2nd award at the SPIE Photonics West 2019 Conference

Mr Enrico CASAMENTI, PhD at the Galatea Lab in Microcity Neuchâtel, won the 2nd award in the Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics Best Student Paper Competition, during the SPIE Photonics West 2019 in San Francisco, in February 2019, in the section LASE.

His paper is entitled: "Dynamically tunable optomechanical suspended waveguide for broadband phase modulation"

Abstract: We investigate a waveguide phase-modulation based on optomechanics and in particular photoelasticity. Specifically, a fused silica suspended 3D waveguide suitable for a broad visible and near-infrared spectrum is implemented in the form of a double-clamped suspended beam. This optomechanical device oscillates up to kHz frequencies thanks to the use of dielectrophoresis excitation. The full device is manufactured through femtosecond laser exposure combined with chemical etching and CO₂-laser polishing. As a proof-of-concept, a MZI set-up is adopted for phase measurements. A retardance of around 170 nm is reported for an actuating voltage of 125 V.

This award was sponsorised by Amplitude and Trumpf

Award Committee:

• Dr. Clemens Hoenninger, Amplitude, France
• Prof. Stefan Nolte, University of Jena, Germany
• Prof. Peter Herman, University of Toronto, Canada
• Prof. Michel Meunier, Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
• Prof. Roberto Osellame, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Prof. Yves Bellouard, EPFL, Switzerland