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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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High-Power Ultrafast Lasers: Development and Applications

edited by Razvan Dabu

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2474 | Submission Open

Keywords: chirped pulse amplification; ultra-broadband optical parametric chirped pulse amplification; advanced front-ends of multi-PW lasers; hybrid amplification femtosecond laser systems; PW-class femtosecond lasers; ultrahigh intensity lasers; ultrafast laser systems modeling; high temporal intensity contrast; high energy nanosecond pump lasers; large aperture laser crystals; large aperture nonlinear crystals; high efficiency diffraction gratings; nonlinear optics; nonlinear pulse compression; coherent beam combination of femtosecond pulses; femtosecond laser pulses characterization; interaction of ultra-high intensity laser field with matter; laser plasma electrons acceleration; laser plasma ions acceleration; attosecond laser pulses; laser fusion; nano-technologies based on high-repetition rate femtosecond lasers; femtosecond lasers material processing

(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)

Advanced Methods in Exploring Light–Matter Interactions and Nonlinear Effects Optics Applications

edited by

Zhaohong Liu

, Yuanqin Xia, Xiao Fang,

Jiawei Sun

Zeyu Gao

and Jiarui Li

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1561 | Submission Open

Keywords: high-power lasers; nonlinear optics; light– matter interactions; solid-state lasers; Brillouin microscopy; Raman spectroscopy; radar detection; machine learning in optical systems; wavefront shaping; computational imaging; adaptive optics; fiber-optic systems; laser-based sensing; optical imaging techniques

Emerging Topics in Freeform Optics

edited by Zexiao Li and

Zixuan Wang

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1517 | Submission Open

Keywords: freeform optical design& modification; micro/nanoforming; high precision machining of freeform surface; micro/nano optics and photonics; metrology & characterization of freeform surfaces; micro-featured surfaces; micro/nanomachining modeling; simulation of optical manufacturing; optical machining & measurement; process monitoring and quality control; ultra-precision machining; other technologies sssociated with freeform optics

Recent Developments in Fringe Pattern Analysis for Optics and Photonics

edited by Manuel Servin, Gonzalo Paez and Moises Padilla

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 683 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical metrology; fringe profilometry; phase shifting; 3D scanning; phase demodulation; digital holography; dynamic interferometry; quantitative phase imaging; phase unwrapping; optical coherence tomography

Polarization Optics: From Fundamentals to Applications

edited by Su Zhang and Juntong Zhan

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 523 | Submission Open

Keywords: polarization light propagation; polarization detection; polarization scattering; target polarization characteristic; polarization measurement

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)

Emerging Trends in Photonics Nanostructures

edited by

Francesco Floris

and Ramsey Selim

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 456 | Submission Open

Keywords: nano-optics; photonics; plasmonics; optical devices

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)

Microstructured Optical Sensors: Design, Fabrication and Applications

edited by Victor Argueta-Diaz

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 246 | 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)

Optical Atomic Clocks: Progress, Applications and Fundamental Physics

edited by Matteo Barbiero and

Yuanfei Wei

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 113 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical frequency standard; optical atomic clock; frequency stability; uncertainty; physics beyond standard model; quantum precision measurement

Emerging Trends in Rare-Earth Doped Material for Photonics

edited by

Jiangbo She

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 92 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical amplifiers; luminescent phosphors; photonic lasers; ultrafast spectroscopy; perovskite materials

Recent Advances in Microwave Photonics Technologies

edited by Juanjuan Yan and

Qian Zhang

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 84 | 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

Plasmonic Metasurfaces: Science and Applications

edited by

Tao Wang

and

Rahul Priyadarshi

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 81 | Submission Open

Keywords: plasmonic metasurfaces; nanophotonics; optical communication; photoelectric conversion; wireless sensing; metasurface-based sensors; light– matter interaction; electromagnetic wave manipulation; smart optical devices; IoT-enabled sensing systems

Advancements in Optical Techniques for Enhancing the Sensitivity and Precision of Atomic Magnetometers

edited by

Ying Liu

and

Junjian Tang

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 74 | Submission Open

Keywords: atomic magnetometers; weak magnetic measurement; atomic polarization; three-axis measurement

