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Nonprofit · Washington · United States

Optica

In research, Optica stands highest in Physical Sciences (#3,568 of 10,670 worldwide) and Engineering (#2,949 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Physics and Astronomy and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics is 17.4× its share of world research).

optica.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#8,615
of 22,385 · #4,649 all time
Rank in United States
#1,159
of 3,332
Research works
3.6k
▼ 25% vs 2018-21
Citations
72k
20.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
10.9%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.96×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
23%
world 40%
International
34%
world 18%
Optica

What is Optica known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #3,568 of 10,670 11.5%164 #2977
EngineeringField #2,949 of 5,901 12.7%86 #1982

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Optica sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Optica work in?

In 2022-now, 81% of research at Optica is in Physical Sciences, 7% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (41%), Physics and Astronomy (17%), Materials Science (9%). It does 2.0× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 184 fractional works · 81.2% of its workEngineering: 94 fractional works · 41.4% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 48 fractional works · 21.1% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 19 fractional works · 8.3% of its workMechanical Engineering: 7 fractional works · 3.1% of its workMedia Technology: 5 fractional works · 2.2% of its workAerospace Engineering: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workComputational Mechanics: 4 fractional works · 1.6% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOcean Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBuilding and Construction: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 38 fractional works · 16.9% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 28 fractional works · 12.5% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 3 fractional works · 1.2% of its workInstrumentation: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workRadiation: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAcoustics and Ultrasonics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMaterials Science: 21 fractional works · 9.2% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 12 fractional works · 5.1% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 6 fractional works · 2.5% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBiomaterials: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCeramics and Composites: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputer Science: 11 fractional works · 4.8% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 5 fractional works · 2.3% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSignal Processing: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 9 fractional works · 3.8% of its workEcology: 3 fractional works · 1.4% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workWater Science and Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcological Modeling: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 4 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSpectroscopy: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAnalytical Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnergy: 3 fractional works · 1.1% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeophysics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAtmospheric Science: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBioengineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workTheoretical Computer Science: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLife Sciences: 16 fractional works · 7.2% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 9 fractional works · 4.2% of its workMolecular Biology: 4 fractional works · 1.7% of its workBiophysics: 3 fractional works · 1.5% of its workGenetics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCell Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 4 fractional works · 1.6% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 3 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPlant Science: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 15 fractional works · 6.7% of its workMedicine: 13 fractional works · 5.7% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 3 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEpidemiology: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOphthalmology: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSurgery: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 11 fractional works · 4.9% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workEducation: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workTransportation: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAccounting: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workManagement Information Systems: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMarketing: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSocial Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workArcheology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKOptica227fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences7%Physical Sciences81%Health Sciences7%Social Sciences5%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 25 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering9441.4%
    2. Physics and Astronomy3816.9%
    3. Materials Science219.2%
    4. Computer Science114.8%
    5. Environmental Science93.8%
    6. Chemistry41.9%
    7. Energy31.1%
    8. Earth and Planetary Sciences21.0%
    9. Chemical Engineering10.5%
    10. Mathematics10.4%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology94.2%
    2. Neuroscience41.6%
    3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences31.2%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.2%
    5. Immunology and Microbiology00.1%
    1. Medicine135.7%
    2. Health Professions20.7%
    3. Nursing10.3%
    4. Veterinary00.0%
    1. Social Sciences42.0%
    2. Business, Management and Accounting21.1%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.5%
    4. Psychology10.5%
    5. Arts and Humanities10.4%
    6. Decision Sciences10.4%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Optica specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics takes 17.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 28.3 works17×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 38.4 works7.6×
  3. Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield · 47.8 works5.9×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.26× its world share, 3 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.78× its world share, 9 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.97× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.56× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.35× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.21× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.61× its world share, 11 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.65× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.23× its world share, 3 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.76× its world share, 94 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.77× its world share, 9 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 2.64× its world share, 21 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.36× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 7.62× its world share, 38 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.28× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.29× its world share, 13 worksMedicineNursing: 0.59× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.34× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.41× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.16× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.15× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 7.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 25 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy7.62×38 works
  2. Engineering2.76×94 works
  3. Materials Science2.64×21 works
  4. Chemical Engineering1.35×1 works
  5. Energy1.23×3 works
  6. Chemistry1.21×4 works
  7. Neuroscience0.97×4 works
  8. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.78×9 works
  9. Environmental Science0.77×9 works
  10. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.65×2 works
  11. Computer Science0.61×11 works
  12. Nursing0.59×1 works
  13. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.56×0 works
  14. Decision Sciences0.41×1 works
  15. Mathematics0.36×1 works
  16. Business, Management and Accounting0.34×2 works
  17. Medicine0.29×13 works
  18. Health Professions0.28×2 works
  19. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.26×3 works
  20. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.24×1 works
  21. Psychology0.16×1 works
  22. Arts and Humanities0.15×1 works
  23. Social Sciences0.15×4 works
  24. Veterinary0.12×0 works
  25. Immunology and Microbiology0.06×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Optica?

