Prof. Ray T. Chen

 The University of Texas Austin, USA

Title: Near- and Mid-IR Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for Bio and Chemical  Sensing, Interconnects and Computing with AI and ML Applications

Abstract:

The advancement of sensing, interconnects and computing is mainly from the R&D works on electrons and photons, which carry drastically different characteristics defining different technology roadmaps.  Due to the saturation of the Moore’s law, the advantages of photon-based devices provide solutions with the unprecedented performance.  In this talk, we will present the integrated photonic devices covering near and mid-IR wavelengths for biosensing, SERS and spectroscopy sensing for Methane, Nitrogen Dioxide, CO, Ethanol, Ammonia, and TEP.  Mid-IR Lidar Chip centered at 4.6 micron will also presented.

Today’s fabrication of planar photonic circuits is reaching the limits of integration density. The minimum feature sizes are fundamentally limited by the wavelength (~1 µm) of light and the refractive index contrast achievable in the optical materials. By utilizing the unique feature of photons, which are Bosons by definition, we can further enhance the interconnectivity physically stacking optical waveguide layers without interference to significantly enhance the number of interconnects on one optical layer.

Silicon photonics for both digital and analog computing will be introduced with low latency, high bandwidth and multi-wavelength operations for AI and ML applications. Multiple photonic circuits were demonstrated to ensure low latency, high bandwidth and low energy consumption without compromising the machine learning accuracy.  A myriad of data sets has been explored.  And the details will be presented in the plenary talk.

Biography:

Ray T. Chen Graduated from TsingHua University in Taiwan with a B.S. degree in Physics in 1980. He received his PhD degree in EE from the University of California in 1988.  He is currently a senior Endowed Chair Professor at The University of Texas Austin.  His research work has been awarded over 150 research grants and contracts from such sponsors as Army, Navy, Space-Force, Air-Force, DARPA, MDA, NSA, NSF, DOE, EPA, NIST, NIH, NASA, Texas State, and private industry.  Chen served as the CTO, Founder, and Chairman of the Board of Radiant Research, Inc. from 2000 to 2001, where he raised 18 million dollars A-Round funding to commercialize polymer-based photonic devices involving over twenty patents, which were acquired by Finisar in 2002, a publicly traded company in the Silicon Valley (NASDAQ:FNSR).  He also serves as the founder and Chairman of the Board of Omega Optics Inc. since its initiation in 2001. Omega Optics has received over twenty million dollars in research funding from private sectors and government agencies. 

He received the honorary citizenship award in 2003 from the Austin city council for his contribution in community service.  He was also the recipient of the 2008 IEEE Teaching Award, and the 2010 IEEE HKN Loudest Professor Award. 2013 NASA Certified Technical Achievement Award for contribution on moon surveillance conformable phased array antenna.  During his undergraduate years at the National Tsing Hua University, he led the 1979 university debate team to the National Championship of the Taiwan College-Cup Debate Contest.

Chen’s group at UT Austin has reported its research findings in more than 1,000 publications including over 100 invited papers and 82 patents. Chen is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, IEEE, AIIA (International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance), Optica (OSA), and SPIE.  Chen has supervised 41 postdocs and graduated 60 PhD students from his group.  And many of them are professors in research universities in the USA and abroad.

Prof. Harald Giessen 

University of Stuttgart, Germany

Title: 3D Printed Complex Microoptics: Fundamentals and First Benchmark Applications

Abstract:

We introduce 3d printed complex microoptics, spanning a range between a few micrometers up to 5 mm. Our lens system consists of aspherical multiplet lens systems which can give high numerical apertures with simultaneously excellent imaginag properties over the entire field of view, even directly on an optical fiber tip. Combining several printed materials with different refractive indices and dispersions and the combination with diffractive elements allows for realization of micro-optical achromats or even apochromats which are aplanatic (no first- and third-order aberrations such as spherical aberration, astigmatism, coma, distortion etc.) and achromatic for 3 wavelengths (red, green, blue). We also demonstrate the direct printing of black resists, which results in aperture stops and blackened hulls.

Atomic layer deposition yields antireflection coatings on all optical elements. Confocal surface profiling and wavefront interferometry demonstrate accuracies far better than lambda/20. In combination with high-resolution nanostructuring, also 3D holograms and metasurfaces can be included.

