OSA launches new journal, Optical Materials Express

Inaugural issue features research in metamaterials, microlasers and chiral optical materials

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2011 — The Optical Society (OSA) today announced the launch and publication of the first issue of its newest journal, Optical Materials Express. With a focus on the intersection of optics and materials science, Optical Materials Express joins OSA’s diverse portfolio of 15 peer-reviewed optics journals. The editor-in-chief of the new journal is David Hagan, associate dean for academic programs and professor of optics and physics at CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics at the University of Central Florida.

“We are excited to publish the first journal in the industry designed to meet the needs of researchers working in the very broad area where optics and materials science overlap, said Hagan. “The field of optical materials is a diverse one – with topics ranging from nanomaterials to liquid crystals to optical storage media – and Optical Materials Express stands to be the premier source of information in this expansive discipline.”

Many features of Optical Materials Express are similar to OSA’s other pioneering and highly successful Express publications, Optics Express and Biomedical Optics Express. Most significantly, Optical Materials Express offers rapid, online, and open-access publication. Additionally, the journal will offer the availability of free color figures, movies, animations, and live reference links. HTML with MathML (XHTML) versions of each article, suitable for viewing on a range of electronic devices, are published along with the formatted PDF.

The inaugural issue includes a special section of invited papers on Chiral Optical Materials, edited by Thierry Verbiest of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and Vincent Rodriguez of Institut des Sciences Moléculaires, France. The following papers are some of the research highlights from the first issue of Optical Materials Express, which can be accessed online at www.OpticsInfoBase.org/OMEx

• Campos-Fernández, et al., “Visible light reflection spectra from cuticle layered materials.” Brilliant gold- and silver-colored beetles found in the rainforests of Costa Rica have given researchers new insights into the way biology can recreate the appearance of some of nature’s most precious metals, which in turn may allow researchers to produce new materials based on the natural properties found in the beetles’ coloring. A full news release describing this research in depth is available on OSA’s website ( www.osa.org/About_Osa/Newsroom/News_Releases/Releases/04.2011/MetallicBeetles.aspx ).

• Wang, et al., “Fiber metamaterials with negative magnetic permeability in the terahertz.” A major goal in the field of metamaterials is to have both negative electric permittivity and negative magnetic permeability. This paper from researchers in Australia shows how fiber drawing can be used to inexpensively produce both negative permittivity and permeability. This provides a path for the development of the first woven negative index materials. ( www.opticsinfobase.org/ome/abstract.cfm?URI=ome-1-1-115 )

• Mao, et al., “Co-extruded mechanically tunable multilayer elastomer laser.” In this paper, researchers from Youngstown State University and Case Western Reserve University in Ohio exploit the recently-developed technique of creating multilayer systems by polymer co-extrusion to create surface-emitting microlasers that can be mechanically tuned simply by stretching the material. The lasers are repeatably tunable over a 50 nm range in the visible part of the spectrum. The melt-process for fabricating these lasers enables high-throughput roll-to-roll production methods. ( www.opticsinfobase.org/ome/abstract.cfm?URI=ome-1-1-108 )

• Araoka, et al., “Electric-field controllable optical activity in the nano-segregated system composed of rod- and bent-core liquid crystals.” Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology illustrate electric-field-controllable optical activity in conventional mixtures of rod-core and bent-core liquid crystalline compounds. Their observations could lead to the design of fascinating optical applications and novel optical materials. Note: This article is part of the focus issue on Chiral Optical Materials. ( www.opticsinfobase.org/ome/abstract.cfm?URI=ome-1-1-27 )

• Huttunen, et al., “Nonlinear chiral imaging of subwavelength-sized twisted-cross gold nanodimers.” A paper by research teams from Finland and Germany illustrates that second-harmonic generation microscopy with circularly-polarized light can be used to probe chirality of individual nano-objects. This work opens up intriguing possibilities for the study of chirality in metamaterials. Note: This article is part of the focus issue on Chiral Optical Materials. ( www.opticsinfobase.org/ome/abstract.cfm?URI=ome-1-1-46 )

About Optical Materials Express

Optical Materials Express (OMEx) is OSA’s newest peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on the synthesis, processing and characterization of materials for applications in optics and photonics. OMEx, which launched in April 2011, primarily emphasizes advances in novel optical materials, their properties, modeling, synthesis and fabrication techniques; how such materials contribute to novel optical behavior; and how they enable new or improved optical devices. For more information, visit www.OpticsInfoBase.org/OMEx

About OSA

Uniting more than 106,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit

www.osa.org