Light Conference Week 2023

Abstract：Fabrication technology of optical mirror material is the essential part of the advanced optical system R&D. CIOMP has kept paying tremendous effort on exploring the preparation and the application of the large size silicon carbide ceramics for optics since 1990s. Through systematic study on the technologies of silicon carbide gel-casting, reaction sintering and reaction bonding, the team broke through the technical challenges including near net-shape forming of complex structure silicon carbide above 1 meter, the densification of the large scale silicon carbide material for optics, the homogeneous joint of silicon carbide parts for athermal design and ultrastable precise structure. Based on the technological breakthrough, the largest Φ4.03m silicon carbide mirror blank was successfully fabricated, and the matched R&D platform was constructed with completely independent intellectual property. Tens of silicon carbide mirrors with diameters of 0.5-4 meters have been presenting excellent performance to serve in several key ground/space based opto-electronic systems of China.

Biography：Ge Zhang is a professor of Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), and is the executive deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Optical System Advanced Manufacture. He received his Ph.D degree from CIOMP in 2008. Dr. Zhang has been engaged in Technology and equipment R&D for preparation of SiC precise ceramics and composites since he graduated. He is the member of optical testing committee of the Chinese Optical Society. Dr. Zhang won 9 Provincial and Ministerial Awards for Achievements in science and technology including the first prize of science and technology invention of Jilin (1st) and so on, and also won Wang Daheng Optics Award. He has published 25 papers, granted 22 invention patents, and formulated 1 standard.

Abstract：Ensuring the health of individuals is a key imperative highlighted in the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Development. How to meet this demand presents a formidable challenge for scientists engaged in information science and related fields. Currently, the field of biomedical photonics has emerged as a branch of rapidly advancing information science, while also serving as an integral component of optical engineering and medical imaging. The rapid advancement and breakthroughs in this field are attributed to the support of optical imaging technology, particularly optical microscopic imaging technology. 

In the past two decades, optical microscopic imaging technology has undergone rapid development and constant breakthroughs, providing a crucial tool for real-time dynamic observation of life systems and facilitating the transformation of optical microscopy from scientific research to clinical application. However, in the face of rapid technological development and increasing demand, it remains imperative to continuously explore and develop novel methods and technologies for addressing bottleneck issues encountered during practical applications of optical microscopic imaging, such as limited resolution, information acquisition, and imaging speed. 

Our research group has conducted fundamental and applied research in the development and application of optical microscopic imaging technology for over a decade. The content encompasses a range of nonlinear optical microscopic imaging techniques, including fluorescence lifetime, two-photon excited fluorescence, second harmonic generation, stimulated Raman scattering, and others. These techniques enable imaging characterization at various levels spanning from molecules to cells, tissues, and in vivo. This report primarily presents the recent research endeavors of our research group in utilizing nonlinear optical microscopy imaging technology for biomedical applications.

Biography：Liwei Liu is a distinguished professor and doctoral supervisor at Shenzhen University. Winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scientists, recipient of the Shenzhen Outstanding Youth Fund, and recognized as a leading local talent in Shenzhen. She has dedicated herself to the research of nonlinear optical microscopic imaging technology for an extended period, and her recent five-year publication record boasts over 80 SCI papers, including those featured in Light Sci. Appl, Adv. Sci, Opt. Lett and other esteemed journals. She has presided over/completed more than 20 key projects, such as the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the Key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the International Cooperation and Exchange Program, the Key research and development project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Shenzhen key project. Over 10 invention patents have been granted and 2 have been transferred. She was awarded the first prize in Natural Science by Jilin Province, the third prize for Science and Technology Progress, the second prize in Natural Science by Shenzhen City, as well as the Wang Daheng Young and Middle-aged Scientific and Technological Personnel Award from the Chinese Optical Society. She is also chair-designate of the Biomedical Photonics Branch of the Chinese Biomedical Engineering Society, the vice chairman of the Biomedical Photonics Committee of the Chinese Optical Society, the vice chairman of the Guangdong Biophysical Society, and a young editor-in-chief of the “Chinese Journal of Lasers”.

Abstract：Non-Hermiticity significantly enriches the properties of topological models, leading to exotic features such as the non-Hermitian skin effects and non-Bloch bulk-boundary correspondence that have no counterparts in Hermitian settings. Its impact is particularly illustrating in non-Hermitian quasicrystals where multiple phase transition occurs. In non-Hermitian quasicrystals, phase transitions of different origin can simultaneously occur, leading to a multiple phase transition, where the interplay between non-Hermiticity and quasiperiodicity results in the concurrence of the delocalization-localization transition, the parity-time (PT)-symmetry breaking, and the onset of the non-Hermitian skin effects.

In this talk, I will report the first experimental simulation of non-Hermitian quasicrystals using single-photon quantum walks. Using dynamic observables, the system can transit from a delocalized, PT-symmetry broken phase that features non-Hermitian skin effects, to a localized, PT-symmetry unbroken phase with no non-Hermitian skin effects. The measured critical point is consistent with the theoretical prediction through a spectral winding number, confirming the topological origin of the phase transition. More interestingly, the first experimental evidence for mobility edges induced by non-Hermiticity is also reported. This work opens the avenue of investigating the interplay of non-Hermiticity, quasiperiodicity, and spectral topology in open quantum systems.

Biography：Peng Xue received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics at the University of Science and Technology of China in July of 2004. Currently, she is a full professor at Beijing Computational Science Research Center (CSRC). Before she joined CSRC in April of 2018, she has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Innsbruck, for two years, and two years later as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Institute of Quantum Information Science, University of Calgary for three years, a full professor at Southeast University, China, for nine years.

