OPTICAL MATERIALS

This is my first submission. After being rejected by several journals, it took nearly 3 months for OM to complete the initial review. During this time, I reminded the editor a few times, and their response was that they couldn't find reviewers in the relevant field. After waiting for a total of over 3 months, I received opinions from two reviewers. One reviewer agreed to accept the paper with minor revisions, while the other rejected it and provided over ten comments (including language errors). I have to admit that even though this reviewer is not an expert in the specific field of my research but rather in a similar field, the opinions and questions they raised were critical and profound, making them quite challenging to address. Finally, the editor's suggestion was to revise and resubmit. It happened to be during the winter break and close to the Lunar New Year, so most people had gone back home. I stayed in the laboratory for two weeks, trying to conduct experiments (since the experimental conditions were limited, I had to secretly use my roommate's laboratory for testing at night). I managed to complete some feasible experimental tests, but there were still some crucial issues that couldn't be resolved effectively. Around the Lunar New Year, I sent the reviewers' comments to my supervisor. Since my supervisor was overseas, we could only discuss and revise the paper at night, starting at around 9 PM due to the time difference, and finishing close to midnight. During the Lunar New Year, I had to bring my computer everywhere I went as I had to work on the revisions. Eventually, I had to request an extension from the editor. After the start of the new semester, I supplemented some additional data and finally submitted the revised response in March. Both my supervisor and I didn't hold high expectations, but after waiting for another month, we received the unexpected news that the paper was accepted! Best wishes for OM's continued success!

20220912 - submit
20220913 - handled by Handling Editor John Ballato, PhD
20220915 - under review
20221006 - received reviewer comments, one reviewer raised four or five minor questions, minor revisions
20221021 - revised
20221022 - accept
From initial submission to final acceptance, the process took a total of 1 month and 10 days, and the revised manuscript was accepted in less than a day. This was the fastest submission ever, and the efficiency was very high!