Metamaterials are artificial materials that can achieve properties that do not occur naturally from their artificial functional units. The Session proposes to review the development of metamaterial technology from the perspective of engineering application. This Special Session focuses on the design and fabrication of metamaterials and other functional materials.

These are complex structures patterned in ways that perform a special function, such as transparently blocking a specific color of light, or invisibly heating a window in a car. These functions more generally include manipulating light, heat, and electromagnetic waves in unusual ways.

The use of new symmetry properties in Photonics, Plasmonics, Acoustics has emerged in the recent years. They exploit unusual categories of modes and states that open yet unexplored avenues. Parity-Time symmetric structures are a key example of such a class of non-Hermitian systems of renewed interest in optics and photonics (gain/loss structures) for diverse flavours of broken symmetries.

Quasi-normal modes help building sound pictures of non-hermitian systems. Extra photonic features such as chirality also add a new twist to those topics. This special session will cover theoretical and experimental progress in the exploration and functionalization of systems exhibiting this class of special-symmetry-related features in the areas of photonics, plasmonics and acoustics.

Metamaterials, composed of artificial subwavelength resonators, have been widely utilized to manipulate electromagnetic waves across various fields. Due to their adjustable effective permittivity and permeability, metamaterials have attracted significant interest from both the scientific and engineering communities. Metasurfaces, the two-dimensional counterparts of metamaterials, are formed by the periodic or non-periodic arrangement of subwavelength elements on an ultrathin film. They offer flexible control over the amplitude, phase, and polarization state of electromagnetic waves. Leveraging the capabilities of metamaterials and metasurfaces enables a range of applications, including polarization conversion, invisibility cloaking, high-resolution imaging, sensing, and beam focusing. In this special session, we invite researchers to contribute presentations that will stimulate the continuing efforts on the understanding of metamaterials/metasurfaces and exploring their applications.

Chirality is a fundamental symmetry property affecting the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of matter. To access information related to chirality, specific electromagnetic fields and setups are necessary. In this session, methods and proposals will be discussed that enable generating chiral electromagnetic fields with applications to time-resolved chiral spectroscopy and microscopy of matter in the linear and non-linear regimes.

The session aims to gather experts working at the theoretical and experimental level on the development of functional materials for tunable and reconfigurable photonics. The future evolution of integrated photonics both for free-space and guided optics calls for multifunctional properties as well as higher performances in terms of power consumption, efficiency, footprint, and speed. This opens up new opportunities for research on design and integration of functional materials whose physical properties can be dynamically modulated. The scope includes a large range of topics: basic physics, materials growth, integration, modeling, and emerging photonic devices, for applications such as tunable metasurfaces, optical computing, beam steering and beam shaping, programmable neuromorphic systems, electro-optic modulators, and non-linear optics.

Optical metasurfaces, i.e., subwavelength planar nanostructures, have attracted increasing attention due to their unprecedented capabilities of molding classical light and revolutionizing conventional optics by replacing bulky optical components with ultrathin, lightweight, and ultracompact meta-optics. In addition to controlling classical light, optical metasurfaces demonstrate the potential to efficiently manipulate nonclassical light and are starting to enter the realm of quantum photonics. This special session will cover recent advances in quantum metaphotonics for generation and manipulation of nonclassical light.

This special session will focus on optical nanoantennas and metasurfaces composed of plasmonic and high refractive index dielectric materials which offer key applications utilizing enhanced light-matter interactions. The session will also focus on the characterization and modelling methods in nanophotonics as well as novel sensing platforms including surface enhanced spectroscopy and enhanced chiral sensing.

The proposed session will focus on emerging biological and bioinspired photonic materials, their interesting biological phenomena and new fundamental properties, complex formation and fabrication processes and emphasize advanced functionalities for versatile photonic applications & structural colors by bringing together leading scientists from diverse backgrounds and technical fields across academia and industry..

The session will explore recent advances in materials exhibiting tailored electromagnetic responses, covering the full research chain from material concepts and design to characterization and practical applications, with a special focus on materials manufacturing. Emphasis will be placed on understanding material behavior, linking theory with experiments, and identifying opportunities for real-world use. The session seeks to provide a common platform for materials scientists, physicists, and application-oriented researchers interested in the development and utilization of advanced electromagnetic materials.

