Space-time wave packets (STWPs) constitute a broad class of pulsed optical fields that are rigidly transported in linear media without diffraction or dispersion, and are therefore propagation-invariant in the absence of optical nonlinearities or waveguiding structures. Such wave packets exhibit unique characteristics, such as controllable group velocities in free space and exotic refractive phenomena

Realizing efficient on-chip light sources has long been the “holy-grail” for Si-photonics research. Several important breakthroughs were made in this field in the past few years. In this article, we review the most recent advances in light sources integrated onto mainstream Si platforms and discuss four different integration technologies: Group IV light sources on Si, heterogeneous integration of III–V

Integrated optical devices will play a central role in the future development of nonlinear quantum photonics. Here we consider the generation of nonclassical states of light within them with a focus on Gaussian states beyond the low-gain, single photon pair regime accurately described by perturbation theory. Starting from the solid foundation provided by Maxwell’s equations, we then move to applications

Deep learning has been revolutionizing information processing in many fields of science and engineering owing to the massively growing amounts of data and the advances in deep neural network architectures. As these neural networks are expanding their capabilities toward achieving state-of-the-art solutions for demanding statistical inference tasks in various applications, there appears to be a global

During the past few years, the optics and photonics communities have renewed their attention toward transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), which for over two decades have been broadly employed for the fabrication of transparent electrodes in photovoltaic and communication technologies. This reinvigorated research curiosity is twofold: on the one hand, TCOs, with their metal-like properties, low optical

Understanding the phenomenon of rogue wave formation, often called extreme waves, in diverse branches of nonlinear science has become one of the most attractive domains. Given the great richness of the new results and the increasing number of disciplines involved, we are focusing here on two pioneering fields: hydrodynamics and nonlinear optics. This tutorial aims to provide basic background and the

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of mode-division and spatial-division optical fiber sensors, mainly encompassing interferometers and advanced fiber gratings. Compared with their single-mode counterparts, which have a very mature field with many highly successful commercial applications, multimodal configurations have developed more recently with advances in fiber device fabrication

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of mode-division and spatial-division optical fiber sensors, mainly encompassing interferometers and advanced fiber gratings. Compared with their single-mode counterparts, which have a very mature field with many highly successful commercial applications, multimodal configurations have developed more recently with advances in fiber device fabrication

Polarization, the path traced by light’s electric field vector, appears in all areas of optics. In recent decades, various technologies have enabled the precise control of light’s polarization state, even on a subwavelength scale, at optical frequencies. In this review, we provide a thorough, high-level review of the fundamentals of polarization optics and detail how the Jones calculus, alongside Fourier

Light has played a crucial role in the age of information technology and has facilitated the soaring development of information optics. The ever-increasing demand for high-capacity optical devices has prompted the use of physically orthogonal dimensions of light for optical multiplexing. Recent advances in nanotechnology, mainly stemming from functionalized nanomaterials and powerful nanofabrication

This publisher’s note contains a correction to Adv. Opt. Photon. 13, 643 (2021) [CrossRef] .

We present a correction to Eq. (42) in Adv. Opt. Photon. 12, 612 (2020) [CrossRef] .

Photonic integration has seen tremendous progress over the previous decade, and several integration platforms have reached industrial maturity. This evolution has prepared the ground for miniaturized photonic sensors that lend themselves to efficient analysis of gaseous and liquid media, exploiting large interactions lengths of guided light with surrounding analytes, possibly mediated by chemically

We discuss recent developments in measurement protocols that generate quantum entanglement between two remote qubits, focusing on the theory of joint continuous detection of their spontaneous emission. We consider a device geometry similar to that used in well-known Bell state measurements, which we analyze using a conceptually transparent model of stochastic quantum trajectories; we use this to review

Nanophotonics is an important branch of modern optics dealing with light–matter interaction at the nanoscale. Nanoparticles can exhibit enhanced light absorption under illumination by light, and they become nanoscale sources of heat that can be precisely controlled and manipulated. For metal nanoparticles, such effects have been studied in the framework of thermoplasmonics, which, similar to plasmonics

Fano resonance is a universal phenomenon observed in many areas where wave propagation and interference are possible. Fano resonance arises from the interference of broad and narrow spectra of radiation and becomes an important tool for many applications in the physical, chemical, and biological sciences. At the beginning of this paper, we consider Fano resonances in individual particles, primarily

We present an erratum to correct the x, z labels in Figs. 6 and 7 from Adv. Opt. Photon. 10, 484 (2018) [CrossRef] .

In this paper, we review spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM), a common-path, phase-shifting interferometer, built onto a phase-contrast microscope, with white-light illumination. As one of the most sensitive quantitative phase imaging (QPI) methods, SLIM allows for speckle-free phase reconstruction with sub-nanometer path-length stability. We first review image formation in QPI, scattering

We present a general theory of optical coherence tomography (OCT), which synthesizes the fundamental concepts and implementations of OCT under a common 3D $k$-space framework. At the heart of this analysis is the Fourier diffraction theorem, which relates the coherent interaction between a sample and plane wave to the Ewald sphere in the 3D $k$-space representation of the sample. While only the axial

Lithium niobate (LN), an outstanding and versatile material, has influenced our daily life for decades—from enabling high-speed optical communications that form the backbone of the Internet to realizing radio-frequency filtering used in our cell phones. This half-century-old material is currently embracing a revolution in thin-film LN integrated photonics. The successes of manufacturing wafer-scale

