Günther Roelkens - MIRACLE
Onderstaande beschrijving is in het Engels:
Günther Roelkens was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1979. He received a degree in electrical engineering from Ghent University, Belgium, in 2002 and a PhD from the same university in 2007, at the Department of Information Technology (INTEC), where he is currently a tenure track research professor. In 2008, he was a visiting scientist in IBM TJ Watson Research Center, New York. He is currently also part-time assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
His research interest include the heterogeneous integration of III-V semiconductors and other materials on top of silicon waveguide circuits, for high performance photonic integrated circuits. Currently he is holder of an ERC starting grant (MIRACLE), to start up research in the field of integrated mid-infrared photonic integrated circuits. He has published over 40 journal papers and holds several patents. He is a member of IEEE Photonics Society.
Contact: Gunther.Roelkens@intec.UGent.be
Publications: http://www.photonics.intec.ugent.be/contact/people.asp?ID=80
Mid-InfraRed active photonic integrated circuits for life sciences and environment
My group will explore the new field of photonic integrated circuits for the mid infrared (MIR) wavelength band based on high-index contrast waveguide structures. As such, this proposal is challenging, since there are no established solutions for mid-infrared photonic integrated circuits. This research is fuelled by the need for compact, integrated solutions for spectroscopic sensor systems in the MIR for biomedical applications and environmental monitoring, since most molecules have “fingerprint” absorption lines in this wavelength range.
The project is based on the use of high index contrast group IV waveguide systems, realized using CMOS fabrication technology. To extend the functionality of the photonic integrated circuit, my group will heterogeneously integrate other materials (III-V semiconductors, LiNbO3, MCT, chalcogenides, polymers) on the high index contrast waveguide system for particular optical functions. My group will start exploring this field by focusing on three cornerstone applications which would benefit from an integrated approach, and which are chosen such that all critical issues one could encounter in realizing a MIR photonic integrated circuit, are tackled in these applications.
The research will focus on the realization of a MIR lab-on-a-chip spectroscopic system, a fully integrated MIR Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy system (FTIR) and an integrated optical parametric oscillator to address new wavelength ranges, all integrated on a silicon photonic integrated circuit. Each of these three cornerstones would be world’s first mid-infrared systems-on-a-chip and thus a breakthrough. Inherently this makes this a relatively high risk/very high gain proposal.
My group will combine the strengths of the two institutes which support this proposal, i.e. the world class silicon photonics and heterogeneous integration technology at Ghent University/IMEC and the world class III-V and plasmonic technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology.