR, terahertz, microwave and RF).
• Detector technologies that exploit novel phenomena to enhance performance, functionality and manufacturability including CMOS-compatible germanium detectors, plasmonic and metamaterial devices, microwave-photonic devices, nanoscale quantum structures (dots/wires/wells), superlattices, MCT detectors, MEMS-based wavelength-tunable sensors, quantum sensors, and bioinspired sensors.
• Materials, devices, and/or systems for quantum-limited sensing
• Novel photovoltaic devices and energy harvesting systems.
• Integrated detectors for silicon photonics.
• Devices, techniques and systems for single-photon detection.
• Imaging systems including high operating-temperature focal-plane arrays (FPAs) for thermal imaging, active CMOS imagers, multicolor and tunable FPAs for spectral imaging, hyperspectral imaging, polarization imagers, novel readout circuits, and smart-pixel FPAs.
• Methods for 3D imaging, visualization and recognition.
• Adaptive-optics systems for imaging and display.
• Holographic-based and incoherent-holographic-based imaging and sensing systems.
• Novel optical microsystems, optofluidic devices and fiber-optic sensors.
• Novel approaches for microobject manipulation, imaging and tracking in microfluidic environment.
• Advanced microscopes based on spatial light modulators, quantitative phase-contrast, super-resolution and computational imaging techniques.
• Compressive sensing and multichannel and multimodal data acquisition and imaging.
• Infrastructures for virtual laboratories and remote metrology.

The Subcommittee on Light Sources invites papers focusing on recent progress in computational designs, theoretical concepts, growth, device fabrication, and characterization of semiconductor lasers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and other innovative light sources. Our scope encompasses basic science, device, integrated technologies, and system-level implementations (application) of these advanced light sources.

We welcome submissions covering emission wavelengths ranging from extreme ultraviolet to terahertz spectral regimes. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• New material and engineered nanoscale active regions in semiconductor lasers
• High-power lasers and laser arrays
• Visible and short-wavelength lasers
• Long-wavelength and quantum cascade lasers
• VCSEL, VECSEL and other surface-emitting lasers
• Topological lasers
• Micro- / nanocavity lasers and related areas of plasmonic
• New semiconductor laser/LED designs, materials, and fabrication techniques
• On-chip laser sources for photonic integrated circuits
• Optical amplifiers (semiconductor, fiber, waveguide-based amplifier, Raman, etc)
• Low coherence light sources including superluminescent diodes and supercontinuum sources
• Light-emitting diodes and micro-LEDs
• Monolithic and heterogeneous photonic integration, including integration of various optical materials and devices.
• Light sources for quantum technologies and quantum engineering
• Mode-locked, tunable, multiple wavelengths, frequency comb generation, QRNG/QRBG, etc
• New theoretical and computational methods in semiconductor lasers
• Synthesis, fabrication, characterization and use of emerging / novel gain materials for light emitting devices and their applications, e.g. hybrid composite materials, low-dimensional quantum dot/wire/well and 2D materials, etc.

The Materials, Foundries and Fabrication (MFF) topic area primarily covers the areas bridging the gap between materials, integrated optoelectronic and photonic devices, circuits, systems, and Photonic integrated circuit (PIC) foundries. Original papers are solicited in the subject areas including, but not limited to, the following:

• Materials with novel electronic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and spin polarization and new properties, including the traditional solid-state materials, liquid crystals, materials for energy, epsilon-near-zero materials, emerging class of 2D materials (graphene, MoS2, TMDs, etc.), as well as quantum materials (SiC, h-BN, c-BN, diamond, etc.)
• Material processing techniques: formation and processing of photonic materials and novel synthesis techniques for optical materials
• Components and devices: lasers, modulators, detectors, waveguides; reflectors, filters, couplers, (de-)multiplexers and sensors, ring resonators, chip-to-fiber coupling etc.
• Large-scale foundry PDK development for III-V and silicon-based integrated photonics
• Monolithic, heterogeneous, hybrid integrations: blank and selective epitaxy, impurity disordering, organic/inorganic integration, nanomembrane and thin film stacking, dielectric/metallic integration.
• Classical PICs and optoelectronic integrated circuits (communication); extended S-MWIR PICs for non-telecom applications (sensing), visible and NIR PICs
• Novel substrate integration/packaging techniques, including conventional semiconductors (III-Vs, Si, sapphire, etc.), glass, plastics, conformal and flexible substrates.
• Advanced Packaging techniques: optical interposer, electronic, optical, mechanical device co-integration, 3D integration, fiber-to-chip attachment, polymer waveguides and waveguide arrays, housings and systems on chip, recent advances in manufacturing and packaging facilities supporting non-telecom photonics platforms.

