Optica (society)


Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America, is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and carries out charitable activities.

History

Optica was founded in 1916 as the Optical Society of America, under the leadership of Perley G. Nutting, with 30 optical scientists and instrument makers based in Rochester, New York. It soon published its first journal of research results and established an annual meeting. The group's Journal of the Optical Society of America was created in 1918. The first series of joint meetings with the American Physical Society took place in 1918.
In 2008, it changed its name to the Optical Society. In September 2021, the organization's name changed to Optica, in reference to the organization's journal by the same name and geographic neutrality to reflect the society's global membership.
In 2024, following an employee whistleblower complaint, Bloomberg News reported that the Optica Foundation Challenge was funded entirely by Huawei. In response, the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology launched a probe and Optica announced that it would no longer accept money from Huawei, remove the company's representation on a panel of judges, return donations made by Huawei from 2022 onward, and remove Elizabeth A. Rogan as CEO.

Scientific publishing

Optica Publishing Group
Optica Publishing Group is Optica's scientific publishing platform, which publishes peer-reviewed optics and photonics research. Optica Publishing Group's portfolio consists of 20 publications.

Primary journals

Advances in Optics and Photonics, ; 2009–present — Publishing long review articles and tutorials.Applied Optics, ; ; 1962–present — Covering optical applications-centered research.Biomedical Optics Express, ; 2010–present — An open access journal covering optics, photonics and imaging in the life sciences.Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1917–1983, which was split into two journals in 1984:

Partnered journals

Applied Spectroscopy, 1951–present. Published by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.Chinese Optics Letters, 2003–present. Published by Chinese Laser Press.Current Optics and Photonics, 2017–present. Published by Optical Society of Korea.Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, 2009–present. Jointly published by Optica and Institute of [Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]. Published from 2002 to 2009 as Journal of Optical Networking.Journal of Lightwave Technology, 1998–present. Jointly published by Optica and IEEE.Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, 1993–present. Published by SAGE Publishing.Journal of Optical Technology, 1999–present. English translation of Opticheskii Zhurnal published by the S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute.Photonics Research, 2013–present. Jointly published by Optica and Chinese Laser Press.

Magazine

Optics and Photonics News, ISSN 1047-6938; 1975–present. Publishes monthly news for recent developments in optics on topics related to science and society, education, technology, and business.

Legacy journals

Journal of Display Technology, 2005–2016. Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. Available online.Journal of Optical Networking, 2002–2009. Published by OSA. Available online.Journal of Optical Society of Korea, 2007–2016. Published by the Optical Society of Korea. Available online.OSA Continuum, 2018–2021. Published by Optica. Available online.Optics News, 1975–1989. Published by Optica. Available online.

Recognitions

Optica presents awards and honors, including Optica Fellow, Honorary Membership, and Awards/Medals. Optica's awards and medals program is endowed through the Optica Foundation, and includes more than 20 named awards; among them are the following:

Presidents

The following persons are or have been presidents of the society:

Notable people

Archival collections