Home > News > All News > Optics and Photonics

Optics and Photonics

News Feed

Jacob Barnhart receives DoD NDSEG Fellowship to investigate strong light-matter interactions

Barnhart and PhD advisor Alex Burgers will develop a platform for entangling multiple atoms on a single chip, or across longer distances.

Alex Burgers receives NSF CAREER Award to advance quantum communications

Prof. Burgers will use atom-photon entanglement and nanophotonic structures to transmit quantum information over fiber optic cables.

Herbert Winful part of MURI team investigating AI-guided self-organization in nonlinear systems

Prof. Winful adds his unique expertise on the behavior of coupled semiconductor laser systems to a collaborative $9M project led by researchers at Yale University.

Boosting AI model size and training speed with lightwave-connected chips

AI growth is capped by data transfer rates between computing chips, but transferring data with light could remove the ceiling.

Alex Burgers receives AFOSR support for research on atom-photon interactions

Prof. Burgers will use optical tweezers to create quantum mirrors from 2D arrays of atoms in a first-of-its-kind experimental demonstration.

ECE Spinout company NS Nanotech releases first solid-state semiconductor to produce human-safe disinfecting UV light

NS Nanotech’s new product, enabled by ECE Prof. Zetian Mi’s research, can safely disinfect high-risk spaces like ambulances and school buses.

Zetian Mi awarded $7.5M MURI for research on ferroelectric nitrides

Prof. Mi is the lead PI on a collaborative project that aims to advance ferroelectric nitrides for applications in next-generation microelectronics and quantum-photonic devices.

Arthur Xiao wins SID Detroit Metro Chapter Academic Award for work on red micro-LEDs

Xiao’s PhD work has focused on developing tiny, efficient, and stable red LEDs for use in virtual and augmented reality displays.

An OLED for compact, lightweight night vision

Thinner than a human hair, the device amplifies and converts near infrared light into visible light with the potential for low power consumption and long battery life.

In step toward solar fuels, durable artificial photosynthesis setup chains two carbons together

The system produces ethylene, an important ingredient of many plastics, with much higher efficiency, yield and longevity than competing systems.

OptoGPT for improving solar cells, smart windows, telescopes and more

Taking advantage of the transformer neural networks that power large language models, engineers can get recipes for materials with the optical properties they need.

Updating the textbook on polarization in gallium nitride to optimize wide bandgap semiconductors

Understanding the phenomenon underpinning the material’s electronic performance will inform the design of smaller, faster and more efficient electronic and quantum devices.

Auto industry deadlines loom for impaired-driver detection tech, U-M offers a low-cost solution

As the comment period closes on the new federal requirement, a U-M team led by Prof. Mohammed Islam demonstrates that upgrades to current technologies could do the job

Nextgen computing: Hard-to-move quasiparticles glide up pyramid edges

Computing with a combination of light and chargeless excitons could beat heat losses and more, but excitons need new modes of transport

Shaping the quantum future with lightwave electronics

The semiconductor-compatible technology is a million times faster than existing electronics and could give us access to an entire new world of quantum phenomena.

Gregory Robinson details the journey of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for Gilleo Lectureship

Under Robinson’s leadership, the James Webb Space Telescope project went from being years behind schedule and billions over-budget to one of NASA’s greatest achievements of the 21st century.

Parag Deotare awarded DURIP grant to probe exciton energy transport at nanoscale

The tool is expected to advance the study of exciton dynamics, which could help identify new research directions for clean energy and information technology.

New non-invasive optical imaging approach for monitoring brain health could improve outcomes for traumatic brain injury patients

The SCISCCO system could better monitor brain and organ metabolism, helping to diagnose concussions, monitor cerebral metabolism in traumatic brain injury patients, and gauge the response of organs to treatments in an operating or emergency room scenario.

Lauren Cooper awarded Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship from SPIE

Cooper, an ECE PhD student, works to advance fiber lasers, which could help provide the bursts for next-generation particle accelerators and advance attosecond science.

Louise Willingale named Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences

Willingale was a featured speaker at the 2022 Kavli Frontiers of Science U.S. Symposium, where she presented on high intensity lasers, including ZEUS.

Lauren Cooper awarded Department of Energy Fellowship for her work on ultra-short pulse fiber lasers

Cooper’s research is focused on nonlinear coherent pulse stacking, a method of generating pulses with energies and pulse durations suitable for particle accelerators and attosecond science.

Herbert Winful receives University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorship

Winful is recognized for promoting the university’s goals around diversity, equity and inclusion.

$1.8M to develop room temperature, controllable quantum nanomaterials

The project could pave the way for compact quantum computing and communications as well as efficient UV lamps for sterilization and air purification.

