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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Progress in Freeform Optical Design and Future Prospects
edited by Changxi Xue
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 885 | Submission Open
Keywords: freeform optics; optical design; optical manufacturing; optical measurement
Advancements in Optical Metrology and Imaging
edited by Yingying Wan, Ji Tan and Gaoxu Wu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 873 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical measurement; 3D/2D imaging; computational imaging; image processing; optical inspection; deep learning and machine learning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Advances in Ultrafast Science and Applications
edited by Bingying Lei, , Rui Lou and Boping Xu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 627 | Submission Open
Keywords: ultrafast laser system; ultrafast applications; ultrashort pulse generation; attosecond science; ultrafast dynamics; nonlinear optics; ultrafast laser– matter interactions
Recent Advances in Biomedical Optics and Biophotonics
edited by Eva Yebra-Pimentel and Maria Jesus Giráldez-Fernández
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 575 | Submission Open
Keywords: biophotonics; ophthalmic instrumentation and measurements; laser interferometry; biomarker detection; aberrometry; refractive errors; in vivo eye imaging
Applications and Development of Optical Fiber Sensors
edited by Haokun Yang, , Zhe Ma, Zhenshi Sun and Rongxin Zhu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 438 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical fiber sensor; distributed sensing system; AI-driven fiber sensors; novel fiber structure; optic– electronic detection techniques; smart city fiber networks; structural health monitoring; sensing technology innovation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Machine Learning in Photonics: Progress, Challenges, and Future Prospects
edited by Jiachen Wan and Yue Yao
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 348 | Submission Open
Keywords: photonics; optics; biophotonics; biomedical imaging; machine learning; deep learning
Biomedical Photonics
edited by Chao Liu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 325 | Submission Open
Keywords: biomedical photonics; brain imaging and metabolism; two-photon microscopy; photoacoustic imaging
(This special issue belongs to the Section Biophotonics and Biomedical Optics)
Advances in Photonic Quantum Information Processing: From Theory to Experiments
edited by Xiaoyan Wu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 267 | Submission Open
Keywords: quantum imaging; ghost imaging; quantum sensing; quantum computing; quantum communication; optical imaging and sensing; quantum optics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Quantum Photonics and Technologies)
Recent Advances in Polarization Optics
edited by Sushanta Kumar Pal
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 226 | Submission Open
Keywords: structured light; beam shaping; optical encryption; optical communication; optical imaging; quantum information; optical lithography
Technologies and Applications of Terahertz Metamaterials
edited by and Guang Liu
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 167 | Submission Open
Keywords: terahertz metamaterials; surface plasmon polaritons; active metamaterials; flexible metamaterials; all-dielectric terahertz metamaterials; metamaterials for communications; metamaterials for imaging; metamaterials for biosensing; other terahertz metamaterial applications
Light-Emitting Diodes: Technology, Advances, Challenges and Applications submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 147 | Submission Open
Keywords: light-emitting diodes (LEDs); advanced semiconductor materials for LEDs; luminescent materials for LEDs; thermal management of LEDs; optimization of LED materials and construction; optimization of LED systems; energy efficiency of LEDs; UV-VIS-NIR LED applications (e.g.; lighting; medicine; sensors); sustainability of LEDs (materials; technology; and applications); LED recycling and lifecycle analysis
Infrared Optoelectronic Materials and Devices
edited by Lihua Ye
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 65 | Submission Open
Keywords: infrared optoelectronic materials; infrared lasers; infrared emitters; infrared modulators; infrared detectors; infrared integrated photonics; infrared metamaterials; infrared metasurfaces; infrared optical fibers; infrared sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Light-Driven Nanomotors
edited by Ximin Cui
submission deadline 31 Aug 2025 | Viewed by 62 | Submission Open
Keywords: nanomotor; optical trapping; optical binding; particle manipulation; light− matter interactions
Advances in LiDAR Technology
edited by Dongsong Sun and Yuli Han
submission deadline 1 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 286 | Submission Open