The Microwave Photonics and Vehicular Optics topic area focuses on several exciting application areas for photonics. Microwave photonics describes photonic techniques and components that enable or enhance microwave systems, including signal generation and signal processing for defense and commercial applications. Vehicular optics incorporates photonic sensing and communications methods on moving platforms, including LIDAR for autonomous vehicles and free space optics for optical inter-satellite links. We invite submissions on recent advances and emerging applications in this multidisciplinary field, including but not limited to:

• Components for analog microwave photonic systems, including low-noise lasers, modulators, and photodetectors for microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz frequencies.
• AI-driven approaches for MWP, including machine learning techniques for photonic signal processing, device/system optimization, and performance prediction.
• Novel modelling, simulation, and experimental demonstrations of MWP and FSO components and systems, including monolithic, heterogeneous, and hybrid MWP integrated platforms.
• Photonic signal generation and characterization for microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz applications, including low phase noise or widely-tunable oscillators, holdover clocks, and arbitrary waveforms.
• MWP devices and subsystems, including sensors, filtering, analog-to-digital conversion, and manipulation of microwave amplitude and phase in the optical domain.
• RF photonic transport and RF-over-fiber systems for next-generation wireless networks and defense applications.
• Integrated photonics for MWP, including heterogeneous integration, photonic-electronic co-design, and advanced packaging.
• LADAR/LiDAR systems and applications, including automotive, aerospace, and industrial sensing.
• FSO communication links for air, ground, and space-based platforms, including optical inter-satellite links and UAV-based networks.
• Vehicle optical network architectures, including high-speed optical interconnects, wavelength-division multiplexing, and fiber-optic communications for autonomous and connected vehicles.
• Other technologies and applications for MWP and FSO, including quantum photonics, neuromorphic computing, advanced sensing and artificial intelligence.

This topic covers theoretical and experimental advances in engineering light-matter interactions through photonic and plasmonic structures, metamaterials, and novel material systems. Representative areas include but are not limited to:

• Micro- and nano-photonics in dielectric and metallic materials and low-dimensional materials
• Linear and non-linear optical phenomena in nanophotonic, plasmonic, and metamaterial systems across UV, visible, infrared, mid-infrared, and THz regimes
• metasurfaces and metalenses.
• High-Q nanophotonic resonators, bound states in the Continuum (BICS), and quasi-BICs
• Topology-optimized metasurfaces
• Zero-index, anisotropic, and chiral metamaterials
• Advanced nanophotonic design approaches including inverse design, adjoint optimization, and machine learning methods
• Quantum-confined systems including quantum dots and nanowires
• Quantum optics on the nanoscale, Quantum light propagation in nanophotonics, plasmonics and metamaterials
• Nanoscale control of optical forces (such as optical tweezers) and optomechanics (such as cavity optomechanics and acoustic metamaterials)
• Nanophotonic, plasmonic, and metamaterial systems for communication, computing, sensing, and energy applications
• Disorder and topological effects in nanophotonics

This topic focuses on the general area of nonlinear photonics and novel optical phenomena. The topic seeks contributions ranging from theoretical and experimental studies of novel phenomena using light to engineering developments of devices and systems utilizing nonlinearities. Example topics include but are not limited to:

• Novel sources of coherent radiation and applications
• Ultrafast optics and applications
• Attosecond physics and applications
• Optical frequency comb sources and applications
• Intense field phenomena
• New nonlinear photonic materials
• Lightwave electronics
• Field-resolved detection
• Nonlinear optics in solids, fluids, gasses, and plasma
• Nonlinear optics in nanophotonics and integrated platforms
• Nonlinear dynamics including laser dynamics, soliton formation, and related phenomena
• Collective behaviors of coupled optical systems
• Topological and non-Hermitian Photonics
• Coherent sources in unconventional wavelength ranges from THz to mid-infrared, visible, UV, and x-ray

Topic Keywords:
Nonlinear photonics and phenomena; attosecond physics; field-resolved detection; light wave electronics; nonlinear pulse propagation and interaction; X-rays and plasma; attosecond science; high precision metrology and frequency comb technology; parametric processes; wavelength conversion; supercontinuum generation; nonlinear dynamics; photonic solitons; non-Hermitian photonics; topological phenomena in photonics; ultra-short pulse and ultrafast photonics; nonlinear pulse propagation and interaction; X-rays and plasma; attosecond science; high precision metrology and frequency comb technology; magnetophotonics; acoustophotonics; photoacoustic effects; light-matter interactions; integrated nonlinear optics; nano-scale nonlinear optics; Mie-resonant dielectric and semiconductor nanoparticles, bound states in the continuum, near-zero-index materials, spin angular momentum of light and photonic skyrmions; new materials and nano- and micro-structures for nonlinear optics; nonlinear scattering effects.