Solar cells with 30-year lifetimes for power-generating windows

High-efficiency but fragile molecules for converting light to electricity thrive with a little protection.

Most powerful laser in the U.S. to begin operations soon, supported by $18.5M from the NSF

With first light anticipated in 2022, the NSF will provide five years of operations funding, ramping up as the ZEUS user facility progresses to full capacity.

Herbert Winful awarded the 2021 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award

Winful is recognized for his decades of outstanding leadership and commitment to developing a culturally and ethnically diverse University of Michigan community.

3D motion tracking system could streamline vision for autonomous tech

Transparent optical sensor arrays combine with a specialized neural network in new University of Michigan prototype

DYNAMO achieves first observation of the “charge separation effect”

Research led by Prof. Stephen Rand, Director of the Center for Dynamic Magneto-optics (DYNAMO), has important potential for energy conversion, ultrafast switching, nanophotonics, and nonlinear optics.

Mapping quantum structures with light to unlock their capabilities

Rather than installing new “2D” semiconductors in devices to see what they can do, this new method puts them through their paces with lasers and light detectors.

Burn after reading

A self-erasing chip for security and anti-counterfeit tech.

Mirror-like photovoltaics get more electricity out of heat

By reflecting nearly all the light they can’t turn into electricity, they help pave the way for storing renewable energy as heat.

The Future of Lasers

A research profile of Prof. Gérard Mourou and other ECE scientists talks about the future of lasers, from transmuting nuclear waste to shooting space junk.

Improved neural probe can pose precise questions without losing parts of the answers

It will now be possible to study brain activity when timing is important, such as the consolidation of memory.

Herbert Winful named Joseph E. and Anne P. Rowe Professor of Electrical Engineering

Winful has made fundamental contributions to nonlinear optics and the physics of tunneling, while also championing an inclusive department.

Russel Lecture: Fighting climate change with organic electronics

The researcher-entrepreneur who helped bring OLED displays to the masses envisions a future of efficient lighting and next-gen solar power.

Toward a portable concussion detector that relies on an infrared laser

By looking at tissue oxygen and cell metabolism at the same time, doctors could have a fast and noninvasive way to monitor the health of brain cells.

A 3D camera for safer autonomy and advanced biomedical imaging

Researchers demonstrated the use of stacked, transparent graphene photodetectors combined with image processing algorithms to produce 3D images and range detection.

Nobel Prize winners talk research, Nobel ceremony, and are remembered by U-M colleagues

From rubbing elbows with royalty to finding yourself a casual seatmate to a member of U2, Professor Emeritus Gérard Mourou, Prof. Donna Strickland, and their former U-M colleagues shared their experiences and reflections on the 2018 Nobel Prize ceremony.

U-M to become Mount Olympus with ZEUS, the most powerful laser to be built in the U.S.

The three-petawatt system could unlock secrets of the universe, advance cancer treatments, improve security screenings for nuclear threats, and much more.

Two members of ECE will represent U-M at the 2019 Rising Stars in EECS Workshop

The intensive workshop brings together outstanding women who are graduate students or postdocs interested in pursuing academic careers in electrical engineering and computer science.

Most powerful laser in the US to be built at Michigan

Using extreme light to explore quantum dynamics, advance medicine and more.

Beyond Apollo 11: U-M ECE’s role in advancing space exploration

For the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, U-M ECE takes a look back – and a look forward – to how our professors, students, and alums have made their mark on the field.

Kim Winick retires, leaving a legacy that empowers students to seek life and learning outside of the lab

For the past 31 years, Prof. Winick has helped define undergraduate courses and curriculum both at U-M and abroad while inspiring all to engineer their future by understanding the past.

Kirigami can spin terahertz rays in real time to peer into biological tissue

The rays used by airport scanners might have a future in medical imaging.

Louise Willingale creates extreme plasma conditions using high-intensity laser pulses

Prof. Willingale’s research in plasma physics advances many research areas from spectacular astrophysical phenomena to cancer treatment to fusion power.

Stephen Forrest named Henry Russel Lecturer for 2020

Stephen R. Forrest has been selected as U-M’s 2020 Henry Russel Lecturer, the university’s highest honor for senior faculty members.

Two U-M students receive scholarships from the International Society for Optics and Photonics

Hanzhang Pei (ECE) and Darwin F. Cordovilla Leon (Applied Physics) were selected for their potential contributions to the field of optics, photonics or related field.

Nooshin M. Estakhri receives the Helen Wu Award

Estakhri is a PhD student studying quantum optics and its potential to impact communication and biomedical imaging.

A Spotlight on Optics

The Optics Society at U-M hosted an Industry Spotlight event, which brought academia, industry, and community together to celebrate all things optics and photonics.

