Both nanoscience/nanotechnology and biomaterials are areas known as interdisciplinary research fields that currently include elements from medicine/dentistry, biology, chemistry, engineering, and physical sciences. The convergence of these fields has led to exciting advances in integrating bio-inspired materials and bio-based processes to photonic applications. These developments comprise bio-based materials to replace organic and inorganic components in photonic devices as well as bio-inspired and biomimetic approaches to improve upon existing technologies. Such advances based on interdisciplinary work need more efforts and time than conventional technologies but often lead to unexpected profit. The objective of this call is to bring together researchers and experts from a variety of fields such as life sciences, physics, chemistry, optics, photonics, nanotechnology, engineering, and materials science, who have an interest in the exploitation of optical and photonic phenomena in nanotechnology-based devices adapted from biological matter and design principles in nature. Topics ranging from bio-based and bio-derived materials via photonic devices and their application to bio-inspired and biomimetic approaches are welcome.

Papers are solicited in, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Biomaterials and devices for photonics applications including LEDs, LETs, lasers, optical storage, optical switches, EO modulator devices and BioFETs
• Optical characterization of forming hierarchical structures
• Biomaterials for information processing and information storage
• Biomaterials for IR applications
• Biopolymers
• DNA photonics
• Nanophotonics in human and animal anatomy
• Biotronics
• Nonlinear optical processes in biomaterials
• Biologically synthesized nanomaterials
• Bio-based sensors
• Nanotechnology-based artificial muscles
• Biomimetic and bio-inspired technologies including biomimetic optical devices and biomimetic robotics.

All submissions will be peer reviewed. Peer review will commence immediately upon manuscript submission, with a goal of making a first decision within 6 weeks of manuscript submission. Special sections are opened online once a minimum of four papers have been accepted. Each paper is published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. Submissions should follow the guidelines of the Journal of Nanophotonics. Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://jnp.msubmit.net.

 Conventional optical tweezers based on optical radiation forces (scattering, absorption, and gradient forces) produced by a tightly focused laser beam have been primarily applied to particles with a dimension range from hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers. However, they do not always enable us to efficiently trap and manipulate particles at the nanoscale. New technology that significantly reinforces optical radiation at the nanoscale has been strongly desired.

In particular, the interplay between structured light fields (e.g., optical vortices, vector beams, nondiffracted beams, etc.) and structured materials (e.g., metamaterials, plasmonic and photonic crystals, etc.) on a subwavelength scale will yield new effects (e.g., spin-orbital momentum coupling, unconventional opto-mechanical effects, etc.) for advanced optical manipulation. Such structured light-matter interactions will further act as advanced technologies of optical manipulation and enable the fabrication of novel material structures, including chiral structures and laser-induced periodic surface structures.

This special section of the Journal of Nanophotonics will be devoted to the interplay between structured light fields and structured materials on a subwavelength scale.

Topics of interest include the following:

• structured optical fields, including beam shaping, polarization control, pulse shaping, frequency extension, and ultrafast laser technologies
• optical trapping and manipulation, including optical tweezer, holographic optical manipulation, plasmon trapping, multiphoton trapping, and atom trapping and cooling
• advanced devices and instruments, including spatial light modulator, adaptive optics, and near-field optical devices
• structured materials, including metamaterials, and plasmonic and photonic crystals
• applications including structured material processing, single-molecule trapping, biophotonics, metamaterials, quantum communications, and selective control of chemical reaction
• novel approaches, including novel interaction between optical fields and materials on nanoscale, novel regimes of spin-orbit interaction, and quantum control of molecular dynamics.

All submissions will be peer reviewed. Peer review will commence immediately upon manuscript submission, with a goal of making a first decision within 6 weeks of manuscript submission. Special sections are opened online once a minimum of four papers have been accepted. Each paper is published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. Submissions should follow the guidelines of the Journal of Nanophotonics. Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://jnp.msubmit.net.

Recently, the AlGaN-based wide to ultrawide bandgap epitaxy and device technology for ultraviolet applications has reached a state of maturity. The advancement poses to unleash a plethora of technologically important applications similar to those empowered by InGaN-based devices. In parallel, there are emerging ultrawide bandgap material systems (much larger than 3.4 eV) that have attracted significant attention from the epitaxy, device, and photonics communities. These materials include gallium oxide, boron nitride, and other related ternary compounds.

The goal of this special section for the Journal of Nanophotonics is to provide a platform for researchers, academia, and industry partners to report on their recent technological breakthroughs under the scope of semiconductor UV photonics. We are soliciting contributed papers describing the latest novel findings, technology, or device breakthroughs. We also invite proposals for review papers written by experts in the field.

Potential paper topics include:

• Group-III nitride semiconductors, such as GaN, AlN, InN, BN, and related ternary alloys
• Material systems, such as oxides and II-VI materials, including Ga₂O₃, ZnO, and related alloys
• Low-dimensional structures for UV photonics
• Research into doping of UV-range semiconductor materials, and/or contacts schemes
• Quantum efficiency issues for UV devices
• Nanofabrication techniques for UV nanophotonics
• UV devices, such as light emitters, light-emitting diodes, detectors, laser, random laser, and modulators
• Nanoscale light-matter interaction physics in UV photonics
• UV-based systems and applications, including non-line-of-sight communications
• UV device processing, manufacturing, packaging, and component reliability studies
• Frontiers in vacuum UV to UV optoelectronics and photonics.

All submissions will be peer reviewed. Peer review will commence immediately upon manuscript submission, with a goal of making a first decision within 6 weeks of manuscript submission. Special sections are opened online once a minimum of four papers have been accepted. Each paper is published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. Submissions should follow the guidelines of the Journal of Nanophotonics. Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://jnp.msubmit.net.