Ranked on the quality score, Xingsheng Luan, D. Sawyer and Eric J. Korevaar lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Optica.

  1. 1 Xingsheng Luan United States · #1,533,219 worldwide 833 citations · 27 works
  2. 2 D. Sawyer United States · #1,591,684 worldwide 1.2k citations · 42 works
  3. 3 Eric J. Korevaar United States · #1,869,341 worldwide 2.8k citations · 62 works
  4. 4 Thomas W. Wolfe United States · #2,033,467 worldwide 1k citations · 116 works
  5. 5 Michael J. Fitzpatrick United States · #2,165,735 worldwide 1.1k citations · 42 works
  6. 6 Michael L. Polanyi United States · #2,452,567 worldwide 8.7k citations · 19 works
  7. 7 Ming Liang United States · #2,478,812 worldwide 4.5k citations · 91 works
  8. 8 James E. Goell United States · #2,633,514 worldwide 1.1k citations · 37 works
  9. 9 Mark M. Filer United States · #2,684,087 worldwide 1.3k citations · 67 works
  10. 10 Richard F. Woodcock United States · #2,789,872 worldwide 477 citations · 29 works
All ranked researchers at Optica

What are the most cited papers from Optica?

The most cited paper from Optica is "Photoacoustic Tomography: In Vivo Imaging from Organelles to Organs" (Lihong V. Wang, Song Hu, 2012), with 4,338 citations. Next come "Trainable Weka Segmentation: a machine learning tool for microscopy pixel classification" (2,553) and "SDSS-III: MASSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEYS OF THE DISTANT UNIVERSE, THE MILKY WAY, AND EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEMS" (2,231).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Photoacoustic Tomography: In Vivo Imaging from Organelles to Organs Lihong V. Wang, Song Hu · Science Open access 23 Mar 2012 4,338
2 Trainable Weka Segmentation: a machine learning tool for microscopy pixel classification Ignacio Arganda‐Carreras, Verena Kaynig, Curtis Rueden et al. · Bioinformatics 28 Mar 2017 2,553
3 SDSS-III: MASSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEYS OF THE DISTANT UNIVERSE, THE MILKY WAY, AND EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEMS Daniel J. Eisenstein et al. · The Astronomical Journal Open access244 authors 9 Aug 2011 2,231
4 CANDELS: THE COSMIC ASSEMBLY NEAR-INFRARED DEEP EXTRAGALACTIC LEGACY SURVEY Norman A. Grogin et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series Open access107 authors Dec 2011 2,197
5 CANDELS: THE COSMIC ASSEMBLY NEAR-INFRARED DEEP EXTRAGALACTIC LEGACY SURVEY—THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS, IMAGING DATA PRODUCTS, AND MOSAICS Anton M. Koekemoer et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series Open access124 authors Dec 2011 2,094
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Optica?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Biosensors, Nonlinear Optics, Optical Modulators, Raman Lasers, Optical Fiber, Integrated Circuits, Microwave Photonics and Microcavities.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Biosensors14▲ 13×10 topics
  2. Nonlinear Optics10▲ 43×4 topics
  3. Optical Modulators10▲ 32×3 topics
  4. Raman Lasers10▲ 42×2 topics
  5. Optical Fiber9▲ 37×3 topics
  6. Biomedical Applications8▲ 3.1×18 topics
  7. Integrated Circuits8▲ 24×3 topics
  8. Microcavities8▲ 32×2 topics
  9. Microwave Photonics8▲ 41×2 topics
  10. Fiber Lasers8▲ 36×3 topics
  11. Nanophotonic Waveguides8▲ 37×1 topic
  12. Silicon Photonics8▲ 33×1 topic
  13. Photonic Crystals7▲ 27×5 topics
  14. Microresonators6▲ 35×2 topics
  15. Crystal Growth6▲ 9.2×7 topics
  16. Metamaterials5▲ 17×5 topics
  17. Structured Light5▲ 45×2 topics
  18. Frequency Conversion5▲ 53×3 topics
  19. Optical Frequency Combs5▲ 43×1 topic
  20. Ultrafast Lasers5▲ 43×1 topic
  21. Semiconductor5▲ 6.5×7 topics
