Applied Optics - UC Santa Cruz

The main research theme in our group is single particle optics. One thrust is the development of new, highly sensitive methods to study single particles with optical methods.

The second area of emphasis is to use these and other established techniques to improve our understanding of these particles and light-matter interactions in general. Due to the versatility of optical methods, we can investigate different types of particles.

Our current focus areas are:
• single biomolecules
• single nanomagnets
• single photons

Home > Research

Integrated Optofluidics
Nanopores in Optofluidic
Devices
Single-photon Nonlinear
Optics
Nano-magneto-optics
Undergraduate Research

Research Overview

	Integrated optofluidics We have developed micron-scale liquid-core optical waveguides that form the basis of fully planar optofluidic devices where both light and fluids are guided on a chip. Having demonstrated optical detection of single bioparticles without the need of advanced microscopy, we are working towards a new class of portable biomedical analytic instruments. If you want to learn more, click on the links on the left.
	Nanopores in optofluidic devices Nanoscopic openings in membranes (nanopores) can be used as electrical single molecule detectors. We are incorporating nanopores with optofluidic devices to combine both electrical and optical detection on a single chip. If you want to learn more, click on the links on the left.
	Single-photon nonlinear optics We have demonstrated the first atomic vapor cells on a chip that use integrated optical waveguides to guide light through small volumes of rubidium vapor. We are exploring the use of these cells to study quantum interference effects on a chip, including induced transparency, slow light and single photon nonlinearities for future single-photon sources and detectors. If you want to learn more, click on the links on the left.
	Nano-magneto-optics We are developing advanced optical methods to study the magnetization dynamics of nanomagnetic structures with single magnetic domains on the sub-picosecond time scales. Nanomagnets have applications in high-density magnetic storage and biomedicine. We have recently demonstrated the first measurements of picosecond dynamics of individual single-domain nanomagnets. If you want to learn more, click on the links on the left.
	Undergraduate research The involvement of undergraduate students is a central component in our research projects. If you want to see some of the research projects that have been carried out by undergraduate students in the Applied Optics group, click on the links on the left.

Achieving single particle resolution requires to work on the nanoscale in many cases, and our projects emphasize nano-optics and nano-fabrication.

We use numerous both conventional and custom-modified experimental techniques in our lab.

These include:

• Single molecule spectroscopy: Fluorescence correlation (FCS), fluorescence lifetime (FLM),
• resonance energy transfer (FRET) etc.
• Near-field optical microscopy (NSOM)
• Femto- and picosecond time-resolved laser spectroscopy
• Magneto-optic Kerr spectroscopy
• Optical waveguide measurements
• Nonlinear optics with sub-micron resolution
• Scanning probe microscopy (AFM, MFM, STM)
• Linear and non-linear atomic spectroscopy
• Fourier spectroscopy
• Confocal microscopy
• Nanofabrication (focused ion beam etching, electron beam lithography)

The following links lead to more detailed descriptions of some of the topics we are working on. If you are planning on pursuing a Ph.D. degree or a postdoctoral position at the interface between Physics and Electrical Engineering, please contact me (hschmidt@soe.ucsc.edu) for more information and include your resume. I will contact you if I need further information.