The Optical Society of America (OSA) is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the study of light—optics and photonics—in theory and application, by means of worldwide research, scientific publishing, conferences and exhibitions, partnership with industry, and the education of new generations of scientists. The organization's members reside in over 100 nations and span many disciplines: physicists, biologists, medical researchers, electrical engineers, display component engineers, communications specialists, vision scientists, astronomers, meteorologists, materials scientists, technical specialists in imaging, and others.^[1] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the book by Sir Isaac Newton, see Opticks. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article is about the concept. ... Academic publishing describes the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. ... Medicament assisted rehabilitation conference in Oslo An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work. ... The 2006 LinuxWorld trade show at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center. ...

Commonly known as OSA, the society exemplifies the self-governing, mutual-assistance professional associations that fostered development of science and technology through the 20th century to the present. Founded in 1916 by 30 optical scientists and instrument makers based in Rochester, New York, OSA soon began publication of its first journal of research results and established an annual meeting.^[2] A professional body or professional organization is an organisation, usually non-profit, that exists to further a particular profession, to protect both the public interest and the interests of professionals. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

By 2006, OSA reported nearly 14,000 individuals members. During the year, the society published 33,000 pages of research in its journals and hosted 22,000 attendees at conferences and meetings.^[3]

Mission

The mission of the Optical Society of America is to promote the generation, application and archiving of knowledge in optics and photonics and to disseminate this knowledge worldwide. The purposes of the Society are scientific, technical and educational. For the book by Sir Isaac Newton, see Opticks. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Founded in 1916, OSA brings together optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators, technicians and business leaders. OSA is dedicated to providing its members and the scientific community with educational resources that support technical and professional development. OSA publications, events and services help to advance the science of light by addressing the ongoing need for shared knowledge and innovation. The Society's commitment to excellence and long-term learning is the driving force behind all its initiatives. 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Scientific publishing

Scientific publishing, also known as scholarly or academic publishing, is a core activity of the Optical Society of America. Guided by this structured discipline, optics and photonics scientists and engineers submit their research results to OSA for peer review and publication in one of the society's journals. A majority of articles published in OSA journals are written by authors residing outside the United States.^[4] Academic publishing describes the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. ... Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a scholarly process used in the publication of manuscripts and in the awarding of funding for research. ...

OSA's Member Guide states that "Manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of scientific content, novelty, presentation, and appropriateness. Submissions must be previously unpublished and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere." Submission and review are conducted through an Internet-based system. Authors are asked to select keywords for their papers from the Optics Classification and Indexing System (OCIS) to aid readers in the search process.^[5]

Access to OSA journals. All primary journals are published in online format and four in printed format (AO, JOSA A, JOSA B, OL). Many university and research libraries with optics and photonics interests maintain institutional subscriptions for their constituents. Readers should contact their organization's library to determine what journal holdings are available and how they may be accessed. Individual subscriptions are available through membership in the society.

Access to individual journal articles. Optics InfoBase is the OSA online portal to past and current articles published in primary journals, co-published journals, and many conference digests. Optics InfoBase is structured as a search engine which uses the criteria of author, title keyword, abstract keyword, journal selection, and date range. Abstracts are freely viewable; full text is offered under various fee arrangements. This article is about search engines. ... An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the papers purpose. ...

Open access journal. The full text of all articles in Optics Express is freely available.

Primary journals

• Applied Optics (AO), 1962-present (print ISSN 0003-6935, online ISSN 1539-4522). Research on optical technology (fiber optics; optical testing and instrumentation; lens design; x-ray optics; radiometry and detectors; thin films), information processing (Fourier optics; holography; pattern recognition; machine vision; optical neural networks; statistical optics; speckle and optical signal processing), laser, photonics, and environmental optics (laser systems, materials, design and instrumentation; optoelectronics; atmospheric optics and propagation, LIDAR and remote sensing; meteorological and ocean optics), and biomedical optics (optical metrology; laser-based diagnostics and treatment; optical imagery; tissues spectroscopy, diagnostics, and bioinstrumentation; ultrasound-aided and coherence-based optical imagery).^[6]

• Journal of Optical Networking (JON), 2002-present (ISSN 1539-5379, online only). Rapid publication of research on theory and application of fiber optics and optical communication networks, links and subsystems.

