Report on OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Congress 2017 (OPIC2017)
Yoshiaki KATO1 and Shuji SAKABE2
1 Chair of OPIC2017 Organizing Committee,

The Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-1202
2 Chair of OPIC2017 Steering Committee,

Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho Uji-city, Kyoto, 611-0011

1. Introduction
OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Congress (OPIC) has been held annually since2012 at Yokohama as an international forum to present and discuss the mostup-dated R & D activities in optics and photonics over the world. The state-of-arttechnologies and products in optics and photonics are demonstrated at the co-locatedand jointly organized OPIE (OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Exhibition).
OPIC2017 was held in April 18-21, 2017 at Pacifico Yokohama Congress Centerwith Congress Co-Chairs: Christopher P. J. Barty (Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, USA), Reinhart Poprawe (Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology,Germany) and Sadao Nakai (Osaka University, Japan) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Congress Co-Chairs of OPIC2017:
Christopher P. J. Barty, Reinhart Poprawe, and Sadao Nakai (from left to right)
OPIC2017 was organized by OPTICS and PHOTONICS International Council,
with the support of five Ministries of Japanese Government and Japan Business
Foundation, and in cooperation with many research institutes and academic
societies in Japan and foreign countries, as shown in Table 1.

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Table 1. Organization of OPIC2017--------------------------------------------------------------------------------OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Congress 2017 (OPIC2017)
Co-located with OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Exhibition 2017 (OPIE2017)
Organized by OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Council
Specialized International Conferences were organized byThe Laser Society of Japan / The Optical Society of Japan / IFE Forum / Institute ofLaser Engineering, Osaka University / The Graduate School for the Creation of New
Photonics Industries / Akasaki Research Center (ARC), Nagoya University / SPIE – The
International Society for Optics and Photonics / Institute for Nano Quantum Information
Electronics, The University of Tokyo / Hiroshima University / The Executive Committeeof Laser Solution for Space and the Earth / RIKEN SPring-8 Center / Research Center for
Ultra-Precision Science & Technology, Osaka University
Supporting agencies of OPIC2017
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) / Ministry ofEconomy, Trade and Industry (METI) /Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ofJapan (MAFF) / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) / Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) / KEIDANREN (Japan BusinessFederation)
Cooperating agencies of OPIC2017
AESJ - Atomic Energy Society of Japan / AIST - The National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology / ILT - Institute for Laser Technology / JPC - Japan
Photonics Council / JSPF - The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion
Research / JST - Japan Science and Technology Agency / NEDO - New Energy andIndustrial Technology Development Organization / OITDA - Optoelectronic Industry andTechnology Development Association / OSJ - The Optical Society of Japan / QST National Institutes for Quantum for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology /RIKEN / KAPID - Korea Association for Photonics Industry (Korea) / OSA - The OpticalSociety of America (USA) / Photonics Media (USA) / PIDA - The Photonics Industry &Technology Development Association (Taiwan) / SPIE - The International Society forOptics and Photonics (USA).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------OPIC is composed of Specialized International Conferences covering broad-ranged
fields in optics and photonics. Each Specialized International Conference is plannedand operated by the Conference Chair and his consortium of scientists, based on theirown initiatives to strengthen and advance the research in each specific field. Thisapproach helps Conference Chairs to organize attractive conferences with timely
topics and up-dated speakers, and also to broaden the research networks bycontinuing to hold the conferences over many years.
2. OPIC2017 with 12 Specialized International Conferences
OPIC2017 was composed of 12 Specialized International Conferences, the largest
number since the beginning of OPIC, owing to joining of 3 new Conferences:International Conference on Nano-photonics and Nano-optoelectronics (ICNN 2017) ,2