Laura Andre brings the engineering community together

EECS-ECE PhD student Laura Andre is recognized by the College of Engineering with the Distinguished Leadership Award for her outstanding contributions to the college, university, and community.

2018 Nobel Prize Laureate Gérard Mourou talks high-intensity optics

Gérard Mourou, Professor Emeritus of EECS, returned to campus to discuss winning the Nobel Prize and his work in high-intensity optics.

Extreme light: Nobel laureate discusses the past & future of lasers

Lasers of tomorrow might neutralize nuclear waste, clean up space junk and advance proton therapy to treat cancer, says Gerard Mourou.

A new $1.6M energy project to develop low cost manufacturing of white organic lighting

Prof. Stephen Forrest is developing an automated high-yield roll-to-roll process to manufacture organic LEDs for lighting.

ECE student Brandon Russell explores space phenomena in a lab

PhD student Brandon Russell is awarded the Rackham International Student Fellowship for his research on magnetic fields in high-energy plasmas, which could help advance the development of clean energy and our understanding of energetic astrophysical phenomena.

Pallab Bhattacharya to receive 2019 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal

Bhattacharya honored for the development and commercialization of quantum dot lasers.

$6.8M initiative to enable American laser renaissance

After Europe and Asia surpassed U.S. in high intensity laser research in the early 2000s, the Department of Energy is funding new collaborative research network to make the U.S. more competitive.

Mackillo Kira Elected OSA Fellow for contributions to quantum optics

Prof. Kira was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the theory of semiconductor quantum optics.

Nobel Prize for ‘the most powerful laser pulses known to humanity’

At U-M, Gérard Mourou advanced ‘chirped pulse amplification,’ leading to more precise LASIK eye surgery and pushing the limits of optical science.

It takes two photonic qubits to make quantum computing possible

Professors Ku and Steel are applying their expertise to take key next steps toward practical quantum computing

How to color-code nearly invisible nanoparticles

With a bit of metal, nanoparticles shine in colors based on size.

Light could make semiconductor computers a million times faster or even go quantum

Electron states in a semiconductor, set and changed with pulses of light, could be the 0 and 1 of future “lightwave” electronics or room-temperature quantum computers.

A shoe-box-sized chemical detector

Laser cooling with Laura Andre

Laura Andre says she “ended up just falling in love with optics.”

Precise pulses explore light’s magnetism

A new laser will investigate an unusual magnetic effect that may lead to efficient solar energy harvesting.

Doubling the power of the world’s most intense laser

It could enable tabletop particle and X-ray sources as well as the investigation of astrophysics and quantum dynamics.

Ultrashort light pulses for fast “lightwave” computers

Extremely short, configurable “femtosecond” pulses of light demonstrated by an international team could lead to future computers that run up to 100,000 times faster than today’s electronics.

Zetian Mi elected SPIE Fellow for contributions to photonic devices and artificial photosynthesis

Prof. Mi conducts research in the area of semiconductor optoelectronics, specifically in the areas of III-nitride semiconductors, low dimensional nanostructures, LEDs, lasers, Si photonics, artificial photosynthesis and solar fuels.

Parag Deotare receives AFOSR Award for research in Nanoscale Exciton-Mechanical Systems (NEXMS)

Prof. Deotare’s work will deepen our understanding of the underlying physics of exciton-mechanics interactions and help engineer novel devices for energy harvesting and up-conversion.

Steve Rand: expanding technical education in India

“India’s progress toward becoming a global economic power-player has generated an unprecedented need for a larger, highly trained workforce of engineers, scientists and technicians,” Rand said.

A better 3D camera with clear, graphene light detectors

While 3D films are currently made using multiple cameras to reconstruct each frame, this new type of camera could record in 3D on its own.

Next generation laser plasma accelerator

One of the most promising avenues for achieving new target levels of high peak intensity and high average power in an ultrafast laser system is to turn to fiber lasers.

Stephen Forrest named Peter A. Franken Distinguished University Professor

Prof. Forrest is internationally-renowned and easily one of the most prolific inventors in academia today.

Cheng Zhang awarded Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship for research on nanophotonic materials and devices

Cheng works with Prof. L. Jay Guo on research projects in the field of micro/nano-scale optical device physics and fabrication.

The future of solar: $1.3M to advance organic photovoltaics

The grant is aimed at advancing organic photovoltaics, a carbon-based version of solar technology that promises to change the way the sun’s energy is collected.

Ted Norris receives Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award

Prof. Norris is an internationally recognized expert in the field of ultrafast optics.

Celebrating Gérard Mourou: From ultrafast to extreme light

Mourou put the University on the map in ultrafast optics when he established the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science in 1991.

New research program to investigate optical energy conversion

The fundamental objective of the research initiative is to uncover, explain, and exploit dynamic magneto-optical processes and materials for new technological capabilities.

