As part of Swinburne’s Strategic Plan toward 2015, the Centre for Micro-Photonics (CMP), a designated Tier One Research Centre, will enter an entirely new development phase from 2008. Therefore two new Professorship positions are available effective January 2008.

Two enthusiastic internationally highly regarded scientists are sought to participate in cutting edge research in nanophotonics (Professorship) and biophotonics (Associate Professor/Professorship) at the CMP. For the position description please click the relevant link below.

Position description nanophotonics.
Position description biophotonics.

Three new postdoctoral research fellow positions are available in the CMP. The positions concern research toward the development of optical devices for multi-dimensional optical data storage, organic dyes for photovoltaics, and the development of a new nonlinear optical endoscope probe for in vivo cellular tissue imaging and cancer treatment

Professor Min Gu has been appointed as "Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor" in the development of strategies to significantly enhance the quality and quantity of research-active staff within the University.

Gold nanorods have a strong absorption band due to their local surface plasmon resonance. Kyongsik Choi et al. from the CMP have shown that this strong absorption band can assist with void fabrication. They showed that an optically transparent polymer can be doped with the gold nanorods. When fabricating void structures they found that the fabrication threshold power is reduced by an order of magnitude compared to a polymer which is not doped with the gold nanorods. These void structures have important applications in three dimensional optical data storage, micro-fluidics and photonic crystal applications. The paper was published by Advanced Functional Materials and was featured on the inside front cover of the August 6 issue.

Professor Min Gu has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (IoP). This senior class of membership indicates a very high level of achievement in physics and an outstanding contribution to the profession.

An article about the CMP has appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of Optics and Photonics News. The article was written by Prof. Barry Masters, who visited the CMP for a month in July 2007.

"The Centre for Micro-Photonics at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology has emerged as a leader in interdisciplinary photonics education and research.... The CMP is an international cooperative center that trains Australian and international students in a well-equipped and modern environment. The collaborations include national institutions, major educational and research institutes outside of Australia, and cooperative projects with industry. In just ten years, the CMP has achieved a well-deserved reputation as a world-class educational and research center."

Read the full article here.

The 2007 Annual Report for the Centre for Micro-Photonics can be found here. Last year was a fruitful year for the CMP with 21 published journal papers, 43 conference presentations, and 2 patent applications. The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS) was extended till 2010 with AUS 7.5m funding. Also a wide range of industrial collaborations was established including partnerships with Genera Biosystems, Optiscan, and the CRC for polymers. Read more here.

Nature Photonics has highlighted a recent CMP publication in a Technology Focus dedicated to optical data storage. The highlighted paper by Xiangping Li, James W.M. Chon, Richard Evans, and Min Gu was published in Applied Physics Letters and reports that two-photon absorption can be used to excite resonance energy transfer from luminescent CdS quantum dots to azo-dye molecules. The resultant isomerization of the azo-dye molecules leads to a pronounced refractive-index change, which can be used to represent data bits. The publication is titled " Two-photon energy transfer enhanced three-dimensional optical memory in quantum-dot and azo-dye doped polymers", and can be found here (subscription required).

Our congratulations to Michael Ventura who was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for his thesis titled 'Fabrication and characterisation of three-dimensional photonic crystals'.

Prof. Min gu was appointed to the International Science Linkages (ISL) assessment panel. The ISL program is part of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) and supports Australian scientists, from both the public and private sectors, to collaborate with international partners on leading edge science and technology.

Prof Min Gu has been awarded the Senior Membership of the International Society of Electric and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Senior Member is the highest grade for which IEEE members can apply and requires at least 10 years professional practice and significant performance during the last 5 years of professional practice.

Nature Publishing Group Asia Materials has selected a recent CMP publication as a featured highlight this month. The highlighted paper was published in Advanced Materials and is titled " Engineering spontaneous emission in a quantum-dot-doped polymer nanocomposite with three-dimensional photonic crystals" by Michael J. Ventura and Min Gu. It describes the modification of the spontaneous emission rate of lead-selenide quantum dots embedded in a three-dimensional woodpile photonic crystal.

MB BS PhD FRACP Alex Boussioutas from Melbourne University, the Western Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has been appointed by the Swinburne University Council as an Associate Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Micro-Photonics. He has extensive knowledge and expertise in Gastroenterology. Associate Professor Boussioutas will be actively involved in the nonlinear endoscopy project.

Recently the "Handbook of Biomedical Nonlinear Optical Microscopy" was released by Oxford University Press. This book was edited by Prof. Barry Masters and Prof. Peter So, and contains a contribution from Prof. Min Gu. It provides comprehensive treatment of the theories, techniques, and biomedical applications of nonlinear optics and microscopy for cell biologists, life scientists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians.

Congratulations to Prof. Min Gu for a successful bid to host the next meeting in the Sir Mark Oliphant Conference - International Frontiers of Science and Technology conference series. "Nanophotonics Down Under 2009" will be held in Melbourne from 21st - 24th June 2009. Please click here for the conference website.

Mr. Jiafang Li and Mr. Xiangping Li have been awarded a prestigious Chinese government award for outstanding self financed students abroad. This prize was awarded by the Minister of Education of China. This worldwide competitive award is founded by the Chinese government since 2003. There are only 301 recipients worldwide, of which Australia has 21.

Congratulations to Michael Ventura who has received the first prize for the best staff poster presentation at the 7th CUDOS Workshop held in Murramarang Resort, NSW, Australia.

Our congratulations to Smitha Kuriakose who was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for her thesis titled 'Characterisation of near field optical trapping and biological applications'.

(Associate) Professorship position available in nanophotonics
Professorship position available in biophotonics

Information about Photonics at Swinburne

		Z019		Bachelor of Science (Biophotonics) Honours
		Z039		Bachelor of Science (Optronics and Lasers) Honours
		Z046		Bachelor of Science

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