Exceptional points, non-orthogonal eigenmodes, PT-symmetric systems and many other general notions and concepts of non-Hermitian physics have attracted a lot of attention lately. Such an interest was initially driven by PT-symmetric optics and non-Hermitian photonics and now has led to an amazingly high number of ground-breaking experiments with novel applications. From single mode PT-lasers, ultrasensitive microcavity sensors, optical isolators, unidirectional invisibility to broadband wireless power transfer, PT- metamaterials, topological lasers and quantum non-Hermitian systems, this new research field proves that the synergy of gain and loss distributions can be a different way for unprecedented control over light propagation and emission. This session will focus on the most recent theoretical and experimental advances at the frontier of the physics of non- Hermitian complex systems and their potential applications.

Nanolasers and spasers have seen significant research growth over the past decade, with a wide range of approaches explored in terms of device structures, geometries, and materials. This session aims to showcase contributions that reflect this diversity, fostering creative exchange and enhancing mutual understanding among the various research communities involved in this global effort. In addition to nanolaser-focused studies, we also welcome work that broadly investigates interactions between quantum components and photonic nanostructures. The session will strive to maintain a balanced representation of both experimental and theoretical developments.

The excitation of surface plasmons in metal nanostructures enables manipulating light beyond the diffraction limit, which can be utilized for enhancing and tailoring light-matter interactions and developing ultra-compact high-performance nanophotonic devices. With the emergence of novel nanophotonic materials and concepts and the developments of advanced techniques, plasmonics and nanophotonics continuously propel fundamental sciences and various applications. This session will cover recent advances in both the fundamentals and the applications of plasmonics and nanophotonics.

Nanophotonic devices has seen spectacular growth in the past decades. In particular we are seeing these devices move from the laboratory to commercially viable products in a range of applications from telecommunications, biosensing, image processing, and more. As the commercialization of these nanophotonic devices becomes more prevalent, it is imperative to understand the process of moving a technology out of the lab as well as how to integrate a technology into a specific application space, so that new technologies can enter the marketplace. The goal of this session is to educate the META community on existing examples of commercially viable meta and nano products through academic/industry collaborations, university spin off companies, industry tools used in the design of nanostructures, existing infrastructure for the scalable manufacture of nanostructures, and the successful application spaces where these devices are being implemented. This special session will focus on both research and development of nanophotonic technologies, to inform the community on practical considerations when designing, manufacturing, scaling, and qualifying these devices.

In the electrodynamics of metamaterials, the problems of light interaction with resonant chiral and magnetoelectric (ME) responses are far from fully resolved. This session will examine research aimed at unifying the concepts of chirality, magnetoelectricity, and quantum electrodynamics (QED). It focuses on how to integrate the chirality and magnetoelectricity of material structures with the quantum nature of light. These are the questions of the quantum-level studies of light-matter interactions in systems with broken symmetries. The SP14 session is an independent scientific session but fundamentally linked to symposium IV.

The optical biosensors integrated with the new technologies in molecular biology, microfluidics, and nanomaterials have applications in agricultural production, food processing, clinical care, and environment for rapid, specific, sensitive, inexpensive, in-field, online, and/or real-time detection as well as monitoring of pesticides, antibiotics, pathogens, toxins, proteins, microbes, plants, animals, foods, soil, air, and water. The current trends and challenges for nanomaterials and nanobiosensing for the various applications are the focus of this session, including importance in areas of cancer diagnostics, detection of pathogenic organisms, food safety, environmental measurements, and clinical applications.

Metamaterials are engineered structures that can synthesize artificial electromagnetic responses that may not be available in natural materials. The deep sub-wavelength-level engineering of structures to realize different electromagnetic responses has been an extremely active area of research. This area of electromagnetics has seen tremendous growth recently, in particular since the experimental demonstrations of some unusual wave phenomena such as negative refraction, electromagnetic cloaking and perfect lenses, just to name a few. This session will cover some promising advances in metamaterial-based electromagnetic science, from fundamental theory to applications and recent advances. It will bring together leading electromagnetic researchers and experts to facilitate a stimulating set of discussions in this rapidly evolving field.

