Join us for CREOL's Student of the Year talks and competition. Each finalist will give a 12-minute talk, followed by Q&A. Free pizza will be provided!
FINALISTS
Swati Bhargava
Title: Observation of Topological Flat-Band States in Photonic Lattices
Abstract: We report the observation of topological flat-band states in photonic lattices fabricated using femtosecond laser writing. Topological photonic lattices are optical structures that remain insulating in the bulk while supporting robust, unidirectional edge states immune to backscattering. By embedding a flat-band within the topological bandgap, we introduce compact localized modes that can trap light, enhance light-matter interactions, enable diffraction-free transport and crucially interact with topological edge states. Using helical modulation of waveguides in a Lieb lattice, we realize a photonic Floquet topological insulator where both effects coexist. These results reveal a new interplay between topology and flat-band physics, with promising applications in quantum information processing, imaging, lasing, and optical computing.
Cristian Hernando Acevedo Cáceres
Title: Partially Coherent Fields from Perfect Optical Vortices: Fundamental and Applications
Abstract: Spatially fully coherent light degrades rapidly in complex or scattering media. In this talk, I show that partially coherent fields generated by scattering Perfect Optical Vortices (POVs) provide a robust and tunable alternative for controlling their speckle intensity correlations, enabling engineered 4th-order coherence and a circular high-pass spatial-frequency response. Exploiting these properties, it is shown that distorted fields from POV-based illumination can be used to improve imaging through scattering media, enhance edge contrast, and achieve higher image reconstruction resolution than Gaussian speckles, while offering greater orientation flexibility. Beyond imaging, we demonstrate that these partially coherent fields are robust to remote sensing through the off-axis detection of the angular-speed a rotated object and as keys in a secure optical information protocol.
Pooja Kulkarni
Title : Broadband integrated photonic devices on thin film lithium niobate
Abstract: The thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) integrated photonic technology has matured tremendously in the past few years for high-performance electro-optic, nonlinear, and quantum-optic applications. Recent interest has grown in integrated wideband filters for on-chip photonic systems, such as optical combs and nonlinear circuits. With a wide transparency window ranging from the ultraviolet (UV) to the mid-infrared, ultra-wideband filters can be designed to exploit the full range of properties of lithium niobate. Versatile dichroic short-, long-, and band-pass filters with ultrawideband operation over two octaves of bandwidth as well as 700-nm reconfigurable cutoff range are designed, and the feasibility of such multi-octave spanning filters is demonstrated. Furthermore, design of the wideband linear optical isolator on TFLN using these filters is analyzed.
Hosna Tajvidi Safa
Title: Ultracompact, on-axis LCoS Illumination system with local dimming for waveguide-based AR displays
Abstract: Augmented reality (AR) displays, as a rapidly advancing technology, are evolving toward lighter and more comfortable near-eye systems. In this project, we proposed a compact, on-axis liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) illumination scheme with local dimming that leverages the polarization selectivity of a polarization volume grating (PVG) layer, which simultaneously serves as an analyzer for the LCoS and an input coupler for the waveguide in this design.
This work presents the fabrication process of the diffractive waveguide using a new photoalignment material (RN-4942) and a monocular demonstration of the proposed LCoS illumination design in a waveguide-based AR system. The proposed design improves the input-coupled and output-coupled optical efficiencies to <30% and <6%, respectively, enhances the contrast ratio, and achieves a total volume of <0.62 cc, including the projection optics, for a 1k × 1k LCoS panel.
Mahshid Zoghi
Title: Optical Emission from Biological Systems: Detection, Characterization and Interpretation of Endogenous Photons
Abstract: Endogenous optical emission from living biological systems arises from oxidative metabolic processes and provides a unique, label-free window into cellular physiology. This work addresses the detection, characterization, and physical interpretation of ultra-weak photon emission (UPE) generated during reactive oxygen species (ROS)–mediated biochemical reactions in living cells. UPE is a spontaneous optical signal produced during ROS-driven oxidative metabolism; despite its extremely low intensity, it encodes information about underlying biochemical dynamics that are otherwise difficult to probe non-invasively. In this talk, I will present photon-counting measurements and statistical analyses of UPE from human cell cultures, including T47D breast cancer cells and THP-1 monocytic leukemia cells. I will show that changes in photon statistics, beyond mean emission intensity, reveal metabolic dynamics that extend beyond steady-state behavior, and I will discuss why a quantitative understanding of these statistical signatures is essential for establishing UPE as a reliable, label-free optical biomarker of cellular metabolism.
Read More