Abstract：Femtosecond lasers are a powerful tool for high-precision material processing and functionalization. In this talk, I will discuss some of our recent advancements in femtosecond laser micro- and nano-processing, including the resulting surface structures, their formation dynamics, the drastically altered surface functionalities, and demonstration of various applications. I will also discuss other research activities in my lab, including nanophotonic and advanced material research.

Biography：Chunlei Guo is a professor in the Institute of Optics at University of Rochester in the US. His work at Rochester led to the discoveries of a range of highly functionalized materials, which promise a broad range of technological applications. He is a Fellow for American Physical Society and Optica. He is an Editor for Light: Sci. & Appl. and served as the Editor-in-Chief for CRC Handbook of Laser Technology and Applications (2nd Edition).

Abstract：The minimum focused light spot size of a laser beam is governed primarily by optical diffraction limit.  In air, this is approximately half of the laser wavelength, which makes the common resolution limit in laser processing to be at sub-microns. A common approach to producing sub-100 nanometer features on materials is to reduce the light wavelength by using deep ultraviolet (DUV) or extreme violet (EUV) light or by using near field optics.  In this presentation, a different approach is reported. By using a special optical arrangement, a very high purity (>94%) longitudinal field of laser beam is produced at the focus, which has been used to produce 10 nm diameter deep holes in sapphire with a single pulse using a 800 nm wavelength fs laser, operating in the far field.

Biography：Professor Lin Li received his PhD degree in Optical Engineering from Imperial College London, UK. He had been a chair professor and Director of Laser Processing Research Centre at The University of Manchester since 2000. He was elected to Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013 and had served as the President of Laser Institute of America, President of Association of Industrial Laser Users and President of International Academy of Photonics and Laser Engineering. He has received Sir Frank Whittle Medal from Royal Academy of Engineering and Arthur Schawlow award from Laser Institute of America and several other awards for his work. His research interests include laser manufacturing and light interactions with materials.

Abstract：Laser precision engineering in ambient air has unique advantages as a non-contact and high-speed process. It is a key advanced manufacturing approach for high quality micro/nanostructures’ fabrication. In the past decades, we have witnessed its extensive applications in research laboratories and production lines. Combined with advanced processing tools, such as AFM and NSOM, laser processing resolution can be pushed down to 10 ~ 25 nm, much smaller than optical diffraction limit, which provides an excellent opportunity for nano-manufacturing. In this talk, the physics behind laser-matter interactions and its applications will be reviewed. How to achieve smaller and smaller heat affected zone (HAZ) is one of the critical challenges for high quality nano-manufacturing. The next critical challenge is how to ensure high enough nano-fabrication speed to meet industrial needs. Parallel laser beam approach is developed to cater for both high resolution and high speed at the same time. Another challenge is how to carry out laser nano-manufacturing in far field as the laser near-field processing requires tiny optics working very close to sample surfaces, which is only suitable for super-smooth surface samples. Our recent research shows that hybrid pulsed laser processing in far field and in ambient air can make ~15 nm features directly on Si surfaces. Meanwhile, high repetition rate femtosecond laser irradiation through a microsphere onto phase change thin films can fabricate 30 nm linewidths in far field and in ambient air as well.

Biography：Prof. Hong Minghui is the Tan Kah Kee Chair Professor, Xiamen University, Fujian, China. He is also the Engineering Technology Division Chairman and Dean of Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology of Xiamen University. Prof. Hong specializes in laser microprocessing & nanofabrication. He has co-authored 15 book chapters, 42 patents granted, and ~600 scientific papers and 100+ plenary/keynote/invited talks in international conferences. He is a member of organizing committees for Laser Precision Micromachining International Conference (2001~2024), International Symposium of Functional Materials (2005, 2007 and 2014), Chair of International Workshop of Plasmonics and Applications in Nanotechnologies (2006), Chair of Conference on Laser Ablation (2009) and Chair of Asia-Pacific Near-field Optics Conference (2013 and 2019). Prof. Hong is invited to serve as an Editor of Light: Science and Applications, Engineering, Science China G, Laser Micro/nanoengineering, and Executive Editor-in-chief of Opto-Electronic Advances and Opto-Electronic Science. Prof. Hong is Fellow of Academy of Engineering, Singapore (FSEng), Fellow of Optical Society of America (OPTICA), Fellow of International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), Fellow of International Academy of Photonics and Laser Engineering (IAPLE) and Fellow of Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES). As an active tech entrepreneur, he is also the leading founder of Phaos Technology Pte. Ltd., Opto Science Pte. Ltd. and Xiamen Light Technology Integration Pte. Ltd. 

Abstract：Femtosecond laser holds advantages such as ultrafast time scale and ultrahigh peak power. It can concentrate energy quickly and accurately in the area of irradiation, realizing the nonthermal processing of almost all materials with low lateral damage, which is beyond the traditional laser manufacturing that is generally in terms of thermal effects. These unique advantages render femtosecond laser as promising tool in the fine processing of hard and brittle materials. Here, we will introduce two examples that utilize femtosecond laser to fabricate super-hard materials. First, we demonstrate the use of femtosecond lasers to generate colors on the surface of hybrid films that consist of the titanium nitride and aluminum nitride titanium. This surface coloring effect achieves a new inkless-printing technique with advantages of wide gamut, high resolution, durable, and non-iridescence. Subsequently, when focusing femtosecond laser to the inside of the SiC crystal, a uniform modified layer can be produced, which can achieve the slicing of SiC wafers with high throughput and and low material loss.

