Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989648
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Optical test-bed facility for mid infrared components for sensing, imaging and astrophotonics. This test facility will enable Australian researchers to validate optical components and technologies at wavelengths from 2.5 to 20 microns, that are crucial for a wide range of applications including biophotonics, sensing, imaging, defense, and astro-photonics. Technologies related to the Mid IR are
expected to have a significant impact on quality of life and global economy. It will enable Australi ....Optical test-bed facility for mid infrared components for sensing, imaging and astrophotonics. This test facility will enable Australian researchers to validate optical components and technologies at wavelengths from 2.5 to 20 microns, that are crucial for a wide range of applications including biophotonics, sensing, imaging, defense, and astro-photonics. Technologies related to the Mid IR are
expected to have a significant impact on quality of life and global economy. It will enable Australian researchers to achieve a major impact in many areas of Mid IR fundamental and applied science as well as industry sectors such as sensing, biophotonics, defence, health, bio-security and imaging. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775562
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
The Melbourne Nanofabrication Facility. Australia is desperately short of facilities for actual fabrication, prototyping and construction of advanced micromechanical and nanoscale systems. This is impeding both academic researchers and industrial developers in the materials, optics and biotechnological industries. The proposed instrument would complete the development of Australia's newest high resolution microscopy centre and enable a wide range of users to image, measure, build and design comp ....The Melbourne Nanofabrication Facility. Australia is desperately short of facilities for actual fabrication, prototyping and construction of advanced micromechanical and nanoscale systems. This is impeding both academic researchers and industrial developers in the materials, optics and biotechnological industries. The proposed instrument would complete the development of Australia's newest high resolution microscopy centre and enable a wide range of users to image, measure, build and design complex nanostructures at the atomic level and upwards. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453320
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$347,886.00
Summary
Advanced Spectroscopy for Nano-characterisation of Materials Chemistry and Properties. This application proposes to establish a cutting-edge spectroscopic facility which includes; electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Each of the spectrometers to be installed has significantly higher sensitivity and resolution than any other facility available in Australia and is capable ....Advanced Spectroscopy for Nano-characterisation of Materials Chemistry and Properties. This application proposes to establish a cutting-edge spectroscopic facility which includes; electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Each of the spectrometers to be installed has significantly higher sensitivity and resolution than any other facility available in Australia and is capable of full spectrum imaging. This new spectroscopic infrastructure will enable the knowledge-based development of new materials by allowing complete characterisation of structure-composition-property relationships at the nanometre level.Read moreRead less
Ultra-high density permanent and/or erasable optical memory in photorefractive media formed by ultrafast laser pulses. A possibility to form tree-dimensional 10Tb-density optical memory based on permanent modification, or damage, of transparent dielectrics, using powerful femtosecond laser pulses has already been demonstrated by the Applicants. This project aims to improve the fundamental understanding of ultrafast laser formation of nano-bits using unique ability of photorefractive materials t ....Ultra-high density permanent and/or erasable optical memory in photorefractive media formed by ultrafast laser pulses. A possibility to form tree-dimensional 10Tb-density optical memory based on permanent modification, or damage, of transparent dielectrics, using powerful femtosecond laser pulses has already been demonstrated by the Applicants. This project aims to improve the fundamental understanding of ultrafast laser formation of nano-bits using unique ability of photorefractive materials to reversible change and the refractive index. We aim to find ways for controlling the storage time, density and the writing-reading-erasing rate without inducing damage in the material. The results will be applied to efficient formation of high-speed, high density, write-read-erase 3D optical memory for applications in the information technology.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0238960
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$940,000.00
Summary
High Performance Semiconductor Micromachining Facility. The purpose of this project is to make available to the Australian semiconductor research community a facility to undertake specialist deposition and etching tasks needed for fabrication of next generation solar cells, microelectronics, optronics, and micro-electromechanical systems. The facility will have the flexibility to allow independent control of major process parameters, allowing development of new fabrication technologies which wi ....High Performance Semiconductor Micromachining Facility. The purpose of this project is to make available to the Australian semiconductor research community a facility to undertake specialist deposition and etching tasks needed for fabrication of next generation solar cells, microelectronics, optronics, and micro-electromechanical systems. The facility will have the flexibility to allow independent control of major process parameters, allowing development of new fabrication technologies which will be generic to a wide range of semiconductor materials. In particular, the facility will be unique in its ability to perform processes at low temperatures, and under conditions that allow optimisation of the deposition and etching processes, without compromising the performance of delicate devices or exceeding the maximum process temperature limitations found in many mainstream semiconductor materials technologies.Read moreRead less
