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  • Home
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  • Events
    • Lectures >
      • Industry Perspective Lectures
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    • Women in Photonics Week >
      • WIPW 2019
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    • Light Science Workshop >
      • Light Science 2018
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    • Day of Light >
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Fall 2021 Beach BBQ

9/17/2021

 
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Fall 2021 Ice Cream Social

9/17/2021

 
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Dr. Julia Majors - Master Oscillator Packaging for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)

7/8/2021

 
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Dr. Julia Majors

Optical Program Manager
​
Avo Photonics, Inc.


Thursday, July 15, 10:00 - 11:00 am (PDT)
5 years after the earth-based gravitational wave observatory, LIGO, made its first detection of gravitational waves, work is already well underway in preparing for the next generation of gravitational wave observatories – in orbit around the sun. Working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, we are building what will be the “quietest” oscillator in (and above) the world to serve as the core light source for the interferometric system. The system is based on a non-planar ring oscillator (NPRO) model, which I will discuss along with some of the challenges that arise when developing laser systems for space applications.

Student Lecture by KaiKai Liu on Milliwatt Threshold 0.5-Hz Linewidth Si3N4 Brillouin Laser

5/25/2021

 
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Friday May 28 at 1:00 pm 
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KaiKai Liu
Blumenthal Group
ECE Dept, UCSB

Milliwatt Threshold 0.5-Hz Linewidth Photonic Integrated Si3N4 Brillouin Laser

Narrow linewidth lasers are an essential component in a wide range of applications including coherent communications, atomic and optical clocks, and quantum communications and computation. Laser cavity Q factor plays the crucial role in semiconductor laser linewidth. Ultra-low loss SiN waveguide resonators are extremely advantageous for making Hz linewidth lasers.
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In this talk, I will introduce the unique linewidth property of Brillouin lasers and present our recent progress towards Billion Q photonics integrated SiN waveguide resonators and the demonstration of the milliwatt threshold Brillouin laser with 0.5 Hz Schawlow-Townes linewidth.

Quantum Industry Showcase 2021

4/26/2021

 
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The UCSB Quantum Foundry and the UCSB Photonics Society hosted the 2021 Quantum Industry Showcase on April 22 and 23. You can watch the Keynote address and the fireside chat below.  You can also find more information and presentations from the event at ​https://qis.quantumfoundry.ucsb.edu/. 
Like these videos? Watch the full QIS 2021 playlist at 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xulQc4G_R9w&list=PLtIKDPzlP_wMvxVLMWlnP-lP6kb7Lr29l

Student Lectures - Shubhra Pasayat and Chris Zollner

3/16/2021

 
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1:00 PM Friday, April 2nd

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Shubhra S. Pasayat
Mishra group 
ECE Dept, UCSB

III-Nitride Strain relaxation enabled by Porous GaN for optoelectronic applications 

In my talk, I will discuss the conceptualization, fabrication and optimization of the strain relaxed substrates followed by process optimizations which led to our demonstration of world’s first <10 µm sized red LED with measurable efficiency.

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Chris Zollner
Nakamura group 
 Materials Dept, UCSB

Ultraviolet LEDs for disinfection applications: efficiency bottlenecks and novel approaches  ​

In this talk, I will discuss why III-nitride based deep-UV LEDs remain less than 10% efficient, whereas blue and white GaN LEDs are now well over 60%. Next, I will summarize our approach to improving UV LED efficiency using improved material quality, device design, and fabrication technologies. Finally, I will suggest some possible future trends, and what it will take for UV LEDs to become the dominant UV light source.

Breaking the Bounds of Imaging in Label-Free Nanoscopy, Micro-Endoscopy and Ophthalmology - Dr. Zalevsky

1/26/2021

 
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​Dr. Zeev Zalevsky
Professor of Electrical Engineering
​​Bar-Ilan University
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Thursday, February 25th, 10 am (PST) via Zoom
Meeting ID: 854 2977 2482  Passcode: 230903
Both human vision and imaging systems have limited capability to separate spatial features, and this information can only be extracted from a limited range in depth. These limitations arise from diffraction, i.e., the finite dimensions of the imaging optics and the geometry of the sensor. In this talk, I will present novel photonic approaches to exceed the resolution limitations of geometric optics. I will show how those concepts can be adapted to micro endoscopy as well as to microscopy-related configurations, including ophthalmic devices for correcting visual deficiencies.
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Images from https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2514861
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From Dr. Zalevsky's talk -- an introduction to noise equivalent resolution

