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  • Spotlight Summary by Bernhard Schmauss

    • Coherent pulse interrogation system for fiber Bragg grating sensing of strain and pressure in dynamic extremes of materials
    • Optical fiber sensors for measurements in difficult environments have been intensively studied for many years. Some of their most important advantages are high sensitivity, immunity to electromagnetic interference and...
    • Opt. Express 23(11) 14219-14233 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

Information Acquisition, Processing, and Display

  • Spotlight Summary by Jean-Baptiste Masson

    • Generation of arbitrary order Bessel beams via 3D printed axicons at the terahertz frequency range
    • The growing field of terahertz (THz) optics poses important challenges: the unusual interaction of THz radiation with usual optical materials, and the constraints on optical design imposed by the very large wavelengths...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(36) 10641-10649 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Gianluca Galzerano

    • Sub-Doppler resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy using a difference-frequency-generation source spectrally narrowed by laser linewidth transfer
    • The continuous progress in the fields of high-resolution spectroscopy and frequency metrology is strongly correlated with the availability of highly coherent light sources with narrow emission linewidth and broad...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(23) 5467-5470 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Avner Fleischer

    • Combined high-harmonic interferometries for vectorial spectroscopy
    • How to characterize the polarization of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) high-harmonic radiation without an XUV polarizer? This question is important for two reasons. First, XUV polarizers are very lossy and bandwidth-limited....
    • Opt. Lett. 40(22) 5387-5390 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Roarke Horstmeyer

    • Spectral edge: gradient-preserving spectral mapping for image fusion
    • A huge variety of cameras can now capture information beyond what our eyes can “see”. This information includes wavelengths in the ultraviolet or infrared, or segments of the color rainbow that are incredibly fine and...
    • J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 32(12) 2384-2396 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Francesco D'Amato

    • Development of a compact multipass oxygen sensor used for gas diffusion studies in opaque media
    • Any physical measurement requires a probe. This probe must be tailored in order to avoid as much as possible any perturbation, both to the quantity to be determined, and to the experimental setup. When the measurement...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(33) 9772-9778 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Lei Tian

    • Three-dimensional quantitative phase imaging via tomographic deconvolution phase microscopy
    • Imaging the 3D internal structure of an object is a fundamental problem. 3D quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a non-invasive technique that measures the refractive index distribution without staining or labeling. In...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(31) 9213-9227 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Alexander Baev

    • Raman optical activity spectroscopy by visible-excited coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
    • Raman Optical Activity (ROA) spectroscopy is an essential analytical tool that has proved indispensable in, among other fields, biochemistry, where the majority of the studied objects are chiral molecules. However, the...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(17) 4170-4173 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Bodo Wilts

    • Quantitative reflectance spectra of solid powders as a function of particle size
    • Light-matter interaction is a very complicated process. In particular reflectance, the amount of light reflected away from a material surface, is difficult to describe quantitatively since it depends on the complex...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(15) 4863-4875 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Kedar Khare

    • Inline digital holographic movie based on a double-sideband filter
    • Digital holography has become an important modality for fast and accurate quantitative phase imaging applications relevant to biomedical diagnostics, optical metrology, displays, etc. There are two important classes of...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(17) 4142-4145 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Miro Erkintalo

    • Yb:fiber laser-based, spectrally coherent and efficient generation of femtosecond 1.3-μm pulses from a fiber with two zero-dispersion wavelengths
    • Many applications require laser light with a specific wavelength, and this has prompted decades of research into developing materials that lase at new regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. But despite great efforts,...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(15) 3631-3634 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Bernhard Schmauss

    • Two-fold transmission reach enhancement enabled by transmitter-side digital backpropagation and optical frequency comb-derived information carriers
    • Today, optical fiber telecommunication systems are based on high-order modulation formats, coherent detection schemes, digital signal processing and channel coding techniques to fulfill the ever increasing demands for...
    • Opt. Express 23(16) 20774-20783 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Brad Deutsch

    • Lycurgus Cup: inverse problem using photographs for characterization of matter
    • The Lycurgus Cup was made in 4th-century Rome, and has dichroic properties: its color depends on the direction of illumination. Lit in reflection, the glass looks green, while in transmission it ranges from purple to...
    • J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 32(8) 1544-1555 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Anne Hirsikko