Keywords: LiDAR; wind and temperature measurement; middle and upper atmosphere; instrumentation and observations; machine learning
Emerging Trends in Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Research
edited by and Tiago A. Morgado
submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | 9 articles | Viewed by 11281 | Submission Open
Keywords: nonlinear metamaterials and metasurfaces; reconfigurable and programmable (smart) metamaterials and metasurfaces; space-time modulated structures; metamaterials and metasurfaces for enhanced imaging capabilities; active metamaterials and metasurfaces; metamaterials and metasurfaces for biomedical applications; metamaterials and metasurfaces for wavefront control; topological metamaterials and metasurfaces; extreme wave phenomena in metamaterials and metasurfaces; metamaterial antennas and sensors
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Optical Sensors for Advanced Biomedical Applications submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1724 | Submission Open
Keywords: diagnostics and therapeutics; integrated optics; lab-on-a-chip; microelectronics; optics; sensors; modeling and simulation
Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing: Techniques and Applications
edited by Kun Zhu, Huan Wu and Bin Zhou
submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 766 | Submission Open
Keywords: fiber optic sensors; distributed optical fiber sensing; Rayleigh; Raman; and Brillouin scattering; sensing signal processing; machine learning; artificial intelligence; infrastructure monitoring; applications in geoscience
Optical Waveguides: Numerical Methods, Mathematical Modeling, and AI Techniques
edited by Eugene Smolkin
submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 554 | Submission Open
Keywords: numerical modeling; optical waveguides; finite element method; finite difference method; computational photonics; mathematical modeling; AI in photonics; machine learning in waveguide design; signal processing in waveguides; predictive modeling
Advances in Fiber Laser Technologies
edited by Yao-Yao Qi and Huihui Cheng
submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 280 | Submission Open
Keywords: mode-locking; Q-switching; high-power fiber laser; fiber device; vortex fiber laser
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Advancements in Optical Devices for Quantum Information Processing and Communication
edited by , Yajun Gao and Feng-Yu Lu
submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 159 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical quantum information; quantum communication; quantum optical devices
Silicon Photonics: From Fundamentals to Future Directions submission deadline 10 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 111 | Submission Open
Keywords: silicon photonics; optical communication; optical sensing; quantum communication; optical computing; metasurfaces; photonic integrated circuits; two-dimensional materials; heterogeneous integration
Optical Metasurfaces: Applications and Trends submission deadline 15 Sep 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 4111 | Submission Open
Keywords: achromatic metalenses; phase-tuning metasurfaces; optoelectronic co-designs in metadevices; metasurface holography; diffractive– refractive optics; wide-angle metalens designs; off-axis metalens imaging; optical metasurfaces in AR/VR; broadband infrared metalenses; metasurface-based computing imaging; metasurfaces as vortex beam generators
Advancements in Mode-Locked Lasers
edited by Juan Carlos Hernandez-Garcia and
submission deadline 15 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 150 | Submission Open
Keywords: mode-locked lasers; fiber lasers; complex dynamics pulses; nonlinear optics; instrumentation and measurements; sensors
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Light Emitting Devices: Science and Applications submission deadline 15 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 106 | Submission Open
Keywords: light-emitting diodes (LEDs); quantum light sources; multi-color emission; 2D semiconductors; photonics applications; single-photon emitters; nanostructured LEDs; optoelectronic devices; visible light communication; advanced light sources
Advancements in Optics and Laser Measurement
edited by and
submission deadline 15 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 100 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical sensing technologies; optical interferometry; 3D surface profiling; laser imaging; laser scanning and reconstruction; non-contact measurement; high-precision metrology; machine learning in optical measurement
Emerging Trends in Optical Fiber Sensors and Sensing Techniques
edited by and
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | 9 articles | Viewed by 12902 | Submission Open
