World Photonics Conference 2022 and 11th Applied Optics and Photonic China (AOPC2022) were held on line recently. At the event, the first prize (Technological Invention Category) of the 8th "Science and Technology Innovation Award of Chinese Society of Optical Engineering" was granted to the research team led by Professor Zhang Chi, an academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Dean of our school, for their applied basic research on the Key Techniques of Mid-infrared and Deep-UV Frequency Doubling Crystals and Applications. All the team members are teachers and students of our school, including Zhang Chi, Wu Chao, Huang Zhipeng, Wu Tianhui and Hu Yilei.

Having devoted 5 years to the research, the team has innovatively developed a series of deep-UV/mid-infrared second-order nonlinear optical oxide crystal materials with a high second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency, wide optical bandgap and moderate birefringence to enable phase matching, high laser-induce damage threshold, wide light transmission range and good physical and chemical stability, via the co-assembly and partial fluorination strategies of regulating oxyanions (sulfate, phosphate, borate, iodate and selenite) with cations such as d0 transition metals and rare earth metals, breaking through the technical bottleneck of the mutual restrictions between optical crystal microstructures and many key optical performance indexes, effectively improving the laser frequency conversion performance of optical frequency doubling crystals, and realizing the synchronous gains of key optical performance indexes such as optical SHG and bandgap of oxide crystal materials. The research team has applied for a total of 36 national invention patents for core technological inventions in this research orientation, 24 of which have been authorized and 10 of which are currently under substantive examination, and 2 authorized invention patents have been transferred. The team has published 52 SCI papers, and 18 representative papers in the past two years in top international academic journals of chemistry and materials science, such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society (3 papers), Angewandte Chemie International Edition (7 papers), Chemical Science, Chemistry of Materials (6 papers), ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, etc., among which 3 important papers were selected as ESI TOP 1% highly-cited papers, 4 important papers were selected as Hot Paper of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, an internationally-renowned authoritative academic journal in chemistry, 10 papers were selected as cover papers, and 3 papers were among the top 20 in the number of citations in this research field. The above original research outcomes achieved by the research team have greatly enhanced the academic influence of the discipline in the field of optical crystal materials and Tongji's international academic reputation.

The Science and Technology Innovation Award of the Chinese Society of Optical Engineering approved by the National Office for Science & Technology Awards, aims to reward individuals and groups that have made outstanding achievements or contributions in scientific research, technological innovation and development, promotion and application of scientific and technological outcomes and industrialization in the field of optical engineering. A total of 10 "Technological Invention Prizes of China Society of Optical Engineering" and 17 "Science and Technology Progress Prizes" were granted, respectively including 4 first prizes.

The first batch of 38 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as the academies of sciences and engineering of the main scientifically and technologically developed countries, have been honored as fellows of the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering at the event, for their outstanding contributions in the fields of international optical basic science research, and technological innovation and invention. Professor Zhang Chi, an academician of the European Academy of Sciences, received this honorary title for his outstanding contribution to the interdisciplinary research at the academic frontier of metal oxide crystal materials and nonlinear optics.

World Photonics Conference 2022 was co-sponsored by the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering (CSOE), the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the German Academy of Science and Engineering.