NANOMETA 2026 revealed that the frontiers of nanophotonics and metamaterials are advancing faster than ever, driven by bold ideas and a deepening understanding of how light and information intertwine.

Photonics Europe 2026 highlighted the role of photonic integrated circuits in next-generation computing, communications and quantum applications.

Photonics West 2026 highlighted how photonics research and innovations rapidly translate into commercial technologies, aligning with SPIE’s vision of photonics as a driver of economic opportunity.

Two-dimensional materials have revolutionized the field of photonics by enabling the manipulation of light at the nanoscale. As their potential continues to grow, we can expect to see more innovative applications emerging in the future.

Sir Peter Knight, described as "one of the UK’s most influential scientists and leaders of scientific policy" by his peers, tells Nature Photonics about the many hats he is wearing now in pushing quantum research and technologies in the UK and beyond.

With many exotic electromagnetic effects, metamaterials are now being exploited in real-world biomedical applications, with expected impacts in healthcare.

Photonics West 2024 showcases a robust and growing photonics industry, as the field of silicon photonics works towards sustainable growth.

Nathalie Picqué, the new director at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI) in Berlin, Germany, tells us all we need to know about frequency combs and dual-comb spectroscopy, and shares with us some golden tips on becoming a successful scientist.

The field of plasmonics continues to show its potential scientific and technological impact, as new companies exploiting plasmonics beyond sensing applications emerge.

Although three-dimensional laser nanofabrication has become an established and widespread technology, research towards achieving higher resolutions, higher speeds, lower costs, mass production, more material availability and more functionality for this technology continues.

Mordechai (Moti) Segev spoke with Nature Photonics about the fascinating topic of photonic time crystals — materials with a refractive index that is periodically modulated in time on ultrafast timescales — and their inspiring future ahead.

Photonics enables the design of ultrafast, energy-efficient computing approaches for artificial intelligence, and key to the scalability of such approaches is photonics integration.

The laser community returned to Prague to celebrate science and to be connected, in person, again, while high-power lasers were in the limelight.

Time-varying metamaterials bring in an extra degree of freedom, enabling applications unachievable by normal metamaterials and opening up new opportunities.

Delegates at the BiOS symposium heard how artificial intelligence can transform medical imaging, with its ability to improve quality, speed and molecular specificity.