The name APL Photonics is about values and community. “APL” stands for the values we share with our parent (Applied Physics Letters) and sister (APL Materials) journals - promoting significant advances and novel understandings in our fields through research reports that are driven forward by peer-review. As a new, open access journal for the photonics community, APL Photonics expands on these values and is the home for fundamental and applied multidisciplinary research anchored in photonics, and the platform for next-generation innovations in the field.

In response to the diverse community and its communication needs the Journal features Articles, Letters, and Special content – specifically Invited Articles, Perspectives, Tutorials and Special Topic sections – see the Editorial Policies guide for details on the different article types.

Covered topics include:

    Light sources
    Nonlinear optics
    Optoelectronics
    Nanophotonics
    Plasmonics
    Biophotonics and Biomedical optics
    Ultrafast photonics
    Optical communications
    Quantum photonics
    Optical imaging
    Photovoltaics
    Guided wave optics
    Sensors
    Terahertz

Manuscripts that focus on mathematical and computational problems only marginally related to photonics are not suitable for publication in APL Photonics. Similarly, papers focused on incremental technical advances, engineering applications, or materials science are outside the journal’s scope.