Special Issues

Photonics publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Deep Learning in Optical Engineering: Applications in Design, Simulation, and Performance
edited by
submission deadline 1 Oct 2026 | Submission Open
Keywords: deep learning; R& D of optical materials; optical design; optical inspection
(This special issue belongs to the Section Data-Science Based Techniques in Photonics)
Optical Sensing Technologies, Devices and Their Data Applications (2nd Edition)
edited by Yufei Chu, Abu Farzan Mitul, Yuanxian Zhang and Hanqing Guo
submission deadline 10 Oct 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 440 | Submission Open
Keywords: sensing; lidar; atmospheric and environmental detection; optical sensors; AI in optical sensing; optofluidics; fluorescence; non-destructive detection; ultrasonic detection; optical sensing data and their applications; frequency comb sensors
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Laser-Driven Ultrafast Dynamics and Imaging in Atoms and Molecules submission deadline 15 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 13 | Submission Open
Keywords: laser induced dynamics; ultrafast imaging; strong field physics; rescattering physics; quantum control; pump-probe spectroscopy; attosecond science
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Advances in Photon-Counting Imaging and Sensing
edited by Yan Kang, Zhe Sun and
submission deadline 17 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 62 | Submission Open
Keywords: single-photon detectors; 3D imaging and sensing; photon counting; time-correlated single-photon counting; quantum imaging and ghost imaging
(This special issue belongs to the Section Quantum Photonics and Technologies)
The Architecture of Specialty Optical Fibers: From Design to Application
edited by Zhenggang Lian
submission deadline 20 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 21 | Submission Open
Keywords: specialty optical fibers (SOFs); microstructured optical fibers; fiber design and modeling; advanced fiber fabrication; nonlinear fiber optics; functional fiber materials; fiber-integrated photonic devices; optical sensing and metrology; high-power fiber technologies
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)
Coherence and Polarization Optics
edited by Yi Wei
submission deadline 24 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 69 | Submission Open
Keywords: polarization; scattering; phase; imaging model
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Microstructured Optical Sensors: Design, Fabrication and Applications
edited by Victor Argueta-Diaz
submission deadline 30 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 356 | Submission Open
Keywords: microstructured optical sensors; photonic sensor design; sensor fabrication techniques; optical sensing applications; lithography in sensor fabrication; biomedical optical sensors; environmental monitoring sensors; industrial process control sensors; sensor performance optimization; future trends in optical sensing.
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Silicon Photonics: Challenges and Future Directions
edited by and
submission deadline 30 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 199 | Submission Open
Keywords: integrated photonic circuits; silicon photonics; photonic components; heterogeneous integration; optical communication; optical sensing; computing
Recent Advances in Microwave Photonics Technologies
edited by Juanjuan Yan and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 357 | Submission Open
Keywords: microwave photonics; microwave photonic filters; optoelectronic oscillators; optical frequency combs; arbitrary waveforms generation; radio over fiber; integrated microwave photonics; microwave photonic radars; microwave signal measurements
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Next-Generation Optical Fibers: Structural Innovations and Multifaceted Applications in Industry and Healthcare
edited by , Dongrui Xiao, Jun Hong and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 132 | Submission Open
Keywords: multi-core fibers; photonic crystal fibers; hollow-core anti-resonant fibers; meta-surface fibers; biodegradable optical fibers; optical fiber sensing; optical fiber communication; optical fiber hydrophone; biomedical sensing; environmental monitoring
Nanophotonics and Metasurfaces for Optical Manipulation
edited by , and Chuchuan Hong
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 90 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical tweezers; nanotweezers; optical manipulation; nanomanipulation; microfluidics; optical forces; photo-induced heating; electrokinetics; photophoretic effects
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Next-Generation Free-Space Optical Communication: Systems, Networks, and Signal Processing
edited by Lei Zhu, Jianxin Ren and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 72 | Submission Open
Keywords: free-space optical communication; adaptive optics; intelligent signal processing; photonic integration; turbulence mitigation; quantum optical communication; deep space optical communications; Li-Fi
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)
Fiber Optic Sensors: Advances, Technologies and Applications