    • Transparent material thickness measurements by Raman scattering
    • Much of the Polar region is covered by ice. Properties (such as areal coverage, thickness, optical properties and salinity) of ice are important indicators of interactions between ice and its surroundings, and thus,...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(19) 5943-5948 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Arel Weisberg

    • Determination of carcinogenic fluorine in cigarettes using pulsed UV laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
    • Beyond adding to the growing literature on LIBS (laser induced breakdown spectroscopy) applications, this Applied Optics paper should inspire researchers to utilize LIBS in their fields of study. This is because the...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(17) 5560-5567 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Richard Bowman

    • Optical trap for both transparent and absorbing particles in air using a single shaped laser beam
    • When light hits an airborne particle, it can impart both energy and momentum. Each of these physical mechanisms can cause the particle to move; energy absorbed by a particle can heat up one side of it, which in turn...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(12) 2798-2801 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Brynmor Davis

    • Finite sampling corrected 3D noise with confidence intervals
    • Imaging devices are subject to degradation by noise from a variety of sources. Differing physical origins result in differing spatio-temporal characteristics of the noise terms that combine to degrade a video stream. ...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(15) 4907-4915 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Martin Hieronymi

    • Polarized reflectance and transmittance properties of windblown sea surfaces
    • The polarization of light is finding its way into the awareness of the ocean optics community, and this Applied Optics article is a great contribution in this direction – this is really applied optics!

      The...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(15) 4828-4849 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by David M. Paganin

    • Microgenetic optimization algorithm for optimal wavefront shaping
    • Optics has so much to draw from the natural world, on a number of levels. We have of course the natural optical systems that range so broadly, from diffraction gratings to nano-optical systems, from mirages to the...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(6) 1485-1491 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Anders Tegtmeier Pedersen

    • High-efficiency receiver architecture for resonance-fluorescence and Doppler lidars
    • The mesosphere and lower thermosphere are parts of the middle atmosphere stretching from around 50 km to well beyond 100 km above the ground. Whilst receiving modest attention in an everyday context, these cold and...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(11) 3173-3184 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Anne Hirsikko

    • Retrieval of temperature from a multiple-channel Rayleigh-scatter lidar using an optimal estimation method
    • Temperature is one of the fundamental variables describing the state of the atmosphere, and the ability to observe temperature changes reliably is essential for applications ranging from climate research to weather...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(8) 1872-1889 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Richard Bowman

    • Digital holography super-resolution for accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of particle holograms
    • In-line digital holography is fast becoming a widespread method for imaging and tracking micro-objects in three dimensions. Employing a simple bright-field microscope and adding transmission illumination from a...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(2) 217-220 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Jonathan J. Makela

    • Advanced mesospheric temperature mapper for high-latitude airglow studies
    • The Earth’s mesosphere and lower thermosphere, the region of the atmosphere near 100-km altitude, represent the boundary between our world and space. The mesosphere is the coldest region of the atmosphere, with...
    • Appl. Opt. 53(26) 5934-5943 (2014) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Andrea Reale e Alessio Gagliardi

    • Low-power communication with a photonic heat pump
    • A LED can work as a thermodynamic heat pump: under certain conditions, it can use externally supplied electrical work to pump heat from its own semiconductor lattice to the light it emits. This process manifests itself...
    • Opt. Express 22(S7) A1650-A1658 (2014) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

Light–Matter Interactions

  • Spotlight Summary by Andrey N. Kuzmin

    • An 11.5 W Yb:YAG planar waveguide laser fabricated via pulsed laser deposition
    • High power Yb:YAG thin film laser materials fabricated by laser deposition are now available. Researchers at the University of Southampton demonstrated multi-watt laser action from a 15 μm-thick planar waveguide...
    • Opt. Mater. Express 6(1) 91-96 (2016) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Taek Yong Hwang

    • 140-fs duration and 60-W peak power blue-violet optical pulses generated by a dispersion-compensated GaInN mode-locked semiconductor laser diode using a nonlinear pulse compressor
    • According to the uncertainty relation, the product of a pulse’s temporal width and that of its frequency spectrum is fundamentally required to be larger than a certain numerical constant, meaning that the generation of...
    • Opt. Express 23(25) 31766-31771 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Andrew Sarangan

