Colloquia & Guest Speakers
Opto-Mechanics in Standard Platforms: Single Mode Fibers and Silicon-on-insulator
Avinoam Zadok, Full Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Technion
Monday, February 3, 2025
3:30 p.m.
Presented in-person in Goergen 101 and on Zoom
Abstract
The interactions between optical and mechanical waves are often studied in specialty platforms, which enable extensive optimization and support stronger effects. In this seminar, I address the prospects of opto-mechanics intwo of the most common, "boring" photonics platforms: the standard fibers and silicon-on-insulator waveguide circuits. While these platforms are not built for opto-mechanics, and leave only limited room for design optimization, they nevertheless support a broad range of interactions between light and ultrasound. Opto-mechanical effects in standard fibers enable the sensing of media outside the boundaries of the cladding, where guided light does not reach. Other effects include non-reciprocal switching of light between the principal axes of polarization maintaining fibers, and a new class of fiber laser. Acoustic waves may be launched along silicon-photonic integrated circuits through thermo-elastic excitation in metallic grating elements. The acoustic waves implement long delay lines, narrowband microwave photonic filters, thin layers analysis, and microwave frequency oscillators.
Biography
Professor Avi Zadok graduated from Tel-Aviv University in 2007 and was a post-doctoral fellow at Caltech between 2007-2009. In the years 2009-2024 he was with the Faculty of Engineering of Bar-llan University. In 2024 he joined the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Technion as Full Professor. The research interests of the Zadok group include fiber-optics, photonic integrated circuits with emphasis on silicon, opto-mechanics and nonlinear optics. He received two grants from the European Research Council (ERC): a StarterGrant in 2015 and a Consolidator Grant in 2020. Professor Zadok was the chair of the Israel Young academy in 2020. He is a member of the National Council for Research and Development of Israel, and a Fellow of Optica.