Materials (ISSN: 1996-1944) has launched the “Optics and Photonics” Section. Optics and photonics are all methodologies and technologies that use photons over the entire spectrum from X-ray to ultraviolet, visible, and infrared, to the terahertz range, and their interaction with a variety of materials. This is an evolving interdisciplinary field of research covering all the optical technologies used in life sciences and medicine. Special, new, and biocompatible materials for implants, tissue phantoms, cell printing, cell labeling, light delivery, etc., require research from scientists from various professions, such as physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and doctors.

We are pleased to present the 2023 Editor’s Choice Articles, a carefully curated list of high-quality articles from the “Optics and Photonics” Section listed below:

“Manganese Luminescent Centers of Different Valence in Yttrium Aluminum Borate Crystals”
by Anastasiia Molchanova, Kirill Boldyrev, Nikolai Kuzmin, Alexey Veligzhanin, Kirill Khaydukov, Evgeniy Khaydukov, Oleg Kondratev, Irina Gudim, Elizaveta Mikliaeva and Marina Popova
Materials 2023, 16(2), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020537
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/2/537

“Tet-Regulated Expression and Optical Clearing for In Vivo Visualization of Genetically Encoded Chimeric dCas9/Fluorescent Protein Probes”
by Liliya Maloshenok, Gerel Abushinova, Natalia Kazachkina, Alexei Bogdanov Jr. and Victoria Zherdeva
Materials 2023, 16(3), 940; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16030940
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/940

“Decay Kinetics of Gd₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂:Ce³⁺ Luminescence under Dense Laser Irradiation”
by Paweł Karasiński, Magdalena Zięba, Ewa Gondek, Jacek Nizioł, Sandeep Gorantla, Krzysztof Rola, Alicja Bachmatiuk and Cuma Tyszkiewicz
Materials 2023, 16(3), 971; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16030971
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/971

“ZGSO Spinel Nanoparticles with Dual Emission of NIR Persistent Luminescence for Anti-Counterfeiting Applications”
by Guanyu Cai, Teresa Delgado, Cyrille Richard and Bruno Viana
Materials 2023, 16(3), 1132; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031132
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/1132

“MoS₂/Au Heterojunction Catalyst for SERS Monitoring of a Fenton-like Reaction”
by Qian Wei, Beibei Lu, Qing Yang, Can Shi, Yulan Wei, Minmin Xu, Chenjie Zhang and Yaxian Yuan
Materials 2023, 16(3), 1169; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031169
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/1169

“Polarization Doping in a GaN-InN System—Ab Initio Simulation”
by Ashfaq Ahmad, Pawel Strak, Pawel Kempisty, Konrad Sakowski, Jacek Piechota, Yoshihiro Kangawa, Izabella Grzegory, Michal Leszczynski, Zbigniew R. Zytkiewicz, Grzegorz Muziol et al.
Materials 2023, 16(3), 1227; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031227
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/3/1227

“Abnormal Eu³⁺ → Eu²⁺ Reduction in Ca_9−xMn_xEu(PO₄)₇ Phosphors: Structure and Luminescent Properties”
by Elena V. Sipina, Dmitry A. Spassky, Nataliya R. Krutyak, Vladimir A. Morozov, Evgenia S. Zhukovskaya, Alexei A. Belik, Mikhail S. Manylov, Bogdan I. Lazoryak and Dina V. Deyneko
Materials 2023, 16(4), 1383; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041383
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/4/1383

“Strong Plasmon-Mie Resonance in Si@Pd Core-Ω Shell Nanocavity”
by Haomin Guo, Qi Hu, Chengyun Zhang, Haiwen Liu, Runmin Wu and Shusheng Pan
Materials 2023, 16(4), 1453; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041453
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/4/1453

“Guard Ring Design to Prevent Edge Breakdown in Double-Diffused Planar InGaAs/InP Avalanche Photodiodes”
by Yu-Chun Chen, Ruei-Hong Yan, Hsu-Chia Huang, Liang-Hsuan Nieh and Hao-Hsiung Lin
Materials 2023, 16(4), 1667; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041667
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/4/1667

“Enhanced Luminescence of Yb³⁺ Ions Implanted to ZnO through the Selection of Optimal Implantation and Annealing Conditions”
by Renata Ratajczak, Elzbieta Guziewicz, Slawomir Prucnal, Cyprian Mieszczynski, Przemysław Jozwik, Marek Barlak, Svitlana Romaniuk, Sylwia Gieraltowska, Wojciech Wozniak, René Heller et al.
Materials 2023, 16(5), 1756; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051756
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/5/1756

“Optical Characterization of Thin Films by Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopy Using an Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter”
by Ildus Sh. Khasanov, Boris A. Knyazev, Sergey A. Lobastov, Alexander V. Anisimov, Pavel A. Nikitin and Oleg E. Kameshkov
Materials 2023, 16(5), 1820; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051820
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/5/1820

“Intercoupling of Cascaded Metasurfaces for Broadband Spectral Scalability”
by Shaolin Zhou, Liang Liu, Qinling Deng, Shaowei Liao, Quan Xue and Mansun Chan
Materials 2023, 16(5), 2013; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16052013
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/5/2013

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the research groups that submitted to Materials. We would appreciate it if you could circulate this document among your colleagues and network. Furthermore, the following opportunities for collaboration may be of interest:

Submitting a manuscript:
This Section is currently open for submissions. Papers may be submitted via the following link: https://susy.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload?journal=materials.

Launching a Special Issue:
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Joining the Editorial Board:
If you are an active researcher in the field of optics and photonics, and are interested in joining the Editorial Board, please do not hesitate to get in touch ([email protected]).