Optical Communication: Technologies and Applications
A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2026 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editors
Interests: THz communications; reservoir computing; secure optical communication; laser dynamics; time-delayed systems
Interests: microwave photonics; radio-over-fiber; laser dynamics; chaos-based communications; random number generation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Optical communication underpins the world’s data infrastructure, from long-haul submarine cables to short-reach datacenter interconnects and emerging free-space and quantum links. Rapid progress in integrated photonics, digital signal processing (DSP), advanced modulation, and novel spectral bands is reshaping what is possible in capacity, efficiency, security, and cost.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, titled “Optical Communication: Technologies and Applications,” which will highlight both fundamental advances and real-world deployments. This Special Issue aims to advance the science and engineering of optical communications across devices, subsystems, and wireless/wired networks. We welcome contributions that bridge theory and experiment, include benchmarking or reproducible methods, and clearly articulate implications for scalable systems.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- IMDD systems;
- Coherent transceivers;
- Advanced modulation and coding;
- DSP and machine learning for optics;
- Fiber, free-space, and underwater links;
- Space/division/wavelength multiplexing;
- Integrated and silicon photonics for communications;
- THz communications;
- Visible Light Communications;
- Optical access and datacenter networks;
- Quantum communication and QKD.
We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.
Dr. Jayaprasath Elumalai
Prof. Dr. Nianqiang Li
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- optical communication
- fiber optics
- free-space optics
- integrated photonics
- silicon photonics
- coherent systems
- modulation and coding
- optical networks
- quantum communication
- terahertz links
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