We utilize these methods to demonstrate the smallest endoscope in the world, being able to pass through a root canal of a tooth, as well as ultracompact sensors with hologon or hypergon lenses or a set of Scheimpflug lenses with nearly 2pi steradian imaging solid angle. Illumination systems as well as holographic projectors and beam shapers directly on optical fiber tips are demonstrated. Coupling single quantum emitters or single photon detectors to single mode fibers is demonstrated. Furthermore, single-fiber optical trapping of polystyrene beads, live cells, or atomic systems becomes a possibility.

Recently, we also demonstrated the use of 3D printed optics inside of a laser cavity, connecting a DBR mirror in a fiber with a solid state laser crystal.

Biography:

Harald Giessen graduated with a MSc in Physics from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, and obtained his MSc and PhD in Optical Sciences in 1994 and 1995 from Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, working with Nasser Peyghambarian and Pierre Meystre. After a postdoc in 1996 at Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany and an Assistant Professorship at University of Marburg, Germany, from 1997-2000 he became Associate Professor at University of Bonn, Germany. Since 2005 he is Full Professor and Director of the 4^th Physics Institute and the Stuttgart Research Center of Photonics Engineering (SCoPE) at University of Stuttgart. His research deals with Ultrafast Nanooptics, Plasmonics, Metasurfaces and 3D Printed Micro-Optics. He is Fellow of Optica and has won an ERC Advanced Grant for Complex Plasmonics. In 2024, he was awarded the Robert-Wichard-Pohl Prize of the German Physical Society for his pioneering work of 3D Printed Micro-Optics. From 2018-2021 he was Highly Cited Researcher (Top 1%).

Prof. Jianping Yao 

University of Ottawa, Canada

Title: Photonic Integrated Circuits: Pathway to Next-Generation Microwave Photonic Systems

Abstract:

Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) provide compelling advantages for microwave photonic systems, including low loss, compact footprint, and high integration density, making them well-suited for next-generation microwave subsystems and systems. This talk will highlight recent advances in integrated microwave photonic systems enabled by PICs, with applications including true time delay networks for wideband beamforming, optoelectronic oscillators for low-phase-noise, high-frequency microwave generation, programmable signal processors for versatile photonic signal processing, and high-sensitivity optical sensors. 

Biography:

Jianping Yao is a Distinguished University Professor and University Research Chair in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Canada. He has been working in Microwave Photonics and has published 400+ peer-reviewed journal papers and 300+ conference papers, with 30,000+ citations and an H-index of 91. He served as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Photonics Technology Letters from 2017 to 2021 and was an elected member of the IEEE Photonics Society Board of Governors from 2018 to 2021. He was Chair of the IEEE MTT-S Microwave Photonics Technical Committee from 2016 to 2021 and was an IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer from 2013 to 2015. He received the IEEE R.A. Fessenden Award in 2018 and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Microwave Applications Award in 2025. Dr. Yao is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2012), the Royal Society of Canada (2018), IEEE (2012), and Optica (2010).

Prof. Xiaogang Peng

Zhejiang University, China

Title: Strongly- and weakly-confined Semiconductor Nanocrystals as a Platform for Photon Manipulation

Abstract:

Strongly-confined semiconductor nanocrystals are known as quantum dots, which have received great attention in the recent years as optical and optoelectronic materials. Here, we show that weakly-confined semiconductor nanocrystals offer a much greater platform than quantum dots do for photon manipulation with their unique dynamic excitons as the medium. Experimental results confirm that the photo- or electro-generated electron-hole pairs in weakly-confined semiconductor nanocrystals are neither free carriers nor Wannier excitons. Instead, with weak electrostatic interaction between an electron and hole, either carrier is spatially confined by the lattice-ligands boundary, which is better described as a dynamic exciton.  Different from a Wannier exciton, behaviour of a dynamic exciton can be readily tuned by the size, shape, and composition of a nanocrystal, making monodisperse semiconductor nanocrystals—both strongly- and weakly-confined—as optimal materials for optoelectronics. 

Biography:

Xiaogang Peng is currently a Professor at Zhejiang University. Before moving back to China in 2009, he was on the faculty at the University of Arkansas as Assistant Professor (1999-2003), Associate Professor (2003-2005), and Professor with Chair (2005-2009). He received his B.S. (1987) and Ph.D. (1992) from Jilin University, China. His Postdoctoral experience followed by a position as Staff Scientist at UC Berkeley between 1994 and 1999 brought him into the field of colloidal nanocrystals. Shortly after starting his tenure at the University of Arkansas in 1999, he founded NN-Labs LLC in USA to explore industrial applications of quantum dots. In 2009, he founded Najing Tech Corporation in Hangzhou, currently focusing on quantum-dot display technologies.