Associate ProfessorStefano Palomba

Project Opportunities

Title: Hybrid plasmonic waveguide for integrated photonic signal

Summary of opportunity:

The growing demand for faster communications technologies and the inherent limitations of electronic integrated circuits stimulated the research of nanophotonic components. Furthermore, photonic components have gathered a lot of interest, because they are fast, robust to electromagnetic interference and potentially energy ef?cient. Yet, possible optical solutions are either quite bulky or suffer from high ohmic losses as the light needs to travel through metal. This project aims to fabricate and experimentally test hybrid plasmonic waveguide architectures for linear and nonlinear applications. By using metals merely to con?ne the light, such a “hybrid” device thus avoids the drawbacks of traditional photonic solutions, limited by diffraction, and traditional plasmonic devices, dominated by ohmic losses.

Opportunity synopsis:

The student will perform linear and nonlinear experiments in hybrid structures, validating the theoretical modelling.

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Project Opportunities

Title: A Neurophotonic Platform as Universal Nerve Interface

Summary of opportunity:

We have assembled a team of experts whose combined expertise is essential to develop a universal nerve interface (UNI) by using neurophotonics technologies.

Opportunity synopsis:

It is well known that opsin-like proteins can be expressed into neurons (Optogenetics). In this project, we will progress this further. Furthermore, we will tackle and solve challenges which will lead to developing an integrated photonic device, simply constituted by a light guide and a grating to couple light in/out of it, embedded inside a biocompatible film; this will serve as a light source/collector for the photoactive neuron.

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Project Opportunities

Title: DDMEBT-polymer composite: a new nonlinear material

Summary of opportunity:

In this project, we want to measure the DDMEBT-polymer nonlinear optical properties by using the z-scan technique.

Opportunity synopsis:

An empirical rule, called Miller’s rule, suggests that the nonlinear optical properties of any material increase with its own index of refraction. However, for certain efficient waveguide-based devices, this is not ideal; a material with high nonlinearities and low refractive index, the opposite of Miller’s rule, is sought. A few years ago a new organic film was created, exhibiting exactly these characteristics, called DDMEBT, which is very difficult to manufacture. One of our collaborators in Tokyo has synthesized the polymeric version of this material, way easier to and handle. However, our z-scan currently is not performing as expected. We think that it requires the installation of a reference arm which will reduce enormously the background generated by the laser fluctuations. Hence, we need to install and test the reference arm and demonstrate the expected performance. At this point, we would be able to measure the new material nonlinear optical properties.

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Project Opportunities

Title: Novel nanolasers: a brighter future for photonic integrated devices

Summary of opportunity:

The final aim of this project is to develop a more efficient and possibly electrically pumped plasmonic nanolaser.

Opportunity synopsis:

All the plasmonic nanolasers published in the literature since 2009, follows two specific configurations, i.e. metal-insulator-semiconductor-air (MISA) or metal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM). We recently realized that these configurations are not optimal. Based on our latest published work (DOI 10.1039/C8NR04898C) we realized that adding a high index material as insulator would allow a gain threshold increase of 45%. In this project, we want to proof that our novel platform can enhance Perovskite-based plasmonic nanolasers performance. The project could remove the impasse that this field is currently bearing and potentially be fed into the market of integrated nanolasers. Currently we have been able to measure the fluorescence from these nanowires but not lasing yet.

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Project Opportunities

Title: Upconverting nanoparticle in DNA-linked plasmonic dimer for biosensing

Summary of opportunity:

This project aims to develop a solution-based plasmonic enhanced biosensor.

Opportunity synopsis:

In this project, we want to engineer and study a plasmonic dimer, constituted by a gold nanorod coated with a thin glass film, an upconverting nanoparticle, a DNA link bonded to a gold nanosphere. In this way, the upconverting nanoparticle (UPN) is sandwiched in the middle between a nanorod and a nanoparticle. In these conditions the nanoparticle should be quenched by the gold nanosphere. Only when this system interacts with a specific molecule of interest, then one of the DNA links is broken and the upconverting nanoparticle will fluoresce. The gold nanorod serves as an enhancer of the fluorescence signal. This can be used as background free biosensing method. We have already prepared the UPNs and tested their emission. We are currently attaching them to Au nanorods to probe the enhanced luminescence. This project could also have applications in organic solar cell enhancement as well as a potential new method for LED TVs.