    • In situ probing of mode-locked vertical-external-cavity-surface-emitting lasers
    • Can one probe a laser cavity to examine its sub-picosecond gain dynamics? This paper demonstrates a technique for doing exactly that using a femtosecond fiber laser as the probe. The large gain bandwidth of...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(23) 5459-5462 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by László Pálfalvi

    • Scanning nonlinear absorption in lithium niobate over the time regime of small polaron formation
    • Since the 90’s the z-scan method is a standard procedure for the characterization of nonlinear material properties. Originally the technique was developed for the determination of the nonlinear absorption and refraction...
    • Opt. Mater. Express 5(12) 2729-2741 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Paul Steinvurzel

    • Optical side scattering radiometry for high resolution, wide dynamic range longitudinal assessment of optical fibers
    • An old technique has been adapted to achieve unprecedented dynamic range and spatial resolution in measuring transmission loss of km-length photonic bandgap fibers. In side scatter radiometry, one end of an optical...
    • Opt. Express 23(21) 27960-27974 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Brad Deutsch

    • Large-area fabrication of TiN nanoantenna arrays for refractory plasmonics in the mid-infrared by femtosecond direct laser writing and interference lithography [Invited]
    • Optical antennas might be used to efficiently harvest solar energy, if we can manage to fabricate them. Just like radio antennas do with radio waves, optical antennas convert propagating radiation (visible or infrared...
    • Opt. Mater. Express 5(11) 2625-2633 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Michael Frosz

    • Octave-spanning coherent supercontinuum generation in a silicon nitride waveguide
    • The supercontinuum reported in this work is not only spectrally coherent and spans more than one octave: it is also generated in a compact chip. The chip consists of a silicon nitride waveguide...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(21) 5117-5120 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Anton K. Vershovskii

    • Highly stable atomic vector magnetometer based on free spin precession
    • The most basic principle upon which quantum magnetometers rely is measuring the frequency of the Larmor precession – the precession of magnetic moment of the atom around a magnetic field. This frequency depends on the...
    • Opt. Express 23(17) 22108-22115 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Göery Genty

    • Writing and erasing of temporal cavity solitons by direct phase modulation of the cavity driving field
    • Optical solitons are peculiar objects that have the remarkable property of retaining their shape when propagating in a nonlinear dispersive medium. In the time domain, solitons manifest themselves as a result of perfect...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(20) 4755-4758 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Filippo Miatto

    • Two-mode squeezed states as Schrödinger cat-like states
    • When Erwin Schrödinger concocted his gedankenexperiment, he managed to phrase a very deep problem in quantum mechanics in terms that everyone could understand. However, the metaphor that he used is too extreme to be...
    • J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 32(10) 2190-2197 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Taek Yong Hwang

    • High-energy large-aperture Ti:sapphire amplifier for 5 PW laser pulses
    • Ultrafast lasers have contributed to expanding continuously our understanding of light-matter interactions with an increase in their peak power. Historically, to generate ultrafast laser pulses with a higher peak power,...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(21) 5011-5014 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Cristian Manzoni

    • Few-cycle near-infrared pulses from a degenerate 1 GHz optical parametric oscillator
    • One of the most fascinating topics in modern astronomy is the search for exoplanets, i.e. those planets that orbit a star other than the Sun. How is this research connected to laser technology? And to this paper in...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(17) 4102-4105 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Francesco Morichetti

    • Broadband mid-infrared frequency comb generation in a Si3N4 microresonator
    • No more than four years ago, a broadband integrated frequency comb generator operating in the near-infrared range was highlighted in Spotlight on Optics. (
    • Opt. Lett. 40(21) 4823-4826 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Nickolas Vamivakas

    • Ultra hybrid plasmonics: strong coupling of plexcitons with plasmon polaritons
    • The understanding and control of light-matter interaction has not only provided new insight into classical and quantum optical phenomena, but also has led to a myriad of exotic optoelectronic devices. Significant...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(14) 3424-3427 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Yaroslav V. Kartashov