Information Photonics 2017 (IP ’17), and Light driven Nuclear-Particle physics andCosmology (LNPC ‘17). These 12 Specialized International Conferences and theConference Chairs are shown below.
■ ALPS ’17 - The 6th Advanced Lasers and Photon Sources
Chair: H. Yoneda (University of Electro-Communications)■ BISC ’17 - Biomedical Imaging and Sensing Conference 2017
Chair: T. Yatagai (Utsunomiya University)■ CLES/LANSA ’17 - Conference on Laser Energy Science / Laser and Accelerator
Neutron Sources and Applications 2017
Chairs: H. Nishimura (Osaka University) and R. Hanayama (GPI)■ HEDS 2017 - International Conference on High Energy Density Science
Chair: R. Kodama (Osaka University)■ ICNN 2017 - International Conference on Nanophotonics and Nano-optoelectronics
Chair: Y. Arakawa (University of Tokyo)■ IP ’17 - Information Photonics 2017
Chair: Y. Hayasaki (Utsunomiya University)■ LDC ’17 - Laser Display and Lighting Conference 2017
Chair: K. Kuroda (Utsunomiya University)■ LEDIA ’17 - The 5th International Conference on Light-Emitting Devices andTheir Industrial Applications
Chair: H. Amano (Nagoya University)■ LNPC ’17 - Light driven Nuclear-Particle physics and Cosmology
Chairs: K. Homma (Hiroshima University) and O. Tesileanu (ELI-NP)■ LSSE 2017 - Laser Solution for Space and the Earth
Chair: T. Ebisuzaki (RIKEN)■ OMC '17 - The 4th Optical Manipulation Conference 2017
Chair: T. Omatsu (Chiba University)■ XOPT ’17 - International Conference on X-ray Optics and Applications 2017
Chairs: T. Ishikawa(RIKEN) and K. Yamauchi (Osaka University)
The overall schedule of OPIC2017 is shown in Fig. 2. The OPIC Plenary Session, open topublic, was held in the morning of 19th Wednesday. The Specialized International
Conferences were held in parallel during 18-21 (Tuesday-Friday), with exception of Joint
Sessions in the afternoon of 19th. The Posters were presented at the Exhibition Hall tostimulate interaction between OPIC and OPIE participants. The OPIC Get-Together washeld in the evening of 17th Monday, and the OPIC Reception in the evening of 19th.
Statistics of OPIC and Specialized International Conferences during 2012-2017 are3

summarized in Table 2. Some of the Specialized Conferences have been organized withdifferent titles and some Conferences were held in other countries, as shown in italics inTable 2.

Fig. 2 Overall schedule of OPIC2017.

Fig. 2 Overall schedule of OPIC2017.
Table 2 shows that OPIC has been growing steadily as the international conference,
as seen from the number of specialized conferences (13), the number of participants(1015) and its fraction of foreign participants (37 %), and the number of countries (31).
The top 10 countries, in order of the number of participants (shown in theparentheses), are Japan (641), P. R. China (59), Taiwan (52), USA (42), Korea (42),Germany (37), France (18), UK (12), Romania (9) and Russia (7). (Here “country”
refers to the place where participant’s affiliation is located.) These statistics showthat OPIC is an international forum with broad scientific scopes, attended by theinternational communities in Asia, north America, Europe and Russia. The
Specialized International Conferences held continuously over many years are now
firm-footed with attendance of many participants who are looking forward to
discussing the most-updated progress of their fields and meeting with long-term
friends at OPIC.
The co-located OPIE2017 was held during April 19-21 by participation of 351
companies and organizations (5 % increase from 2016), including direct overseas
exhibitions by 11 countries and 47 companies. Total number of the participants toOPIE2017 over 3 days was 15,214. Various activities were organized at OPIE
including technical exhibitions, product demonstrations, and technical seminars. Also4

the Award Ceremony of the 2017 Industrial Award by The Laser Society of Japan washeld at the Exhibition Hall, and awards were presented to 8 companies in 3categories.
Table 2 Records of OPIC and Specialized International Conferences
during 2012-2017.
(Specialized International Conferences held previously and at other countries areshown in italics.)
YearDateOPIC2012
April 25-27

OPIC2013
April 23-26

OPIC2014April 22-25

Congress Chairs

K. Shimoda
R. Byer

K. Shimoda
R. ByerK. IgaK. IgaK. IgaC. Barty
R. ByerC. Barty
C. Barty
R. Poprawe
A. Ostendorf A. Ostendorf A. Ostendorf S. Nakai

