Optica

We are pleased to announce the 2027 Class of Optica Fellows. 116 members from 23 countries have been elected as Fellows for their outstanding contributions and service to Optica and the #photonics community. Read more about the new #OpticaFellows: https://bit.ly/489lMK7

💡 New #tech could help make #quantum networks more practical by connecting quantum devices over long distances. The hybrid photonic platform integrates quantum emitters with photonic devices, reliably controlling interactions between photons and quantum information carriers: https://bit.ly/481N0SR

25 years ago Flagstaff became the world’s first International Dark Sky City. Now, scientists, lighting designers and dark-sky advocates are showing how better optics can help reverse the spread of artificial light at night. Check out OPN's feature to learn more! https://bit.ly/4sqeSd3 💡 ⚛️ 🧪

Image of the Week: Droplet on FP Cavity Optical image of a fabricated MDM Fabry–Pérot cavity with water droplets placed on its surface. Read more here: http://bit.ly/3Uj2QCf

🎉 Congratulations to Sterling Backus, Advanced Project Scientist at Thorlabs, on his election to the Optica Board of Directors as a Director at Large for the 2027 - 2029 term. https://bit.ly/4xMXSOZ @optica.org

💡 ⚛️ 🧪 A new computational model accounts for how the eye changes with age. By incorporating age-related changes into the model, it can be used to guide the spectrum, or mixture of wavelengths, used for white lighting to make it easier for older adults to perceive color. https://bit.ly/4dOaXk9

💡 🧪 This chip-scale gyroscope measures rotation with unprecedented sensitivity: https://bit.ly/4zylzf6 With potential uses in precision navigation, the Brillouin #laser ring gyroscope features a ring-shaped microresonator that confines light with very little loss and has a high quality (Q) factor.

💡 ⚛️ 🧪 A new computational model accounts for how the eye changes with age. By incorporating age-related changes into the model, it can be used to guide the spectrum, or mixture of wavelengths, used for white lighting to make it easier for older adults to perceive color. https://bit.ly/4dOaXk9

💡 A new method from @uofgnews.bsky.social deduces the precise color of laser light by using an image that rotates as the laser’s frequency shifts. The technique could spur developments in technologies like spectroscopy, magnetometry and #quantum communications. Read more: https://bit.ly/4rPJd44

World record! Researchers used the European XFEL to create X-ray flashes that were not only extremely short, but also more intense than previously possible. They now published the results of the April 2026 experiment in @optica.org Here are the details: www.xfel.eu/news_and_eve... 🧪⚛️

"No matter how much AI we incorporate, work is done by people—and people are quirky!" At Optica’s recent Middle Management Summit, Kay Wilkoff (Sydor Optics) shared why managers are essential for helping diverse, specialized teams collaborate across silos. #NationalBossDay

Managers are the "connective tissue" linking executive strategy with daily execution. At Optica’s recent Middle Management Summit, Tareaz Pegues explains why manages hold so much influence in driving organizational success. Happy #NationalBossDay!

2026 #NobelLaureate Francis Halzen laid the foundation for neutrino #astronomy. Learn how IceCube, a natural cube of Antarctic ice, achieved a 25-year goal of astronomers: the detection of numerous high-energy neutrino events that appear to be from interstellar space: https://bit.ly/4ylCxN0 ⚛️ 💡

A new computational model that accounts for individual differences in human color vision can help determine why the colors of today’s displays sometimes appear different from person to person. Read more: https://bit.ly/4hyWzyw #Vision 🧪 💡

💡 A new method from @uofgnews.bsky.social deduces the precise color of laser light by using an image that rotates as the laser’s frequency shifts. The technique could spur developments in technologies like spectroscopy, magnetometry and #quantum communications. Read more: https://bit.ly/4rPJd44

🔭 💡 #Exoplanets can be up to a billion times dimmer than their host star, making them difficult to detect. To capture images of exoplanets, this design isolates and eliminates light from the star and recomposes the optical field after the light is rejected. https://bit.ly/4rHm83P #WorldSpaceWeek

⚛️ 🧪 What does the future of space #optics look like? As the cost of accessing space falls, the optics community has a unique opportunity to innovate with disruptive technologies like computational imaging, advanced laser systems and more. Read more for #WorldSpaceWeek: https://bit.ly/3U2a3cY

🔭 💡 Where did we come from, and where are we going? From fabrication to final acceptance tests, learn about reflective space optics for the next generation of telescopes across the X-ray to far-infrared spectrum in this #OPG_AOP: https://bit.ly/4rIYtQl #WorldSpaceWeek @opg.optica.org

🔭 A dying star is throwing a cosmic tantrum in this combined image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. In death, the star's dusty outer layers unravel into space, glowing from the intense UV radiation released by the hot stellar core. —NASA/JPL-Caltech #astrophoto

Image of the Week: Snowflake in Phase A melting snowflake is shown as a quantitative phase map in which color encodes the optical path length of light through the crystal, proportional to its thickness. Read more here: http://bit.ly/3Uj2QCf

💡 ⚛️ Could high-energy lasers remove space debris? https://bit.ly/4ys9mIJ High-energy lasers have been floated as one possible way to sweep out Earth’s orbital neighborhood, but the effects of lasers on space debris are largely unpredictable. #WorldSpaceWeek #SpaceWaste

A new computational model that accounts for individual differences in human color vision can help determine why the colors of today’s displays sometimes appear different from person to person. Read more: https://bit.ly/4hyWzyw #Vision 🧪 💡

💡 ⚛️ Could high-energy lasers remove space debris? https://bit.ly/4ys9mIJ High-energy lasers have been floated as one possible way to sweep out Earth’s orbital neighborhood, but the effects of lasers on space debris are largely unpredictable. #WorldSpaceWeek #SpaceWaste

Congratulations, Francis Halzen, awarded the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin! Learn more about Halzen and the role of #optics in today’s recognition: https://bit.ly/4y4TcnQ

An international team of physicists led by researchers from @uofgphysastro.bsky.social have developed a new method of deducing the precise colour of laser light by using an image that rotates as the laser’s frequency shifts. Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...

