Tunable nonlinear photonic devices with liquid crystals. This project will help to initiate in Australia a systematic study of nonlinear properties of liquid crystals for applications in optical components. Taking the advantage of strong and tunable nonlinear response of liquid crystals and low threshold powers, it will analyse new opportunities for controllable light manipulation in nanoscale photonic devices, suggesting realistic designs for tunable photonic circuits. The project will promote ....Tunable nonlinear photonic devices with liquid crystals. This project will help to initiate in Australia a systematic study of nonlinear properties of liquid crystals for applications in optical components. Taking the advantage of strong and tunable nonlinear response of liquid crystals and low threshold powers, it will analyse new opportunities for controllable light manipulation in nanoscale photonic devices, suggesting realistic designs for tunable photonic circuits. The project will promote this attractive field and will facilitate the emergence of novel technologies. It will also lead to important international collaborations and bring important new expertise to Australia, complementing the core research program of the ARC Centre of Excellence CUDOS.Read moreRead less
Tunable shaping and switching of polychromatic light for integrated photonics. This project will help to promote in Australia novel field of polychromatic and white-light photonics, which is currently being very actively explored at the leading research centres around the globe. It will introduce and demonstrate innovative concepts for efficient manipulation of multi-color light in integrated photonic structures, which will keep Australia at the forefront of the international research and will c ....Tunable shaping and switching of polychromatic light for integrated photonics. This project will help to promote in Australia novel field of polychromatic and white-light photonics, which is currently being very actively explored at the leading research centres around the globe. It will introduce and demonstrate innovative concepts for efficient manipulation of multi-color light in integrated photonic structures, which will keep Australia at the forefront of the international research and will contribute to the uptake of frontier technologies by Australian industries. This project will lead to international collaborations which will bring important new expertise to Australia. It will also provide training for students in breakthrough applications of photonics and nanotechnology.Read moreRead less
NONLINEAR SURFACE MODES IN PHOTONIC AND PLASMONIC METAMATERIALS. This project will underpin the development of frontier technologies of manipulating light on subwavelength scale, which has a potential of delivering revolutionary advances in nanotechnology and photonics. The project is therefore of national benefit for its advances in the innovative cutting-edge research of nano-optics. The project will initialize collaboration with world leading experts in the area, bringing important expertise ....NONLINEAR SURFACE MODES IN PHOTONIC AND PLASMONIC METAMATERIALS. This project will underpin the development of frontier technologies of manipulating light on subwavelength scale, which has a potential of delivering revolutionary advances in nanotechnology and photonics. The project is therefore of national benefit for its advances in the innovative cutting-edge research of nano-optics. The project will initialize collaboration with world leading experts in the area, bringing important expertise to Australia. It will also strengthen Australia's international competitive ability and reputation in the field of nanophotonics.Read moreRead less
ARROW - the route to better Photonic Crystal Fibres. The Frontier Technology based on Photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) will be a vital component of next generation photonic networks and devices. Australia is among the 5 leading nations in PCF research. However we are now at a pivotal stage in the development of PCFs: their production is close to maturity, and it is now up to PCF designers to make the difference. The proposed project will provide the Australian scientific community as well as Austr ....ARROW - the route to better Photonic Crystal Fibres. The Frontier Technology based on Photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) will be a vital component of next generation photonic networks and devices. Australia is among the 5 leading nations in PCF research. However we are now at a pivotal stage in the development of PCFs: their production is close to maturity, and it is now up to PCF designers to make the difference. The proposed project will provide the Australian scientific community as well as Australian photonics companies with advanced PCF designing capabilities, giving Australia an opportunity to take a leading position in PCF development and commercialisation. Read moreRead less
Ultrafast photonic integrated circuits: Unlocking the bandwidth. Australia's prosperity increasingly depends on its communications infrastructure and supporting technologies. We will develop optical technologies to deliver vast increases in bandwidth at low cost. This will be achieved by building a photonic integrated circuit from a breakthrough material that offers ultrafast all-optical switching capability. This infrastructure will be critical to almost all areas of Australian society: commerc ....Ultrafast photonic integrated circuits: Unlocking the bandwidth. Australia's prosperity increasingly depends on its communications infrastructure and supporting technologies. We will develop optical technologies to deliver vast increases in bandwidth at low cost. This will be achieved by building a photonic integrated circuit from a breakthrough material that offers ultrafast all-optical switching capability. This infrastructure will be critical to almost all areas of Australian society: commerce, personal communications, e-health and entertainment, and will improve the quality of life and the economic competitiveness of urban, rural and regional Australia. The outcomes will include the creation of spin-off companies to commercialise the optical technologies.Read moreRead less
