Organizers of this year's Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEOQELS) say they have received 1490 submissions for technical papers, 14 percent more than last year. Hot topics include a laser-fabricated structure measuring 6 nm, a Yb:YAG laser with 224-W output power, a 7.7-µm unipolar semiconductor laser that generates 300 mW at 80 K, pulse generation <5 fs, corneal ablation with femtosecond laser pulses, a high-speed catheter for optical biopsy, recent Bose-Einstein condensation and a large photorefractive effect found in C₆₀. The conference is slated for May 18-23 in Baltimore. For more details, watch for a preview of the CLEO technical sessions in the May issue of Photonics Spectra.