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Nonlinear Optics

The group, founded in 1987, is directed by Dr. Eric Van Stryland, Dr. David Hagan, and Dr. M.J. Soileau.
The NLO group works at measuring and understanding the interaction of high irradiance light with matter, focusing on semiconductors and organic materials and investigating how to enhance nonlinear interactions using engineered materials (e.g. quantum wells and dots) and nanoparticles with local field enhancement. The group has invented a number of new techniques for characterizing the nonlinear optical properties of materials, e.g. Z-scan, white-light continuum Z-scan, and nonlinear Beam Deflection and has pioneered advances in the understanding of the nonlinear interactions, e.g. developed nonlinear Kramers-Kronig relations linking ultrafast nonlinear refraction to nonlinear absorption (e.g. two-photon absorption). The group also pioneered developments in cascaded second-order nonlinearities (e.g. second-harmonic generation) which mimic themselves as ultrafast nonlinear absorption and refraction. Work is currently underway in Extremely Nondegenerate Nonlinear Photonics in semiconductors where orders of magnitude enhancement of nonlinearities occurs allowing IR detection with wide-gap semiconductors and the possibility of 2-photon gain and lasing. The group has graduated more than 40 students, of which 33 have obtained the title of PhD.

Faculty

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Laboratories

The NLO group’s 5 laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities specifically designed for nonlinear optical research. The laser systems cover 6 orders of magnitude in pulsewidth and covers the spectral range from the UV to the mid infrared at 18 microns. The capabilities in the femtosecond, picosecond, and nanosecond temporal regimes use parametric conversion for their tunability. For example, the femtosecond lab has three optical parametric generators pumped by a femtosecond laser. Other major equipment includes a femtosecond pumped multi-photon confocal microscopy system in the 2PA Microscopy Lab and a spectrofluorimeter with capabilities to measure one and two photon fluorescence and anisotropy spectra located in the femtosecond lab.

Partnerships

We believe that great research is born from fruitful collaborations. The NLO group has many collaborators around the World with groups from well-respected institutions. Some of our most active collaborations are listed below.

Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Dr. Seth Marder – Organic Synthesis and Characterization
  • Dr. Joseph Perry – Optical Characterization, Nanocomposites
  • Dr. Bernard Kippelen – Organic Optoelectronics
  • Jean-Luc Bredas – Quantum Chemical Calculations
The University of Arizona – College of Optical Sciences
  • Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian – Fabrication and modeling
  • Dr. Robert Norwood – Field Enhancement and Nano-fabrication, Material and Device Characterization
Purdue University
  • Dr. Vladimir Shalaev – Field Enhancement
  • Dr. Vlad Drachev – Plasmonics and Spectroscopy
Kent State University
  • Dr. Peter Palffy-Mohoray – Negative Refractive Index Materials
The Pennsylvania State University
  • Dr. Iam-Choon Khoo
Cornell University
  • Dr. Alexander Gaeta – Nonlinear Dynamics of Light Beams
  • Michal Lipson – nano fabrication of photonic devices
Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences – Kiev, Ukraine
  • Dr. Olga V. Przhonska – Synthesis of Organic Molecules and Quantum Chemistry
  • Dr. Mikhail V. Bondar
Institute of Organic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences – Kiev, Ukraine
  • Dr. Aleksei D. Kachkovsky
  • Dr. Yurii L. Slominskii
  • Dr. Iryna G. Davydenko
Soreq Institute – Israel
  • Dr. Raz Gvishi – Photonics Materials
University of Florida
  • Dr. John Reynolds – Organic Synthesis and Characterization
Universita Degli Studi Di Parma – Parma, Italy
  • Dr. Anna Painelli
University of Michigan
  • Dr. Nicholas A. Kotov
University of Central Florida
  • Dr. Kevin Belfield
  • Dr. Eloy Hernandez
  • Dr. Artem E. Masunov
  • Dr. Sasan Fathpour
  • Dr. Demetrios N. Christodoulides
  • Dr. Pieter G. Kik
  • Dr. Ayman F. Abouraddy
Air Force Research Lab
  • Dr. Shekhar Guha
  • Dr. Leonel P. Gonzalez
SRI International
  • Dr. Srini Krishnamurthy
University of Toronto – Ontario, Canada
  • Dr. Edward H. Sargent
University of Oxford – Oxford, U.K.
  • Dr. Harry L. Anderson
New Mexico Highlands University
  • Dr. Tatianna Timofeeva
If you have a great idea and would like to collaborate with us, please contact us.

Some Firsts

The NLO Group at CREOL is well known for its numerous contribution of techniques and theories for understanding optical nonlinearities in many different materials. Listed bellow are some of the achievements and developments in our group:
  • Developed the “Z-scan” and several variants including the new White-Light Continuum Z-scan.
  • Calculated and measured and general scaling rules to predict nonlinear optical properties of all inorganic solids.
  • Determined Kramers-Kronig relations for two-photon absorption and ultrafast nonlinear refraction.
  • Developed femtosecond white-light-continuum pump-probe nonlinear spectrometry for nondegererate nonlinearities.
  • Invented the “Tandem Limiter” and various other related devices including the “Cascaded Limiter”.
  • (Re)discovered and explained cascaded Χ(2) effects.

Join Us

Join the NLO Group

The NLO Group in CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics is always open to new members. Currently, we have open positions for Graduate Students and Research Scientists. Visitors are welcome to join our group for a minimum period of three months.

If you are interested in working with us, please see the list of activities below. If you believe you are qualified to carry out some these activities, feel free to inquire about our needs.

Graduate students

We usually take on one or two graduate students each year, usually during the Spring and Summer. These graduate students should have backgrounds in Physics, Engineering, or Chemistry, and can be a CREOL or Physics Department student.

Requirements: You must be enrolled in the Graduate Program of the School of Optics and Photonics or the Physics Department. For more information about admissions at CREOL click here

Visiting Students

PhD students from other universities are affiliated with our group for periods ranging from three months to a year, for developing part of the graduate research, which is related to one of our research projects. We do not have funding for this program, so the applicant needs an external funding. The student will be provided with an CREOL affiliation with library access and a number of other privileges.

Requirements: Ph.D. student at a creditable university; preferably with external funding.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Typically, we have two or three postdoctoral Research Fellows in our group. Currently we have only one open position for a Postdoc Researcher. However, there are always openings in our group for qualified people with external funding — we have a number of interesting new projects to work on and we always need qualified people.

Requirements: A Ph.D. degree (and external funding if no opening is posted).

Visitors

Faculty or PostDoc Researchers from other universities can be affiliated with our group for periods from three months to a year. These visitors generally work on one of our research projects or on related research. We usually do not fund this program, so we encourage the visitors to have an external funding source. The visitor will be provided with an CREOL affiliation with library access and a number of other privileges.

Requirements: Ph.D. degree; three-months minimum stay.

Procedure: Contact Dr. Eric Van Stryland or David Hagan