Biography：Prof. Min Qiu received a B.Sc. in Physics in 1995 and a Ph.D.in Condense Matter Physics in 1999, both from Zhejiang University, China. He received his second Ph.D. in Electromagnetic Theory from the Royal Institute of Technology   (KTH), Sweden, in 2001. He joined the School of Information and Communication Technology, KTH as an assistant professor  (2001), then became an associate professor  (2005), and a full professor    (Professor of Photonics)   (2009). He then joined Zhejiang University, China    (2010), as a distinguished professor, where he served as Director of the State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University. Since 2018, he has been the Chair Professor of Photonics and Vice President for Research, Westlake University, China. Prof. Min Qiu is currently editor-in-chief of PhotoniX   (Springer Nature), a topical editor of Light: Science and Applications  (Springer Nature), and an associate editor of Science Bulletin   (Science China Press). His current research focuses on micro- and nano-optoelectronics, including micro- & nano-fabrication and instrument equipment, theory of micro- & nano-photonics and optoelectronic devices, as well as the key theories and technologies for intelligent applications. To honour his contributions to nanophotonic devices, Prof. Qiu was elected to the director-at-large on the Board of Directors of Optica, and a fellow of the SPIE、IEEE、COS、CSOE and CIE. He was the recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

Abstract：Meta-devices using meta-surfaces composed of artificial nanostructures can manipulate the electromagnetic phase, polarization, and amplitude at will. The fundamental principle, design, fabrication, and applications of the novel optical meta-devices are reported in this talk. Meta-lens have been considered as the top 10 emerging technologies in World Economic Forum recently. Design principles and application prospects of meta-lens will be addressed from classical to quantum optics. The prospects of the demanded meta-devices for metaverse will be discussed as well.

Biography：Din Ping Tsai is currently Chair Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong. He is an elected Fellow of AAAS, APAM, APS, AAIA,COS, EMA, IAE, IEEE, JSAP, NAI, OSA, SPIE, and TPS, respectively. He is the author and co-author of 362 SCI papers, 65 book chapters and conference papers, and 39 technical reports and articles. He was granted 69 patents in the USA (19), Japan (3), Canada (3), Germany (2), etc., for 45 innovations. Twenty of his patents have been licensed to 5 different companies. He was invited as an invited speaker for international conferences or symposiums more than 340 times (26 Plenary Talks, 62 Keynote Talks). He received more than 40 prestigious recognitions and awards, including “Global Highly Cited Researchers,” Web of Science Group (Clarivate Analytics) in 2020 and 2019, respectively; China’s Top 10 Optical Breakthroughs in 2020 and 2018, respectively; “Mozi Award” from International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) (2018); etc. He was Editor (2016-2021) of the Journal of Progress in Quantum Electronics (IEEE), and Associate Editor (2016-2021) of the Journal of Lightwave Technology (IEEE & OSA), and a Member of the Editorial Board of Physical Review Applied (APS). He currently serves as co-Editors-in-Chief of “Photonics Insights,” and Editor of “Light: Advanced Manufacturing” and “Photonics Insights,” and Associate Editor of “Science Advances,” respectively. He is also a Member of the Editorial Board of research journals, APL Photonics, ACS photonics, Advanced Optical Materials, Advanced Quantum Technologies, Electromagnetic Science, Nano Letters, Optics Communications, Small Methods, Opto-Electronic Advances, Plasmonics, Optoelectronics Letters, and Frontiers of Optoelectronics, respectively.

Abstract：We report on the latest advances in printing 3D complex optical systems. We report inclusion of the color black into printing materials, as well as printing without additional alignment onto both sides of a substrate. 

We examine the influences of strain and stess onto the polarization state of light after propagation. We also present our ansatz to include shrinkage into the systems design. 

 We report on applications in quantum technology, in particular on coupling quantum emission into single mode fibers, on optical trapping, and on multimode imaging in micro endoscopy. We also report on the smallest wide-angle endoscope in the world, which gives aberration corrected images for a viewing angle of 120°.

Biography：Harald Giessen (*1966) graduated from Kaiserslautern University with a diploma in Physics and obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1995 as J.W. Fulbright scholar. After a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart he moved to Marburg as assistant professor. From 2001-2004, he was associate professor at the University of Bonn. Since 2005, he is full professor and holds the Chair for Ultrafast Nanooptics in the Department of Physics at the University of Stuttgart. He is also co-chair of the Stuttgart Center of Photonics Engineering, SCoPE. He was guest researcher at the University of Cambridge, and guest professor at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Sydney, at A*Star, Singapore, as well as at Beijing University of Technology. He is associated researcher at the Center for Disruptive Photonic Technologies at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore. He received an ERC Advanced Grant in 2012 for his work on complex nanoplasmonics. He was co-chair (2014) and chair (2016) of the Gordon Conference on Plasmonics and Nanophotonics. He was general chair of the conference Photonics Europe (Strasbourg 2018) and is co-chair of the biannual conference NanoMeta in Seefeld, Austria. He is on the advisory board of the journals "Advanced Optical Materials", "Nanophotonics: The Journal", "ACS Photonics", "ACS Sensors", and "Advanced Photonics". He is a topical editor for ultrafast nanooptics, plasmonics, and ultrafast lasers and pulse generation of the journal "Light: Science & Applications" of Nature Publishing Group. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America. In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, he was named „Highly Cited Researcher“ (top 1%) by the Institute of Scientific Information. In 2021, he was elected as a Full Member into the Honor Society Sigma Xi. In 2021, he was awarded the Gips-Schüle Research Prize together with Simon Thiele and Alois Herkommer for his pioneering work on 3D printed microoptics. His research interests include Ultrafast Nano-Optics, Plasmonics, Metamaterials, 3D Printed Micro- and Nano-Optics, Medical Micro-Optics, Miniature Endoscopy, Novel mid-IR Ultrafast Laser Sources, Applications in Microscopy, Biology, and Sensing. He has spun out three companies based on his research: NT&C (single particle spectroscopic microscopy), Stuttgart Instruments GmbH (Ultrabroadband tunable fs and ps laser sources from visible to mid-IR), and Printoptix GmbH (3D printed microoptics). Stuttgart Instruments GmbH has been awarded the PRISM Award 2022 at Photonics West and the LASER Innovation Award 2022 at LASER World of Photonics.