While we wait for this year's #NobelPrize in physics, check out our coverage of notable past prizes. This year, we're telling the stories of the first physics Nobel laureates from selected countries. First up: C V Raman, the first Indian physics laureate. physicsworld.com/a/c-v-raman-... 🧪⚛️

💡 Optogenetics gives researchers the ability to control selected neural circuits with light, allowing us to trace the neural circuits behind memories, emotions & behaviors. Read about the 2026 #NobelLaureates in #Medicine, their research & publications with @opg.optica.org: https://bit.ly/4rPvXMX

💡 🧪 What is #optogenetics? Starting with the study of an alga, this field supplied a molecular tool for manipulating neurons in mammals, creating new ways to map the brain. Read about the foundational work of #NobelPrize winners Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann & Georg Nagel: https://bit.ly/4dOsGru

Congratulations Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and George Nagel, awarded the #NobelPrize in Physiology/#Medicine for their pioneering work in light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Their work established the use of light-sensitive proteins to control specific cells' activity with light. 💡🧪

🔭 ⚛️ Space presents limitless possibilities for exploration, all of which push the boundaries of optical technology. Whether it's the development of telescopes or high-power lasers, #optics has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Celebrate #WorldSpaceWeek: https://bit.ly/4z8RnXI

We had a great time at the #Science + Industry Showcase at #FiO26! Attendees took part in live demos, met @Optica Publishing Group journal editors, networked with #photonics companies and had some fun with the mascot from our friends at @thorlabs.bsky.social !

#Coffee is a beverage. COFFEE is a Bayesian approach-based focal-plane wavefront sensing method that consists of an extension of phase diversity to high-contrast imaging systems. Read how COFFEE estimates aberrations with nanometric precision: https://bit.ly/3V9nJ6i #InternationalCoffeeDay💡 ⚛️

💡 🧪 If you drop #coffee on a surface, the water eventually evaporates, leaving behind a ring containing concentrated coffee particles. With the same principle, this #solar-powered desalination device removes salts from ocean water and leaves solid salts with valuable minerals https://bit.ly/4hoqFTK

Did you visit the Science + Industry Showcase at #FiO26? Exhibitors demonstrated the latest solutions in photonics, panel discussions covered #AI in optical system design and industry experts shared how they moved from academia to industry.

An Affo(el)gato...? A Catpuccino or a Café Meowcha? Today we celebrate #coffee. The coffee we serve at Optica meetings, coffee in #science, coffee in your coffee, and, we hope, coffee in an Opticat mug. Learn more about coffee's role in #optics and #photonics: https://bit.ly/4xOCRDA

💡Optica is pleased to announce the results of the 2027 Optica Elections: https://bit.ly/4xMXSOZ Peter Delfyett (@ucf.bsky.social) will serve as 2027 Optica VP. Sterling Backus (@thorlabs.bsky.social) & Frédérique Vanholsbeeck (@aucklanduni.bsky.social) will serve as 2027-2029 Directors at Large.

Hey #FiO26 attendees! 👋 Stop by the Optica Member Lounge at the Galleria to recharge and connect with our #community. On 29 and 30 September, you can get a complimentary professional headshot, perfect for your LinkedIn profile, professional bio or company page!

I hit quantum information processing! Will do Eberly session this afternoon.

Solar cells struggle to charge underwater deeper than 10 meters because longer wavelengths of light attenuate. Now, researchers have developed perovskite solar cells with wide band gaps customized to the blue-green spectrum seen underwater, overcoming this limitation. https://bit.ly/3T2cHPB 💡 ⚛️ 🧪

#FiO26 has begun! 🤩 What are you attending today? Today, 28 September, you can find sessions covering #SpaceOptics, #quantum information processing, deep learning and more. Make sure you stop for a coffee break at Riverside Court to chat with your colleagues!

This handheld mid-infrared imaging spectrometer can produce high-res chemical maps of a sample without stains or labels. https://bit.ly/4hrtymV The #technology provides information comparable to larger laboratory systems and could one day help surgeons assess tumors during #surgery. #Medsky 💡 🧪

#OpticaFallVisionMeeting kicks off in Rochester, NY with a reception & visit to @cvsuor.bsky.social. Here the audience visiting @marcoslabur.bsky.social @flaumeye.bsky.social @urochester.bsky.social @urengineering.bsky.social #RochesterOptics @optica.org

Four Edgar D #Tillyer Awardees at the #OpticaFallVisionMeeting in Rochester, @optica.org. Left➡️right: David Williams, Susana Marcos, Eero Simoncelli & Beau Watson, @cvsuor.bsky.social @urengineering.bsky.social#NYU @flatironinstitute.org #apple @eerosim.bsky.social @marcoslabur.bsky.social #vision🥇

Students and early #career professionals shape the future of optics. With programs like the Career Accelerator, Women Scholars and more, the Optica Foundation empowers #students with the means and opportunities to turn their dreams into reality. #Donate here and make an impact: bit.ly/4xi3gcw