Random lasers and scattering media
Random lasers and scattering media is a research topic within Acoustics and Ultrasonics. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1951. 16.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores the control and manipulation of light waves in complex and disordered media, including random lasers, ghost imaging, Anderson localization, wavefront shaping, and single-pixel imaging. It investigates techniques for focusing coherent light through opaque and strongly scattering materials, as well as non-invasive imaging through scattering layers and around corners via speckle correlations.
- Random Lasers
- Light Propagation
- Scattering Media
- Ghost Imaging
- Anderson Localization
- Wavefront Shaping
- Single-Pixel Imaging
- Optical Fiber
- Deep Learning
- Transmission Matrix
- Research works
- 11k fractional, since 1951
- In the world top 10%
- 1.8k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 16.2% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +39% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Random lasers and scattering media research?
By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1k and 305 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 China 1k works
- 2 United States 305 works
- 3 France 111 works
- 4 Germany 86 works
- 5 Japan 85 works
- 6 United Kingdom 85 works
- 7 Russia 80 works
- 8 India 76 works
- 9 Italy 57 works
- 10 South Korea 51 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.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Random lasers and scattering media research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Beijing Institute of Technology publishes the most Random lasers and scattering media research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 36 works
- 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 28 works
- 3 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 25 works
- 4 Tsinghua UniversityChina 24 works
- 5 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 22 works
- 6 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong 21 works
- 7 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 20 works
- 8 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 20 works
- 9 Zhejiang UniversityChina 19 works
- 10 Sichuan UniversityChina 18 works
Who are the leading researchers in Random lasers and scattering media?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Random lasers and scattering media include Richard G. Baraniuk, Shanhui Fan and J. B. Pendry.
- 1 Richard G. Baraniuk United States 4.4k citations
- 2 Shanhui Fan United States 3.6k citations
- 3 J. B. Pendry United Kingdom 3.5k citations
- 4 Yuri S. Kivshar Australia 3.3k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Random lasers and scattering media research done?
The largest centres of Random lasers and scattering media research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Taiyuan and Hefei.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- TaiyuanCN · 26.0 works6.5×
- HefeiCN · 49.9 works5.8×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Random lasers and scattering media than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Random lasers and scattering media?
Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Beijing Institute of Technology and Hefei University of Technology 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.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong | 89.5 | 34.0% | 10.1× | 21 | +521.0% |
| 2 | Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina | 73.0 | 15.8% | 12.8× | 36 | +288.1% |
| 3 | Hefei University of TechnologyChina | 64.2 | 37.6% | 9.1× | 12 | — |
| 4 | National University of Defense TechnologyChina | 63.1 | 13.9% | 11.7× | 22 | +434.1% |
| 5 | Tsinghua UniversityChina | 62.0 | 27.9% | 5.2× | 24 | +256.6% |
| 6 | Shandong Normal UniversityChina | 62.0 | 23.6% | 19.1× | 11 | +177.0% |
| 7 | University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina | 61.2 | 21.9% | 6.4× | 25 | +268.1% |
| 8 | University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom | 57.5 | 23.3% | 7.8× | 11 | +180.4% |
| 9 | Taiyuan University of TechnologyChina | 57.2 | 31.6% | 9.6× | 9 | — |
| 10 | École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland | 56.4 | 18.9% | 10.4× | 10 | +83.2% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Random lasers and scattering media research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 39% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Random lasers and scattering media.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
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.