    • Observation of stable-vector vortex solitons
    • The exploration of new nonlinear materials and geometries where stable self-sustained excitations in the form of vortex solitons can exist is one of the most attractive routes in modern nonlinear photonics. The authors...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(17) 4182-4185 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Apratim Majumder and Rajesh Menon

    • Gold triple-helix mid-infrared metamaterial by STED-inspired laser lithography
    • Overcoming the far-field diffraction limit using Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy enabled the effective focusing of light to deep subwavelength dimensions, resulting in unprecedented resolution in all 3...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(17) 3986-3989 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Uwe Brauch

    • Two-dimensional pseudo-random optical phased array based on tandem optical injection locking of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
    • The coherent superposition of laser beams – at least in principle – can solve two major challenges in one go:

      1. the scaling of the output power while conserving diffraction-limited beam quality, and...
    • Opt. Express 23(15) 19405-19416 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Juejun Hu

    • Silicon hybrid plasmonic microring resonator for sensing applications
    • Recent advances in integrated photonics technologies have enabled miniaturized on-chip optical devices to be used as sensitive chemical and biological molecular sensors. In particular, optical resonators offer a...
    • Appl. Opt. 54(23) 7131-7134 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Richard Bowman

    • Ultrastable measurement platform: sub-nm drift over hours in 3D at room temperature
    • Instrument drift is the bane of experimental science; the more sensitive the instrument, the more important it becomes to stop the sample moving. Even the tiniest influence of air currents or temperature instabilities...
    • Opt. Express 23(13) 16554-16564 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Patricia Segonds

    • Enhanced Kerr electro-optic nonlinearity and its application in controlling second-harmonic generation
    • In non-centrosymmetric crystals, third order nonlinear processes are hidden by second order ones. However, third order nonlinearities can be enhanced through the use of cascading, which opens the door to their...
    • Photon. Res. 3(4) 168-172 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Curtis Broadbent

    • Preservation of transverse spatial coherence in the storage of double light pulses
    • Quantum technologies hold the promise of paradigm-shifting increases in computational power and communication security. However, challenges arising from loss and decoherence make it difficult to achieve the stringent...
    • J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 32(7) 1318-1322 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Filippo Miatto

    • Bounds to precision for quantum interferometry with Gaussian states and operations
    • On the ultimate phase sensitivity: when less is more.

      Using one’s resources in the most efficient way possible is desirable for several reasons: we save time, we save efforts, we...
    • J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 32(7) 1354-1359 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by David R. Busch

    • Fast silicon photomultiplier improves signal harvesting and reduces complexity in time-domain diffuse optics
    • Diffuse optical measurements of tissue inform clinicians of deep tissue hemodynamics continuously, without ionizing radiation or invasive proves. The most ubiquitous of these systems is the pulse-oximeter, which...
    • Opt. Express 23(11) 13937-13946 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Katia Gallo

    • Tunable optical nonlinearity of silicon nanoparticles in solid state organic matrix
    • Fine structuring of optical materials is a powerful tool to shape their optical response, to control the way in which light impinging on them is reflected, scattered or transmitted. Scientists and engineers have been...
    • Opt. Mater. Express 5(7) 1606-1612 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Steffen Hädrich

    • High average power coherent vuv generation at 10 MHz repetition frequency by intracavity high harmonic generation
    • Sources of short wavelength radiation are becoming increasingly important for studies of the so-called nano-cosmos that has implications in driving fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, materials science or...
    • Opt. Express 23(12) 15107-15118 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

  • Spotlight Summary by Francesco Morichetti

    • Second-harmonic generation of light at 245 nm in a lithium tetraborate whispering gallery resonator
    • Switching the light on at any wavelength, easily and efficiently, is not an easy game. This is indeed one of the main issues people working in optics have to face, because a general-purpose recipe to build light sources...
    • Opt. Lett. 40(9) 1932-1935 (2015) View: Abstract | HTML | PDF

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Recent Comments

  1. Demonstrating Arago–Fresnel laws with Bessel beams from vectorial axicons [1]
  2. Tandem dual-functioning multiple-quantum-well diodes for a self-powered light source [1]
  3. High-performance modified uni-traveling carrier photodiode integrated on a thin-film lithium niobate platform [1]