Liquid light: aqueous bio-sensing in microstructured polymer optical fibres. This project builds on Australia's world-leading position in the development of microstructured polymer optical fibres, and applies the unique benefits they provide to for ultra- sensitive bio-sensing. By using the microstructure to simultaneously confine light and liquid, microstructured optical fibres provide a unique platform for ultra-sensitive spectroscopy and structural studies of biomolecules in solution. The wor ....Liquid light: aqueous bio-sensing in microstructured polymer optical fibres. This project builds on Australia's world-leading position in the development of microstructured polymer optical fibres, and applies the unique benefits they provide to for ultra- sensitive bio-sensing. By using the microstructure to simultaneously confine light and liquid, microstructured optical fibres provide a unique platform for ultra-sensitive spectroscopy and structural studies of biomolecules in solution. The work has profound implications both for fundamental science and applications, particularly in medical diagnostics.Read moreRead less
Tailoring the functionality of microstructured polymer optical fibres. Australia leads the world in microstructured polymer optical fibre (mPOF) research that has attracted serious commercial interest from multinational companies. A series of ATSE funded workshops in Europe during 2004 strongly indicated that the incorporation of a range of additional functionalities within novel fibres is the right path to follow to maintain research momentum and leadership. This interdisciplinary project offer ....Tailoring the functionality of microstructured polymer optical fibres. Australia leads the world in microstructured polymer optical fibre (mPOF) research that has attracted serious commercial interest from multinational companies. A series of ATSE funded workshops in Europe during 2004 strongly indicated that the incorporation of a range of additional functionalities within novel fibres is the right path to follow to maintain research momentum and leadership. This interdisciplinary project offers a clear route to expanded collaboration in both Australia and overseas thus ensuring that the OFTC retains its research and technological edge into the future whilst helping to satisfy the demand for students trained in leading-edge photonics.Read moreRead less
Advancing x-ray imaging into new dimensions using interferometry and phase-space tomography. Synchrotron science and nanofabrication technologies are priority investment areas for most industrial countries including Australia. This research program takes advantages of recent progress in these fields and aims to advance x-ray imaging techniques of high sensitivity and low radiation dose and retrieve all extractable information of an object encoded in a wavefield. The development of these techniqu ....Advancing x-ray imaging into new dimensions using interferometry and phase-space tomography. Synchrotron science and nanofabrication technologies are priority investment areas for most industrial countries including Australia. This research program takes advantages of recent progress in these fields and aims to advance x-ray imaging techniques of high sensitivity and low radiation dose and retrieve all extractable information of an object encoded in a wavefield. The development of these techniques is critical to future opportunities of frontier discoveries of the biological, nano and atomic world. Its application includes structural biology, medical diagnosis, biomedicine, material sciences and many other fields.Read moreRead less
Nanodiamond in glass: a new approach to nanosensing. This work will develop optical materials enriched with diamond nanoparticles. This will enable the magnetic field sensitivity of diamond nanoparticles to be combined with the capacity of micro/nanostructured optical fibres to enhance the interaction of light with matter. The outcome will be tools for probing biological processes on the nanoscale.
Functional nonlinear optical endoscopy - the third-generation optical endoscopy technology toward early cancer detection at a cellular level. The third-generation optical endoscopy technology can be used for a better understanding of nonlinear optical interaction with organ sites and thus for early cancer detection. Such a novel device will enable biomedical scientists to gain the fundamental knowledge needed to enable Australians to develop better medical strategies for health and productive li ....Functional nonlinear optical endoscopy - the third-generation optical endoscopy technology toward early cancer detection at a cellular level. The third-generation optical endoscopy technology can be used for a better understanding of nonlinear optical interaction with organ sites and thus for early cancer detection. Such a novel device will enable biomedical scientists to gain the fundamental knowledge needed to enable Australians to develop better medical strategies for health and productive lives. Since 1 in 3 Australians will feel the effects of cancers, development of portable nonlinear optical endoscopes is of national importance, in particular for rural Australia, and therefore improves the healthcare of human beings. The potential spin-off activity will lead to economic benefits from new R&D development.Read moreRead less
Plasmon nanobiosensor for whole blood analysis. The new method will be able to detect specific disease markers or to identify subtle differences in protein content in complex dense analytes such as blood and other body fluids, of practical utility in diagnostic and clinical situations. It will also be relevant in other areas such as medical diagnostics of viral diseases, and for unsolved environmental monitoring problems such as the presence of specific microorganisms in industrial waste. Owing ....Plasmon nanobiosensor for whole blood analysis. The new method will be able to detect specific disease markers or to identify subtle differences in protein content in complex dense analytes such as blood and other body fluids, of practical utility in diagnostic and clinical situations. It will also be relevant in other areas such as medical diagnostics of viral diseases, and for unsolved environmental monitoring problems such as the presence of specific microorganisms in industrial waste. Owing to their design simplicity and low cost of components, the devices developed in this program will lend themselves well to the development of new commercial technologies for Australia.Read moreRead less
Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanopart ....Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles with well-defined light absorption properties will be fabricated. Superior selectivity will be achieved by matching the wavelength of the absorbed light with the required activation energy for oxidation/reduction. Successful outcomes will enable multi-analyte fingerprint identification by on-chip devices with applications ranging from portable medical diagnostics to national security.Read moreRead less
Ultrafast, near infrared laser sources using fibre-based optical parametric oscillators. This project will use microstructured optical fibres and nonlinear optics to create compact and cheap laser sources in the near infrared spectrum to replace the bulky and expensive devices in many spectroscopic and biophotonic applications today. The work will further enhance Australia's standing in the field of nonlinear optics and optical fibres.