Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

. It publishes journals and organizes

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

and exhibitions. It currently has about 488,000 customers in 183 countries, including nearly 300 companies.

History

Optica was founded in 1916 as the "Optical Society of America", under the leadership of

Perley G. Nutting Perley Gilman Nutting (1873–1949) was an American optical physicist and the founder of the Optical Society of America (OSA). He served as its first president from 1916 to 1917. OSA is now known as Optica. Born August 22, 1873, in Randolph, ...

, with 30 optical scientists and instrument makers based in Rochester, New York. It soon published its first journal of research results and established an annual meeting. The first local section was established in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, in 1916 and the '' Journal of the Optical Society of America'' was created in 1918. The first series of joint meetings with the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

was in 1918. In 2008 it changed its name to The Optical Society (OSA). In September 2021, the organization's name changed to Optica, which references the organization's journal and is geographically neutral in order to reflect the global membership of the society.

Scientific publishing

The society publishes a number of journals and a magazine.

Primary journals

* '' Advances in Optics and Photonics'', ; 2009–present - Publishing long review articles and tutorials. * '' Applied Optics'', (print); (online); 1962–present - Covering optical applications-centered research. * '' Biomedical Optics Express'', ; 2010–present - An

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

journal covering optics, photonics and imaging in the life sciences. * ''Journal of the Optical Society of America'', 1917–1983, which was split into two journals in 1984: ** ''

Journal of the Optical Society of America A The ''Journal of the Optical Society of America'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of optics, published by Optica. It was established in 1917 and in 1984 was split into two parts, A and B. ''Journal of the Optical Society of America A'' P ...

'', (print); (online); 1984–present - Covering research on optics, image science, and vision. ** '' Journal of the Optical Society of America B'', (print); (online); 1984–present - Covering research on optical physics * '' Optica'', ; 2014–present - Rapid dissemination of high-impact results in all areas of optics and photonics. * ''

Optical Materials Express ''Optical Materials Express'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by The Optical Society. It covers advances in and applications of optical materials, including but not limited to nonlinear optical materials, laser media, nan ...

'', ; 2011–present - An open access journal covering advances in novel optical materials, their properties, modeling, synthesis and fabrication techniques. * ''

Optics Express ''Optics Express'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Optica. It was established in 1997. The journal reports on scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. The Energy Express supplement ...

'', ; 1997–present - An open access journal covering all areas of optics. * '' Optics Letters'', (print); (online); 1977–present - Providing rapid publication of short papers in all fields of optical science and technology. * ''OSA Continuum'', ; 2018–present – An open access journal providing rapid publication of papers in optics and photonics

Partnered journals

* ''

Applied Spectroscopy Applied spectroscopy is the application of various spectroscopic methods for the detection and identification of different elements or compounds to solve problems in fields like forensics, medicine, the oil industry, atmospheric chemistry, a ...

'', 1951–present. Published by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. * '' Chinese Optics Letters'', 2003–present. Published by Chinese Laser Press. * ''Journal of Optical Communications and Networking'', 2009–present. Jointly published by OSA and

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

. Published from 2002 to 2009 as ''Journal of Optical Networking''. * ''Journal of Display Technology'', 2005–2016. Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. * '' Journal of Lightwave Technology'', 1998–present. Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. * '' Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy'', 1993–present. Published by

SAGE Publishing SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California. It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...

. * ''Journal of Optical Technology'', 1999–present. English translation of ''Opticheskii Zhurnal'' published by the S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute. * ''Journal of Optical Society of Korea'', 2007–present. Published by the Optical Society of Korea. * ''Photonics Research'', 2013–present. Jointly published by OSA and Chinese Laser Press.

Magazine

*'' Optics and Photonics News'', 1975–present. Distributed to all members.

Recognitions

Optica presents awards and honors, including Optica Fellow, Honorary Membership, and Awards/Medals. Optica's awards and medals program is endowed through the Optica Foundation, and includes more than 20 named awards; among them are the following: *

Adolph Lomb Medal The Adolph Lomb Medal, awarded by the Optical Society is a prize for young scientists (age 35 or younger) for their contributions to optics. It is named after Adolph Lomb, treasurer of the Optical Society of America from its founding until his deat ...

* C.E.K. Mees Medal *

Charles Hard Townes Award The Charles Hard Townes Award of The Optical Society is a prize for Quantum Electronics — that is to say, the physics of lasers. Awarded annually since 1981, it is named after the Nobel Prize-winning laser pioneer Charles H. Townes.

* David Richardson Medal * Edgar D. Tillyer Award * Edwin H. Land Medal *

Ellis R. Lippincott Award The Ellis R. Lippincott Award is awarded annually to recognize "an individual who has made significant contributions to vibrational spectroscopy as judged by his or her influence on other scientists." It was jointly established in 1975 by The Optica ...

* Emmett N. Leith Medal *

Esther Hoffman Beller Medal The Esther Beller Hoffman Medal is an award given by The Optical Society that recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals around the world to the fields of optical science and engineering education. The award was established in 1993 and pas ...

* Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize * Herbert Walther Award *

John Tyndall Award The John Tyndall Award is given to the "individual who has made pioneering, highly significant, or continuing technical or leadership contributions to fiber optics technology". The award is named after John Tyndall (1820-1893), who demonstrated fo ...

* Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize * Max Born Award * Michael Stephen Feld Biophotonics Award * Nick Holonyak Jr. Award * Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award * R. W. Wood Prize * Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award * Sang Soo Lee Award * Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award * The Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award * William F. Meggers Award in Spectroscopy

Presidents

The following persons are or have been presidents of the society:

References

External links

* * Th
Inter-Society Color Council records
at

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Po ...

(contain materials from the Optical Society of America including annual meeting programs, reports issued by the Committee on Colorimetry, and issues of the Society's official publication, the ''Journal of the Optical Society of America''.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Optical Society, The Physics societies Scientific organizations established in 1916 Organizations based in Washington, D.C. Optics institutions 1916 establishments in New York (state)