• Journal of the Optical Society of America A (JOSA A), 1984-present (print ISSN 1084-7529, online ISSN 1520-8532). Research on optics, image science and vision (specifically atmospheric optics, image processing, scattering and coherence theory, machine vision, physiological optics, statistical optics, gratings, polarization, thin films, color vision, design, and diffraction).

• Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B), 1984-present (print ISSN 0740-3224, online ISSN 1520-8540). Research on optical physics (specifically ultrafast phenomena; optical coherent transients; multiphoton processes; effects of laser radiation; ultraviolet and x-ray physics; atomic, molecular and laser spectroscopy; nonlinear optical materials, science, and technology).

• Optics Express (OpEx), 1997-present (ISSN 1094-4087, online only). Open access, rapid publication of short, peer-reviewed papers in all fields of optical science and technology. Multimedia content available.

• Optics Letters (OL), 1977-present (print ISSN 0146-9592, online ISSN 1539-4794). Concise, rapid publication on all areas of optics including measurements, components and devices, processing, storage, holography, optoelectronics, lasers, ultrafast phenomena, nonlinear optics, fiber optics, integrated optics, quantum optics and spectroscopy, and optics in biology and medicine.

• Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (VJBO), 2006-present (ISSN 1931-1532). Compilation of all biomedical articles published in OSA's peer-reviewed journals.

Applied Optics is a peer reviewed scientific journal published by the Optical Society of America three times a month. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... The Journal of the Optical Society of America A is a publication of the Optical Society of America. ... The Journal of the Optical Society of America B is a scientific journal, published by the Optical Society of America. ... Optics Express is a peer reviewed rapid publication scientific journal published by the Optical Society of America. ... The open access movement (also known as open-access publishing and free online scholarship) is an effort to grant access to a large variety of up-to-date information sources for free. ... Optics Letters is a peer reviewed rapid publication scientific journal published by the Optical Society of America. ...

Co-published journals

• Applied Spectroscopy (AS), 1951-present (ISSN 0003-7028). Jointly published by OSA and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Full-length articles, notes and spectroscopic techniques.

• Chinese Optics Letters (COL), 2006-present (ISSN 1671-7694). Published by Science Press of China, distributed by OSA. Novel experimental and theoretical results from all fields of optics.

• Journal of Display Technology (JDT), 2006-present (ISSN 1551-319X). Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. Studies on all aspects of display technologies, spanning many disciplines.

• Journal of Lightwave Technology (JLT), 1998-present (ISSN 0733-8724). Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. Studies on fiber and cable technology, active and guided-wave components, integrated optics and optoelectronics, systems and subsystems, networks and switching.

• Journal of Optical Technology (JOT), 1999-present (ISSN 1070-9762). English translation of Opticheskii Zhurnal (S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute and D. S. Rozhdestvensky Optical Society, St. Petersburg, Russia). Design of optical instruments and computational optics.

Chinese Optics letters （中国光学快报) is scientific journal, which publish the short communications (few pages) in optics, physics of lasers and the aplications. ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-e) is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-e) is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. ...

Magazine

Optics & Photonics News (OPN), 1989-present (ISSN 1047-6938, online ISSN 1541-3721). Distributed to all OSA members. Broad selection of research and industry trends on all topics, OSA news, book reviews, employment and commercial advertising. Articles solicited under guidance of an editorial advisory committee. Optics and Photonics News (OPN) is the monthly membership magazine of the Optical Society of America. ...

Conferences and exhibitions

Scientific conferences provide a forum for researchers to present their results in person and to learn about the work of colleagues. OSA sponsors small and large meetings consisting of a technical program and an industrial exhibition appropriate to the subject matter and number of attendees. Large conferences often include professional education courses and workshops addressing the state of emerging technology and industry.

OSA conferences are announced with a Call for Papers, the solicitation of scientists to submit papers related to the meeting topics. Submitted papers are reviewed by the program committee; accepted papers are then scheduled for oral presentation or group poster presentation. Invited papers by recognized experts and submitted papers are organized into highly specific symposia topics.

