Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: As photonic systems grow more complex, it becomes increasingly difficult to capture their behaviour within the conventional four dimensions of space and time, particularly for systems operating at the nanometer scale, where strong confinement effects, near-field interactions, and subwavelength structuring introduce additional layers of complexity. The concept of 5D photonics reflects this shift by incorporating additional physical, material, computational, adaptive, and quantum degrees of freedom as active components in design, control, and function. Rather than defining a single extra coordinate, higher-dimensional photonics is about operating photonic systems within expanded, dynamically accessible state spaces where multiple dimensions can interact and evolve together. This roadmap brings together perspectives ranging from modeling and design concepts to experimental platforms, materials, components, and system-level implementations. It covers a wide spectrum of synthetic and structured dimensions, nonlinear and strong-field regimes, adaptive and reconfigurable architectures, cyber-physical and engineering approaches, as well as inherently high-dimensional quantum and excitonic systems. Across all these areas, higher-dimensional thinking emerges not as an abstract construct but as a practical tool for enabling new functionalities, overcoming conventional design limitations, and bridging physical systems with digital and AI-driven layers. By framing these diverse developments within a shared higher-dimensional perspective, the roadmap aims to provide orientation in a rapidly expanding field, reveal conceptual connections between traditionally separate areas of photonics, and highlight common challenges and opportunities. In doing so, it positions higher-dimensional photonics as a central paradigm for developing future photonic technologies that are increasingly adaptive, intelligent, and integrated across physical and virtual domains.
Source: Nano Futures
Authors: Ayhan Demircan, Andrey B. Evlyukhin, Uwe Morgner, Oliver Melchert, Ihar Babushkin, Shihao Zhang, Fabio Biancalana, Chao Mei, Jintao Fan, Peilong Yang, Günter Steinmeyer, Philippe Lalanne, Owen D Miller, Hooman Barati Sedeh, Natalia M Litchinitser, Virgilijus Vaičaitis, Ona Balachninaitė, Osamu Takayama, Radu Malureanu, Andrei V Lavrinenko, Benjamin Wetzel, Bruno P Chaves, Alessandro Tonello, Vincent Couderc, Vladimir R Tuz, Anton Husakou, Luc Bergé, Xavier Davoine, Laurent Gremillet, Jan Vábe, Fabrice Catoire, Stefan Skupin, Pavel Polynkin, Jacob Barker, John Palastro, Sergey Sergeyev, Hani Kbashi, Sergei K Turitsyn, Evgenii Menshikov, Paolo Franceschini, Costantino De Angelis, Maxim V Gorkunov, Yuri S Kivshar, S. Beuchler, B. Endtmayer, U. Langer, A. Schafelner, T. Wick, Felix Binkowski, Fridtjof Betz, Martin Hammerschmidt, Philipp-Immanuel Schneider, Lin Zschiedrich, Sven Burger, Yannik Mahlau, Lukas Berg, Marius Lindauer, Bodo Rosenhahn, Puneet Garg, Viktar Asadchy, Emanuele Galiffi, Simon Horsley, Riccardo Sapienza, Carsten Rockstuhl, Alina Karabchevsky, Yannick Schrödel, Hanna Malang, Sonja Wismath, Sören Soennecken, Jan Helge Dörsam, Tino Lang, Mario Kupnik, Henrik Tuennermann, Christoph M Heyl, Birgit Stiller, Lei Zheng, Axel Günther, Wolfgang Kowalsky, Bernhard Roth, Jimmy Duc Tran, Viktoriia E Babicheva, Sakineh Chabi, Andrew Crandall Jones, Heungsoo Kim, Evgeniya H Lock, Kaili Sun, Zhanghua Han, Moritz Hinkelmann, Andreas Wienke, Michael Kues, Dietmar Kracht, Antonio Calà Lesina, Markus Fröhlich, Leon Biesterfeld, Lars Klepzig, Dominik A Rudolph, Onno Strolka, André Niebur, Janosch Unseld, Leo Kahlmeyer, Artsiom Antanovich, Jannika Lauth, Laura Fütterer, Ludger Overmeyer, Elena V Schlein, Volodymyr S Vasylkovskyi, Boris N Chichkov, Jona Wohletz, Malte Falkner, Ulf Wüllner, Tobias Biermann, Roland Lachmayer, Philip Rübeling, Michael Kues, Boris A Malomed, Lucas Wegener, Peter J Walla, Stavros Athanasiou, Olivier J F Martin, Pascal Krause, Annika Bande
Institutions: Leibniz University Hannover, Heriot-Watt University, Ningbo University, Tianjin University, University of Würzburg, Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences, Yale University, Duke University, Vilnius University, Technical University of Denmark, XLIM, Université de Limoges, State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay, Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines, Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (Czech Republic), Czech Technical University in Prague, Université de Lyon, University of Arizona, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Aston University, National Institute of Optics, National Research Council, University of Brescia, Australian National University, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Jilin University, Zuse Institute Berlin, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, L3S Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Aalto University, University of Exeter, Imperial College London, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Lancaster University, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Technische Universität Braunschweig, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, United States Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory Materials Science and Technology Division, Shandong Normal University, Laser Zentrum Hannover, University of Tübingen, Tel Aviv University, University of Tarapacá, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Language: English
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,895
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, University of Rochester, Heriot-Watt University, Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Directed Energy Professional Society, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Academy of Engineering, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Volkswagen Foundation, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Jilin University, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba, Tekniikan Edistämissäätiö, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, National Nuclear Security Administration, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, European Regional Development Fund, Office of Naval Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, Army Research Office, Air Force Research Laboratory
OpenAlex ID: W7167285976