Abstract：Abbe diffraction limits the conventional optical imaging resolution to larger than half the wavelength due to the missing of the subwavelength information carried by evanescent waves. To overcome this limitation, negative refractive index lens has been proposed to significantly enhance the evanescent waves to recover the deep-subwavelength resolution of imaging. Subsequently, superlenses, made of either natural materials with negative permittivities, or hyperbolic materials with mixed signs of dielectric constants along different directions, have been proposed to attain sub-diffractional limited imaging. Nevertheless, losses are non-negligible in materials with negative parameters, which significantly reduces the deep-subwavelength information of the superlenses and seriously affects the resolution of imaging. This is a long-standing problem that has hindered wide-spread applications of superlenses. Optical waves of complex frequency exhibiting a temporally attenuating behavior have been proposed to offset the intrinsic losses in superlenses via the introduction of virtual gain, but the experimental realization has been missing due to the difficulty of imaging measurements with temporal decay. In this talk, I will present a multi-frequency approach to construct synthetic excitation waves of complex frequency based on the measurements at real frequencies. This approach allows us to successfully implement virtual gain in the experiment and observe deep-subwavelength images at both microwave and optical frequencies, which are made possible by the compensation of the losses. Our work offers a practical solution to overcome the intrinsic losses of plasmonic systems for imaging and sensing applications.

Biography：Shuang Zhang is a chair Professor and interim Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong.  He obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. Thereafter he worked as postdoc at UIUC and UC Berkeley. He joined the University of Birmingham, UK as a Reader in 2010 and was promoted to professor in 2013. Prof. Zhang joined the University of Hong Kong as a Chair Professor in 2020. He was the recipient of IUPAP award in Optics (2010), ERC consolidator grant (2015-2020), Royal Society Wolfson Research Award (2016-2021), and New Cornerstone Investigator program (2023-2028). He was elected OSA fellow in 2016, APS fellow in 2022, and has been on the list of highly cited researchers (by Clarviate) since 2018.

Abstract：Light has the potential to recognize the origins of diseases, enabling to prevent them, or to cure them early and gently. The early diagnosis is the key to improve the survival rate of patients. Endoscopy plays an important role in diagnosis as it offers keyhole access. However, conventionally it takes several hours to a few days for the surgeon to know the results. Optical histopathology offers real-time intraoperative diagnosis without tissue removal.

We present lensless imaging with multicore fibers using deep neural networks and wavefront shaping with femtosecond laser-based 3D printed holograms. The peculiar features are 3D imaging without pixelation and tiny diameters of only a few 100 microns, crucial for neurosurgery. The well-trained resolution enhancement network helps improving tumor recognition rate. It is promising for minimally invasive intraoperative diagnostics of cancer in neurosurgery using virtual staining.

The use of multi-core fibers as programmable wavefront shaping with deep learning for eliminating artifacts is attractive for the emerging label-free tomography of rotated cells and organoids, derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. The computational lensless multi-core fiber endoscopy paves the way for minimally invasive diagnostics in biomedicine.

Biography：Juergen W Czarske received PhD degree in engineering and physics from Leibniz University, Germany. Prof Czarske (Fellow EOS, OPTICA, SPIE, IET, IOP, Senior Member IEEE) is director, full chair professor and senator of the TU Dresden, Germany. He is director of Center Biomedical Computational Laser Systems (BIOLAS), director of institute for systems and circuits, and advisor of SPIE-OPTICA-Student Chapter Dresden. Prof Czarske is an international prize-winning inventor of laser-based technologies. His awards include the 2008 Berthold Leibinger Innovation Prize of Trumpf Laser Systems, 2019 OPTICA Joseph-Fraunhofer-Award/Robert-M.-Burley-Prize (awarded in Washington DC), 2020 Laser Instrumentation Award of IEEE Photonics Society, 2020 and 2021 SPIE Community Champion for volunteer activities, and 2022 SPIE Chandra S Vikram Award (presented in San Diego). Prof Czarske has conducted more than 1000 talks and papers, including more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, over 150 invited talks and over 30 patents. He fosters talented students early. The students and members of his lab have won around 110 prizes, awards and honors. He is Vice President of International Commission for Optics, ICO, and was the general chair of the world congress ICO-25-OWLS-16-Dresden-Germany-2022 (two times postponed), which was co-sponsored by OPTICA, SPIE, IEEE, Zeiss Group, DGaO-The German Branch of EOS, IUPAP, TUD and City of Dresden. 3 Nobel laureates have delivered plenary lectures and the participants came from 5A (America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Amazing Europe).