A new way to make laser-like beams using 250x less power

With precarious particles called polaritons that straddle the worlds of light and matter, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated a new, practical and potentially more efficient way to make a coherent laser-like beam.

Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Dreyer – Ambassador for Optics

Elizabeth’s research is to understand how a new interaction between light and matter can generate electricity.

New tech could lead to night vision contact lenses

The detector developed by University of Michigan engineering researchers doesn’t need bulky cooling equipment to work.

What are quantum computers going to do for us?

Michigan Engineering professor Duncan Steel explains how quantum computing works, using quantum bits that take on superpositions of 0 and 1 simultaneously.

Anatoly Maksimchuk elected Fellow of APS

Dr. Maksimchuk is a world leader in the field of high intensity laser plasma interactions.

New algorithms and theory for shining light through non-transparent media

Their technique utilizes backscatter analysis to construct “perfectly transmitting” wavefronts.

Kyu Hyun Kim receives Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Award at Frontiers in Optics Meeting

Mr. Kim was the first to demonstrate that both light and vibration could be used simultaneously in sensing.

New laser shows what substances are made of; could be new eyes for military

By shining the laser on a target and analyzing the reflected light, researchers can tell the chemical composition of the target.

A new laser paradigm: An electrically injected polariton laser

“It is no longer a scientific curiosity. It’s a real device.”

Using HERCULES to probe the interior of dense plasmas

Thanks to HERCULES, scientists are now able to study very dense plasmas — a crucial step in nuclear fusion and astrophysical research.

Super-fine sound beam could one day be an invisible scalpel

“We believe this could be used as an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery,” Guo said. “Nothing pokes into your body, just the ultrasound beam.”

Ted Norris named Gérard A. Mourou Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

In the tradition of our best faculty at Michigan, Ted is a phenomenal teacher and mentor as well as researcher. Congratulations!

A new way to cool materials with light

The work advances the scientific understanding of laser cooling technologies currently being pursued to explore the boundary between classical and quantum physics.

A smarter way to make ultraviolet light beams

The researchers have optimized an optical resonator to take an infrared signal from relatively cheap telecommunication-compatible lasers and boost it to an ultraviolet beam.

Celebrating the birth of a new science

The discovery of nonlinear optics was just one of several Michigan “firsts” that occurred about fifty years ago, and underscores the importance of involving undergrads in research.

Heather Ferguson awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Heather is studying Optical Sciences here at the University and will continue her research in this field – congratulations!

New NSF Center for Photonic and Multiscale Nanomaterials

“Advances in photonics depend critically on new materials, and this new center brings together top minds to focus on two of the most exciting new directions in materials for nanophotonics.”

New laser could treat acne with telecom technology

The laser could treat acne by targeting the oil-producing sebaceous glands, which are known to be involved in the development of the skin disease.

Nonlinear Optics at 50: A Symposium

As the birthplace of nonlinear optics, the University of Michigan is proud to host a symposium which will bring together some of the pioneers in the field.

Solar power without solar cells: A hidden magnetic effect of light could make it possible

This new technique could make solar power cheaper and, with improved materials, more efficient.

HERCULES laser rivals a synchrotron for short pulse x-ray beams

By using the wiggling motion of electrons in a plasma bubble generated by the ultrashort laser pulse, researchers produced X-rays comparable to that produced in a synchrotron facility.

New work resolves long-standing questions about short pulses in quantum cascade lasers

Can the laser’s pulse propagate in such a way that it does not change its energy, and leaves the system in the excited state? Does the pulse speed up during propagation?

WIMS and CUOS among 60 Years of Sensational Research by NSF

The WIMS has impacted health care, environmental monitoring, the national infrastructure while CUOS specializes in ultrafast lasers.

Tal Carmon receives Young Investigator Award for research in lasers and optics

The award will support Professor Carmon in three years of basic research on continuous on-chip extreme UV emitters.

Duncan Steel will advance quantum information processes in new MURI

Steel will concentrate his efforts on solid state systems, specifically with epitaxially grown InAs/lGaAs semiconductor quantum dots.

Ted Norris and CUOS: Reaching new frontiers in ultrafast optical science

Comprised of electrical engineers, astrophysicists, physicists, materials scientists, biomedical engineers, and doctors, CUOS explore ultrafast laser applications.

In tunneling physics, a decades-old paradox is resolved

Professor Winful sheds light on one of the most perplexing mysteries of quantum tunneling.

Eric Tkacyk receives Best Paper Award for research in biomedical optics

Tkaczyk hopes that his technique will be used to further the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Congratulations!

Gérard A. Mourou: In pursuit of new directions in science

“The future of CUOS is bright,” said Mourou. “Nothing will stop the flow of discoveries.”