Recent explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has exposed the limitations of the current predominantly electronics-based compute, memory and chip-level interconnectivity infrastructure. The pressing need to address throughput, power consumption and cost has put photonics in the spotlight, either as a standalone alternative solution for replacing electronics or as a complementary approach relieving much of the compute and data-transfer heavy-lifting. At the same time, using Machine Learning (ML) and AI to aid photonics device- and system-level design is becoming more tempting as the current direct approaches lead to performance plateau. Additionally, increased photonic network complexity calls for rethinking of the control plane and frequently relies on AI-assisted methods for traffic control.
This topic will focus on the synergy of AI and photonics and will be open to contributions showcasing how AI can be used to enhance photonics in all abstraction levels and how photonics can sustain the massive AI growth. The committee seeks papers discussing highlights and recent advances, roadmaps, and innovation prospects from academia and industry alike. A non-exhaustive selection of topics of interest includes:

• Photonics for computing, Machine Learning (ML) and AI
• Photonic computing architectures, either as standalone or as modules complementing electronics, both von-Neumann and next-generation computing
• Photonic hardware accelerators, including Generalized Matrix Multipliers (GeMM) and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs)
• Photonic logic circuits
• Reconfigurable and programmable photonic systems
• Free-space computing and optical signal processing
• In-memory computing
• Photonic Neural Networks (PNNs)
• Neural networks realized in integrated photonics platforms, including perception-based, spiking-based, Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KAN), etc.
• Diffraction-based and/or free-space PNNs
• Coherent Ising machines
• Deep Learning (DL) and reservoir computing
• Algorithm-hardware homomorphism and neuromorphic photonics
• Software-hardware co-design principles and prototypes
• Physics-inspired PNNs
• Noise-resilient training algorithms
• Brain-inspired computing
• Artificial vision
• Parallelization strategies and distributed computing
• Hard problem solving and optimization strategies
• AI and ML for photonics
• Algorithms for ML/AI-assisted device design
• Inverse design approaches
• AI and ML for improved fabrication yield
• Advanced algorithms for device and system-level performance prediction and reliability estimation
• ML and AI in optical network traffic control
• Enabling technologies
• Emerging materials for storage and AI applications
• Memristive materials and photonic memory
• Pathfinding and system analysis
• Domain-crossing challenges and solutions
• Scaling laws and roadmapping

This sub-committee solicits papers on the analysis, modeling, and implementation of optical communication systems and networks. The topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

Optical Fiber Transmission Systems and Subsystems

• Optical modulation, detection, coding, and digital signal processing
• Analysis and modeling of signal impairments in optical fiber communication systems
• Machine learning methods for signal processing
• All-optical signal processing
• Multiband and space-division multiplexing systems
• Optical systems using hollow-core fibers

Integrated Communication and Sensing

• Optical sensing for smart cities, including road-traffic monitoring
• Sensing using optical networks, including distributed acoustic sensing (DAS)
• Applications of coherent transceivers to sensing
• Distributed sensing for seismic applications
• Machine learning for optical sensing

Core and Metro Optical Networks

• Optical network architectures, design and performance evaluation
• Traffic modeling, routing algorithms and protocols
• Optical performance monitoring for transport networks
• Energy efficient/green optical networks
• Optical network security
• Transport network demonstrations, test-beds, and field trials
• Software-defined optical networking and network orchestration
• Advanced optical network telemetry

Access Optical Networks and Systems

• High-speed optical access system technologies and applications
• PON virtualization and network function virtualization applied to optical access
• Energy efficient optical access networks
• FTTx and next-generation passive optical networks
• Access network demonstrations, test-beds, and field trials
• Fixed and mobile converged networks, including 5G/6G

Datacom and Computercom Networks and Systems

• Optical interconnect technologies
• Parallel optical coupling between fibers, chips and modules
• Optical interconnection network interfaces, protocols, arbitration and flow control
• Optical switching devices, architectures, and control schemes for data centers
• On-chip optical networks and integrated computer architectures
• Interconnection network architectures for data centers

Radio-over-Fiber and Free-Space Optical Systems

• Radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems, including analog and digital transport
• Hybrid wireless-optical systems
• Visible and IR free-space optical communication systems, underwater communication
• Optical communications and networks for space/satellite applications

