UCSD Fainman lab: Developing nano lasers for telecommunication applications

The Ultrafast and Nanoscale Optics Group is part of the Applied Optics-Photonics and Nanoscale Devices and Systems Programs of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The group is involved in the design and realization of ultrafast and miniature optical systems.

Current research includes photonic crystals (band gap); 3D holographic optical storage for image processing; the investigation of artificial dielectric properties of nanostructures; transparent photonic switching fabric and networks; diffractive optics with multifunctionality; and quantum communications and cryptography for photonic network security and privacy. 

SPIE Fellow Yeshaiahu (Shaya) Fainman, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UCSD, has been directing research for the group since 1990. He has made pioneering contributions in utilizing near-field optical phenomena in inhomogeneous and metamaterials, nanophotonics and plasmonics, nonlinear optics of femtosecond pulses and non-conventional imaging.

Fainman was awarded the 2012 SPIE Dennis Gabor Award in recognition of his novel applications of ultrafast pulses and nanophotonics in information-processing systems.

Also appearing in the video is Qing Gu, a graduate student at USCD and member of the Ultrafast and Nanoscale Optics Group.