Light-matter interactions in microstructured optical waveguides for nonlinear optical signal processing. The challenge of conceiving and constructing the necessary components and devices for the next generation of lightwave telecommunications systems is a profound one. This issue is urgent as the current operating principles of switches, filters and sources and other devices simply do not allow for the upgrade to the extremely high data transmission speeds that will be required. Using glass opti ....Light-matter interactions in microstructured optical waveguides for nonlinear optical signal processing. The challenge of conceiving and constructing the necessary components and devices for the next generation of lightwave telecommunications systems is a profound one. This issue is urgent as the current operating principles of switches, filters and sources and other devices simply do not allow for the upgrade to the extremely high data transmission speeds that will be required. Using glass optical fibres as the starting point, we will devise, demonstrate and analyze these novel components, leveraging microstructured optical fibre technology and novel fabrication techniques, which are among the most recent developments in optical fibre research.
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Centre for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. The Centre, through a ground-breaking research program, will in the next five years invent and develop a set of revolutionary optical devices and will integrate these devices onto a photonic chip, for the use in the next generation of ultra-high bandwidth optical telecommunications systems. These systems will dramatically improve online services to the Australian community in key areas such as health, education and business connectivity ....Centre for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. The Centre, through a ground-breaking research program, will in the next five years invent and develop a set of revolutionary optical devices and will integrate these devices onto a photonic chip, for the use in the next generation of ultra-high bandwidth optical telecommunications systems. These systems will dramatically improve online services to the Australian community in key areas such as health, education and business connectivity. Australia's high tech industry will benefit from the commercialisation opportunities arising from the Centre's research, and also from the creation of a pool of highly skilled ICT professionals.Read moreRead less
Mechanical stresses in holey fibres. The development of holey fibres constitutes arguably the most exciting development in fibre optics in recent years. We will analyze the mechanical stresses in these fibres, which, together with the optical calculations and associated experiments, will allow us to design novel fibre-based devices. This will allow Nufern to develop new products based on holey fibres.
Efficient and tailored supercontinuum generation using dispersion management. Imagine a laser beam, but not with just one colour, but containing all colours. The light beam thus looks white, somewhat like a search light, except that it is much brighter. We now know how to generate such bright white beams of light, but it is expensive, requiring a small specialized laboratory full of equipment. Through a better understanding, we will make it easier and cheaper to generate these light beams. All k ....Efficient and tailored supercontinuum generation using dispersion management. Imagine a laser beam, but not with just one colour, but containing all colours. The light beam thus looks white, somewhat like a search light, except that it is much brighter. We now know how to generate such bright white beams of light, but it is expensive, requiring a small specialized laboratory full of equipment. Through a better understanding, we will make it easier and cheaper to generate these light beams. All kinds of applications that have been known for years, such as medical imaging and chemical analysis, then suddenly become practical. We anticipate that in the future these bright white light beams will be used on a routine basis in Australian hospitals and industry. Read moreRead less
Frozen linear and nonlinear light. Frozen light refers to the observation that light inside particular media can be much brighter than outside it, essentially because it bounced around many times before leaving. Such light has many advantages which have applications in optical signal processing, lasers, and in other optical devices. Until now frozen light has only been studied in a small range of geometries and only at low intensities. In this fundamental research project we will investigate fr ....Frozen linear and nonlinear light. Frozen light refers to the observation that light inside particular media can be much brighter than outside it, essentially because it bounced around many times before leaving. Such light has many advantages which have applications in optical signal processing, lasers, and in other optical devices. Until now frozen light has only been studied in a small range of geometries and only at low intensities. In this fundamental research project we will investigate frozen light, its generation and its properties at low and high intensities, systematically, and we will assess how it can be harnessed for potential applications.Read moreRead less