Optics and Photonics

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Powered by a broadband infrared laser, the device can zero in on the ‘spectral fingerprint region’.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

“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.”

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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