Optical Materials Express Editor-in-Chief, Andrea Alù, Deputy Editor, Juejun Hu, and the members of the 2021 Emerging Researcher Best Paper prize committee announce the recipient of the 2021 prize for the best paper published by an emerging researcher in the Journal.

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Optical Materials Express (OMEx) continues to attract submissions from a wide range of optical as well as materials scientists, at all stages of their careers. As a growing forum for interdisciplinary research in current and emerging topics, we are pleased to continue, for the fifth year, our tradition of recognizing the work of emerging researchers who publish in the Journal.

It is therefore our pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2021 OMEx Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize. The winning paper is “Mid-infrared hollow core fiber drawn from a 3D printed chalcogenide glass preform” [1], written by Julie Carcreff from the Université de Rennes, France and her colleagues. The article describes a method of making chalcogenide glass fiber pre-forms via 3D printing. The selection committee was particularly impressed by the innovative use of 3D printing methods for a new application and the thoroughness of the study.

The prize recognizes a student or early-career researcher (within five years of earning his/her highest degree) who is the first author of a paper that a committee of OMEx editors judged to be outstanding. The selection committee was again chaired by Deputy Editor Juejun Hu, and consists of associate editors Stavroula Foteinopoulou, Xing Sheng, and Robert Simpson, who represent a range of topics across the scope of the Journal. They were responsible for identifying a winner from among all the papers published in 2021 based on criteria including the scientific significance, quality, and presentation of the results.

Julie Carcreff

Julie Carcreff obtained her Ph.D. in Materials Science in 2021 from the Université de Rennes, France. She studied in the Glass and Ceramics Laboratory at the Institute of Chemical Sciences there developing optical fibers for the mid-infrared, particularly for new sources and solutions for infrared spectroscopy. Her work included the synthesis and then shaping of chalcogenide glasses by different techniques, including original 3D printing. She was also able to draw fibers, such as hollow core fibers, before characterizing them. In June 2021, she moved to Alphanov in Talence, France. As a laser research and development component engineer there, she works on the functionalization of fiber and thin disk components used for laser design.

Please join us in congratulating Julie on her selection as the winner of the 2021 Optical Materials Express Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize!

1. J. Carcreff, F. Cheviré, E. Galdo, R. Lebullenger, A. Gautier, J.L. Adam, D. Le Coq, L. Brilland, R. Chahal, G. Renversez, and J. Troles, “Mid-infrared hollow core fiber drawn from a 3D printed chalcogenide glass preform,” Opt. Mater. Express 11(1), 198–209 (2021). [CrossRef]  

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