Abstract：Adaptive optics is widely used in high resolution microscopy to overcome the problems caused by specimen induced aberrations.  This is particularly useful when focussing deep into biological specimens, due to the variations in refractive index throughout the volume of cells and tissues.  Wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (AO) methods (or “sensorless” AO methods, for short) are common as their simple implementation does not include the extra hardware required for a wavefront sensor path. Furthermore, these methods are necessary in microscopes where wavefront sensing is not practical. These sensorless methods perform aberration correction through efficient optimisation of image quality.  The wide range of such approaches that have been developed are tailored for different microscopes and applications. We have previously shown that all such methods can be fitted into the same framework, permitting side-by-side evaluation of effectiveness in different imaging scenarios. The parts of this framework include the aberration representation, the optimisation metric (or cost function), and the estimation algorithm. This approach to understanding sensorless AO shows that the seemingly differing methods have many common features. We used this framework to define a new approach that is applicable across a wide range of microscopes. In particular, we created machine learning (ML) approaches that are independent of the wide range of specimen structures that might be encountered in general application of microscopes. Unlike previous ML methods, we used a bespoke neural network (NN) architecture, designed using physical understanding of image formation, that was embedded in the control loop of the microscope. The approach means that not only is the resulting NN orders of magnitude simpler than previous NN methods, but the concept is translatable across microscope modalities. We demonstrated the method on a range of microscopes. Results showed that the method outperformed commonly-used modal-based sensorless AO methods in a range of challenging imaging conditions, such as extended 3D sample structures, specimen motion, low signal to noise ratio and activity-induced fluorescence fluctuations. Moreover, as the bespoke architecture encapsulated physical understanding of the imaging process, the internal NN configuration was no-longer a “black box”, but provided physical insights on internal workings, which could influence future designs.

Biography：Prof Booth is Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.  His research involves the development and application of adaptive optical methods in microscopy, laser-based materials processing and biomedical science.  He has held Royal Academy of Engineering and EPSRC Research Fellowships and in 2016 received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council.    He was appointed Professor of Engineering Science in 2014.  In 2012 Prof Booth was awarded the “Young Researcher Award in Optical Technologies” from the Erlangen School of Advanced Optical Technologies at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and a visiting professorship at the university.  In 2014 he was awarded the International Commission for Optics Prize. He has over 170 publications in peer-reviewed journals, over 25 patents, and has co-founded two spin-off companies, Aurox Ltd and Opsydia Ltd.

Abstract：This presentation will report our recent attempts in probing the brain using low coherence light. Two scenarios will be discussed: intra-operative assessment of brain cancer infiltration in patients and real-time imaging of dynamic neural activities in freely-behaving rodents. For the first scenario (clinical translation), we developed a quantitative color-coded OCT technology, which offers a direct visual cue based on intrinsic tissue optical properties to enable neurosurgeons to maximize cancer resection while minimizing collateral damage to noncancerous brain tissues. Our results over 50 patients exhibit an excellent specificity and sensitivity. For the second scenario (basic research), we developed the first all-fiber-optic, head-mounted, ultracompact (~2mm in diameter), and ultralight (<1g) scanning two-photon fiberscopy platform, enabling repeated and high-resolution imaging of neuronal activities through a cranial window in freely-walking/rotating mice. Recent advances will be discussed, including (1) a significant increase in the field of view from 120 um to 500 um in diameter by using cascaded magnification, enables imaging more than 500 neurons within any given imaging frame, and (2) a significant increase in the imaging frame rate (from 3 fps to 27 – 100 fps) using our improved scanner design and two-stage deep learning strategy. Detailed neural imaging results will be presented at the conference. In addition, other applications of the technologies for performing noninvasive optical histology in vivo will also be discussed.

Biography：Xingde Li received his Ph.D. degree in physics from UPENN in 1998, and he is a professor at the Department of BME with a joint appointment with the Departments of ECE and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University. His research centers on biophotonics imaging technologies and their translational and basic research applications. He has published about 140 peer-reviewed journal papers, with a total citation ~21,500 and an H-index~62 (Google Scholar). He has served on many committees of various societies and has chaired many international conferences including the Optical Biomed Congress. He is serving (or served) as a topical editor or associate editor for Optics Letters, Biomedical Optics Express, Journal of Biomedical Optics, IEEE Trans on BME, Light: Science and Applications etc. He is also the lead founding EiC for the recently launched AAAS Science Partner Journal – BMEF (Biomedical Engineering Frontiers). He is a fellow of SPIE, OSA, and AIMBE.

Abstract：Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC), which was proposed in 2000, transmits secure information directly using quantum states. It is a different form of quantum communication from quantum key distribution, where secure keys are exchanged using quantum states and then used in classical secure communication. In the last three years, the distance and transmision rate of QSDC have been enhanced greatly. Here we report the recent development of practical prototype, which can send 5 kbps of secure information over a distance of 100 km in fibre. The feat was realized ue to the increasing capacity using masking technique and the design of one-way single-photon protocol.

Biography：Gui-Lu Long received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Tsinghua University, China. He is professor of Tsinghua University, and Vice-president of Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences.