Topological photonics is a new and rapidly growing field that deals with topological phases and topological insulators for light. Recently, the scope of these systems was expanded dramatically by incorporating non-spatial degrees of freedom. These synthetic dimensions can range from a discrete ladder of cavity modes or Bloch modes of an array of waveguides to a time-bin division (discrete time steps)

Automated human gesture recognition is receiving significant research interest, with applications ranging from novel acquisition techniques to algorithms, data processing, and classification methodologies. This tutorial presents an overview of the fundamental components and basics of the current 3D optical image acquisition technologies for gesture recognition, including the most promising algorithms

Quantum cryptography is arguably the fastest growing area in quantum information science. Novel theoretical protocols are designed on a regular basis, security proofs are constantly improving, and experiments are gradually moving from proof-of-principle lab demonstrations to in-field implementations and technological prototypes. In this review, we provide both a general introduction and a state of

Automated human gesture recognition is receiving significant research interest, with applications ranging from novel acquisition techniques to algorithms, data processing, and classification methodologies. This tutorial presents an overview of the fundamental components and basics of the current 3D optical image acquisition technologies for gesture recognition, including the most promising algorithms

The transistor has revolutionized civilization. The photon will enable the next revolution provided that photomechanical materials, which convert light energy into mechanical work, can be made substantially more efficient. This tutorial develops a unified picture of the photomechanical response from its microscopic origins to the bulk response. A statistical model of the relationship between the photomorphon

Since their invention in 1986 by Arthur Ashkin and colleagues, optical tweezers have become an essential tool in several fields of physics, spectroscopy, biology, nanotechnology, and thermodynamics. In this Tutorial, we provide a primer on how to calibrate optical tweezers and how to use them for advanced applications. After a brief general introduction on optical tweezers, we focus on describing and

We review the impact of deep-learning technologies on camera architecture. The function of a camera is first to capture visual information and second to form an image. Conventionally, both functions are implemented in physical optics. Throughout the digital age, however, joint design of physical sampling and electronic processing, e.g., computational imaging, has been increasingly applied to improve

We comprehensively review the quantum theory of the polarization properties of light. In classical optics, these traits are characterized by the Stokes parameters, which can be geometrically interpreted using the Poincare sphere. Remarkably, these Stokes parameters can also be applied to the quantum world, but then important differences emerge: now, because fluctuations in the number of photons are

Programmable integrated photonics is an emerging new paradigm that aims at designing common integrated optical hardware resource configurations, capable of implementing an unconstrained variety of functionalities by suitable programming, following a parallel but not identical path to that of integrated electronics in the past two decades of the last century. Programmable integrated photonics is raising

Programmable integrated photonics is an emerging new paradigm that aims at designing common integrated optical hardware resource configurations, capable of implementing an unconstrained variety of functionalities by suitable programming, following a parallel but not identical path to that of integrated electronics in the past two decades of the last century. Programmable integrated photonics is raising

We present a bi-orthogonal approach for modeling the response of localized electromagnetic resonators using quasinormal modes, which represent the natural, dissipative eigenmodes of the system with complex frequencies. For many problems of interest in optics and nanophotonics, the quasinormal modes constitute a powerful modeling tool, and the bi-orthogonal approach provides a coherent, precise, and

Off-axis holographic multiplexing involves capturing several complex wavefronts, each encoded into off-axis holograms with different interference fringe orientations, simultaneously, with a single camera acquisition. Thus, the multiplexed off-axis hologram can capture several wavefronts at once, where each one encodes different information from the sample, using the same number of pixels typically

Editor-in-Chief Guifang Li announces the new editorial advisory board for the Journal.

Microwave signal filtering is a fundamental and central functionality in radio-frequency (RF) systems. Underpinned by advanced integrated photonics technologies, emerging integrated microwave photonic (IMWP) filter platforms enable reconfigurable and widely tunable RF signal filtering functionalities that were unattainable using conventional electronics while also exhibiting superior features in terms

This work presents a review on the effect of transverse mode instability in high-power fiber laser systems and the corresponding investigations led worldwide over the last decade. This manuscript includes the description of the experimental observations, the physical origin of this effect, as well as some of the proposed mitigation strategies.

Optical parametric amplifiers rely on second-order susceptibility (three-wave mixing) or third-order susceptibility (four-wave mixing) in a nonlinear process where the energy of incoming photons is not changed (elastic scattering). In the latter case, two pump photons are converted to a signal and to an idler photon. Under certain conditions, related to the phase evolution of the waves involved, this

Guifang Li, the new Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Optics and Photonics, outlines his vision for the Journal.

Guifang Li, the new Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Optics and Photonics, outlines his vision for the Journal.

Editor-in-Chief Govind Agrawal reflects on his term and bids farewell.

We present in this erratum a supplement to the review of experimental implementations of the Kramers–Kronig receiver in Section 20 of our paper [Adv. Opt. Photon.11, 480 (2019)AOPAC71943-820610.1364/AOP.11.000480] describing the work performed at Nokia Bell Labs, Germany. This addition does not affect to any extent the conclusions presented in the original paper.

As author of the very first review in the inaugural issue of the Journal, I provide my perspective on how the field has developed since then and the effect that publishing in Advances in Optics and Photonics has had on my career.