Infrared Applications for Safe and Healthy Living - Dr. Perera

1/26/2021

 
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​​Dr. Unil Perera
Regents’ Professor of Physics
Georgia State University


Friday, January 29th, 10 am (PST) 
​Infrared detectors and imaging systems are becoming increasingly important in a diverse range of astronomic, military, and civilian applications. This field has gained significant attention while incorporating various materials and architectures into detector designs with a strong focus on applicability into clinical domains. Dr. Perera will discuss recent detector structures, and his latest work on disease detection. Biomedical applications of infrared include an exploration of an Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid, Equipment-free, and Deliverable (ASSURED) diagnostic regimen and testing its clinical feasibility for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) and cancer screening. A study using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sampling mode analyzed  body fluids in order to identify reproducible,  stable,  and statistically significant differences  in spectral signatures of the IR absorbance spectra between the control and disease samples. These results show that serum samples can be used to detect the biochemical changes induced by these diseases. 
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Image from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17027-4
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Image from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17027-4
​Student’s t-test (two-tailed unequal variance) p-values of absorbance. Discriminatory region for lymphoma with higher significance (p < 0.05) are amide I of protein, amide II of protein, C-H bends of CH3/CH2 groups in α- and β- anomers, asymmetric phosphate I, and carbohydrates with predominant contributions nucleic acids (DNA/RNA via PO2 − stretches). Discriminatory regions of melanoma are amide I and carbohydrates with predominant contributions of nucleic acids.
Plots of the protein secondary structures (α-helix, β-sheet) and their ratio. (a) Quantified integral (area covered) values of α-helix components are less for tumorous cases compared to control. (b) Integral values of β-sheet components are higher for tumorous cases compared to control

Student Lecture Series - January 22, 2021

1/20/2021

 
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1:00 PM Friday, January 22nd
Zoom Meeting --– Meeting ID: 847 3105 9791 --- Password: 792878  --- Zoom Link


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Yahya Mohtashami
​Schuller group
ECE
Dept, UCSB



​Light-Emitting
Metasurfaces

In this talk, we show that we can increase the light extraction efficiency of, impart directionality upon, collimate, and focus the spontaneous emission from InGaN/GaN quantum wells, using phased-array metasurfaces.

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Seamus O’Hara
Sherwin group
Physics
Dept, UCSB



​Optical Sensitivity to Wavefunctions of Electron-Hole Pairs in Semiconductors
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Strong THz laser fields can explore non-linear, non-equilibrium phenomena in matter. The talk will focus on photons emitted by electron/hole re-collisions, and how the polarization of these photons carries information about the semiconductor.

Dec. 18 Virtual Game Night

12/11/2020

 
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Dr. Mengjie Yu - Integrated Lithium Niobate Photonics

10/26/2020

 
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Dr. Mengjie Yu

Postdoctoral Fellow

Harvard University Laboratory
​for Nanoscale Optics

​Thursday, November 5th, 10 am (PST) via Zoom
Lithium niobate (LN), the workhorse of optoelectronics, is an excellent photonic material with large electro-optic coefficient, Kerr nonlinearity and piezoelectric response, and a wide optical transparency window. Recent advances in nanofabrication technology have allowed for the realization of ultra-low loss LN waveguides and are opening exciting opportunities for next-generation nonlinear photonic technologies with higher integration density and advanced functionalities. In this talk, I will review our recent developments of thin-film LN devices, including optical frequency combs, supercontinuum generation, optical frequency shifting, acousto-optic control. In addition, I will discuss the potential of LN platform for applications in nonlinear frequency conversion, frequency metrology, and microwave photonics.
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Following the technical talk, I will give a  short professional development talk, including networking and volunteering in the photonics community, and I will cover some career advice for graduate students.
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Images from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.09621.pd

