Optical Microfibre Devices and Sensors

In the last decade Nanotechnology has increasingly attracted researchers' attention and funding from all over the world. 

Because of their unique physical and optical properties and their easy interconnection to fiberised components, optical fibre nanowires provide an exclusive way to connect the optical fibre world with nanotechnology.

The OMDS group studies the properties of nano-/micro-wires and their exploitation in devices and sensors, which can find applications in biology, medicine, optics, sub-wavelength imaging, high power fibre lasers, industrial safety and security.

Group webpage

PhD Projects:

Supervisor: Dr Gilberto Brambilla

High intensity extreme light confinement

Light confinement is limited by diffraction, meaning that for visible light can be focused to ~200nm. Optical memories and heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) require spot sizes considerably smaller than 50nm. This project will investigate the possibility to focus milliwatts of light to spot sizes smaller than 10nm. The influence of mode profile, polarization state and plasmonic effects will be explored to optimise confinement efficiency.

Mid-IR light generation in silicate fibres

Laser light is ordinarily generated in silicate fibres in the wavelength region 0.5-2um, where silica fibres have their maximum transparency. At wavelengths longer than 2um, compound glasses like chalcogenide or fluorides are generally used. Yet they tend to be challenging to manufacture, have poor environmental stability and be extremely costly.

This project aims to develop new light sources which generate light in silica fibres using parametric down conversion. By exploiting efficient phase matching between different modes, high power light sources at wavelengths longer than 3um will be manufactured. This project will be carried out in collaboration with NTU (Singapore).

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