Principle and Application of Optical Metasurfaces

edited by

Zhizhang Wang

and Bin Fang

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 70 | Submission Open

Keywords: metasurfaces; imaging; wavefront engineering; nonlinear optics; nanophotonics; metalens; metasurface holograms; topological metasurfaces; polarization control

Advances in Optical Sensors and Applications

edited by

Alberto Sposito

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 61 | Submission Open

Keywords: biosensors; fibre optics; fluorescence; gyroscope; integrated optics; luminescence; pressure sensing; spectroscopy; temperature sensing

Quantum High Precision Measurement

edited by Anshou Zheng and Jibing Liu

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 50 | Submission Open

Keywords: quantum sensing; quantum entanglement; Heisenberg limit; atomic clocks; quantum non-demolition measurements; squeezed states; interferometry; quantum metrology

(This special issue belongs to the Section Quantum Photonics and Technologies)

Optical Materials: Novel Properties and Engineering for Future Photonic Devices

edited by Degui Sun

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 50 | Submission Open

Keywords: isotropic optical material; anisotropic optical material; integrated optics; polarization; application

The Future of Optical Networking in 6G: Applications, Technologies and Trends

edited by Lihua Ruan and Sourav Mondal

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 45 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical network; 6G; optical communication

New Insights in Optical Manipulation Techniques: From Fundamental Advances to Biomedical Applications

edited by

Xiaoshuai Liu

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 40 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical tweezers; optical fiber tweezers; optical forces; optical manipulation in vivo; biophotonics; optofluidic manipulation; nanophotonics

Advanced Research in Topological Photonics

edited by

Hongwei Jia

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 25 | Submission Open

Keywords: topological photonics; photonic crystals; quantum optics; metamaterials; edge states; non-Hermitian physics; topological insulators; optoelectronic devices; nanophotonics; topological phase transitions

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)

Ultrafast Fiber Lasers: Nonlinear Dynamics and Novel Phenomena

edited by

Zhenhong Wang

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 23 | Submission Open

Keywords: ultrafast fiber lasers; nonlinear dynamics; soliton dynamics; ultrafast pulse generation; supercontinuum generation; mode-locking techniques; optical rogue waves

The Development of TFT Optoelectronic Devices and Their Circuits

edited by

Xiao-Jian She

submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 22 | Submission Open

Keywords: fabrication techniques; novel optoelectronic materials; physics of optoelectronics devices; device architectures; circuit design and system integration; opto-biosensor; modeling and simulation; environmental impact; reliability

Fundamentals and Applications of Aerosol Analysis with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

edited by Daniel Diaz and David W. Hahn

submission deadline 1 Dec 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2669 | 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)

Recent Advances and Applications in Optical Fiber Sensing

edited by

Yanjun Chen

and Xiangdong Ma

submission deadline 10 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 441 | Submission Open

Keywords: fiber; grating; and components for optical fiber sensing; physical sensors; chemical sensors; and biosensors; micro- and nano-structured fiber-optic sensors; distributed optical fiber sensing; geophysical sensing; rotational sensing; environmental and structural monitoring; applications in geoscience; biomedical optical sensing; signal processing and data fusion in fiber optic sensing; instrumentation and measurements in optical fiber sensing; AI and machine learning in optical fiber sensing

Steady-State and Ultrafast Time-Resolved Optical Spectroscopy and Laser Applications in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Biomedical Optics and High-Resolution Imaging

edited by

Robert R. Alfano

Binlin Wu

Lingyan Shi

and Sandra Mamani

submission deadline 10 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 345 | Submission Open

Keywords: steady-state spectroscopy; ultrafast laser spectroscopy; time-resolved spectroscopy; time-resolved imaging; Raman spectroscopy; visible resonance Raman; stimulated Raman scattering; optical Kerr effect; terahertz Raman; Majorana photon; multiphoton microscopy; second harmonic generation; optical biopsy; high-resolution imaging; cancer diagnosis; Alzheimer’ s disease; liquid biopsy; artificial intelligence; machine learning; deep learning; epigenomics; DNA nucleotides; methylation hybridization

Plasmonic Metasurfaces and Metamaterials

edited by Yang Huang and Pujuan Ma

submission deadline 10 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 47 | Submission Open

Keywords: theory and modeling of metamaterials/metasurfaces; ultrahigh-Q metasurfaces; nonlocal and quantum plasmonics; non-hermitian plasmonics; twisted light manipulation; nonlinear plasmonics; topological photonics with plasmonics; ultrafast plasmonic processes; two-dimensional material-integrated metasystems; machine learning-driven design; dynamic and reconfigurable metasurfaces; biosensing and imaging applications

