Optochemical organisation: from functional microstructures to all-optical encoding of light beams

我们的一些最关键的生存工具依赖于光来照明、精确测量、捕捉和生成图像、传输数据、播放音乐、在计算机芯片上制造亚微观结构、诊断疾病、绘制地图和治疗内脏。这些技术中的每一项都是基于对光波如何与其介质相互作用以及这些相互作用如何可测量地改变光的强度、波长和偏振等参数的深刻理解。当前光子学研究的首要目标是操纵和精确控制微观结构内的光束。这对于开发超越微电子的功能、效率和速度的光基设备至关重要。我的研究考察了光和化学系统的相互作用；当照明时，这些系统的密度(和折射率)会增加。通过利用这些变化，我们已经训练激光和白炽灯光束在长距离传播时不会耗散，创造微观晶格，并通过融合或相互排斥来相互作用。结合化学和光学的知识和经验，我们现在提出了控制光传播的强大的新策略。具体地说，我们将(1)制作嵌入密集阵列(例如每立方厘米10,000个)光导通道的薄膜，称为波导，它们在很大的角度范围内取向。当被涂覆在太阳能电池板上时，它们捕捉到更多的太阳光，从而提高了将光转化为电能的效率；(2)利用大量光束之间的相互作用，生成新的二进制代码系统(如位)；在这里，数据可以由100多万种独特的光模式组合组成。由于图案可以用低强度的LED光产生，这可能会开辟一条进行计算的廉价途径。我们还将继续研究，以进一步了解光与不同光化学系统的相互作用。这项研究将为高素质人才提供跨学科培训，这些人才对加拿大在光子学领域有效竞争至关重要，光子学领域是本世纪的关键科技部门之一。

Some of our most critical survival tools rely on light to illuminate, precisely measure, capture and generate images, transmit data, play music, fabricate sub-microscopic structures on computer chips, diagnose illness and map and treat internal organs. Each of these technologies is based on a profound understanding of how lightwaves interact with their medium, and how these interactions measurably change parameters such as the intensity, wavelength and polarization of light. An overarching goal of current photonics research is to manipulate and precisely control light beams within microscopic structures. This is crucial to develop light-based devices that surpass the functionality, efficiency and speed of microelectronics. My research examines the interactions of light and chemical systems; when illuminated, these systems undergo an increase in density (and refractive index). By exploiting such changes, we have trained laser and incandescent beams to travel over long distances without dissipating, create microscopic lattices and interact by fusing together or repelling each other. With this knowledge and experience that combine chemistry and optics, we now propose powerful new strategies to control light propagation. Specifically, we will (1) fabricate films embedded with dense arrays (e.g. 10, 000 per cubic centimetre) of light-guiding channels called waveguides, which are oriented over a large angular range. When coated onto solar panels, they capture more Sun rays and in this way, improve the efficiency of converting light to electricity; (2) harness interactions between large populations of light beams to generate a new system of binary codes (like bits); here, data can be composed from more than a million combinations of unique light patterns. Because the patterns can be generated with low-intensity, LED light, this could open an inexpensive route to perform computing. We will also (3) continue studies to further understand the interactions of light and different photochemical systems. This research will provide interdisciplinary training for highly qualified personnel who are crucial for Canada to effectively compete in the field of photonics, one of the key scientific and technological sectors in this century.