SEMINAR:Next-generation nano-photonics, optoelectronics...

Guest: Muhammad Umar, Sabancı University

Title: Next-generation nano-photonics, optoelectronics, and electronic systems for highly efficient bio/chemical sensing and display applications

Date/Time: 15 May 2024, 13.40

Location: FENS G035

Abstract: This talk will provide an overview of my current and previous research activities and perspective on the development of next-generation nano-photonics, optoelectronics, and electronic systems as well as their large-area application in highly efficient bio/chemical sensing and displays. I will start by describing the development of TiO 2 deposited 1D Bragg grating to serve as a versatile platform for single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) lasing from arbitrary morphologies of the gain medium and a backbone to inkjet-print full bio-photonic chips for bio-sensing. Then, I will show how a truly natural, biodegradable green material like “silk” can be used to realize optically-activated pH-sensitive printable inks as well as films for applications ranging from physically-transient and highly-efficient chemosensors, to silk inverse opals (SIOs) for enhancing amplified spontaneous emissions and to realize coherent random lasing platform which could be buried under biological tissues in tissue engineering studies. Next, I will describe a lithography-free, fully biocompatible, hydratable, and conformable metal-insulator-metal (MIM)-based plasmonic resonators such as color filters and absorbers for diverse sensing and display applications. To conclude, I will talk about my recent efforts in realizing extremely long photonic nanojets (PNJs) from microsphere integrated micro-optical devices and metal/2D-material/polymer-integrated flexible electronic devices for thermometry and infrared sensing applications.

Bio: Muhammad Umar obtained his MSc and MPhil degrees in Electronics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He taught different courses at the undergraduate level as a visiting lecturer at different universities in Pakistan until 2015. He completed his Ph.D. degree mainly focused on photonics and optoelectronics under the supervision of Prof. Sunghwan Kim from the Department of Applied Physics, Ajou University, Republic of Korea in 2020. Since 2021, he is with the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University as a postdoctoral scholar supported by the TUBITAK-National Lead Researcher Award program. Dr. Umar has published more than 20 journal and conference papers. He is the recipient of the best poster presentation award from the Optical Society of Korea (2018) and a three-time recipient of the best oral presentation award from The Korean Physical Society (2016-17).