Using the power of light, the performance of aircrafts and rockets can be greatly improved. With a highly repetitive pulse laser, high-efficiency remote power transmission can be realized so that a unique aerospace technology is developed. By quantitatively understanding basic physical processes such as thrust generation by laser ablation and baroclinic vortex generation after the interaction between a laser-heated bubble and a shock wave, a technological breakthrough is expected to be achieved.

A three-dimensional (3D) image is expected as an image that can give a high sense of reality. Therefore, various 3D image systems are being studied. In particular, as for stereoscopic 3D viewing, service is now being offered in some movie theaters and broadcasting stations. On the other hand, the visual fatigue and discomfort with stereoscopic 3D viewing are pointed out, and many laboratories have been focusing on human factors related to these problems. Here, considering this background, we describe the present status and issues of 3D image systems. We also introduce some advanced 3D image technologies aimed at generating more natural 3D images.

Even after the 50th anniversary of the laser, most of the light beams treated both theoretically and experimentally are linearly polarized beams with a uniform polarization distribution (scalar beams). However, light waves are electromagnetic waves consisting of electric and magnetic fields, and a vectorial nature plays an important role. Recent progress in the study on vector beams, whose electromagnetic field is expressed as a vector, has revealed a variety of unknown features of light waves. In this article, we introduce the potentials of light waves that are waking up from their long slumber stimulated by research on vector beams.

A light-driven nano-micromachine has various features, such as 1) wireless remote energy supply capability, 2) absence of environment from and to magnetic noise capabilities, and 3) energy supply and information exchange.It is designed to use optical energy directly and convert it into mechanical energy from photonics energy. In this paper, it is discussed in terms of light radiation, photoelectromotive, photothermal, photomomagnetism and photo-Marangoni effects. In particular, we focus on a light-driven material and a photothermal technology.

The solar-based production of organic chemicals by the reduction of carbon dioxide is an increasingly important area that addresses fossil fuel shortage. Success in CO₂ reduction using water as both an electron donor and a proton source leads to a promising artificial photosynthetic process for the conversion of H₂O and CO₂ into useful organic materials and oxygen using sunlight. The solar photoreduction of CO₂ to HCOO^－ (selectivity > 70%) was achieved in aqueous media, in which the system operated without an external electrical bias. The conversion efficiency of solar energy to chemical energy reached 0.04%, which is one-fifth of 0.2% for switchgrass, a promising crop for biomass fuel.

Recently, the field of material science, such as metamaterial science, has been developed progressively, which might enable us to realize a so-called invisibility device. To realize such a device, we have to design a refractive index profile to go around the invisible region. In this article, we explain how to design invisibility devices and carpet cloaks, and discuss the possibility of realizing them.

oherence plays a fundamental role in statistical optical phenomena. The control of coherence is essential in an illumination system for advanced microscopy, lithography, and optical coherence tomography. In this paper, we introduce the concept, principle, and applications of a new technique of unconventional holography, called coherence holography, which we have developed recently for the synthesis of a spatial coherence function.

The water condensation to form water aerosol and droplets by irradiating moist air with UV light is described. The experimental conditions used (wavelength, relative humidity, laser power and pulse-repetition rate) are given. The suggested mechanisms are the photodissociations of oxygen and successively formed ozone, and dark reactions giving hydrogen peroxide as a seeding nucleus. Irradiation by the 248nm light of a KrF laser is particularly interesting owing to its far-reaching ability. Simulations of chemical kinetics revealed that the amount of the final product could be controlled by laser operational conditions, such as laser repetition rate and pulse energy. Water droplet formation by an intense femtosecond laser reported by a European research group is also described briefly. Two possible directions of light-assisted water condensation for rain-droplet formation and albedo control and their requirements are discussed concisely.

Monolithic light sources are expected to realize the electronics-photonics convergence based on Si photonics. We introduce silicon and germanium quantum-well light-emitting devices fabricated by a conventional silicon process.

Photochemical processes, such as photolithography and photocurable resin process, have been attracting much attention owing to their enormous range of practical and industrial applications. Herein, we report the novel photofunctional materials that we have recently developed. One of these materials shows photochemically reversible liquefaction and solidification based on the photoisomerization of the azobenzene arms of the molecular backbone in the solid state. Another material, which is a photo-functional gel, shows a rapid and site-selective photocuring on the damaged surface. We believe that these materials would be promising candidates for many useful applications.

When an intense infrared femtosecond laser is focused on a cell culture medium under a microscope, shock and stress waves are induced by a local explosion at the laser focal point. Since the impulsive force with these waves is extremely larger than the force produced by optical tweezers, we can realize a strongly enforced cell manipulation with spatial precision comparable to single cell size. We have developed several new methodologies for single cell manipulation and analysis utilizing not only the femtosecond laser ablation of biological tissues and cells but also the femtosecond laser-induced impulsive force loaded on them. In this manuscript, such femtosecond laser processing as an application technology in biology is introduced.

Recently, a massive earthquake has occurred in the sea off East Japan. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami damaged nuclear power plants, resulting in serious accidents. Thus, we propose a new energy source. Solar cells can definitely be considered a critical technology for overcoming global environmental and energy problems. In this paper, we review the early history of the research and development of solar cells and their operating principle.