Photonics today

Photonics—one of the main specializations of the “sixth technological wave”—is defined as “…the science of methods for generating and using light and other forms of radiation energy whose quantum units are photons” [N. V. Nikonorov and S. M. Shandarov, Wave Photonics (SPbGU ITMO, St. Petersburg, 2008)]. The beginning of the twenty-first century is characterized by rapid progress in the development and introduction of photonics-based technologies.
This issue presents articles on the leading specializations of photonics—quantum informatics, photonic crystals and nanostructures, femtosecond optics, and femtosecond technologies. The articles are based on the materials of the best reports presented at the Eighth International Conference of young scientists and specialists, “Optics—2013,” held in St. Petersburg on October 14–18, 2013 and based at the University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics (ITMO). The materials of the conference can be viewed at http://conf‑opt.ifmo.ru/index.php?page=archive.php.
This issue opens with two articles on interrelated problems of quantum informatics: the creation of a single-photon source and of a quantum random-number generator (a generator cannot be implemented without a source). The articles are presented by two interacting scientific groups of young researchers from Kazan and St. Petersburg.
The first two articles of the section on photonic crystals and nanostructures are devoted to the optical properties of nanoporous silicon—a promising material for creating photonic-crystal structures. The last three articles are associated with studies of various quantum dots made by graduate students at the “Nanostructure Physics” Scientific-Manufacturing Center at ITMO.
The section on femtosecond optics includes an article from a young scientific group at the International Laser Center of Moscow State University on theoretical and experimental studies of the femtosecond filamentation of laser beams. The subsequent articles of this section present work carried out by graduate students of the Center of Femtosecond Optics and Femtotechnologies of ITMO University: a theoretical study of the dynamics of an ultrashort optical pulse and two experimental papers on the technologies of terahertz optics.
The last section of the issue presents an article by an author from Belarus on the development of optical glasses for fibers and an article from the “Physics of Nanostructures” scientific group on the development of a complex for measuring the optical parameters of quantum dots.
The Ninth International Optics Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists will be held on October 19–23, 2015. We invite students, holders of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, graduate students trained in optical and allied specialties, and researchers and designers of new optical techniques and technologies not older than 35 years to participate.