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.

An enthusiastic and capable PhD student is sought to work on the development of a new nonlinear optical endoscope using wavelengths at the transparency window of most biological tissues (1200 -1300 nm) and high NA lenses. The developed endoscope would have high resolution and be able to view deep under the tissue epithelium. It will be used for early cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment.

Students must be eligible for admission to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Swinburne University of Technology, preferably having some experience in optical instrumentation. The selected candidate will recieve a scholarship stripend of AU$20,400 per annum for full-time study over a period of 3 years and 6 months. Commencment is as soon as possible and located at the Hawthorn Campus in Melbourne.

For more information contact Prof. Min Gu (mgu@swin.edu.au) or Dr Hongchun Bao (hbao@swin.edu.au).

The Centre for Micro-Photonics is pleased to report that Swinburne University has renewed the Adjunct Professorship of Richard Evans. The renewal will ensure the centre will continue receiving the valued assistance of Professor Evans and the CSIRO towards the centres optical data storage project.

Gold nanorods have unique optical properties, which vary with the color and the polarization of the incoming light. Peter Zijlstra et al. from the CMP have exploited these features to achieve for the first time five-dimensional optical recording. Both the polarization of light and its wavelength are used to selectively reshape gold nanorods in a polymer matrix, which is capable of recording 9 independent bits in the same focal volume. To read out the recording, the authors used two-photon luminescence, which allows non-destructive and cross-talk free detection due to its high wavelength and angular sensitivity compared to conventional linear detection. Recording was demonstrated in 10 closely spaced layers, resulting in a storage capacity of 1.6 Terabyte per DVD-sized disc. Further reduction of the layer spacing could potentially increase the disk capacity to 7 Terabyte.

The paper has been published in the May 21 2009 issue of Nature and appeared on the front cover.

Congraduations to Dr. Kerrie-Ann McMahon who has recently been awarded a Cass Foundation travel grant of $3500 to attend the Human Frontiers Workshop with Ellen Robey's Lab at the Univerity of California, Berkeley. The foundation gave out 13 travel grants from 171 applicants.

Nature Publishing Group Asia Materials has selected a recent publication as a research highlight this month. The highlighted paper was a result of the ongoing collaboration between Prof. Michel Orrit from the Single Molecule Optics group at Leiden University in The Netherlands, and Dr. James Chon from the CMP. It was published in Nano Letters and is titled" Acoustic Oscillations and Elastic Moduli of Single Gold Nanorods" by Peter Zijlstra, Anna Tchebotareva, James Chon, Min Gu, and Michel Orrit. Using ultrafast spectroscopy the authors for the first time measured the acoustic vibrations in single gold nanorods. In contrast to earlier reports on ensemble measurements, the elastic moduli of these small particles were found to be close to the value for bulk gold.

Smitha Kuriakose and Michael Ventura both received their doctoral degree at the 2008 Swinburne Graduation and Award Ceremonies, held at 23 October in the Hawthorn Townhall. Dr. Kuriakose graduated on her thesis titled " Characterisation of near field optical trapping and biological applications" describing the near-field excitation of whispering gallery modes in small spheres. Dr. Ventura graduated on his thesis titled " Fabrication and characterisation of three-dimensional photonic crystals", in which he describes the use of passive and active photonic crystals to control the propagation of ligth.

Nature Photonics has highlighted a recent CMP publication in the Research Highlights section. The highlighted paper describes the development of a hand held two-photon microendoscope based on double-clad fibre that displays a field of view of 475 um x 475 um. The probe has an axial and lateral resolution of around 1 um and 14.5 um — close to the diffraction limit for the numerical aperture of the lens in the probe at the end of the fibre. The endoscope was used for in vivo imaging of the kidney surface of a rat injected with fluorescin. The paper can be found here.

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.

Information about Photonics at Swinburne

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

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