SUM & PSC Topics

Fiber Sensing Using Deployed Telecom Networks (FS)

The goal of this topic is to bring together researchers from the distinct disciplines of environmental sensing, frequency metrology, fiber-optic telecommunications equipment providers, and network operators. While fiber sensing has been an active research and product topic for decades, recently, there has been a considerable increase in the successful applications of data recorded using the existing fiber grid for a broad variety of geophysical and sensing goals. Optical fibers make excellent sensors, as the slightest fiber strain can measurably alter the polarization, frequency, and phase of the guided optical field. The ability to measure such changes has opened up a multitude of applications from infrastructure monitoring to geophysical exploration. However, it is still missing a clear path on how the scientific community and the network operators could benefit from each other’s expertise. This session aims to continue the early-stage discussion on how telecommunication operators and researchers can work together to fully exploit the existing fiber infrastructure for novel sensing applications that would co-exist with telecom operations. 

Free Space Optical Communications for Next Generation Satellite Networks and Beyond (FSOC)

Development and deployment of Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) has surged in recent years with optical satellite interlinks (OSILs) becoming a critical component in next-generation satellite constellation networks. Beyond OSILs, FSOC is poised to become a foundational element in networks of the future enabling higher security, faster data rates and the ability to bring connectivity to underserved locations throughout the world. Presently, FSOC is being deployed at scale by the commercial sector, while research institutions are enhancing the capability of FSOC by increasing link distances and data rates, and finding novel methods to increase the overall reliability of an FSOC network. The scope of this meeting will involve invited talks, contributed talks, and panels, with experts from industry, national labs, and academia. Specific topics will focus on space-based transceivers, high power laser sources for transmitters, Optical Ground Stations (OGS), Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), novel sources and FSOC for Next Gen Networks such as LiFi and 6G. 

Future Optical Networks and Transmission Systems (FONTS)

The development of optical networks and network architectures supported by multi-band (MB) systems outside conventional fiber transmission windows and space-division multiplexing (SDM) technologies is seen as one of the key enablers for cost-effective capacity upgrades to address the “capacity crunch”. The “Future Optical Networks and Transmission Systems (FONTS)” topic will focus on MB- and SDM-based optical networks, including (but not limited to) the following aspects. Recent advances in photonic integration, applications of novel switching solutions for high capacity optical networks supported by MB and/or SDM transmission including hollow core fibers, mitigation of signal quality degradation, transmission from O to U-band including fiber design and fabrication, propagation modeling and fundamental limits for MB transmission and SDM fibers, digital signal processing strategies and application of waveband conversion. The topic will also include a discussion on “Career Perspectives in Optical Communications and Beyond” for students and early career researchers.

Optical Interconnects and Integrated Photonics for AI/ML/HPC Applications (OIIP)

We are at the start of a generative AI era and industry 4.0 revolution. Integrated photonics and optical interconnects play an essential role in lowering cost, latency, driving high bandwidth performance incurred by the traffic growth in datacenters, and reducing power consumption of cloud computing and AI/ML applications.

This topical will bring together various perspectives on different technological levels, from devices and chips to system integrators’ and operators’ requirements for accelerated/distributed computing and networking for AI/ML/HPC applications, and specifically in technologies covering high-density & low-latency optical links, fast optical switches with reconfigurable traffic control, high-bandwidth energy-efficient transceivers, electronic/photonic packaging & co-packaged optics, multi-channel optical I/O including arrayed integrated devices & matrix optics, advanced silicon photonics & heterogeneously-integrated components, large-scale PICs, and optical & neuromorphic computing systems. Both current and future technologies of optical interconnects and integrated photonics solutions will be presented and explored in a vertical view of the ecosystem, aiming at a smarter and more sustainable future.

Reconfigurable Optics and Photonics (ROP)

Recent breakthroughs in reconfigurable optics and photonics have revolutionized the capability of dynamic function tuning, leading to new opportunities for agile manipulation of light propagation, processing and interaction with matter, in free-space and/or on-chip domains. Harnessing a variety of tuning mechanisms and targeting energy-efficient light manipulation, a wide range of dynamically-controlled meta-optical devices and systems have been realized for free-space phase/amplitude/polarization/nonlinear modulation, such as spatial light modulators, tunable filters, beam steering/shaping components, varifocal lenses, tunable holograms, displays, adaptive thermal camouflage, tunable absorbers and emitters, etc. On the other hand, reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits have also been demonstrated on various platforms, showing new on-chip programmable functionalities that equip traditional photonic chips with unprecedented versatility in critical applications such as high-capacity wired/wireless optical communications exploiting space/wavelength multiplexing, high-performance computing and photonic accelerators, sensing, positioning, microwave photonics, 5G, quantum photonics and brain-inspired photonics, etc. This topic covers all key aspects in frontier research, technologies and perspectives of reconfigurable optics and photonics.

