The aim of this special issue is to highlight the continuous growth and advancement in the field of optical materials and optical devices. Extensive research carried out in these areas has led to the development of novel applications and uses in a range of areas, including biomedical devices, imaging, optical communication networks, optical storage media, and photovoltaics. In order to maintain the successful growth and diversity in these areas, a better understanding of optical materials and their behaviours is required. This will then enable improvements in material performance, material functionality, and a number of potential applications.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand and develop optical materials and their applications. We are particularly interested in articles describing new material formulations and fabrication techniques and novel uses of existing materials and technologies. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Advances in organic and inorganic optical materials
• Materials for novel optical devices and applications
• Nonlinear optical materials and structures
• Semiconductor and organic photovoltaic materials
• Photonic materials
• Filamentation and optical solitons
• Fabrication and characterisation of optical materials

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/phys/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: