This edition of the “Photonics Worldwide- This is my Lab” column features Nick Black, a Ph.D. student at the University
of Rochester, who explores quantum and nonlinear optics for imaging. We also would like to introduce you to Gil Cardoso, who works on novel fabrication techniques for optical metasurfaces at the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Universite Paris Saclay. Please do get in touch to share your story with us!
Senta Jantzen
S.Jantzen@ieee.org

I am Nick Black, a physics Ph.D. Candidate conducting quantum and nonlinear optics research in Prof. Robert W. Boyd’s group at the University of Rochester. After working on quantum optics research at Oak Ridge National Lab as an undergraduate, I joined Prof. Boyd’s group as a Ph.D. student to
continue learning about quantum and nonlinear optics from a group with a history of exciting research in these fields. In my quantum optics research, I explore how photons that are entangled in their positions and momenta can be used to enhance imaging modalities. The strong position and momentum
correlations present between entangled photons allow superresolution imaging, flexible sensor choice, and allow one to cancel image-destroying aberrations present in either photon’s path nonlocally. I am also determining how the use of spatially varying polarization structures within an intense laser beam can
suppress its tendency to fragment after undergoing nonlinear self-focusing. The remote sensing of atmospheric pollutants and laser control of lightning strikes are two fields that immediately benefit from the careful control of nonlinear self-focusing.

 

My name is Gil Cardoso. When I started my Physics degree, I wanted to go into aerospace engineering. And then I found nanoscience and photonics and my career path completely shifted.

After finishing my degree, I was lucky enough to get two scholarships to do my Ph.D. at the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N), a brand-new technology centered lab, with a 2900m2 cleanroom near Paris.

Today I work in optical metasurfaces, with a big focus on fabrication techniques. I develop new processes to fabricate this type of devices over large areas at a low cost trying to bridge the gap between the highly innovating but high-cost devices proposed in academia and the financial requirements of manufacturers to make them financially viable. I use emerging nanofabrication techniques with a focus of Soft Nanoimprint Lithography.