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Topic · Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Optical Systems and Laser Technology

Optical Systems and Laser Technology is a research topic within Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Science Explorer counts 28k research works in it since 1950. 9.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to advancements in laser technology, including semiconductor lasers, imaging techniques, optical systems, remote sensing applications, wavelet transform methods, high power laser development, spaceborne laser systems, temperature control for lasers, and quantum remote sensing.

  • Laser
  • Semiconductor
  • Imaging
  • Optical
  • Remote Sensing
  • Wavelet Transform
  • High Power
  • Spaceborne
  • Temperature Control
  • Quantum
Research works
28k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+75%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
77% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Optical Systems and Laser Technology

Which countries lead Optical Systems and Laser Technology research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.3k and 286 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.3k works
  2. 2 United States 286 works
  3. 3 Japan 127 works
  4. 4 India 115 works
  5. 5 Russia 102 works
  6. 6 South Korea 87 works
  7. 7 France 85 works
  8. 8 Germany 74 works
  9. 9 ?? 60 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 59 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 76.7%United States: 6.7%Japan: 3.0%India: 2.7%6 others listed: 11.0%77%largest
China3,272 · 76.7%United States286 · 6.7%Japan127 · 3.0%India115 · 2.7%6 others listed468 · 11.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Optical Systems and Laser Technology research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Optical Systems and Laser Technology research, followed by National University of Defense Technology and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 350 works
  2. 2 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 99 works
  3. 3 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 84 works
  4. 4 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 76 works
  5. 5 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 63 works
  6. 6 Xidian UniversityChina 61 works
  7. 7 Changchun University of Science and TechnologyChina 60 works
  8. 8 Beihang UniversityChina 52 works
  9. 9 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 51 works
  10. 10 China Aerospace Science and Technology CorporationChina 48 works

Who are the leading researchers in Optical Systems and Laser Technology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Optical Systems and Laser Technology include Xiaogang Wang, Kai You Wang and L. Li.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  2. 2 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  3. 3 L. Li France 211k citations
  4. 4 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
  5. 5 Qiang Zhang China 184k citations
  6. 6 Stephen M. Gibson France 182k citations
  7. 7 Douglas Scott Canada 172k citations
  8. 8 Konrad Pesudovs Australia 167k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Optical Systems and Laser Technology?

The most cited paper in Optical Systems and Laser Technology is "Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry" (Mitsuo Wada Takeda, Hideki Ina, Seiji Kobayashi, 1982), with 4,295 citations. Next come "Improved Mie scattering algorithms" (1,682) and "Overview of three-dimensional shape measurement using optical methods" (1,331).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry Mitsuo Wada Takeda, Hideki Ina, Seiji Kobayashi · Journal of the Optical Society of America 1982 4,295
2 Improved Mie scattering algorithms Warren J. Wiscombe · Applied Optics May 1980 1,682
3 Overview of three-dimensional shape measurement using optical methods Gordon M. Brown · Optical Engineering 2000 1,331
4 Infrared Patch-Image Model for Small Target Detection in a Single Image Chenqiang Gao, Deyu Meng, Yi Ping Yang et al. · IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 11 Sep 2013 1,327
5 Wave-front estimation from wave-front slope measurements William H. Southwell · Journal of the Optical Society of America Aug 1980 986
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Optical Systems and Laser Technology research done?

The largest centres of Optical Systems and Laser Technology research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Shanghai (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Changchun, Mianyang and Xi'an.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 807 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 291 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 194 works
  4. 4 NanjingChina 169 works
  5. 5 WuhanChina 150 works
  6. 6 ChengduChina 147 works
  7. 7 ChangchunChina 136 works
  8. 8 ChangshaChina 130 works
  9. 9 HarbinChina 108 works
  10. 10 HefeiChina 90 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ChangchunCN · 135.9 works12×
  2. MianyangCN · 26.0 works11×
  3. Xi'anCN · 291.2 works8.3×
  4. GuilinCN · 22.4 works6.0×
  5. HarbinCN · 107.8 works6.0×
  6. ChangshaCN · 130.2 works6.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Optical Systems and Laser Technology than the world average.

See Optical Systems and Laser Technology on the map

Where is the best place to study Optical Systems and Laser Technology?

Among universities, judged by research, Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 15.52%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Beihang UniversityHarbin Institute of …Xidian UniversityUniversity of Chines…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Beihang UniversityChina 79.821.8%11.8×52 +102.2%
2Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 75.719.2%9.7×63 +61.7%
3University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 72.913.1%13.0×84 +36.9%
4Xidian UniversityChina 71.715.8%21.1×61 +107.6%
5University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 67.714.0%11.6×51 +150.6%
6National University of Defense TechnologyChina 66.711.0%32.5×99 +82.3%
7Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 61.37.2%16.3×76 +48.6%
8California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 61.314.1%7.0×10 +10.6%
9Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 60.619.1%3.0×24 +875.3%
10Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 60.419.9%3.1×21 +20.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Optical Systems and Laser Technology, country by country

Is Optical Systems and Laser Technology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 75% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Optical Systems and Laser Technology.

still counting19801990200020102020
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 Optical Systems and Laser Technology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.030% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Optical Systems and Laser Technology0.024% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Optical Systems and Laser Technology 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.

still counting5%10%15%Optical Systems and Laser Technology9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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