The collected presentations are distributed to meeting attendees in the form of a technical digest on CD-ROM. Afterward, OSA makes conference papers available through Optics InfoBase.

Contemporary OSA meetings include:

• Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) – Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (QELS). Co-located with the Conference on Photonic Applications, Systems and Technologies (PhAST). Held annually. Cosponsored by OSA, American Physical Society, and IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society. Managed by OSA.
  At CLEO/QELS 2006, 2,180 papers were presented in over 200 technical symposia. During the five-day event, 5,200 individuals attended the technical program, education sessions, and an exhibition by 310 companies and organizations. Speakers at the press briefing highlighted advances in ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography (applicable to disease detection), high-speed time-domain terahertz imaging techniques, and tunable quantum cascade lasers (applicable to breath analysis, glucose monitoring, and explosives detection).^[7]

• Frontiers in Optics (FiO), OSA’s annual meeting, is co-located with Laser Science, the annual meeting of APS's Division of Laser Science. Managed by OSA.
  At FiO 2006, 975 scientists and engineers presented recent research spanning the field of optics. One published report took special note of the symposia on micro- and nano-optics (metamaterials, plasmon-resonance structures, and photonic crystals). In the plenary session, Nobel laureate Steven Chu explored how photonics can contribute to world energy sustainability and Lee Goldstein (Harvard Medical School) showed optical approaches to detection and monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease. ^[8]

• Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) – National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC). Held annually. Cosponsored by OSA, IEEE Communications Society, and IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society. Managed by OSA.
  In 2006, OFC/NFOEC participants addressed the theme of FTTX. X stood for the multiplicity of potential architectures and products that can enable optimum communication through FTTP (optical fiber to the premises), FTTH (...to the Home), and FTTC/FTTN (...to the Cabinet/...to the Node). Advances in reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) and wave division multiplexing passive optical networks (WDM PONs) drew press attention. Optical communications researchers and engineers presented over 700 papers to the 3,000 technical program registrants. Overall conference attendance totaled 13,000; some 600 companies showcased their products and services at the exposition.^[9][10]

• Topical Meetings address topics of specialized interest; attendance is usually measured in the hundreds. OSA has sponsored recent topical meetings on adaptive optics, advanced solid-state photonics, biomedical optics, coherent optics, Fourier transform spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging and sounding of the environment, nanophotonics, nonlinear optics, optical amplifiers, optical data storage, optical fiber sensors, photonic metamaterials, slow light and fast light, and ultrafast phenomena.

The American Physical Society was founded in 1899 and is the worlds second largest organization of physicists. ... The IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society is a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ... Optical coherence tomography tomogram of a fingertip. ... Electromagnetic waves sent at terahertz frequencies, known as terahertz radiation, terahertz waves, terahertz light, T-rays, T-light, T-lux and THz, are in the region of the electromagnetic spectrum between 300 gigahertz (3x1011 Hz) and 3 terahertz (3x1012 Hz), corresponding to the wavelength range starting at submillimeter (<1 millimeter... The quantum cascade laser or QC laser is a unipolar laser which uses electrons as its only charge carrier. ... The American Physical Society was founded in 1899 and is the worlds second largest organization of physicists. ... A metamaterial (or meta material) is a material that gains its properties from its structure rather than directly from its composition. ... Surface plasmon resonance, or SPR, is a biophysical technique used by biochemists to measure the binding interactions of very small amounts of a target protein. ... The opal in this bracelet contains a natural periodic microstructure responsible for its iridescent color. ... The Nobel Prizes (pronounced no-BELL or no-bell) are awarded annually to people who have done outstanding research, invented groundbreaking techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society. ... Image:Stevenchu. ... Alzheimers disease (AD) or primary dementia of Alzheimers type is an incurable, degenerative neuropsychiatric disease which results in a pervasive loss of first mental, then physical functioning due to the deterioration of brain tissue. ... The IEEE Communications Society is a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ... The IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society is a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ... // Fiber to the premises (FTTP) is a form of fiber-optic communication delivery in which an optical fiber is run directly onto the customers premises. ... A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) is a form of optical add-drop multiplexer that adds the ability to remotely switch traffic from a WDM system at the wavelength layer. ... The original version of this article was based on FOLDOC, with permission In telecommunications wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes several optical carrier signals on a single optical fibre by using different wavelengths (colours) of laser light to carry different signals. ... A passive optical network (PON) is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 32. ... A deformable mirror can be used to correct wavefront errors in an astronomical telescope. ... Coherence is the property of wave-like states that enables them to exhibit interference. ... FTIR of a thin film of ethanol in the liquid phase. ... Imaging spectroscopy is defined as being the simultaneous acquisition of spatially coregistered images, in many, spectrally contiguous bands, in an internationally recognized system of units from a remotely operated platform (Schaepman, 2005). ... Nanophotonics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometre scale. ... Nonlinear optics is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization P responds nonlinearly to the electric field E of the light. ... An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. ... A metamaterial (or meta material) is a material that gains its properties from its structure rather than directly from its composition. ... Refractive phenomena, such as this rainbow, are due to the slower speed of light in a medium (water, in this case). ... In physics, ultrafast describes events that occur on femtosecond timescales. ...