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Project Opportunities

Title: Waveguide-coupled 2D materials for spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) generation and collection

Summary of opportunity:

This project aims to generate correlated photons directly on-chip from 2D materials.

Opportunity synopsis:

The future quantum optical information processing (QOIP) field doesn’t have a “winning” platform yet. Once, of the approaches is to generate single photons on demand, identical (spectral purity) and in high quantity. One potential solution to this problem is to use nonlinear optical phenomena, such as spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), i.e. pumping the material at low optical wavelength (such as 750 nm) and observe the generation of correlated (produced at the same time and with correlated properties) photon pairs. These can then be entangled on-chip and used for modern QOIP. However, the ideal source of correlated photon pairs has to be demonstrated yet. Here we want to detect the SPDC from a 2D material deposited on a Si integrated waveguide. In this way we hope to increase the light-matter interaction and enhance the production of correlated photon-pairs which will be already couple into the waveguide and ready to be entangled and used directly on-chip. The project will first entails a linear and nonlinear characterization of the samples which are produced at ANU.

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Project Opportunities

Title: PLASMONIC-ENHANCED RAMAN SCATTERING SCANNER: A REVOLUTION IN MOBILE SENSING

Summary of opportunity:

This project aims to develop nanoscale waveguide-enhanced spontaneous Raman scattering, thereby bringing on-chip single molecule detection and identification to reality. This project will advance knowledge in photonics, enhanced Raman sensing on-chip and nanofabrication.

Opportunity synopsis:

The expected outcome of this project is the development of fully integrated Raman-based universal molecular sensor. The project will lay the foundations for nanotechnology applications of Raman scattering, and in particular for using plasmonic structures on-chip to detect molecules.The project will provide significant benefits for the mobile sensing market, estimated to reach tens of billions of US dollars in the next few years.

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Project Opportunities

Title: Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART) on-a-chip

Summary of opportunity:

Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART) on-chip envision to revolutionise artificial reproductive technologies by utilising a proprietary custom-built micro-optofluidic platform.

Opportunity synopsis:

Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART) underpin genetic and production gains in animal agriculture and form the basis of the treatment of infertility in wildlife, including species at risk repopulation, companion animals and human reproduction. Many of the steps in ARTs involve high human labour and technical input to manipulate gametes and embryos in space as well as assessing their quality. Direct pipetting of these reproductive structures by human operators or banks of expensive flow cytometers are the accepted norm. ART-on-chip promises to revolutionise artificial reproductive technologies by utilising a micro-optofluidic platform to facilitate, and depending on the application, integrate, male and/or female gamete assessment, selection and combination for fertilisation, then subsequent support and manipulation of resultant embryos for frozen storage.

----------Current Research Projects----------

• _x000D_ Hybrid-Plasmonic and fully Metal-Dielectric-Metal waveguides for nonlinear optical and quantum photonics devices (Nonlinear/Quantum Plasmonics)
• _x000D_ Plasmonic nanolasers (Plasmonics)
• _x000D_ Metal-Dielectric-Metal waveguides as bulding block for photon-pair generation or nonlinear phenomena like cross-Kerr correlation and squeezing (Quantum Nanophotonics)
• _x000D_ Metal-Dielectric-Metal waveguides as bulding block for molecular sensing and DNA sequencers (Plasmonics/Bionanophtonics)
• _x000D_ Integrated plasmonic waveguides for enhanced plasmonic-induced photocatalys: the green hydrogen revolution (Plasmonics)
• _x000D_ Integrated Photonic for Optogenetics: a new platfomr for neural interface and neuromorphic computation (Neurophotonics)