Abstract：Luminescence thermometry has rapidly developed in the past decades to a powerful method for remote temperature sensing. More recently, nanothermometry relying on the temperature dependent luminescence of lanthanide ions doped into nanocrystals has emerged, especially in biological applications in the range 270-330 K.¹

In our work, we have extended the temperature range to beyond 900 K by creating temperature stable (upconversion) nanocrystals.² Here we first discuss fundamental aspects of luminescence thermometry, especially the role of Boltzmann equilibrium and a new theoretical approach to understand and predict the optimum single ion (nano)thermometer.^{3, 4} Maximizing thermal sensitivity will be demonstrated with real-case examples and a careful analysis of actual temperature accuracy that can be realized will be shown to strongly depend on the brightness of the luminescent temperature probes.⁵ Some pitfalls will also be discussed and warnings will be given!^{4, 5} All the considerations finally lead to clear guidelines for optimizing ratiometric lanthanide-based luminescent thermometer for a specific application and extending the temperature range.⁶

In the second part examples of the unique capabilities of luminescence nanothermometry will be given, including μm resolution mapping to probe temperature variations in microheaters used in synchrotrons, temperature sensing in catalytic reactors and applications in microfluidics where measuring temperature variations inside the microchannels is notoriously difficult.²

Biography：Andries Meijerink received his MSc and PhD degree in Chemistry at Utrecht University. After a post-doc in Madison (University of Wisconsin) he returned to Utrecht in 1991. In 1996, at the age of 32, he was appointed at the chair of Solid State Chemistry in the Debye Institute of Utrecht University where he leads an active group in the field of luminescence spectroscopy of quantum dots and lanthanide ions. In the field of lanthanide ions his work involves fundamental research on the energy level structure of both 4fn and 4fn-15d states and finding new concepts related to applications in solar cells, LEDs, luminescence thermometry and scintillators, including the discovery of downconversion (photon splitting). Andries Meijerink received several awards, including the Shell Incentive Award (1995), the Gold Medal of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (1999) and the Centennial Award for Luminescence and Display Materials from the Electrochemical Society (2002), the 2019 Gilles Holst Medal of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and in ICL Prize (2020). In 2009 he was elected into the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. 

Abstract：Recent advances in light-field manipulation and topological photonics opened the door for exploring many intriguing fundamental phenomena and unconventional applications. In this talk, I will overview briefly some demonstrated examples we published in Light: Science & Applications, from “tug-of-war” optical tweezers to biological waveguides of blood cells, and from topologically tuned terahertz confinement in a photonic chip to nonlinear control of higher-order topological insulators.

Biography：Zhigang Chen is currently a Chair Professor at Nankai University, China. He earned his Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in 1995. After two years of postdoctoral work, he was promoted to the rank of senior Research Staff Member at Princeton University before joining the faculty at San Francisco State University. His research interests include nonlinear photonics, topological phenomena, soft-matter and biophotonics. Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has served as an Editor / Guest Editor for several journals including Light Science & Applications, Optics Letters, Science Bulletin, Scientific Reports, and Advances in Physics X, and as a Chair/Organizer for many international conferences including 2016/2018 Program/General Co-Chair for CLEO-Fundamental Science.

Abstract：We are living in an unprecedented era of hyper-connectivity that is redefining our society and culture—and this has only just begun.

From data collection and search engines to e-commerce, the internet has become the ubiquitous cloud that is connecting every aspect of our daily lives. Powering this cloud is an intricate web of globally connected data centers, each filled with thousands of computers networked together and linking us to a seemingly unlimited breadth of information and content. Nowadays, our mobile devices provide various forms of connectivity that allows instant access to thousands of applications and all of the internet. The resulting explosion in data is staggering and the amount of data created globally will roughly double every two years. Meanwhile, healthcare as our parents knew it is being transformed. New wearable devices can track heart rate, glucose levels, and food intake, helping doctors and caregivers monitor the biometrics of their patients—regardless of their location—to identify patterns that may lead to more successful treatments. Even more leading-edge: there are Wi-Fi chips meant to be swallowed to deliver a raft of information instantly to doctors. All of these advances offer unparalleled possibilities to enrich the lives of people around the world while generating growth and opportunity across the global economy. But none of this would be possible without a quantum mechanical understanding of atoms—the most fundamental building block of our modern age.

The semiconductor is one of the most pervasive and powerful inventions in human history from the beginning up to now. It has been ranked fourth in the list of top innovations since the invention of the wheel, surpassed only by the printing press, electricity, and penicillin, but ahead of eyeglasses, paper, and even the steam engine. It is hard to imagine what modern life would be like without semiconductors. It would probably more closely resemble the Industrial Age than anything we know now—and era when electronics and optoelectronics were very primitive and light bulbs were among the most amazing technology in the world.

The material covered in this talk will be a unique blend of the most important topics related to semiconductor materials and related Quantum Devices  largely as a result of  my  own  focused background   that has been molded by  my  career-long efforts to understand the structure of atoms and semiconductor material systems that make a practical impact.

Biography：Manijeh Razeghi received the Doctorate d’état ES Sciences Physiques from the Université de Paris, France, in 1980.

Manijeh Razeghi was the Head of the Exploratory Materials Laboratory  at Thomson-CSF (France) during the 80’s where she developed and implemented modern metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) vapor phase epitaxy (VPE), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), GasMBE, and MOMBE for entire compositional ranges of III-V compound semiconductors from deep UV to THZ.. Developing these tools was fundamental in enabling her to achieve high purity semiconductor crystals with a consistency and reliability that was often unmatched, thereby leading to new physics phenomena in InP , GaAs, GaSb, and AlN  based semiconductors and quantum structures. She realized the first InP Quantum wells and Superlattices and demonstrated the marvels of quantum mechanics in the low dimensional world.

She joined Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, as a Walter P. Murphy Professor and Director of the Center for Quantum Devices in Fall 1991, where she created the undergraduate and graduate program in solid-state engineering. 