Professional community

Beyond publishing and conferences, OSA nurtures the professional community of optics and photonics scientists and engineers through the structures of technical groups, local sections, student chapters, corporate associate membership, and career networking. Members' voluntary involvement in the programs of the society create the energy of the community. Unique professional accomplishments are recognized by presentation of OSA awards and honors.

Membership is open to any professional or student working or interested in optics or a related field. To facilitate focused communication within the broad field of optics, new members select technical groups matching their individual interests.

OSA technical groups categorized by division are:^[11]

OSA local sections and student chapters are encouraged and supported by the umbrella organization but operate independently. Their activities may include guest speakers, educational outreach, and content from other scientific societies. In January 2007, 32 local sections were affiliated with OSA (23 in the U.S. and 9 non-U.S.); over 100 student chapters were affiliated with OSA (63 from non-U.S. universities and 40 within the U.S.).

OSA Foundation

The OSA Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting programs that:

• Advance youth science education
• Support optics and photonics education in developing nations
• Provide education and resources to underserved populations
• Support the OSA's Awards and Honors program

Since its establishment in 2002, the Foundation has provided support to more than 70 programs. Funded activities include: student travel grants, special resources for university students studying optics, and classroom and extracurricular youth science education programs.

See also

• American Institute of Physics
• American Physical Society
• International Commission for Optics
• IEEE, IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, IEEE Communications Society
• SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering
• Society for Imaging Science and Technology

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is a professional body representing American physicists and publishing physics related journals. ... The American Physical Society was founded in 1899 and is the worlds second largest organization of physicists. ... The International Commission for Optics (ICO) was created in 1947 with the objective to contribute to the progress and dissemination of knowledge in optics. ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-e) is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. ... The IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society is a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ... The IEEE Communications Society is a society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ... SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering is a not-for-profit society that has become the largest[citation needed] international force for the exchange, collection and dissemination of knowledge in optics, photonics, and imaging engineering. ... The Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) is a research and education organization in the field of imaging. ...

References

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is a professional body representing American physicists and publishing physics related journals. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

External links

• OSA primary web site

OSA publications sites

• Optics InfoBase – Search engine for OSA journals, magazine, and conference papers.
• JON Online
• Optics & Photonics News web site
• Optics Express

OSA conferences and exhibitions sites

• CLEO/QELS Conference
• Frontiers in Optics
• OFC/NFOEC Conference
• PhAST Conference

OSA education sites

• Optics Education Directory – A searchable international directory of degree programs in optics. Cosponsored by OSA and SPIE.
• Optics for Kids – Introduction to optics with games and experiments for children; includes a guide for parents and teachers. See link on homepage to Spanish version.
• Optics for Teens – Introduction to optics with lab experiments, everyday optics, career ideas, and resources for teenagers; includes a guide for parents and teachers.
• Hands on Optics
• OSA Foundation – Associated charitable organization that promotes optics education.

OSA career services site

• Work in Optics – Services for employers and job seekers.

Affiliated Organizations

• OIDA (Optoelectronics Industry Development Association) - A Washington DC-based, non-profit association that promotes the optoelectronics industry.