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NanoPhotonics Centre

 

Optofluidics

Optofluidic hollow-core photonic crystal fibre (HC-PCF) allows light to be guided at the centre of a microfluidic channel, maximizing its interaction with liquids and particles. This system offers unique opportunities to study photochemical reactions and in advanced optical trapping experiments.

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microcavitiesMicrocavities

Microcavities are wavelength-sized optical cavities that trap light of a specific colour with a wavelength set by the cavity length. If an emitting layer (such as a semiconductor) is embedded in this cavity, tuned to emit/absorb at the same wavelength ...

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plasmonic catalysisNanophotonic Catalysis

Plasmonic structures confine light into nanoscale volumes, but at the same time they can activate catalytic processes on their metal surfaces that greatly enhance chemical reactions. We explore a range of new concepts, and demonstrate the ability to even track chemical reactions at the single molecule scale ...

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polymeropalsPolymer Opals

These are structural colour materials, made cheaply from nano-assembly on the metre- to kilometre-scales. The colour comes from the scattering of light inside the regularly arranged nanostructure, and we invented a way to order vast arrays of spheres using shear forces ...

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Cavity Plasmonics

The field of plasmonics aims to exploit the unique optical properties of nanometallic structures to control and manipulate light. We have now been able to confine light to the nanometre scale, allowing us to watch single molecules and even atom movements in real time...

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Active Plasmonics

One of the enormous advantages of plasmonic nanoparticles lies in the fact that simply changing the geometry of the nanostructure, for example from a spherical particle to a rod shape, allows unprecedented control over the location and magnitude of the concentrated electric fields ...

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Plasmonic Chemistry/ SensingPlasmonic Chemistry/Sensing

The extreme confinement of light into tiny gaps allows us to watch chemistry in real time at the single molecule level, and to detect trace concentrations of molecules. It also enables us to see your neurotransmitters from your urine, and explore how individual molecules in cell membranes move around...

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activemetamaterialsActive Metamaterials

Metamaterials are a new sort of optical material constructed from nano-engineered elements ...

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Picture3Biomimetics

Biomimetics combines the study of natural materials with the adoption of design principles to improve what we can construct. We study the optical biomimetics of plants and insects, for intriguing photonic effects ...

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Picture7Optical Growth

Growing structures at the nanoscale is one of the most difficult and pressing problems holding back exploiting nanotechnologies. New ways have to be found to control complex arrangements of different atoms inside materials which have novel...

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Micro-optical systems

 

Using novel low-cost technologies we can make 3D printed optical microscopes and reconfigurable waveguides for different societal applications...

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