She has authored or co-authored more than 1000 papers, more than 34 book chapters, and 20 books, including the textbooks Technology of Quantum Devices (Springer Science Business Media, Inc., New York, NY U.S.A. 2010) and Fundamentals of Solid State Engineering, 4th Edition (Springer Science Business Media, Inc., New York, NY U.S.A. 2018).  Two of her books, MOCVD Challenge Vol. 1 (IOP Publishing Ltd., Bristol, U.K., 1989) and MOCVD Challenge Vol. 2 (IOP Publishing Ltd., Bristol, U.K., 1995), discuss some of her pioneering work in InP-GaInAsP and GaAs-GaInAsP based systems.  The MOCVD Challenge, 2nd Edition (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, 2010) represents the combined updated version of Volumes 1 and 2.  She holds many U.S. patents and has given more than 1000 invited and plenary talks.   Her current research interest is in nanoscale optoelectronic quantum devices. From deep UV to Thz.

Dr. Razeghi is a Fellow of MRS, IOP, IEEE, APS, SPIE, OSA, Fellow and Life Member of Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Fellow of the International Engineering Consortium (IEC).   She received the IBM Europe Science and Technology Prize in 1987, the Achievement Award from the SWE in 1995, the R.F. Bun shah Award in 2004, IBM Faculty Award 2013, the Jan Czochralski Gold Medal in 2016, the 2018 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering, and many best paper awards. She is an elected life-Fellow of SWE, IEEE, and MRS. The member of Academy of Europe in 2021.

Abstract：I will highlight our recent study of THz wave and second harmonic wave generation from laser induced plasma in air. This research was triggered by investigation of THz field induced second harmonic generation produced using directly mixing an optical probe beam onto femtosecond plasma filaments. We found that the conversion efficiency of the fundamental probe beam w to 2w  beam is greater than 0.02%. Typical systems have conversion efficiency in air ~10^-9. In addition, THz spectral buildup of the source along the plasma filament and retrieve coherent terahertz signal measurements, with the potential to provide local electric field strength measurements inside of the filament. The enhanced 2w generation efficiency is only observed within a sub-picosecond time window and found to be nearly constant across fundamental pulse durations. Using the orthogonal pump–probe configuration, the polarization of the 2w field exhibits a complex dependence on the polarization of both input fundamental w beams. The laser induced plasma acts a temporal crystal with large second order nonlinear.

Biography：X.-C. Zhang is Endowed Parker Givens Professor of Optics, at The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, NY, since March 2012. He was the director of the institute from 2012 to 2017. Prior to joining UR, he pioneered world-leading research in the field of ultrafast laser-based terahertz technology and optical physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY (‘92-‘12). At RPI, he is the Eric Jonsson Professor of Science; Acting Head at the Department of Physics, Applied Physics & Astronomy; Professor of Electrical, Computer & System; and Founding Director of the Center for THz Research. With a BS from Peking University, he earned PhD degree in Physics from Brown University, RI.

Abstract：Compared with traditional ULE and Zerodur, RB Silicon Carbide (RB SiC) has the advantages of high stiffness, high stability, high thermal conductivity, and flexible lightweight structural configuration. Large SiC mirrors not only face many difficulties in mirror blank preparation, aspheric fabrication, and testing, which take many years and many setbacks. Realizing future astronomical observations with extremely high resolution and sensitivity based on SiC mirrors is also a huge challenge.

Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences provides a new technological approach for the development of large ground optical telescopes with 4m RB SiC primary mirrors. This report will focus on the main technical problems encountered actively supporting the 4m SiC mirror in the ground large telescope, the corresponding solutions proposed, laboratory calibration, on-site calibration, and the observation results obtained in the field, and share the successful application experience of the 4m SiC mirror. 

Biography：Jianli Wang is a Doctor of Optical Engineering, researcher, doctoral supervisor, the Deputy Director of Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chairman of the 8th Committee of Precision Machinery Branch, China Instrument Society. Currently, he is mainly engaged in the research of ground-based space object detection technology and the overall technology of ground-based large aperture telescopes. As the first person in charge of the project, he has completed 10 national major engineering projects, published more than 120 papers, and won two first-prizes and one second-prize for ministerial level scientific and technological rewards. He has won honors such as the Fourth Jilin Province Top Ten Outstanding Young Scholars, the 13th National Youth May Fourth Medal, and is a young and middle-aged innovative leading talent of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

摘要：稀土掺杂上转换纳米材料能够将近红外激发光转换为可见光和紫外光。该材料独特的非线性光学特性推动了他们的广泛应用，例如荧光显微镜、深层组织生物成像、纳米医学、光遗传学、防伪和显示。然而，浓度猝灭效应显著阻碍了高效上转换纳米材料的开发，进而限制了该材料的发光亮度及其生物医学应用。我们开发了可控的高掺杂上转换纳米颗粒，克服了浓度猝灭效应，并发现了新的光学特性，拓展了这些纳米颗粒在纳米生物医学和纳米光子学领域的应用，包括光镊、超分辨成像、单分子跟踪、生物医学成像、生物检测和即时检测等。

简介：悉尼科技大学生物医学材料与仪器研究所 DECRA 研究员、博士生导师。温博士在东华大学获得有机化学硕士学位，随后在悉尼科技大学获得纳米光子学博士学位。他于 2021 年荣获澳大利亚研究委员会颁发的优秀青年研究探索奖 (DECRA)。温博士长期从事上转换纳米晶体的精细调控及其在纳米光子学和生物医学中的应用研究。在纳米材料、纳米光子学和生物医学领域的高水平一流期刊上发表80篇SCI收录期刊论文，包括Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Nature Communications，文章总引用7000多次，H-指数为42。温博士获授权中国发明专利10项，近年来在国内外学术会议上作邀请报告10余次。

Abstrct: Femtosecond laser manufacturing is unique in three-dimensional (3D) prototyping capability, and it also may be utilized for producing fine structures from hard-processing transparent materials due to the high-field feature of a femtosecond laser. A natural question is how nanoscale fabrication accuracy may be achieved since the light- solid matter interactions are generally violent. Here we report several new findings that we prove valid to minimize interaction volume, including optical far-field induced near-field breakdown (O-FIB) effect, surface plasmon polariton imprinting effect, and combinative usage of multi-photon and threshold effect. As a result, we improve the fabrication spatial resolution of transparent solid materials from the conventional optical-diffraction limit (hundreds of nanometers) to a new limit, quantum limit, which is material dependent (several nanometers).

