Photonic Crystal Sensors

Olav Solgaard
Stanford University

Monday, May 4, 2009 at 1:00PM
54-134 Engineering IV Building
Refreshments Served

Abstract: Photonic crystals provide unprecedented control of the amplitude and phase of optical fields and enable new sensor architectures. In this talk we describe the basics of optical filtering and sensing in two-dimensional photonic crystals, and show how these structures can be combined with MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) to create low-cost platforms for optical integration and packaging. Practical device designs, including sensors for acoustic pressure, displacement, and local refractive-index changes, will be described.

Biography: Olav Solgaard earned his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1992. His doctoral dissertation: “Integrated Semiconductor Light Modulators for Fiber-optic and Display Applications” described, for the first time, deformable grating light valves. These microphotonic devices were the basis for the establishment of a Silicon Valley firm that became Silicon Light Machines (SLM), co-founded by Dr. Solgaard in 1994. He served as a consultant and Technology Advisory Board member to SLM, which was bought by Cypress Semiconductor Corporation in 2000. From 1992 to 1995 he carried out research on optical MEMS as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1995, he joined the Electrical Engineering faculty of the University of California, Davis. His work at UC Davis led to the invention of the multi-wavelength, fiber-optical switch, which has been developed into commercial products by several companies. In 1999 he joined Stanford University where he is now an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. Professors Solgaard’s research interests include Optical MEMS, Photonic Crystals, and Atomic Force Microscopy for applications in telecommunication and bio-medicine. He has authored more than 250 technical publications and holds 36 patents. Professor Solgaard came to Stanford with the support of a Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Fellowship in 1986 and was named a Terman Fellow at Stanford for the period 1999-2002. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.