Biography
Dr. Midya Parto is an Assistant Professor at the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), University of Central Florida. His research involves nonlinear optics and photonic resonator networks with applications in sensing, information processing and computing. His expertise and experience encompass theoretical aspects as well as experimental implementation of these topics in fiber-based systems and integrated photonic platforms such as active III-V materials and thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN).
Before joining CREOL as a faculty, Dr. Parto was a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology. His postdoctoral research focused on the realization of photonic time-multiplexed resonator networks as a new architecture for exploring new topological phenomena with applications in enhanced sensing and developing novel frequency comb sources. He also explored the utilization of integrated optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) fabricated on TFLN as a new platform for optoelectronic computing and information processing.
Prior to joining Caltech, he received his PhD from CREOL, UCF in 2019. His PhD research focused on active integrated photonic arrangements and coupled semiconductor lasers in III-V compound materials and their implementation for a wide variety of applications ranging from generating unconventional states of light inspired by topological and non-Hermitian physics to solving optimization problems in optics.
Awards & Honors
- 2025 US DoD Army Research Office (ARO) Early Career Program (ECP) Award
- 2019 Incubic/Milton Chang Travel Grant, The Optical Society (OSA)
- 2014–2018 UCF Graduate Dean’s Fellowship, University of Central Florida
Research Group
This lab explores nonlinear photonic systems and arrangements that provide novel schemes for light-based sensing, computing, and information processing. We are interested in leveraging ultrafast optical nonlinear processes to realize system-level, large-scale photonic systems that can implement various artificial intelligence (AI) and neuromorphic computing algorithms directly on photonic hardware, including photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In addition, we investigate new physical phenomena that arise from the synergy of optical nonlinear processes, nontrivial topology as well as non-Hermiticity with applications in new types of optical sources and sensors.
Research Scientists
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Publications
Yaraghi, S (Yaraghi, Shaghayegh) [1] ; Mhibik, O (Mhibik, Oussama) [1] , [2] ; Yessenov, M (Yessenov, Murat) [1] , [3] ; Miller, JK (Miller, J. Keith) [1] ; Parto, M (Parto, Midya) [1] ; Johnson, EG (Johnson, Eric G.) [1] ; Abouraddy, AF (Abouraddy, Ayman F.) [1] ; Divliansky, I (Divliansky, Ivan) [1] "Resonance-free Fabry-Pérot cavity via unrestricted orbital-angular-momentum ladder-up" Nature Communications, Volume: 16, Issue: 1 (2025)
Shaghayegh Yaraghi, Oussama Mhibik, Murat Yessenov, J Keith Miller, Midya Parto, Eric G Johnson, Ayman F Abouraddy, Ivan Divliansky "Resonance-free Fabry-Perot cavity via unrestricted orbital-angular-momentum ladder-up" arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.13712 (2025)
Gordon HY Li, Midya Parto, Jinhao Ge, Qing-Xin Ji, Maodong Gao, Yan Yu, James Williams, Robert M Gray, Christian R Leefmans, Nicolas Englebert, Kerry J Vahala, Alireza Marandi "All-optical computing with beyond 100-GHz clock rates" arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.05756 (2025)
M Parto, C Leefmans, J Williams, RM Gray, A Marandi "Enhanced sensitivity via non-Hermitian topology" Light-Science & Applications, Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Article Number 6 (2025)
Midya Parto, Gordon HY Li, Ryoto Sekine, Robert M Gray, Luis L Ledezma, James Williams, Arkadev Roy, Alireza Marandi "Ultrafast neuromorphic computing with nanophotonic optical parametric oscillators" arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.16604 (2025)
GHY Li, CR Leefmans, J Williams, RM Gray, M Parto, A Marandi "Deep learning with photonic neural cellular automata" Light: Science & Applications 13 (1), 283 (2024)
Robert M. Gray, Ryoto Sekine, Luis Ledezma, Gordon H. Y. Li, Selina Zhou, Arkadev Roy, Midya Parto, Alireza Marandi "Large-scale time-multiplexed nanophotonic parametric oscillators" arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.17355 (2024) (2024)
CR Leefmans, M Parto, J Williams, GHY Li, A Dutt, F Nori, A Marandi "Topological temporally mode-locked laser" Nature Physics 20, no. 5 (2024): 852-858. (2024)
Midya Parto, Christian Leefmans, James Williams, Franco Nori, Alireza Marandi "Non-Abelian effects in dissipative photonic topological lattices" Nature Communications 14, no. 1 (2023): 1440. (2023)
P.S. Jung, G.G. Pyrialakos, F.O. Wu, M. Parto, M. Khajavikhan, W. Krolikowski and D.N. Christodoulides "Thermal control of the topological edge flow in nonlinear photonic lattices" Nature Communications, 13(1), A. 4393 (2022)
Arkadev Roy, Midya Parto, Rajveer Nehra, Christian Leefmans, Alireza Marandi "Topological optical parametric oscillation" Nanophotonics 11, no. 8 (2022): 1611-1618. (2022)
Christian Leefmans, Avik Dutt, James Williams, Luqi Yuan, Midya Parto, Franco Nori, Shanhui Fan, Alireza Marandi "Topological dissipation in a time-multiplexed photonic resonator network" Nature Physics 18, no. 4 (2022): 442-449. (2022)
P.S. Jung, M. Parto, G.G. Pyrialakos, H. Nasari, K. Rutkowska, M. Trippenbach, M. Khajavikhan, W. Krolikowski and D.N. Christodoulides "Optical Thouless pumping transport and nonlinear switching in a topological low-dimensional discrete nematic liquid crystal array" Physical Review A, 105(1), A. 013513 (2022)
Y.Z.G.N. Liu, P.S. Jung, M. Parto, D.N. Christodoulides and M. Khajavikhan "Gain-induced topological response via tailored long-range interactions" Nature Physics, 17(6), pp. 704-+ (2021)
J.H. Choi, W.E. Hayenga, Y.Z.G.N. Liu, M. Parto, B. Bahari, D.N. Christodoulides and M. Khajavikhan "Room temperature electrically pumped topological insulator lasers" Nature Communications, 12(1), A. 3434 (2021)
M. Parto, Y.Z.G.N. Liu, B. Bahari, M. Khajavikhan and D.N. Christodoulides "Non-Hermitian and topological photonics: optics at an exceptional point" Nanophotonics, 10(1), pp. 403-423 (2021)
F.O. Wu, P.S. Jung, M. Parto, M. Khajavikhan and D.N. Christodoulides "Entropic thermodynamics of nonlinear photonic chain networks" Communications Physics, 3(1), A. 216 (2020)
M. Parto, W.E. Hayenga, A. Marandi, D.N. Christodoulides and M. Khajavikhan "Nanolaser-based emulators of spin Hamiltonians" Nanophotonics, 9(13), pp. 4193-4198 (2020)
M. Parto, W. Hayenga, A. Marandi, D.N. Christodoulides, and M. Khajavikhan "Realizing spin Hamiltonians in nanoscale active photonic lattices" Nature Materials (2020)
W.E. Hayenga, J. Ren, M. Parto, F. Wu, M.P. Hokmabadi, C. Wolff, R. El-Ganainy, N.A. Mortensen, D.N. Christodoulides, and M. Khajavikhan "Direct generation of tunable orbital angular momentum beams in microring lasers with broadband exceptional points" ACS Photonics, 6(8), pp. 1895-1901 (2019)
Alumni
PhD
There are currently no graduates listed for this degree.
MS
There are currently no graduates listed for this degree.