edited by Qiang Liu
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 62 | Submission Open
Keywords: fiber optic sensors; optical sensing; fiber bragg gratings; distributed sensing; biosensors; signal processing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Optical Approaches in Raman Spectroscopy: Techniques and Applications
edited by
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 34 | Submission Open
Keywords: vibrational spectroscopy; vibrational imaging; Raman sensors; coherent Raman imaging; hyperspectral Raman imaging; Raman in multimodal imaging; deep learning spectral analysis
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biophotonics and Biomedical Optics)
Nanophotonics and Optoelectronic Physics: Fundamental Insights and Device Applications
edited by
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 31 | Submission Open
Keywords: nanophotonics; optoelectronic devices; metasurfaces; plasmonics; integrated photonics; light– matter interaction; photodetectors; nonlinear nanophotonics; light-emitting diodes (LEDs); solar cells
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Optical Displays: Materials, Devices and Systems
edited by Haiyan Bai, Liu Ding and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 9 | Submission Open
Keywords: display technologies; luminescent materials; quantum dots; OLED; micro-LED; liquid crystals; AR/VR; device engineering; human– computer interactions; solid-state lighting
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Next-Generation Liquid Crystal Devices and Applications
edited by Rui Duan
submission deadline 1 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 13 | Submission Open
Keywords: liquid crystal devices; next-generation photonics; cholesteric liquid crystals; liquid crystal sensors; tunable photonic materials; liquid crystal lasers; soft and flexible optics; chiral photonics; hybrid LC composites; adaptive optical devices
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Advances and Applications of Optical Sensing and Instrumentation
edited by
submission deadline 3 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 9 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical metrology and precision measurement; interferometry and holography; optical coherence tomography (OCT) and spectroscopy; imaging systems and sensors; fiber-optic and photonic sensors; machine vision and image-based inspection; in situ and in-line monitoring; robotics and automation with optical sensing; integrated optics; advanced optical systems for manufacturing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Optical System Design: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications
edited by Bo Li, Jingxu Sun and Lisong Yan
submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 47 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical system design; AI-driven optical design; metasurface-based optical systems; integrated photonics; free-form optical design; adaptive optical systems; high-precision imaging optics; multi-physics co-optimization; novel optical materials; inverse optimization algorithms
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Advances and Applications of Fiber Grating
edited by and Lei Chen
submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | Submission Open
Keywords: fiber bragg gratings; femtosecond laser engraving; multiparameter sensing; optical communication; industrial internet of things; fiber grating devices; biomedical imaging; long-period fiber bragg grating; intelligent perception systems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Fundamentals and Applications of Aerosol Analysis with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
edited by Daniel Diaz and David W. Hahn
submission deadline 1 Dec 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 4991 | Submission Open
Keywords: laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy; aerosols; aerosol analysis; single-shot analysis; plasma– particle interactions; ns-LIBS; fs-LIBS; remote LIBS
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Advances on Applications of Optics and Photonics—Selected Papers from the 7th International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics, AOP2026 submission deadline 30 Apr 2027 | Viewed by 136 | Submission Open
Keywords: nano-photonics; plasmonics; theoretical optics; quantum optics; nonlinear optics; optical communications and sensors; optical fibers and applications; biophotonics; biomedical optics; ultrafast lasers and ultrafast optics; power lasers; optical metrology; image processing; industrial applications; optometry; ophthalmic optics; color and visual sciences; optoelectronics; microwave photonics; photonics and optical instrumentation for space and astronomy; optics and photonics for smart mobility and smart cities
Enabling Optical Communication Technologies for Intelligent Computing Networks
edited by Liangjia Zong and
submission deadline 10 Jul 2027 | Viewed by 63 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical network architecture; optical fiber technology; optical switching; optical algorithm; intelligent optical network
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)
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