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31 August 2015
The Optical Society Celebrates Optica’s Successful First Year
The Optical Society Celebrates Optica’s Successful First Year
The Journal establishes itself as a trusted source for high-impact research in the optics and photonics community
Washington – Optica, The Optical Society’s newest journal, dedicated to rapidly disseminating the highest impact peer-reviewed research across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics, has celebrated its one-year anniversary.
In its first year, Optica has established itself as a trusted source for some of the best and most exciting work in the optics and photonics field, demonstrated by 45% growth in article downloads in 2015 so far and 1 in 6 articles being featured in mainstream media because of their broad appeal. Additionally, submissions are coming in at a rate three times higher than expected, indicating the popularity of the Journal amongst authors as a venue for sharing their highest impact work with the optics and photonics community. As an Open Access publication that is committed to making the content freely available as soon as possible, all articles in the Journal are posted online as soon as they are ready— making Optica a forum for pioneering research to be swiftly accessed by the international community.
A further key to Optica’s success is its distinguished editorial board, who oversee a transparent and highly selective peer review process that ensures research published in Optica will make a significant impact on the community. Optica’s peer review process is completely driven by the authors’ peers as the editors are both respected experts and active scientists in the field of optics and photonics. In addition, the two-step review process, which includes a rapid 5-day initial review, provides authors with editorial decisions in a fraction of the time of other publications in the field.
“I’m very grateful to all of the editors, reviewers and authors for their ongoing support and efforts during the Journal’s first year,” said Alex Gaeta, Optica Editor-In-Chief. “As a result of the tremendous backing from the community, the Journal has exceeded all of the major milestones that we set out to achieve when we launched last July. I look forward to continuing to work with the strong editorial team to build on the current foundation and to further improve Optica in the years to come.”
Top Downloaded Articles from Optica’s First Year
Quantum-secure authentication of a physical unclonable key: The authors present a new method for secure identification that improves on traditional physical keys. An elegant quantum-optical method makes the readout of the key secure, and it can be implemented with current technology. The method doesn’t depend on the secrecy of any stored data or on unproven mathematical assumptions, thus it stays secure even in the case of database breaches, skimming, and mathematical breakthroughs. More than 90 media outlets, including CNBC and ABC Online, picked up on the article with an estimated audience of over 21.2 million.
Authors: Sebastianus A. Goorden, Marcel Horstmann; Allard P. Mosk, Boris Skoric, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse, Vol. 1, Issue 6 pp. 421-424. (2014)
Flexible photonic metastructures for tunable coloration: Researchers report a new planar high-contrast metastructure (HCM) on a flexible substrate whose color can be designed and tuned efficiently with ultra-small deformation by mechanical stretching. In addition, specific and yet distinct color change is achieved simultaneously in a multiple-color pattern. This completely new design capability could lead to a wide range of applications, including camouflage, sensing, and displays. The research paper was featured in 82 media outlets with an estimated audience of 82 million readers.
Authors: Li Zhu, Jonas Kapraun, James Ferrara, and Connie J. Chang-Hasnain. Vol. 2, Issue 3 pp 255-258 (2015)
Radiative cooling of solar cells: Scientists may have overcome one of the major hurdles in developing high-efficiency, long-lasting solar cells – keeping them cool, even in the blistering heat of the noonday Sun. This article was picked up by 51 media outlets and seen by 8.7 million readers.
Authors: Linxiao Zhu, Aaswath Raman, Ken Xingze Wang, Marc Abou Anoma, and Shanhui Fan, Vol. 1, Issue 1 pp 32-38 (2014)
Micrometer-scale integrated silicon source of time-energy entangled photons: Entanglement is a curious property of quantum mechanics in which two systems – such as particles of light -- can share properties regardless of their distance. Researchers have demonstrated an emitter of entangled photon pairs that is small enough to be integrated onto a silicon chip. This device is an extremely appealing source of non-classical states of light, in particular for the development of quantum cryptography protocols to achieve secure data communication over fiber networks. The paper was featured by 35 different media outlets with an estimated audience of over 26 million.
Authors: Davide Grassani, Stefano Azzini, Marco Liscidini, Matteo Galli, Michael J. Strain, Marc Sorel, John E. Sipe, and Daniele Bajoni, Vol. 2, Issue 2 pp 88-94 (2015)
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. OSA is a founding partner of the National Photonics Initiative and the 2015 International Year of Light. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
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