A new nano-sensor technology for the detection and identification of residual vapours of explosives, drugs and chemicals in the air. Fighting terrorism and crime is one of the most important and difficult tasks that requires substantial human and technological resources. This project will help to address this enormous problem by developing a new optical sensor technology for the detection and identification of traces of chemicals, explosives, drugs and biological agents. It will develop a labora ....A new nano-sensor technology for the detection and identification of residual vapours of explosives, drugs and chemicals in the air. Fighting terrorism and crime is one of the most important and difficult tasks that requires substantial human and technological resources. This project will help to address this enormous problem by developing a new optical sensor technology for the detection and identification of traces of chemicals, explosives, drugs and biological agents. It will develop a laboratory prototype of this sensor that is expected to have superior sensitivity and operational capabilities. Thus it will noticeably contribute to practical law enforcement, air quality and environmental monitoring, counter-terrorism, air safety, border security and customs service. It will also lead to further development of nano-optics and nanotechnology in Australia. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354517
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Adaptive Optics for Australian Astronomy, Medicine, Industry, and Defence. Adaptive optics is a technique for correcting wavefront distortions in light beams to improve optical imaging performance. The Research Network for Adaptive Optics aims to draw together isolated Australian and New Zealand research groups working on adaptive optics applications in disparate areas to achieve a critical mass of researchers in this burgeoning field. Adaptive optics has wide application in areas as diverse as ....Adaptive Optics for Australian Astronomy, Medicine, Industry, and Defence. Adaptive optics is a technique for correcting wavefront distortions in light beams to improve optical imaging performance. The Research Network for Adaptive Optics aims to draw together isolated Australian and New Zealand research groups working on adaptive optics applications in disparate areas to achieve a critical mass of researchers in this burgeoning field. Adaptive optics has wide application in areas as diverse as astronomy, vision science, ophthalmology, microscopy, optical communications, laser radar, and laser beam shaping. The Research Network will coordinate and expand Australian involvement in these areas and inform industry, as have similar networks in the USA and Europe.Read moreRead less
Solitons and localised structures in nonlocal nonlinear media. Solitons - localised waves existing in nonlinear media may propagate without changing their shape and interact with each other as real particles. They are ubiquitous in nature - exist in any system exhibiting dispersion and nonlinearity. This project aims to study theoretically and experimentally properties of beams and solitons in non-local nonlinear systems. It will lay out theoretical foundations of the nonlocal solitons and d ....Solitons and localised structures in nonlocal nonlinear media. Solitons - localised waves existing in nonlinear media may propagate without changing their shape and interact with each other as real particles. They are ubiquitous in nature - exist in any system exhibiting dispersion and nonlinearity. This project aims to study theoretically and experimentally properties of beams and solitons in non-local nonlinear systems. It will lay out theoretical foundations of the nonlocal solitons and demonstrate experimentally their unique features. This research will have an impact on understanding of the soliton phenomena in many fields including optics and matter waves, providing knowledge which may be subsequently transferred to practical technologies, such as in formation of optical circuits.Read moreRead less
Pushing the frontiers of gravitational wave science: from technology to astrophysics. The direct detection of Einstein's elusive gravitational waves will not only confirm one of the most important theories in physics, it will unleash a new form of radiation (in addition to electromagnetic) with which to study the Universe. Our participation in this quest continues Australia's role in the vanguard of new astronomy and its exploitation. This proposal will produce scientists highly trained in ar ....Pushing the frontiers of gravitational wave science: from technology to astrophysics. The direct detection of Einstein's elusive gravitational waves will not only confirm one of the most important theories in physics, it will unleash a new form of radiation (in addition to electromagnetic) with which to study the Universe. Our participation in this quest continues Australia's role in the vanguard of new astronomy and its exploitation. This proposal will produce scientists highly trained in areas of national priority, including frontier technologies such as photonics and smart information use through GRID computing. Developing ways to build instruments of almost unimaginable sensitivity fosters innovation leading to spin-offs into other areas of optical sensing - fundamental research resulting in economic benefit.Read moreRead less
Across the Gravitational Wave Spectrum. Violent astrophysical events in the universe emit gravitational waves across a spectrum from mHz to kHz, producing an infinitesimal?but detectable'strain in space-time itself. Like high energy physics projects, gravitational wave detection involves giant multi million dollar research facilities and extensive international collaboration. This project will develop ideas, equipment and algorithms which will enhance the performance of both high frequency (gro ....Across the Gravitational Wave Spectrum. Violent astrophysical events in the universe emit gravitational waves across a spectrum from mHz to kHz, producing an infinitesimal?but detectable'strain in space-time itself. Like high energy physics projects, gravitational wave detection involves giant multi million dollar research facilities and extensive international collaboration. This project will develop ideas, equipment and algorithms which will enhance the performance of both high frequency (ground) and low frequency (space) based laser interferometer type detectors, and see Australia expand its already important role in searching for nature's most elusive signals.Read moreRead less