Number of Specialized Conferences
Papers presented
ParticipantsForeign participants (%)
Participants / Conference
Number of Countries
Specialized International Conferences
ALPS (Advanced Lasers and Photon Sources)

6296
519
24%
86.5
2310411
677
18%
67.7
239570
782
27%
86.9
28

Conf. Chair

Conf. Chair

Conf. Chair

K. Midorikawa K. Midorikawa F. Kannari

SeTBio (Sens. Tech. for Biomater., Food, & Agri.)OPIC2016
May 17-20

7478732
25%
104.6
26
Conf. Chair
N. Miyanaga

11736
1028
32%
93.5
31
Conf. Chair

T. Yatagai

APBP (Asian & Pacific-Rim Symp. Biophoton.)

12729
1012
37%
84.3
32
Conf. Chair

H. Yoneda

H. Yoneda

T. Yatagai

T. Yatagai

T. IwaiH. Azechi

LANSA (Laser & Accler. Neutron Sourc. & Appli.)

H. Azechi

LSC (Laser $ Synch. Rad. Combin. Exper.)H. Azechi

CLE (Conf. on Laser Energetics)

H. Azechi

CLES (Conf. on Laser Energy Science)

H. Azechi

CLES/LASNA (Laser Energy Sci. & Neutron Sources)
HEDS (Int. Conf. on High Energy Density Sci.)

OPIC2017
April 18-21

N. Kondo

BISC (Biomedical Imaging & Sensing Conf.)
CIFE (Conf. on Inertial Fusion Energy)

OPIC2015
April 22-24

R. Kodama

R. Kodama

R. Kodama

R. Kodama

R. Kodama

H. Nishimura,
R. Hanayama
R. Kodama

ICNN (Int. Conf. on Nanophot. & Nanooptoelectr.)

Y. Arakawa

IP (Information Photonics)

Y. Hayasaki

LDC (Laser Display & Lighting Conf.)

K. Kuroda

LEDIA (Conf. on LED & Its Indust. Appl.)

H. Amano

H. Amano

LIC (Laser Ignition Conf.)

T. Taira

T. Taira

H. Amano(in US)

H. Amano

K. Homma,
O. Tesileanu

LNPC (Light Driven Nucl.-Particle Phys. & Cosmology)
LANE (Laser Appl. on Nuclear Engin.)

H. Horiike

LSSE (Laser Solution for Space & Earth)
OMC (Optical Manipulation Conf.)

T. Omatsu

PLD (Int. Conf. on Pacific-Rim Laser Damage)
LPCC (Laser Proc. for CFRP & Compos. Mater.)

H. Amano

T. Taira

T. Jitsuno
M. Kutsuna

T. Ebisuzaki

T. Ebisuzaki

T. Omatsu

T. Omatsu

T. Omatsu(in China)

T. Jitsuno,
J. Shao,
W. Rudolpf(in China)

H. Ogata

SLPC (Smart Laser Process. Conf.)

Y. Okamoto

XOPT (Int. Conf. X-ray Opt., Det., Sourc. & Appl.)

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Y. Okamoto,
R. Poprawe
T. Ishikawa,
K. Yamauchi

T. Ishikawa,
K. Yamauchi

3. OPIC2017 Plenary and Reception
OPIC 2017 Plenary Session was held in the morning of April 19. Welcome Address
were given by Chris Barty, Congress Co-Chair, and Kenichi Iga, Chair of theInternational Advisory Board. The plenary speakers were introduced by Congress
Co-Chairs, Sadao Nakai and Reinhard Poprawe.
Four plenary talks were presented on optics and photonics covering broad fields:
vehicle safety system, ultra-precision control of optical waves, a new method for
imaging and manipulating biological systems, and the first detection of thegravitational waves (Fig. 3).
Kazuoki Matsugatani, Director of ADAS Business and Technology Development
Division, DENSO CORPORATION, presented the first speech titled “OpticalTechnologies Required for Vehicle Safety System”. With increase of traffic accidents
worldwide, various new systems are being developed for partial automation of humandriving; ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System), and automated driving of thevehicles; AD (Automated Driving). Very updated status of the ADAS systems werereported in this presentation, with emphases on optical technologies such as LIDAR(Light Detection and Ranging) and HUD (Head up Display) which are becoming key
technologies for vehicle safety.

