Research

Our research involves the investigation of photonics based approaches for optical computing and signal-processing. We are developing all-optical techniques for all-optical computing, random number generation, and ultrafast signal processing.

Guiding and confining light in micro- and nano-scale devices can greatly enhance the efficiency and bandwidth of nonlinear optical interactions. We investigate sub-micron silicon nitride optical waveguides and resonators as nonlinear optical elements for optical frequency comb generation.

A high power beam propagating in the medium can undergo a complex spatio-temporal evolution due to the interplay of dispersion, diffraction, and nonlinear effects such as self-focusing and ionization-induced refraction. We investigate experimentally the propagation dynamics in gases, bulk materials, and gas-filled hollow fibers at near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths, and we perform numerical simulations to predict or to explain novel phenomena.

A photon is the smallest amount of energy of the EM field that can be transfer at a given wavelength, and one of the way quantum nature of light becomes apparent. Uniquely quantum phenomena, such as superposition and measurement collapse, entanglement and boson statistics can be observed at the single photon level. On the other hand, optical quantum states share many similarities with the classical description of the EM filed, and such, are relatively robust and easier to manipulate and transmit compared with other implementations.

Intense nonlinear light interactions is often accompanied by the need for intense lasers, resulting in a high energy budget meanwhile prohibiting the utilization of quantum properties of photons. In this lab, we develop systems that combine resonant atomic gases with nanoscale photonic structures, where the hybridization of strong material response with strong geometric confinement breeds forcible few photon induced nonlinear interactions.