Keywords: distributed acoustic/vibration sensing; distributed temperature/strain sensing; hybrid distributed fiber-optic sensing; applications of distributed fiber-optic sensing; application of AI to distributed fiber-optic sensing; resonant fiber-optic biochemical sensors; fiber-optic displacement sensors; fiber-optic gas sensors; lossy fiber-optic sensors; fiber-optic point sensor applications
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
High-Power Fiber Lasers
edited by
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | 7 articles | Viewed by 9279 | Submission Open
Keywords: ytterbium-doped fiber laser; fiber laser oscillator; fiber laser amplifier; multi cladding fiber; transverse mode instability; nonlinear effect; single-frequency fiber laser; narrow-linewidth fiber laser; pulsed fiber laser; quasi-continuous-wave fiber laser
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Liquid Crystals in Photonics II
edited by , and Tiegang Lin
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2967 | Submission Open
Keywords: liquid crystals; photonics; AR/VR; LCD; optical communication; sensors; laser technology; electronic devices; computational optics
Nonlinear Optical Phenomena in Rare Earth Doped Crystals
edited by Huanrong Fan, Faizan Raza and
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1792 | Submission Open
Keywords: nonlinear optics; quantum optics; rare-earth-doped crystals; luminous micro-/nano-materials; rare-earth-doped single-particle crystals; photonics; information optics; nonlinear quantum optics; the interaction between lasers and matter; pulsed lasers
Recent Progress in Integrated Photonics
edited by
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1297 | Submission Open
Keywords: integrated photonics; photonic integration; quantum photonics; photonic devices; photonic materials; telecommunications; hybrid integration; data processing; sensing technologies
Latest Advances in Optical Diffraction, Imaging and Display
edited by Chenrun Feng, and Zhiyong Yang
submission deadline 20 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 405 | Submission Open
Keywords: diffraction optical elements (DOEs); meta-surfaces for imaging and display; virtual reality and augmented reality; nano-photonics and nanolithography; holography and fourier optics; metamaterials; light scattering; phase modulation and laser beam shaping; wavefront sensing; optical microscopy; differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope; coherent diffraction imaging/phase contrast imaging/computational imaging
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)
Research, Development and Application of Raman Scattering Technology
edited by Haisheng Su and
submission deadline 27 Sep 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 3976 | Submission Open
Keywords: surface-enhanced and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy; coherent Raman spectroscopy; resonance Raman spectroscopy; biological applications of Raman spectroscopy; theoretical and computational advances in Raman spectroscopy; Raman sensing; Raman optical activity
Advances and Applications of Laser Measurements
edited by Cheng Lu
submission deadline 28 Sep 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2828 | Submission Open
Keywords: laser measurement; interferometry; LiDAR; optical metrology; spectral analysis; structured-light
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Research on Rare-Earth-Doped Fiber Lasers
edited by Nasser Peyghambarian and Xiushan Zhu
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 6127 | Submission Open
Keywords: fiber lasers; rare-earth-doped fibers; continuous-wave fiber lasers; pulsed fiber lasers; mode-locked fiber lasers; visible fiber lasers; upconversion fiber lasers; mid-infrared fiber lasers; fiber-laser-pumped nonlinear conversion lasers; single-frequency fiber lasers; multicore fiber lasers; phosphate fiber lasers; germanate fiber lasers; fluoride fiber lasers; chalcogenide fiber lasers
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing Technology
edited by Fei Liu and Yi Shi
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3031 | Submission Open
Keywords: distributed optical fiber sensors; optical time-domain reflectometry; optical frequency-domain reflectometry; spatial resolution; sensing range; modulation/demodulation; signal processing
Thermal Radiation and Micro-/Nanophotonics
edited by and
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2140 | Submission Open
Keywords: nanostructures; metamaterials; micro/nano-optics; plasmonics; applications of micro/nano-optics
Advances in Free-Space Optical Communications
edited by and Jian Huang
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1087 | Submission Open
Keywords: free space optical communication; acquisition; tracking and pointing; laser propagation; adaptive optics; free space optical network
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)
Innovative Optical Sensing—Materials, Devices and Applications
edited by Ning Li and
