Focus issue introduction: Advanced Solid-State Lasers 2020

This Joint Issue of Optics Express and Optical Materials Express features 15 articles written by authors who participated in the international online conference Advanced Solid State Lasers held 13–16 October, 2020. This review provides a summary of the conference and these articles from the conference which sample the spectrum of solid state laser theory and experiment, from materials research to sources and from design innovation to applications.