Dr. Gabriella Cincotti - Multidimensional Optical Multiplexing

10/22/2020

 
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Dr. Gabriella Cincotti

Full Professor 

Head of Photonics Research Group

University Roma Tre


Monday, October 26th, 11 am (PDT) via Zoom
Fiber communications support a wide range of residential, mobile and enterprise services, within core, metro, and access optical networks. The 5G and beyond wireless is expected to have a dramatic impact on the fiber infrastructure, bringing new severe requirements such as higher data rates, ultra-high bandwidth, lower latency, accurate synchronization, network slicing, ultra-high reliability and massive connectivity for many devices. Adaptive, flexible and efficient optical resource management, as well as agile bit-rates are the key technologies to exploit the whole bandwidth of single-wavelength, single-core and single-mode fibers. All-optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and Nyquist-optical time division multiplexing (N-OTDM) are the two most suitable approaches to efficiently generate Tb/s superchannels, by optically multiplexing subcarriers or by time interleaving short sinc-shaped pulses. The superchannels are generated in the optical domain, in a power-efficient way, also overcoming the restrictions related to the bandwidth of modulators and digital signal processing devices. A planar arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) can be designed to implement the conventional or fractional Fourier transform and efficiently generate OFDM and Fr-OFDM superchannels, that are less sensitive to nonlinear distortion and chromatic dispersion effects. The ultimate efficiency in physical resource exploitation can be achieved only in a truly flexible system, where it is possible to switch from OFDM to N-OTDM and vice versa, through intermediate fractional grids. Starting from experimental results of a novel approach for hybrid time-frequency multiplexing, this talk will focus on additional multiplexing domains, such as polarization, space, wavelength and code. Suitable AWG configurations can be designed for simultaneous frequency and polarization or mode and frequency multiplexing, as well as for generating optical codes in asynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) and optical packet switching systems.
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Image from https://doi-org/0.1364/OE.25.00349
Gabriella Cincotti is a Full Professor at the Engineering Department, University Roma Tre, Rome Italy; she leads the Photonics Research Group and is in charge of the courses of Photonics and Biophotonics. She is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), she was an elected member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Photonics Society (2017-2019) and currently she is serving in the IEEE Photonics Publications Council. She was a technical program committee (TPC) member of the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) (2010-2012), also serving as Chair of the Access Subcommittee. She was also TPC member of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) (2016-2018). She served as an Associate Editor of Optics Letters (2008-2014) and she serves as Deputy Editor of Optica since 2017. She has authored or co-authored over 300 research papers in leading journals and conferences. Her main research interests are in the field of planar lightwave circuits, photonic devices and subsystems for high-speed optical signal processing. Recently, she moved part of her research interests toward super resolution imaging and point of care testing for biomedical and microbiological applications.

Dr. Christian Reimer - From Academia to Co-founding HyperLight -- Developing Integrated Lithium Niobate Technologies for High-performance Photonic Solutions

10/22/2020

 
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Dr. Christian Reimer

Head of Product

HyperLight Corporation


Friday, October 23rd, 11 am (PDT) via Zoom
Dr. Christian Reimer is a physicist and entrepreneur working in the fields of nonlinear optics, integrated photonics and quantum optics. He received graduate degrees from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, and the National Institute of Scientific Research in Canada. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, before becoming Co-Founder and Head of Product of HyperLight Corporation. HyperLight, a Venture-Capital funded start-up out of Harvard University, is specialized on integrated lithium niobate technologies for ultra-high performance photonic solutions.
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In the scientific part of his talk, Christian will introduce the field of integrated photonics based on thin-film lithium niobate, with a  focus on electro-optic applications, as well as recent progress on transforming the field from chip-based proof-of-concept realizations for wafer-scale production. In the professional development section, he will then share his experience transitioning from academia to a start-up company. He will talk about differences and similarities in the work environment, what to expect in terms of tasks and responsibilities, and explain how salaries at start-ups can include combinations of equity and incentives.
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Images from hyperlightcorp.com

Prof. Bowers on Henley Hall

10/9/2020

 
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On ​Henley Hall

Prof. John Bowers
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Friday, Oct. 16th, 4 pm (PDT) via Zoom  
​Henley Hall will hold state-of-the-art research facilities for developing energy-efficient technologies. Prof. Bowers will present the research capabilities and expected research ramp-up timeline for the new building.

