- Photonic materials
- Nonlinear optical effects in organic polymers
- Ultrafast processes in condensed phase
- Sol-gel processed organic:inorganic hybrid
materials - Photodynamic cancer therapy
- Flourescence imaging
- 3D optical data storage
- B. Sc., Bihar University, India (1964)
- M. Sc., Bihar University, India (1966)
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (1971)
- Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan (1971-74)
- Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1977-81)
- Guggenheim Fellow (1997)
Preparation, processing and theoretical modeling of nanostructured photonic materials; biophotonics; nonlinear optical processes
- Preparation, processing and theoretical modeling of photonic materials.
- Nonlinear optical effects in organic polymers.
- Laser-matter interaction.
- Ultrafast processes in condensed phase.
- Microstructure and dynamics in sol-gel processed organic:inorganic hybrid materials.
- Multiphoton processes and their applications to photodynamic cancer therapy, fluorescence imaging and 3D optical data storage.
Photonics is emerging as a multidisciplinary new frontier of science and technology and is capturing the imagination of scientists and engineers worldwide because of its potential applications to many areas of present and future information and image processing technologies. Photonics is the analog of electronics in that it describes the technology in which photons instead of electrons are used to acquire, store, transmit, and process information. Nonlinear optics provides key operational functions needed for the implementation of photonics technology. See also the UB Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics web site.
Our Photonics Research Laboratory in the Chemistry Department is engaged in multidisciplinary research in the field of photonics and nonlinear optics. It has excellent research facilities for a comprehensive multidisciplinary research program and features state-of-the-art instrumentation. The comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach of the Photonics Research Laboratory covers the following integral components:
- Theoretical modeling and a systematic study of the structure-property relation in sequentially built or substituted structures to identify chemical units and bonding structures which enhance photonic and nonlinear optical responses.
- By chemical synthesis and modification, development of useful multifunctional and nanostructured materials simultaneously exhibiting large nonlinearities and other desirable optical and materials qualities.
- Fabrication of useful bulk units of optical quality via crystal growth, film fabrication including that by Langmuir-Blodgett techniques, and fiber technique.
- Study of physics of linear and nonlinear optical processes using a variety of experimental techniques including ultra short laser pulses of approximately 60 femtoseconds width.
- Investigation of processes leading to device failure, involving optical damage or device lifetime limitation.
- Study of two-photon processes and their applications to up-conversion lasing, optical power limiting, 3D optical data storage, confocal microscopy and photodynamic therapy.
Our program, therefore, provides opportunities for graduate research in synthetic chemistry, materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, theoretical chemistry and experimental physical chemistry.
Selected Recent Publications