Next generation front projection screens. Consumer electronics is a huge international market and home theatre is one of the most rapidly growing sectors. A critical part of the home theatre system is the projection screen, an area of technology that has seen only incremental development over the last fifty years, or so. In this project we will take some advanced design concepts developed at the University of Melbourne for laser technology and adapt them to the development of novel approaches to ....Next generation front projection screens. Consumer electronics is a huge international market and home theatre is one of the most rapidly growing sectors. A critical part of the home theatre system is the projection screen, an area of technology that has seen only incremental development over the last fifty years, or so. In this project we will take some advanced design concepts developed at the University of Melbourne for laser technology and adapt them to the development of novel approaches to improving the brightness and resolution of projection screens. The project will look at the design process and address the manufacturing challenges for novel projection screen technology.Read moreRead less
Thulium doped silica-based optical fibres - towards the realisation of an optical amplifier. In the last decade the data capacity of a single optical fibre has grown way beyond all expectations. However, our ability to utilise the available capacity continues to keep pace with any advance. This project has the potential to add substantially to the transmission capacity by developing an optical amplifier at wavelengths which, although available within the fibre, can not currently be utilised. The ....Thulium doped silica-based optical fibres - towards the realisation of an optical amplifier. In the last decade the data capacity of a single optical fibre has grown way beyond all expectations. However, our ability to utilise the available capacity continues to keep pace with any advance. This project has the potential to add substantially to the transmission capacity by developing an optical amplifier at wavelengths which, although available within the fibre, can not currently be utilised. The focus of the project is the study of thulium doped silica-based fibres for amplification in the 1460 to 1530 nm wavelength region. Read moreRead less
Nonlinear photonic crystals. Photonic crystals have recently became very attractive for photonic technology, that uses light instead of slow electrons as the information carriers replacing electronics in communications and information management. This project has the purpose to develop the fundamental concept of nonlinear photonic crystals and demonstrate their possible applications analysing the properties of the nonlinearity-induced light localization, nonlinear transmission, and frequency co ....Nonlinear photonic crystals. Photonic crystals have recently became very attractive for photonic technology, that uses light instead of slow electrons as the information carriers replacing electronics in communications and information management. This project has the purpose to develop the fundamental concept of nonlinear photonic crystals and demonstrate their possible applications analysing the properties of the nonlinearity-induced light localization, nonlinear transmission, and frequency conversion in band-gap materials with the intensity-dependent optical response. This will allow the possibility realising in practice nonlinear switching even for sharply bent waveguides, providing an effective way to control the flow of light in band-gap photonic circuits.Read moreRead less
A silicon-compatible light source on a silicon-on-insulator platform. Silicon is emerging as an important photonic material owing to the cheap processing methods developed for electronics. This project aims to capture key technology for integrating photonic components onto silicon. It can bring social and commercial benefits to Australia such as high-level research as well as opportunities for commercialisation.
Improved fibre Bragg grating sensors for detection of structural hot spots. Structural integrity monitoring, to anticipate and prevent failure, is a multi-billion dollar effort worldwide. Detailed assessment of the capability of fibre Bragg gratings to measure strain profiles along the grating length, i.e. intragrating sensing, and thereby detect structural ?hot spots? before failure is essential for effective systems. They will be used to determine strain gradients similar to those found in com ....Improved fibre Bragg grating sensors for detection of structural hot spots. Structural integrity monitoring, to anticipate and prevent failure, is a multi-billion dollar effort worldwide. Detailed assessment of the capability of fibre Bragg gratings to measure strain profiles along the grating length, i.e. intragrating sensing, and thereby detect structural ?hot spots? before failure is essential for effective systems. They will be used to determine strain gradients similar to those found in common problem areas, such as the tips of elliptic notches and disbonding at the ends of composite joints. Additionally, grating refractive index profiles will be characterised using imaging techniques, to assess performance and possible changes to gratings after prolonged use.Read moreRead less