Optical and Quantum Electronics provides an international forum for the publication of original research papers tutorial reviews and letters in such fields as optical physics optical engineering and optoelectronics. Special issues are published on topics of current interest. Optical and Quantum Electronics publishes papers on the following topics: semiconductors solid state and gas lasers optical communication systems fibres and planar waveguides non-linear optics optoelectronic devices ultra-fast phenomena optical storage optical materials photonic switching optics in computers and coherent optics.