Topological insulators bring unique symmetry-protected surface states to metamaterials and metasurfaces, enabling new routes to engineer robust, spin-polarized, and non-reciprocal light–matter interactions. By structuring topological insulators into resonators, lattices, and hybrid platforms, it becomes possible to realize metamaterial functionalities that are immune to disorder, exhibit exotic boundary phenomena, and operate across photonic, plasmonic, and optoelectronic regimes. The session focuses on the design, fabrication, and application of Topological insulators -based metamaterials, covering both fundamental concepts and emerging devices for quantum, sensing, and energy-efficient photonic technologies.

Nanophotonic devices are becoming ever more complex, making manual design of metamaterials and photonic crystals unfeasible. Inverse design, the automatic design of optical devices where the function and performance of the device is specified, and computational methods are used to determine the input parameters, such as material structure or geometry, is becoming more important. The two techniques most often used are gradient-descent-based topology optimization and machine learning. In line with developments in machine learning and optimization techniques, it can be expected that in the next few years all human design will be replaced by artificial intelligence designing optical devices. In this session, we will discuss advances i and evaluate the current state of the art in these topics.

This session explores the emerging frontier where quantum materials, phononics, and time-varying photonic media converge. It highlights advances in spin–phonon coupling, hybrid quantum integration, and non-equilibrium dynamics, revealing new ways to control light, sound, and energy at the nanoscale. By bridging quantum physics, materials science, and metamaterials engineering, this session aims to inspire breakthroughs in quantum-enabled photonic, phononic, and multifunctional devices.

This session will present recent advances in nonlocal and nonlinear nanophotonics, showing how spatial dispersion, many-body effects, and optical nonlinearities can shape light–matter interactions beyond conventional electrodynamics. Bridging theory, computation, and experiment, the session will cover natural and engineered nonlocal and nonlinear responses in plasmonic, polaritonic, and quantum materials, as well as in metamaterials and metasurfaces, highlighting emerging capabilities for ultrafast, reconfigurable, and multifunctional nanophotonics.

This special session will explore new phenomena and emerging trends in light–matter interaction at the nanoscale, focusing on recent progress in plasmonics, magnetoplasmonics, metamaterials, metasurfaces, and strong light–matter interaction in 2D materials. By combining theoretical, computational, and experimental perspectives, this session will address nanoscale mechanisms that enable enhanced field confinement, chiral and magneto-optical effects, and active control of optical responses. The session will cover different topics, including plasmonic and dielectric nanoantennas, reconfigurable metasurfaces, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, and probing nanoscale interactions with localized probes. The aim is to promote discussion among experts working in the field of nanophotonics, interested in manipulating and exploiting light–matter coupling for next-generation photonic and quantum technologies.

This session will focus on cutting-edge theoretical frameworks and advanced experimental methodologies in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), highlighting their role in elucidating vibrational, electronic, and chemical processes at the nanoscale. Contributions addressing SERS in catalysis, reaction monitoring, biosensing, energy-related systems, and surface dynamics are especially encouraged. The session aims to foster a constructive dialogue between theoreticians and experimentalists, promoting cross-disciplinary integration and a unified view of SERS phenomena.

This session focuses on the fundamental and applied aspects of phonon dynamics at the nanoscale, addressing key challenges in energy transport, light-matter interactions, and the engineering of phononic properties. It aims to provide a platform for discussing recent progress, open questions, and interdisciplinary collaborations in this field, bridging fundamental physics and technological innovation.

This session will spotlight emerging directions in cavity quantum materials and polaritonic/plasmonic device physics, where engineered electromagnetic environments and strong light–matter coupling can qualitatively reshape electronic, excitonic, vibronic, and optical properties. We will bring together theorists, computational scientists, and experimentalists to connect microscopic mechanisms with measurable signatures and experimentally accessible observables. The scope spans electronic-structure and many-body approaches through open-system cavity QED and mesoscopic electrodynamics, emphasizing reliable links between models, spectroscopy, and realistic material–cavity architectures. The session will also highlight how polaritonic architectures can enable quantum information science, including enhanced emitter–cavity coupling, coherent transduction between modalities, and scalable hybrid quantum photonic components for sensing, communication, and quantum-enabled control. A particular goal of this session is to identify current challenges, define community benchmarks, and foster collaborations across theory, computation, and experiment.