This topic seeks technology from device to system levels for advancing the optical communications, including coherent transceivers for high throughput long haul telecommunications, data communication and free-space optical communications. The topics of interest cover fiber based and integrated photonic based devices and subsystems of:

• Advanced modulation formats in fiber and on-chip: phase, amplitude, mode, polarization division de/multiplexing
• Multicore, multi-/few-mode, hollow core, chalcogenide, semiconductor, photonic crystal,
• doped optical fibers
• Rayleigh, Raman, Brillouin, phase-sensitive and -insensitive, supercontinuum, mid-
• infrared generation, and applications
• Device performance manifestation utilizing LEOS, MEMS, plasmonic, metasurface
• Parametric light sources and amplifier based on Kerr, Raman, and Brillouin effects
• Co-packaging of optical interconnects including packaging, applications, data rates, energy consumption, fiber routing, etc.
• 2D-3D co-packaging scheme for laser, amplifier, and CMOS drivers
• Photonic and electronic accelerators for data manipulation/compression in optical communication
• Novel and scalable device architectures reduce insertion loss, enhance extinction ratio and other performance matrix of on-chip and fiber-based modulators and switches
• Device to systems level exploration for optical communication in harsh environments, such as submarine and deep-space satellite communication
• Advanced fiber-chip coupler design with improved bandwidth, insertion loss and polarization/angle tolerance
• Mode convertors, multimode photonic devices and polarization-handling devices on-chip
• Back-end-of-line compatible electronic components for supporting the integrated photonic devices
• RF CMOS drivers and other driving electronic circuits (FPGA, TIA, precision resistor, ESD, eFuse).

This sub-committee solicits papers on advancements in optics and photonics with applications to spectroscopy, imaging, and microscopy/nanoscopy. The topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

Spectroscopy

• Applications in spectral ranges covering the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and THz
• Linear and nonlinear spectroscopic methods (fluorescence, photoacoustic, photothermal, multiphoton, etc)
• Techniques for in-situ measurements in turbulent/scattering media (atmosphere, water, etc)
• Ultrafast spectroscopy
• Multidimensional spectroscopy
• Applications of frequency combs and super continuum generation to spectroscopy and imaging
• Hyperspectral techniques for inspection and remote sensing
• Vibrational spectroscopy

Imaging, Microscopy, and Nanoscopy

• Diffraction-limited and super-resolution optical techniques including PALM, STORM, STED, adaptive optics to enhance the spatial resolution
• Structured illumination microscopy and other wide-field super-resolution techniques
• Deep learning and neural networks for imaging
• Nonlinear optical imaging/microscopy, including techniques such as SHG, THG, CARS, SRS, 2PEF, 3PEF, transient absorption (pump-probe) microscopy, multi-photon and multi-modal imaging.
• Photoacoustic imaging and photothermal infrared microscopy
• Ultrashort pulse/ultrafast microscopy and time-stretch imaging
• Interferometric techniques including interferometric scattering (iSCAT) microscopy, Quantitative phase imaging/microscopy, and optical coherence tomography
• THz imaging and nanoscopy
• LIDAR and multi/hyperspectral imaging
• Lensless and computational imaging
• Fourier ptychography
• Compressive sensing and image processing
• Novel imaging and microscopic methods

The topic focuses on photonic engineering solutions and technologies for quantum information science. These encompass systems such as quantum communication links, high-capacity quantum channels, sensing units, and photonic processing circuits (including but not limited to quantum gates and memories, quantum sources, quantum encoders, transducers, etc.)

We are interested in hybrid quantum-photonic integration technologies and novel light-matter interaction paradigms, as well as methods and approaches to the creation, manipulation, storage, control, and transmission of quantum states of light.

We also focus on novel applications of optical quantum processors and networks, as well as technologies that enable these applications and functionalities in communication, sensing, metrology, distributed computing, and quantum information processing.

• Quantum Information Systems: computational circuits, quantum communication networks, and quantum sensor networks.

• Quantum communication systems: quantum networks, quantum-safe telecom networks, quantum software-defined networks, new quantum algorithms.

• System Components: quantum sources, quantum gates, quantum memories, quantum encoders and transducers, on-chip miniaturization approaches, quantum photonic materials, and heterogeneous integration.

• Demonstrated functionalities: algorithms and architectures for photon-based quantum computing, sensing, and networking. Strong light-matter interaction modalities beyond perturbative limits, chiral waveguide quantum electrodynamics, cooperative effects of light-matter interactions.

• Application:  Applications of quantum devices and systems in sensing, metrology, and distributed quantum information processing.