Advances in Optical Fiber Sensing Technology

edited by Tao Geng,

Vladimir Tuz

Qiang Ling

and Yiwei Ma

submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | 8 articles | Viewed by 13917 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical fiber sensors; fiber sensing; signal processing; special fibers; microstructure fibers; micro/nanofibers; functional materials; photorefractive materials

(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)

Optical Sensing of Liquids: Science and Technology

edited by

Valentina Bello

submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 541 | Submission Open

Keywords: optofluidics; optical (bio)sensors; refractive index (bio)sensors; spectroscopy; opto-electronic techniques for fluid investigation; fluorescence; interferometry-based (bio)sensors; optical imaging for fluid analysis

(This special issue belongs to the Section Biophotonics and Biomedical Optics)

Integrated Optics Temperature Sensors Based on Guided Wave and Photonics Structures

edited by

Cuma Tyszkiewicz

submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 239 | Submission Open

Keywords: thermo-optic effect; thermal expansion effect; optical temperature sensors; photonic crystals cavities; photonic integrated circuits

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optoelectronics and Optical Materials)

Challenges and Opportunities in Optical Communication Networks

edited by

Fady El-Nahal

and Dokhyl AlQahtani

submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 33 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical network architectures; advanced modulation formats; photonic integration; machine learning in optical networks; network security; high-speed transmission; nonlinear signal processing

High-Performance Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices

edited by Cheng Liu and Yi Lu

submission deadline 20 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 818 | Submission Open

Keywords: LED; micro-LED; edge-emitting laser; VCSEL; quantum cascade laser; photodetector; solar cell; III-V; III-nitride; GeSn

Recent Advances in Optical Wireless Communication Systems and Networks

edited by

Yang Hong

, Jin Shi and

Zhouyi Hu

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 9227 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical wireless communications; visible light communications; optical wireless networks; underwater optical wireless transmission; optical camera communications

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Communication and Network)

Recent Advances in Optical Turbulence

edited by

Yatian Li

, Deyue Zou and Kainan Yao

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 5343 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical turbulence; atmospheric turbulence; underwater turbulence; adaptive optics; turbulence mitigation; turbulence simulation; refractive index structure parameter; greenwood frequency; Taylor frequency; seeing

Innovations in Structured Optical Field: From Fundamentals to Applications

edited by

Jia-Qi Lü

and Zhi-Cheng Ren

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 102 | Submission Open

Keywords: structured light; light field manipulation; vector optical field/beam; vortex optical beam; orbital angular momentum; rotational Doppler effect; holography; spatiotemporal optical vortices; spatial multiplexing

New Progress in Optical Precision Measurement in the Field of Space Technology

edited by Zhongwen Deng and Xingyu Jia

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 94 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical interferometry; Laser Ranging; LiDAR; optical imaging; FMCW; image processing; laser comb

New Perspectives in Photodetectors

edited by

Peng Wan

and Xiujuan Zou

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 79 | Submission Open

Keywords: organic photodetectors; low-dimensional material photodetectors; quantum dot photodetectors; ultrafast photodetection; photodetector arrays; infrared photodetection; visible-blind photodetectors; UV photodetectors; THZ photodetectors; plasmonic photodetectors; polarization-sensitive photodetectors; photodetectors for biological applications; photodetectors for communication systems; photodetectors for environmental monitoring

Computational Optical Imaging: Progress and Future Prospects

edited by Famin Wang and

Zhou Ge

submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 37 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical imaging; deep learning; super-resolution; photonics; image processing; digital holography

Recent Advancement in Microwave Photonics

edited by Lei Zhang, Lu Wang and

Tengfei Hao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 2290 | Submission Open

Keywords: microwave photonics; integrated microwave photonics; microwave photonic signal generation; microwave photonic signal processing; microwave photonic signal control and distribution; applications of microwave photonics

New Perspectives in Micro-Nano Optical Design and Manufacturing

edited by

Xing Peng

, Shiqing Li and

Xiang Sun

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 1084 | Submission Open

Keywords: design and optimization of optical meta-surface; novel applications of meta-surface; metalenes; precision measurements and metrology; manufacturing technology; optical design; machine learning; AR/VR; advanced material; integrated photonic devices; machine vision; freeform design

Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser Technology: Innovations and Future Trends

edited by

Yu Huang

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 574 | Submission Open

Keywords: VCSEL technology; optoelectronics; laser innovation; data communication; sensing systems; imaging applications; material development; design approaches; fabrication techniques; photonic neural networks; future trends

(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)

Optical Fibers Beyond Communication: Advances in Sensing, Imaging, and Energy Applications

edited by

Yunhe Zhao

, Yanpeng Li and Wenjuan Sheng

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 229 | Submission Open

Keywords: multifunctional or multi-material fibers; fiber-optic sensors; environmental monitoring; biomedical imaging; computational imaging; energy applications

Specialty Optical Fibers: Advances in Design, Fabrication, Performance and Applications

edited by Antonella Maria Loconsole and Francesco Anelli

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 212 | Submission Open

Keywords: soft glasses-based optical fibers; plastic optical fibers; photonic crystal optical fibers; hollow core optical fibers; etched/tapered/functionalized optical fibers; radiation-resistant optical fibers; active optical fibers; polarization-maintaining optical fibers

(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)

Mid-IR Active Optical Fiber: Technology and Applications

edited by Antonella Maria Loconsole and Francesco Anelli

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 188 | Submission Open

Keywords: middle-infrared (Mid-IR) range; optical fibers; chalcogenide glasses; fluoride glasses; hollow-core fibers; waveguide design; fiber sensors; spectroscopic sensing; fiber devices; photonics

(This special issue belongs to the Section Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors)

Advanced Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing Techniques

edited by

Bin Du

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 150 | Submission Open

Keywords: distributed optical fiber sensing; optical frequency domain reflectometry; optical time domain reflectometry; signal processing; distributed temperature sensing; distributed vibration sensing; distributed chemical sensing; distributed pressure sensing; shape sensing; environmental and structural health sensing.

Advances in Photonic–Electronic Integration

edited by

Tao Zhu

, Yu Yu, Aaron Danner,

Guanyu Chen

and Yuanmin Du

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 78 | Submission Open

Keywords: photonic– electronic integration; silicon photonics/thin-film lithium niobate/lithium titanate/barium titanate oxide photonics; heterogeneous integration; optical computing; fiber-optic communication; integrated quantum devices; integrated optical sensing devices; optoelectronic devices and systems

Advances in Micro-Nano Optical Manufacturing

edited by Shuo Qiao,

Xing Peng

and Xiao Shen

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 77 | Submission Open

Keywords: micro-nano manufacturing; optical component; nanoscale fabrication technologies; process-characterization co-design; optical design; image fusion; defect inspection; machine learning; metasurface manufacturing; ultra-precision machining; machine vision; functional optical materials; precision measurements and metrology; freeform design; manufacturing technology; opto-mechanical design; additive micro-optics; advanced optical manufacturing and detection

Recent Progress in Terahertz Radar Imaging

edited by

Yinwei Li

and

Shunjun Wei

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 68 | Submission Open

Keywords: terahertz radar; terahertz imaging; terahertz video SAR; terahertz 3D imaging; target detection and tracking; terahertz device; terahertz antenna; terahertz detector

Optical Fabrication and Optical Detection for Microelectronics

edited by

Nan Wang

, Yu He, Yang Wang and

Wei Jiang

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 59 | Submission Open

Keywords: optical detection; micro/nano fabrication; lithography alignment; laser processing; fringe analysis; interference imaging; optical inspection; scatterometry; machine vision; photonic sensing

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)

Advances in Coherent Diffractive Imaging

edited by Peng Li and Jiecheng Diao

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 42 | Submission Open

Keywords: coherent diffractive imaging; ptychography; phase retrieval; machine learning; inversion problem

(This special issue belongs to the Section Optical Interaction Science)

Photonics for Sustainable Energy: Innovations in Materials, Devices, and Emerging Technologies

edited by Mohamed El Jouad

submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 32 | Submission Open

Keywords: hybrid and nanostructured photonic materials; advanced optoelectronic and microelectronic photonic materials; photonics-enabled environmental and energy technologies; next-generation solar energy conversion; smart and adaptive materials for energy applications

Photonic Crystals for Show Business

edited by