  22. Coherent Detection5▲ 49×1 topic
  23. Digital Signal Processing5▲ 43×1 topic
  24. Compound Eyes5▲ 245×1 topic
  25. Freeform Optics5▲ 245×1 topic
  26. Nanophotonics4▲ 21×3 topics
  27. Semiconductor Lasers4▲ 29×2 topics
  28. Imaging4▲ 8.1×6 topics
  29. Spectroscopy4▲ 10×8 topics
  30. Inverse Modeling4▲ 30×2 topics
  31. Structural Health Monitoring4▲ 21×2 topics
  32. Adaptive Optics4▲ 123×1 topic
  33. Optical Interconnects4▲ 45×1 topic
  34. Solar Cells4▲ 7.7×7 topics
  35. Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs)4▲ 45×1 topic
  36. Wavefront Sensing4▲ 123×1 topic
  37. Camera Calibration3▲ 51×1 topic
  38. Fringe Projection3▲ 51×1 topic
  39. Fiber Optic Sensors3▲ 29×1 topic
  40. Sensor Technology3▲ 29×1 topic

Which research topics does Optica publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Photonic and Optical Devices, Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies, Optical Network Technologies and Advanced optical system design.

Photonic and Optical Dev…8Photonic and Optical Devices: 8 fractional worksAdvanced Fiber Laser Tec…5Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies: 5 fractional worksOptical Network Technolo…5Optical Network Technologies: 5 fractional worksAdvanced optical system …5Advanced optical system design: 5 fractional worksAdaptive optics and wavefront sensing: 4 fractional worksSemiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices: 4 fractional worksOptical measurement and …3Optical measurement and interference techniques: 3 fractional worksAdvanced Fiber Optic Sen…3Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors: 3 fractional worksAdvanced Measurement and…3Advanced Measurement and Metrology Techniques: 3 fractional worksAdvanced Photonic Commun…3Advanced Photonic Communication Systems: 3 fractional works
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringAtomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsBiomedical EngineeringComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Photonic and Optical Devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 8 works
  2. 2 Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 5 works
  3. 3 Optical Network Technologies Electrical and Electronic Engineering 5 works
  4. 4 Advanced optical system design Biomedical Engineering 5 works
  5. 5 Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 4 works
  6. 6 Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Devices Electrical and Electronic Engineering 4 works
  7. 7 Optical measurement and interference techniques Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 3 works
  8. 8 Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors Electrical and Electronic Engineering 3 works
  9. 9 Advanced Measurement and Metrology Techniques Mechanical Engineering 3 works
  10. 10 Advanced Photonic Communication Systems Electrical and Electronic Engineering 3 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available22.6%not open77.4%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.9%domestic only66.1%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Optica's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 25% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Optica as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00079% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Optica0.0010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Optica over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting5%10%15%Optica11.5% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 14.3% in 2011.

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Optica on Science Explorer

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