Integrated photonics promises to transform a wide range of applications including optical communication, quantum information processing, and biosensing. Integrated photonics combines photonic signal transmission, processing, and possible conversion to/from an electrical signal on a nanofabricated chip. These nanoscale photonic circuits are not only smaller, but also faster and more efficient compared to traditional electronic circuits.
NanoES research in this area is geared towards large-scale integrated networks of photonic devices for cutting edge optical communication and quantum computing as well as single photonic devices for biosensing in health-related diagnostics.
Integrated Networks of Photonics Devices
The development of large-scale photonic networks will transform both classical and quantum information processing by surpassing the current limits in both speed and bandwidth of classical electronic circuits. For quantum applications, the photon is the most robust link between quantum processing nodes.
(Right) Integrated photonic device that controls the frequency of single quantum emitters developed by Kai-Mei Fu's group and published in Nano Letters.
(Above) Blood phenotyping platform based on nanofabricated silicon photonics developed by Dan Ratner's Lab.
Nanoscale Photonics-Based Sensors
Nanoscale photonics-based sensors, capable of single molecule and single cell detection, are becoming practical with massively parallelized devices. The miniaturization and integration of photonics in medical devices is facilitating the development of new, minimally invasive health diagnostics.
Fabricating Nanoscale Photonic Devices
The Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) at UW is uniquely equipped to facilitate the creation of complex, cutting-edge nanoscale photonic devices. Key instruments available at WNF include a JEOL electron beam lithography system and a Nanoscribe ultra-high-resolution 3D printer.
Faculty Members
Karl Böhringer
Director of the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems;
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and of Bioengineering
karlb@uw.edu | Website
Kai-Mei Fu
Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and of Physics
kaimeifu@uw.edu | Website
Mo Li
Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and of Physics
moli96@uw.edu | Website
Lih Lin
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
lylin@uw.edu | Website
Arka Majumdar
Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and of Physics
arka@uw.edu | Website
David Masiello
Associate Professor of Chemistry
masiello@uw.edu | Website
Peter Pauzauskie
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
peterpz@uw.edu | Website
Dan Ratner
Associate Professor of Bioengineering
dratner@uw.edu | Website
Matthew Yankowitz
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Physics
myank@uw.edu | Website
Xiaodong Xu
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
xuxd@uw.edu | Website