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 927 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical sensing; semiconductors; solution-processable devices; detectors; optoelectronic performances; photoresponse spectrum; multifunctional optoelectronics
Biophotonics in Medical, Diagnosis, Health Monitoring, and Environmental Applications
edited by Kehao Zhao and
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 609 | Submission Open
Keywords: immunophotonics; neurophotonics; optogenetics; photonics in cardiology; ophthalmic technologies
Optical Wireless Communications for 3D Ubiquitous Intelligent 6G Networks and Beyond
edited by , and Chedlia Ben Naila
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 488 | Submission Open
Keywords: optical wireless communications; underwater optical wireless communications; visible light communications and LiFi; vehicular optical wireless communications
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)
Novel Developments in Optoelectronic Materials and Devices
edited by
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 405 | Submission Open
Keywords: optoelectronic materials; advanced photonic devices; perovskite semiconductors; flexible electronics; sustainable optoelectronics; metamaterials; metasurface
Advances in Solid-State Laser Technology and Applications
edited by Zhen Qiao
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 356 | Submission Open
Keywords: solid-state lasers; high-power lasers; pulsed lasers; laser materials; structured light laser; materials processing; laser medical treatment; laser metrology; information processing; quantum optics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)
Advances in Optical Imaging
edited by , and Francisco Misael Munõz-Pérez
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 342 | Submission Open
Keywords: diffraction optical elements (DOEs); imaging techniques; three-dimensional imaging; virtual reality and augmented reality; optical microscopy; computational optical imaging; digital holography; meta-surfaces for imaging and display; coherent diffraction; phase contrast and computational imaging; holography and Fourier optics; optical coherence tomography; adaptive optics; confocal microscopy; image processing; laser scanning imaging; fluorescence imaging; confocal microscopy 
Photodetectors for Next-Generation Imaging and Sensing Systems
edited by
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 294 | Submission Open
Keywords: photodetectors; two-dimensional materil; imaging technique; sensing system; laser technology
Novel Biomedical Optical Spectroscopy, Microscopy and Imaging
edited by Pengfei Liu
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 170 | Submission Open
Keywords: microscopy techniques; imaging system; optical  diagnostics and theranostics; AI in optical imaging
Advanced Photonic Sensing Technologies for Optical Fiber Devices
edited by Shuhui Liu and
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 130 | Submission Open
Keywords: novel fiber structures and materials; environmental; industrial; and biomedical sensing applications; quantum sensing technologies using optical fibers; distributed and multiplexed sensing; nonlinear and multifunctional fiber sensors; fiber-based LIDAR and remote sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Research and Applications of Optical Fibers
edited by
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 112 | Submission Open
Keywords: active fiber; single-mode fiber; multimode fiber; optical fiber device; optical fiber communication; optical fiber sensing; optical fiber transmittance; laser amplification; photonic crystal fiber; nonlinear fiber and application
Deep Ultraviolet Detection Materials and Devices
edited by , and Weizong Xu
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 83 | Submission Open
Keywords: III-V semiconductors (GaN; etc.); SiC materials and devices; AlN crystals and templates; BN growth and fundamental properties  ; heterostructure physics  ; first-principles calculation; deep UV photodetectors; diamonds materials and devices; gallium oxide materials and devices
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Advancements in High-Power Optical Fibers and Fiber Lasers
edited by Fengyun Li and
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 83 | Submission Open
Keywords: narrow-linewidth; tandem-pumping; stimulated Brillouin scattering; stimulated Raman scattering; transverse modal instability; nonlinear optics; near diffraction limit; fiber Bragg gratings; tilted fiber Bragg gratings
(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)
Emerging Optical Imaging Techniques for Biological Research
edited by Sicong He
submission deadline 30 Sep 2025 | Viewed by 78 | Submission Open
Keywords: microscopy techniques; fluorescence microscopy; super-resolution imaging; correlative microscopy; multiphoton microscopy; photoacoustic imaging; image analysis; optical probes; label-free imaging; multimodal imaging
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