Main Research Topics

PhotonXLab collaborates with several national and international groups and focuses on the following research areas:

Topologies of semiconductor lasers with self and mutual injection

Mode locked lasers and applications | Semiconductor lasers and amplifiers

Mode-locked lasers (MLLs) is a family of well established laser sources that are widely used as a source of ultrashort pulses (from tens of picoseconds down to few tens of femtoseconds) for scientific, medical and industrial applications.
Our research is focused on fiber and semiconductor sub-families of MLLs which continue to attract substantial interest thanks to their ease of operation and small footprint. In particular our research includes the following topics:

  • Multi-wavelength emission (which is interesting in view of applications in fields such as difference frequency generation, pump-probe measurements, remote sensing, THz sources, etc.)
  • Influence of optical feedback on the stability and noise of MLLs.
  • Mutual coupling and synchronization of MLLs for application such as pulse synthesis, clocks etc.
  • Novel principles and new applications for laser based sensors
  • Modelling, simulation and applications of semiconductor lasers and SOAs. We investigate fundamental properties of semiconductor devices in view of performance improvement and emerging applications.

Comparison of seismic acceleration recorded by the interferometric system and a commercial accelerometer of the Institute of Geodynamics (NOA, Greece)

Earthquake detection by commercially deployed fiber cables

The use of fiber infrastructure for environmental sensing is attracting global interest, since the optical fiber is an easily accessible platform with a large terrestrial coverage. Moreover, optical fiber networks offer the possibility of access in submarine areas where the permanent use of other types of sensors is difficult or expensive.
In collaboration with research groups from the Univ. of West Attica, the Institute of Geodynamics (NOA), Univ. of Athens, OTE, ETH Zurich etc., we have demonstrated detection of seismic waves by means of a microwave interferometric system installed on a commercially deployed fiber cable in Attika (Greece). Multiple earthquakes from several epicenters in Greece have been recorded. Ongoing experiments target the improvement of the system in terms of several characteristics (sensitivity, noise etc.)


Typical setup of a laser displacement sensor

Photonic Sensors

Light opens up a wide range of possibilities for metrology and sensor technology (optical fiber sensors, planar waveguide sensors, laser-based sensors, biophotonic sensors, etc.).
We are interested in novel principles for optical sensing and in developing new sensing applications. Our research currently includes displacement, vibration and stress sensors that can be used in a variety of scenarios and applications.