Visible to Mid-IR Integrated Photonics for Quantum Technologies and Applications (VMIP)

The world of precision atomic and molecular quantum technologies, scientific experiments, instrumentation, and discoveries such as atomic clocks, quantum sensing and metrology, and thermal sensing, have the potential to undergo a transformation to the chip-scale much like computers of the 1950s. This transformation will unleash a wealth of new precision applications in biomedical, sensing, communications, computation, metrology and advances in fundamental physics. Photonic integration of the visible to mid-infrared wavelength range (200 nm – 20.0 µm), spanning two orders of magnitude in wavelength, will enable access to a wide range of atomic, ion, and molecular transitions and overlaps with transparency windows available in optical waveguides, optical fibers, and atmospheric and near- and deep-space propagation. Precision timing and spectroscopy, information on thermal emission properties of matter, new particle discovery, and space-based applications, and much more, will benefit from the improved reliability, scalability, and reduction in size, weight, and power brought about from new generations of integrated and fiber optic based technologies.

This meeting will bring together scientists, engineers, researchers, and students, from multiple disciplines including new materials and devices, visible light and MIR photonic integration and fibers, atomic and molecular optical (AMO) sciences, quantum information sciences (QIS), and precision visible light and MIR lasers and integrated photonics, to present advances in and discuss opportunities in this exciting area.  Leaders in portable atomic and molecular sensors,  atomic quantum clocks and navigation, quantum computation, and leaders in integrated visible lasers, visible light fibers, photonic integrated circuits, metasurfaces,  atomic sources and science packages, will be brought into the same meeting to crosspollinate and discuss atomic and quantum systems and their requirements including atom species, cooling and trapping, trapped ion and neutral atom physics packages, quantum entanglement measurements, gravitational sensing, precision fiber frequency and timing distribution, networks of atomic clocks, and the latest  technologies, including ultra-low loss visible to MIR waveguide platforms, precision stabilized lasers, visible light to MIR fibers, heterogeneous integration, modulation and control, waveguide to free space ion and atom trapping beams using for example metasurfaces, and other tools and requirements.

Future Optical, Datacenter and Computing Networks and Their Enabling Devices (FODC)

As generative AI and machine learning (ML) continue their explosive growth and evolve with an increasing number of parameters, the demands on datacenter (DC) and high-performance computing (HPC) networks are escalating at an unprecedented pace. Optical interconnects with larger bandwidth density, reduced latency, and enhanced power efficiency are required relentlessly to maximize the performance of AI/ML clusters. Adoption of photonic switching has also gained renewed interest to complement or replace electronic switching in DC networks. The “Future Optical, Datacenter and Computing Networks and Their Enabling Devices (FODC)” topic will delve into these emerging technologies crucial for next-generation optical networks. It will cover a wide range of advancements from devices to networking, including (but not limited to) high-speed and/or high-density transceivers, co-packaged optics and packaging, optical switching devices and subsystems, advanced modulation and coding techniques, disaggregated/distributed computing, space division multiplexing and/or multiband technologies for short reach or intra-/inter-DC, network control and management, and more.

From Neuromorphic Photonics to Generative AI Era (FNPGA)

The confluence of an exceptional abundance of data and computational resources has enabled techniques of machine learning to revolutionize fields across computer science, ranging from image analysis and natural language processing to decision making. Neuromorphic computing is a non-Von Neumann approach to computing that is inspired by the structure and function of the human brain, which promises to run machine learning algorithms more efficiently. Following this trend, neuromorphic photonics has raised as a promising and cutting-edge technology to overcome limitations in neuromorphic computing, capable to execute intricate computations at the speed of light and with impressive energy efficiency. Diverse material technology platforms and architectures are being proposed and demonstrated to affirm the potential of this paradigm in computation. Next to discriminative AI, commonly exploited to distinguish between types of informational input, Generative AI is raising more and more prominently for its ability to mimics human creativity and therefore coming up with high-quality generated content in the forms of text, images, songs, poems, essays, just to name a few. Photonics is foreseen to support this transition to the Generative AI Era via generative photonics, inverse design, high-speed low-power computation, and more.

PSC 2024 is the right context where to discuss advances and innovations in neuromorphic photonics and also to identify the next steps towards a photonics-enables Generative AI era.

Quantum Technologies for Computing and Networks (QTCN)