Fall 2020 Virtual Student Mixer

10/1/2020

 
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High-Dimensional Frequency Domain Quantum Photonics

10/1/2020

 
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​Prof. Andrew M. Weiner

Electrical and Computer Engineering
​
Purdue University

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Thursday, Oct. 8, 1-2 pm (PDT) via Zoom
Meeting ID: 819 4601 6935, Password: 597044
Entanglement and encoding in discrete frequency bins – a quantum analogue of wavelength-division multiplexing – represents a relatively new degree of freedom for quantum information with photons. Potential advantages include generation of high-dimensional units of quantum information called qudits, which can carry multiple qubits per photon; robust transmission over fiber; frequency parallelism and routing; and compatibility with on-chip implementations, as well as hyperentanglement with other photonic degrees of freedom. In this talk I first give an overview of manipulating and measuring quantum states encoded and entangled in the photonic frequency degree of freedom. I will then discuss our recent experiments that focus on high-dimensional entanglement and mixing of multiple frequency bins in a single operation, going well beyond nearest neighbor “interactions.

Ultraviolet Optoelectronics for a Better Living - Prof. Mi

8/1/2020

 
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Prof. Zetian Mi
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Tuesday, September 8th, 10 am (PDT) via Zoom
Meeting ID: 978 3569 2970  Passcode: 468555

Infectious diseases and water are some of the greatest, most urgent challenges of the 21st century. III-nitride ultraviolet (UV) light sources, including light emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers, are the only alternative technology to replace conventional power-hungry, hazardous mercury lamps for disinfection and water purification. Recent studies showed that AlGaN-based UV-C LEDs can readily shred genetic material of viruses and bacterial and achieve 99.9% sterilization of SARS-COV-2. In this talk, I will present the recent advances of AlGaN and BN nanostructures and heterostructures and their applications in UV optoelectronics, including the first demonstration of mid and deep UV laser diodes and tunnel junction UV-C LEDs with significantly improved performance. The recent development of far-UV-C LEDs, in the wavelength range of 207-222 nm, will also be presented, which has shown to be faster and far more effective than traditional UV-C light (~265 nm) in preventing the transmission of microbial diseases, while causing virtually no harm to mammalian skin or eye.

Student Lecture Series - June 3, 2020 - Changyun Yoo

5/29/2020

 
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Changyun Yoo
Sherwin group
Physics Dept, UCSB
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Schematic for the cross-section of a TACIT mixer (right); Optical image of a TACIT mixer with an SEM image of the active region (top)

​Terahertz Heterodyne Detector Based on the Intersubband Transition of a GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Well 

We are developing a new type of THz heterodyne detector based on a high-mobility 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well for spectroscopic applications in deep-space and planetary missions. ​Named as Tunable Antenna-Coupled Intersubband Terahertz (TACIT) mixer, the detector is a four-terminal hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer that uses intersubband transition for efficient absorption of THz radiation in a 2DEG. The dual gate structure of TACIT mixers, necessary for the precise control of the intersubband absorption characteristics, enables a high coupling efficiency at THz frequencies and tunability in the detection frequency, but also poses challenges in the fabrication, modelling, and operation of the device.
In this talk, I will discuss our recent experimental results with a prototype TACIT mixer that we have fabricated with a flip-chip process that enables dual-side processing of a sub-micron thick quantum well membrane.
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Sustainable Networking & Adventures in Professional Development

5/18/2020

 
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​Dr. Christina Willis
2019-2020 OSA & SPIE Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Fellow


​Wednesday, May 20, 2020, 1 p.m. 
​Sustainability applied to networking is about treating professional support and assistance like a resource, and creating more of it than you take. Dr. Willis will discuss principles and applications of sustainable professional networking, and how to use it to generate success through mutually beneficial professional relationships. She will also discuss her own career path, citing examples that illustrate the value of sustainable networking.

Quantum Nanophotonics with Hexagonal Boron Nitride

4/24/2020

 
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​Quantum Nanophotonics with
Hexagonal Boron Nitride


​Prof. Igor Aharonovitch
University of Technology Sydney


Engineering robust solid-state quantum systems is amongst the most pressing challenges to realize scalable quantum photonic circuitry. While several 3D systems (such as diamond or silicon carbide) have been thoroughly studied, solid state emitters in two dimensional (2D) materials are still in their infancy. In this presentation I will discuss single defects in an emerging 2D material – hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), that is promising as qubits for quantum photonic applications. In particular, I will focus on ways to engineer these defects deterministically using either chemical vapour deposition growth or ion implantation, and show results on strain tuning of these ultra-bright quantum emitters. I will then highlight promising avenues to integrate the single defects with photonic cavities, as a first step towards integrated quantum photonics with 2D materials. I will summarize by outlining challenges and promising directions in the field of quantum emitters and nanophotonics with 2D materials.
Watch the recorded lecture from April 23, 2020:

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