About this Research Topic

Background

We are delighted to present the 2022 Frontiers in Physics “Women in Science: Optics and Photonics” article collection.

Gender inequality represents one of the major problems that affect the academic world and scientific progress. Disciplines such as physics are traditionally male dominated and it is generally well established that women remain underrepresented in such fields to this day. According to data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women.

Scientific progress is only possible and greatly accelerated if we have gender equality. Today, while a gender equal society might be seen as both beneficial and desirable, it is becoming extremely important to show, especially to younger generations, the growing impact of women researchers in physics. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science took place on 11th February 2022, commemorating the goal of full and equal access and participation for women and girls in science. Furthermore, International Women’s Day is upcoming, on 8th March 2022.

In this Research Topic Frontiers in Physics is proud to offer a platform to promote the work of women scientists in Optics and Photonics research. The work presented here highlights the diversity of research performed across the entire breadth of the field and presents advances in theory, experiment and methodology with applications to compelling problems.

Please note: To be considered for this collection, the lead and/or corresponding author should be a woman.
Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
Linear and Nonlinear Optics
Integrated Optics
Quantum Optics
Adaptive optics,
Optical Engineering
Optical Communications
Optical nanostructures and metamaterials
Photonics, Photonic Crystals
Biomedical photonics
Plasmonics
Laser Physics
Photovoltaics
Magneto-optics
Magneto-plasmonics
Spectroscopy (Visible, Infrared, Raman, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Luminescence)
Optical Microscopy and Imaging
Optical Sensors
Scatterometry
Optical trapping and micromanipulation
Polarimetry
Computational imaging

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Further Research Topics in our Women in Science series are:
Women in Science: Physical Acoustics and Ultrasonics

Keywords: Women, UNESCO, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Physics, and Photonics, STEM, diversity, optics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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