Modern Optics Research

The modern optics research group comprises two faculty members interested in a wide array of topics ranging from optical spectroscopy and ultrafast lasers to microscopy techniques for fluorescence imaging.

Prof. Yakovlev's work is mainly focused on the applied aspects of optical technology and nonlinear optics. One of the most striking examples is the optical parametric amplifier of white-light continuum, which was developed by Yakovlev in 1992-1993 and which still remains the work-horse of many research laboratories all around the world. Present research is focused on accommodating methods of nonlinear optical spectroscopy, advanced optical materials and microscopic tools to study structural transformation on micro- and nano-scale. Yakovlev's research group is also continuously developing ultrafast (femtosecond (10^-15 s) and picosecond (10^-12 s)) lasers and nonlinear optical methods for converting the light into spectroscopically important spectral regions.

Valerică Raicu's optics research is aimed mainly at the development of microscopy techniques for fluorescence imaging. He has developed a multi-photon microscope with spectral resolution, which can be used for acquiring entire fluorescence spectra on timescales faster than those involved in molecular diffusion in biological environments. Prof. Raicu's research group has successfully used the new instrument in determining the structure, with molecular resolution, of various membrane receptor complexes in living cells, but the method could also be applied equally to single molecule investigations. Several research groups around the world have manifested an interest in implementing this technique in their studies. Other optics-related work in Raicu's lab is aimed at improving two-photon photo-polymerization techniques for fabricating microfluidic device masters.