Optics & Photonics Research
CREOL faculty, scientists and students pioneer collaborative and multi-disciplinary research that enables impactful technologies for widespread and cross-cutting applications. Home to world-class research centers and cutting-edge facilities, CREOL is renowned as a global leader in optics and photonics. Research at the college is enriched by the high-tech industrial ecosystem in central Florida that provides synergistic partnership opportunities.
Laser Science & Technology
Once described as a “solution looking for a problem,” lasers have found themselves as a ubiquitous piece of technology found in a vast array of technologies. The ability to generate a single frequency beam of intense light with either a narrow spatial or temporal bandwidth has created new frontiers to be explored in every scientific field. Lasers have been one of the central technological developments responsible for revolutions in communications, defense, manufacturing, and medicine. Today, lasers are everywhere: from research laboratories to our personal vehicles; from Mars to the moons of Jupiter; from medical clinics to the places we shop, work, and live.
| Research Group | Faculty Director |
|---|---|
| Laser Plasma Laboratory | Martin Richardson |
| Mid-Infrared Combs Group | Konstantin Vodopyanov |
| Laser-Advanced Manufacturing | Aravinda Kar |
| Plasmonics & Applied Quantum Optics | Mercedeh Khajavikhan |
| Glass Processing Lab | Kathleen Richardson |
| Fiber Optics | Axel Schulzgen |
| Nonlinear Optics | Eric Van Stryland |
| Ultrafast Laser Processing | Xiaoming Yu |
| Optical Ceramics | Romain Gaume |
| Photoinduced Processing | Leonid Glebov |
| Nonlinear Optics | David Hagan |
| Microstructured Fibers and Devices | Rodrigo Amezcua |
| Florida Attosecond Science & Technology | Zenghu Chang |
| Ultrafast Photonics | Peter Delfyett |
Fiber-Optics
Fiber optics allows us to transport and distribute optically encoded information over long distances with low losses as well as to collect and manipulate optical signals. Advances in optical fiber have revolutionized the fields of communication and information processing and continued research in materials science and optical engineering will aid in the development of next generation devices. In addition to telecommunication, modern fibers can be found as an integral component in many applications such as lighting and display hardware, lasers, and sensors.
| Research Group | Faculty Director |
|---|---|
| Optical Fiber Communications | Guifang Li |
| Fiber Optics | Axel Schülzgen |
| Microstructured Fibers and Devices | Rodrigo Amezcua-Correa |
| Multi-material Optical Fiber Devices | Ayman Abouraddy |
| Nonlinear Waves | Demetrios Christodoulides |
| Laser Plasma Laboratory | Martin Richardson |
Non-linear & Quantum Optics
Nonlinear optics deals with the behavior of intense light in media exhibiting nonlinear response to the applied optical field. It enables wavelength conversion and multiphoton absorption, and plays essential roles in optical telecommunication, nonlinear microscopy and spectroscopy, and attosecond science. Quantum optics is concerned with light-matter interaction phenomena requiring quantum-mechanical description. It includes processing of quantum information at the photon level, and supports applications ranging from ultrasensitive measurement and secure communication to computing.
Integrated & Nano Photonics
Optoelectronics enables the bi-directional conversion of energy between photons and electrons to generate, absorb and manipulate light within the context of electronic systems. Example devices include LEDs, semiconductor lasers, modulators, photodetectors, and solar cells. Integrated photonics combines such passive and active devices to make optics seamlessly integrated with electronics to revolutionize communication, information processing, sensing and imaging systems.
| Research Group | Faculty Director |
|---|---|
| Plasmonics & Applied Quantum Optics | Mercedeh Khajavikhan |
| Nanophotonics and Near-field Optics | Pieter Kik |
| Nanophotonic Materials | Stephen Kuebler |
| Multiple Quantum Wells | Patrick LiKamWa |
| Thin-Film Optoelectronics | Kyle Renshaw |
| Photonic Structures and Devices | Jim Moharam |
| Glass Processing and Characterization Lab | Kathleen Richardson |
| Nanophotonics Device | Winston Schoenfeld |
| Liquid Crystal Displays | Shin-Tson Wu |
| Integrated Photonic Emerging Solutions | Sasan Fathpour |
| Photoinduced Processing | Leonid Glebov |
| Electro-Optical and InfraRed Systems | Ron Driggers |
Imaging & Display
Optical sensing, imaging, and display involve the acquisition, manipulation, and presentation of optical information by use of optical irradiance, phase, coherence, polarization, luminescence, in one or more dimensions. The research in this area synergizes device development and signal processing. Optical sensing and imaging have unique advantages in biomedical imaging and industrial metrology, due to the non-invasive and high-specific nature of the visible light; display technologies, including solid-state lighting and liquid crystal display, play an major role in today’s advancement in consumer electronics and entertainment industry.
Biophotonics
Biophotonics is a multidisciplinary research area where light-based methods are utilized to understand and manipulate biological processes. Research in this area involves development of novel techniques to diagnose and/or treat a variety of diseases.
| Research Group | Faculty Director |
|---|---|
| Photonics of Random Media | Aristide Dogariu |
| NanoBioPhotonics Lab | Ryan Gelfand |
| Optical Imaging System Lab | Sean Pang |
| Optical Nanoscopy | Kyu Young Han |