CLEO Welcomes Optics and Photonics Industry to Silicon Valley

Featuring a program of more than 2000 technical sessions across 29 topic categories, plus plenary sessions, special symposia, and short courses, the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) 2023 kicks off at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California, May 7-12. Topics to be covered range from breakthrough ideas to real-world applications in quantum photonics, nano-optics and plasmonics, and metamaterial and complex media.

The annual conference highlights the latest applications, market-ready technologies, and cutting-edge research in all areas of lasers and photonics with six days of technical sessions, tutorials, exhibits, special symposia, short courses, plenary sessions, and other special events.

Plenary sessions will feature talks from leading voices including Andrea Alù of City University of New York, Thomas Baer of Stanford University, Shanhui Fan of Stanford University, Alexander Gaeta of Columbia University, Gihan Kamel of SESAME Jordan, and Christine Silberhorn of Paderborn University. Topic highlights include Extreme Light Control with Optical Metasurfaces, Thermodynamics and Light, and Scaling Photonic Quantum Systems, among others.

The Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO 2023 is set to be held as an in-person only event at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California, May 7-12. Courtesy of Optica.

This year’s special symposia, which focus on invited papers in areas deemed to be topical and of special interest to conference attendees, include topics such as bioinspired photonics, integrated quantum photonics, and optical waveguide solitons.

The conference will also feature a panel on the LaserNetUS network, which will review scientific achievements and future opportunities at LaserNetUS. The network provides broad access to 10 high-power laser facilities in North America covering a broad parameter space in energy, pulse duration, and wavelength to enable unique and diverse experiments. The panel will feature physicists from the SLAC National Accelerator, the University of Alberta, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the University of Maryland, and Ohio State University.

Special sessions will include How to Make Diversity Thrive in the Workplace, and How to Strengthen DE&I Education Pathways from High School to Undergraduate and Post Graduate Level. The sessions will provide convivial, interactive, and open forums to highlight and discuss actionable recommendations, challenges, and advice on how to support diverse teams and improve retention and inclusion of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM.

In 2022, CLEO presented a global representation of 70 participating companies including Coherent, Menlo Systems, MKS Instruments, Thorlabs, Toptica, and many more. In 2023, organizers expect an even larger exhibition featuring essential product information and demonstrations to benefit business and research needs. The exhibition hall features a show-floor theater that will host plenary sessions, the Market Focus program, and product demonstrations.