Fig. 3 Plenary speakers of OPIC2017:
Kazuoki Matsugatani, Kaoru Minoshima, Jeff A. Squier and Koji Arai(from left to right)

Kaoru Minoshima, The University of Electro-Communications and JST ERATOMINOSHIMA Intelligent Optical Synthesizer Project, presented the second plenary
talk, titled “Ultra-Precision Control of Optical Waves by Use of Fiber-based
Frequency Combs and its Metrology Application”. With the fiber-based frequency
combs, electromagnetic waves covering the entire frequency region from MHz to THz
are generated with fully controlled frequency, phase and polarization. New6

application fields opened up by this approach were introduced in this talk, including
rapid spectroscopy for material characterization, non-scanning 3D imaging andastronomy.
Jeff A. Squier, Colorado School of Mines, presented the third plenary talk, titled“Breaking Limits: Space-time Focusing Technologies for Imaging and Manipulating
Biological Systems”. He has presented a novel method for imaging and manipulating
biological systems with high spatial and temporal resolution.

An ultrashort laser

pulse is dispersed in space to spectral components and recombined at the focal pointof a microscope, resulting in “simultaneous spatial and temporal focusing (SSTF)”. By
combining SSTF with nonlinear microscopy, dynamic events of biological systems canbe tracked with high temporal resolution over extended periods.
Koji Arai, LIGO senior scientist, Caltec, has presented the fourth plenary talk,titled “Gravitational Wave Detection: Laser Interferometer Technologies in AdvancedLIGO”. On September 14, 2015, the gravitational wave was detected for the first timeby advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), which
has detected space deformation of only 4 x 10-18 m, about one-thousands of the size ofa proton. This “GW150914” was the first direct detection of the gravitational waves
from a merging binary black holes 1.3 billion light years away. In this presentation,
Dr. Arai has described scientific importance of the gravitational wave observation,laser interferometer technologies in Advanced LIGO, and its future direction.
The OPIC Reception was started by Sadao Nakai, Co-Chair of OPIC 2017, followedby Kagami-biraki, opening of a sake barrel (Fig. 4). With attendance of most of theOPIC participants, the Reception became a very good place for refreshing andstarting the friendships among various communities.

Fig. 4 OPIC2017 Reception.
Kagami-Biraki by K. Iga, C. Barty, K. Arai, K. Minoshima and J. Squier (from left toright).
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4. Acknowledgement
We are indebted to Dr. Christopher P. J. Barty, Prof. Reinhart Poprawe, and Prof.
Sadao Nakai as Congress Co-Chairs, members of the International Advisory Board,
members of the Organizing Committee and the Steering Committee, and Chairs ofthe Specialized International Conferences, for organizing OPIC2017. We would like tothank MEXT, METI, MAFF, MHLW, MLIT and KEIDANREN for supporting
OPIC2017.
We would like to thank the financial supports from the following organizations:
Nippon Sheet Glass Foundation for Materials Science and Engineering, The AMADAFoundation, Tsurugi-Photonics Foundation, National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, Support Center for Advanced Telecommunications
Technology Research, Foundation, Yokohama Convention & Visiting Bureau, and Matsuo
Foundation.
Also we would like to thank the corporate sponsors for their generous supports: OPTOSCIENCE, INC., HAMAMATSU, Inc., Japan Laser Corporation, THORLABS, KATAOKA
Corp., OKAMOTO OPTICS WORKS, Inc., and OPTO-LINE Inc. Partnerships with SPIE
as the International Partner, and PHOTONICS MEDIA and OPTORNICS as the MediaPartners are also greatly appreciated.

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