[Conference] PIERS: Session organization & invited talk Ultrafast Thermo-optic Nonlinearity in Time-varying Epsilon-Near-Zero Interfaces

Organized conference session “Near-Zero-Index Photonics: Physics, Devices, and Applications” in PhotonIcs and Electromagnetics Research Symposium (Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium, PIERS) 2026. Co-organizer: Prof. Qian Li, Peking University.

Session Information

Near-zero-index (NZI) photonics explores electromagnetic regimes in which the effective refractive index approaches zero, giving rise to fundamentally new optical behavior that departs from conventional wave propagation and confinement paradigms. In such systems, light exhibits phase uniformity, spatially extended coherence, anomalous dispersion, and strongly enhanced light-matter interaction, opening new routes for device functionalities that are difficult or impossible to achieve with standard photonic platforms. This session focuses on recent advances in NZI photonics, spanning novel physical phenomena, advanced nano- and integrated device concepts, and emerging applications in optical and photonic computing. Contributions are invited on NZI-enabled effects such as phase engineering, extreme field localization, collective and nonlinear dynamics, and dispersion-controlled wave manipulation, as well as their implementation in integrated waveguides, resonators, metastructures, and hybrid material platforms. A particular emphasis is placed on how NZI physics can enable compact, low-energy, and highly parallel photonic devices for information processing, including ultrafast modulation and switching, analog and neuromorphic photonic computing, optical logic, and nontraditional computing architectures. Both fundamental studies and experimentally demonstrated devices are welcome, along with analytical and numerical modeling that elucidates the underlying physics and system-level performance. By bringing together fundamental electromagnetic theory, device engineering, and computing-oriented applications, this session aims to highlight near-zero-index photonics as a unifying framework for next-generation photonic devices and optical computing technologies.

Invited oral presentation entitled Ultrafast Thermo-optic Nonlinearity in Time-varying Epsilon-Near-Zero Interfaces at PhotonIcs and Electromagnetics Research Symposium (Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium, PIERS) 2026, Suzhou, China. (Wu† et al., 2026; Wu† et al., 2026)

Abstract can be found here.