To celebrate the first ever International Day of Light, this special collection explores the success and commercial impact of research into optics, photonics and lasers
Light up your life
The first ever International Day of Light takes place on 16 May 2018
Physicists celebrate inaugural International Day of Light
The day aims to be “an annual focal point" for the role that light plays
Optical innovations light up our lives
Machine vision with depth
Janelle Shane explains how improvements in lidar steering technologies could pay off for autonomous vehicles
Down to earth
How optical technologies developed for astronomers are making their mark in other fields
Optics & Photonics Briefing
Take a look inside our latest free-to-read optics and photonics briefing. Answering key questions and covering the latest research, features and products, this issue is a must-read for those working in optics and photonics.
Review articles published on IOPscience
J P Wolf 2018 Rep. Prog. Phys. 81 026001
Read on IOPscienceE A Seddon et al 2017 Rep. Prog. Phys. 80 115901
Read on IOPscienceGrant T England and Joanna Aizenberg 2018 Rep. Prog. Phys. 81 016402
Read on IOPscienceDiscover more about light
Taming light with cold atoms
The ability to stop light in its tracks by passing it through a cloud of ultracold atoms could lead to new techniques for optical storage
Holography gets smart
Exploring the potential of holograms that can respond
The green flash
Pete Lawrence describes his quest since childhood to see this elusive phenomenon
Light emission moves into the blue
Shuji Nakamura describes the advances that enabled his group to develop blue light-emitting diodes and lasers
From ray-gun to Blu-ray
Fifty years after their invention, Sidney Perkowitz examines the huge impact of lasers on science, culture and everyday life
Hubble’s greatest hits
Relive all the best images and results from the Hubble telescope in the company of Mark Voit
Video showcase: light on film
Read article: A single light of science
A single light of science
An introduction to the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015)
Read article: Reclaiming the stars
Reclaiming the stars
An amateur astronomer struggles to find darkness amid the dazzling lights of New York City
Read article: Living in a world without light
Living in a world without light
A short film exploring the vital role that light plays in regulating the sleep–wake cycle
Read article: Vidya Deepa: the lamp of knowledge
Vidya Deepa: the lamp of knowledge
How portable LED lights are helping students in a rural Indian community
Read article: Painting with light
Painting with light
The New York photographers who are defying the digital trend
Read article: Transforming light
Transforming light
Day of the Dead brought to life by multimedia lightshow
Explore more with ebooks from IOP Publishing
Principles and Applications of Fourier Optics
Robert K Tyson introduces the principles of Fourier optics and explores the many applications that have been developed over the last 50 years or so.
A Guided Tour of Light Beams
David S Simon explains how the standard laser beam has evolved into an array of specialized light beams with a variety of strange and counterintuitive properties, and explores their scientific applications.
Electromagnetic Waves and Lasers
Wayne D Kimura reviews basic electromagnetic wave theory and applies it specifically to lasers to give the reader practical knowledge about lasers, and their operation and usage.
Nonlinear Guided Wave Optics
Stefan Wabnitz explores how guided wave nonlinear optics and fibre lasers provide a relatively simple test bed for studying extreme wave phenomena that apply to many different physical systems.
Related jobs
Related events
- Optics and photonics | Conference 2nd International Summit on Optics, Photonics and Laser Technologies 28—30 June 2021 | Kyoto, Japan
- Optics and photonics | Workshop Control of Ultrafast (Attosecond and Strong Field) Processes Using Structured Light 12—30 July 2021 | Dresden, Germany
- Optics and photonics | Conference SPIE Photonics West 2022 22—27 January 2022 | San Francisco, US
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