Biography: Hong-Bo Sun, received the B.S. and the Ph.D degrees in electronics from Jilin University, Changchun, China, in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Satellite Venture Business Laboratory, the University of Tokushima, Japan, from 1996 to 2000, and then as an assistant professor in Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University, Japan. In 2004, he was promoted as a full professor (Changjiang Scholar) in Jilin University, and since 2017 he has been working in Tsinghua University, China. His research interests have been focused on laser precision manufacturing. He has published over 500 papers, which have been cited for over 30000 times, and H factor is 88, according to ISI search report. He is currently the executive editor-in-chief (EEIC) of Light: Science and Applications and Deputy editor-in-chief of PhotoniX (Both from Nature Publishing Group). He is IEEE, OSA and SPIE fellow.

Abstrct: In the past decades, the studies of metamaterials and metasurfaces have been conducted from the perspective of physics, and mainly focused on designing abnormal effective medium parameters (e.g. negative index of refraction), finding new physical phenomena (e.g. perfect imaging and generalized Snell’s law), or realizing new functional devices (e.g. antennas and meta-lenses). In 2014, I tried to rethink metamaterials from the perspective of information science, and proposed to characterize the meta-atom by digital states “0” and “1” (with opposite phase responses) and control the electromagnetic waves by encoding digital sequences on the space, resulting in the concept of digital coding metamaterial and metasurface. All possible digital coding sequences and their functionalities can be pre-calculated and stored in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), then we realized the first programmable metamaterial and metasurface. The digital coding characterization makes metamaterials and metasurfaces be evolved from passive to active and from analog to digital, resulting in the capabilities to perform information operations and digital signal processing in the electromagnetic space. From this viewpoint, we proposed the concept of information metamaterial and metasurface, which can fuse the electromagnetic physical space and digital space together, and fulfil the wave manipulations and information modulations simultaneously.

Biography: Tie Jun Cui is the chief professor of Southeast University, China. He proposed the concepts of digital coding and programmable metamaterials and realized their first prototypes, based on which he proposed information metamaterials to bridge the physical world and digital world. Dr. Cui has published over 600 peer-review journal papers, which have been cited by more than 57000 times (H-Factor 118). He received the Natural Science Award (first class) from the Ministry of Education, China, in 2011, the National Natural Science Awards of China in 2014 and 2018, and the Highly Cited Researcher Awards in 2019-2021.

Abstrct: It has been experimentally demonstrated that resonant structures brought at close distance from an object can enhance the resolution of coherent imaging beyond the classical limit given by the numerical apertures of the illumination and detection systems. The scattering of the incident light by both the object and the resonant structure can be modelled by the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. We will use this equation to explain that resonant structures in general can enhance the subwavelength details of an object which can be retrieved from measurements of the scattered far field. Because retrieving subwavelength features depends strongly on the noise, the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound is an indispensable tool to quantify the super-resolution. For the special case of an object on top of a substrate that supports guided waves, we will explain the computation of this lower bound under shot-noise condition. For the case that both the amplitude and the phase of the scattered far field are measured, the Cramer-Rao Lower Bounds of shape parameters and of the permittivity of the object are compared for imaging with and without resonant structure.

Biography: Paul Urbach is full professor of Optics at Delft University of Technology since 2008. He has been Principle Scientist of Philips Research Laboratory from 1986-2008. His research interests are new methods for high resolution imaging and metrology. He has been active in several advisory and scientific boards and has been President of the European Optical Society in 2012-2014 and 2017-2018.

Abstrct: Recent progress is subwavelength optics is driven by the physics of optical resonances. This provides a novel platform for localization of light in subwavelength photonic structures and opens new horizons for metamaterial-enabled photonics, or metaphotonics. Recently emerged field of Mie-resonant metaphotonics (also called "Mie-tronics") employs resonances in high-index dielectric nanoparticles and dielectric metasurfaces and aiming for novel applications of the subwavelength optics and photonics. High-index subwavelength resonant dielectric structures emerged recently as a new platform for nanophotonics. They benefit from low material losses and provide a simple way to realize magnetic response which enables efficient flat-optics devices reaching and even outperforming the capabilities of bulk component. In this talk, I will review the recent advances in Mie-tronics and its applications in metaphotonics and metasurfaces, including enhancement of light-matter interaction for nonlinear and topological metadevices, and the development of active nanophotonic devices and nanolasers.

Biography: Yuri Kivshar received PhD degree in 1984 in Kharkov (Ukraine). From 1989 to 1993 he worked at several research centers in USA and Europe, and in 1993 he moved to Australia where he established Nonlinear Physics Center at the Australian National University. His research interests include nonlinear physics, metamaterials, and nanophotonics. He is Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science since 2002, and also Fellow of Optica (former OSA), APS, SPIE, and IOP. He received many awards for his research including Lyle Medal (Australia), Lebedev Medal (Russia), The State Prize in Science and Technology (Ukraine), Harrie Massey Medal (UK), Humboldt Research Award (Germany), SPIE Mozi Award (USA), and more recently 2022 Max Born Award (Optica).