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Home , Biophotonics

ISSUE 1, 2010

RESEARCH FOCUS

Welcome to our newsletter from Macquarie University’s MQ Research Centre The MQ Photonics Research Centre in Sydney, Australia, formed in 2007, brings together a team of researchers with long standing expertise in and optical physics. The Centre has approximately 40 active research staff and A/Profs Jim Rabeau and Andrei Zvyagin have recently 30 postgraduate students. Interests and activities within undertaken measurements of the smallest diamonds every the MQ Photonics Research Centre are wide-ranging reported to contain optically active “colour centres”. The and provide a rigorous research setting with world class diamonds were only 5 nm in diameter, and it was also facilities, strong links to industry complemented by a observed that the emitted blinks on and off. This strong cohort of entrepreneurial alumni, and active blinking effect is contrary to the generally accepted view that this is a problem reserved for quantum dots, not collaborations with major international research groups nanodiamonds. These results have been published in a in photonics. Nature Nanotechnology paper (Bradac, Gaebel et al. Vol. 5, p. 345-349). This work has triggered several commentaries What we do from other researchers in the field since appearing in press. The MQ Photonics Research Centre is nationally and internationally recognised for innovation and leadership in lasers and photonics. News update Our reputation is built on a balance of both fundamental and • Congratulations to those members of MQ Photonics who applied research in the following seven frontiers of optical science: are investigators on the new ARC Centre of Excellence • Astrophotonics • Photonic sources – Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS), and renewed • Biophotonics • Optical sensing and imaging ARC Centre of Excellence – Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS). This funding, spanning the • Microphotonic optical systems • Ultrafast applications. next seven years, will enable new growth and direction in • Nano- and several MQ Photonics research focus areas.

Please see overleaf for more information regarding our activities • Similarly, congratulations to Dr Russell Connally for within these research themes. picking up the Judges’ and People’s Choice awards on the ABC “New Inventors” 30 June program for his Gated Autosynchronous Luminescence Detector (GALD) system. Higher degree research • Dr Jon Lawrence has taken up a new position as Head of Higher degree research (HDR) opportunities are available within Instrument Science at the AAO. As David Coutts (Head of the MQ Photonics Research Centre. Prospective HDR students are Department) wrote: “This is a very positive development offered a versatile selection of challenging postgraduate research for the Department. While Jon is moving on to a more projects for PhD and Masters candidacy, together with scholarships senior position, he will retain his strong association with for suitably qualified applicants. Co-tutelle scholarships are also us, and we will have an additional joint position with the available for suitable students from selected overseas universities. AAO thereby boosting our growing Astrophotonics team The Centre also has an active program of student exchanges and strengthening the links between MQ Photonics, the with major international research groups and research student Astronomy group and the AAO.” participation at leading international conferences.

PART OF THE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION http://web.science.mq.edu.au/groups/mqphotonics/ contact the Director of MQ Photonics A/Prof Michael Withford COMMUNITY email: [email protected] MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH NETWORK phone: +612 9850 7056 www.mq.edu.au

NANO-OPTICS AND NANOPHOTONICS – entailing interaction of light with tiny nanometre-scale structures. Such phenomena are influenced by quantum size effects of MQ Photonics areas of focus matter, and by the near-field properties of light. Efficient control of light on this scale, The seven frontiers of optical science on for instance by , is a promising way to miniaturise which MQ Photonics concentrates correspond next-generation photonic devices. Our researchers undertake both theoretical and experimental nano-scale research. Projects to the research interests and expertise of include fabrication of nano-diamonds and studies of their unique its members. They define our strategies for optical properties, and investigations of how energy is transferred current and future research in between and matter and development of new devices that leverage of these insights.

OPTICAL SENSING AND IMAGING – relevant ASTROPHOTONICS – a rapidly to areas such as biophotonics, the environment, emerging area that uses frontier community health and safety, defence, technologies from physical, information retrieval, and entertainment. optical and photonic sciences to Ongoing research poses significant challenges improve the power, utility and versatility of modern astronomical for the physical and life sciences, , instruments and observational procedures. For instance, robotically engineering, and data processing. Our rsearchers are developing micropositioned optical fibres have already revolutionised advanced optical sensing and imaging techniques based on spectroscopic measurements from advanced astronomical confocal laser microscopy, fluorescence, surface plasmon optical telescopes. MQ Photonics researchers are developing new resonance, flow cytometry, cavity ringdown and nonlinear-optical applications utilising fibre Bragg gratings, holographic imaging spectroscopy, generation, spectroscopy and filters and gratings, and miniature photonic spectrographs. Fresh imaging by terahertz waves, and spatial/spectral imaging by astrophotonic initiatives are expected to open up new frontiers for broadband light sources. optical astronomy. This MQ Photonics initiative builds on close links with the nearby Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO). PHOTONIC SOURCES – such as lasers and associated nonlinear-optical devices, are essential BIOPHOTONICS – exploits interactions components for most photonic systems, between light and biological material in a thereby facilitating advances in biomedicine, wide variety of applications. The science of communications, materials processing, imaging, light can address many biological and medical and optical sensing applications. The science challenges, both clinical and laboratory-based, and engineering of such sources of coherent light from the extreme with a diversity of approaches that include ultraviolet to the microwave region continues to be the focus microscopy, imaging, spectroscopy, lasers, and fibre optics. of much research and development. MQ Photonics innovations Biophotonics is widely recognised as a key science/technology include: compact lasers producing coherent microwave-modulated for the next generation of clinical tools and biomedical research radiation for communications, defence and radio astronomy; high- instruments. Our researchers are involved in a diverse range of power fibre lasers; first-ever continuous-wave yellow Raman laser; related projects including advanced bio-imaging using fluorescent high-performance tunable pulsed optical parametric oscillators for nano-particles, creation of novel bio-chips based on microfluidic spectroscopy; and an efficient diamond laser. pathways and next-generation laser surgical methods. ULTRAFAST LASER APPLICATIONS – MICROPHOTONIC OPTICAL SYSTEMS employ pulses of coherent light as brief as a – manipulate and control light on a few femtoseconds, which is at the leading edge microscopic scale and represent a major of present technological capabilities. Ultrafast advance for lasers and optical technology. lasers offer great potential for innovations and They include microstructured and fibres, as well as applications An outstanding problem that is being tackled by MQ planar lightwave circuits or integrated optical devices (the optical Photonics researchers is to develop new types of ultrafast laser equivalent of the silicon chip in electronics), with applications in that are sufficiently compact, robust, reliable, and cost-effective telecommunications, biophotonics, sensing, medicine, quantum for applications outside the laboratory. Particular applications optics and primary industry. MQ Photonics researchers have been include sensing and imaging of biological processes, fabrication the first to demonstrate integrated waveguide laser and quantum of microphotonic devices by laser-induced microstructuring, photonic chips fabricated using novel direct write methods, and and coherent generation of white-light supercontinua for are currently pursuing more complex optical devices. spectroscopy and imaging.