title: US Naval Research Laboratory focus issue: introduction.
abstract: Rather than concentrate on a single topic, this feature issue presents the wide variety of research in optics that takes place at a single institution, the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and is analogous to an NRL feature issue published in Applied Optics in 1967. NRL is the corporate research laboratory for the Navy and Marine Corps. It conducts a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development in the physical, engineering, space, and environmental sciences related to maritime, atmospheric, and space domains. NRL's research is directed toward new and improved materials, techniques, equipment, and systems in response to identified and anticipated Navy needs. A number of articles in this issue review progress in broader research areas while other articles present the latest results on specific topics.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hoffman