The main activities of “Micro- and nanophotonics” Lab are devoted to systematic studies in the field of “Nanosciences, new materials and technologies“. These are focused on a broad range of fundamental understanding and applications in: 1) Material science, nano- and quantum technologies and 2) Improvement of the life quality – environment safety, pollutant detection, and fabrication of new biocompatible materials. The basic goal is development of high efficient methods (alternative of the conventional ones) for fabrication of micro- and nanostructures and demonstration of their properties and applications. The main research topics include:

Laser-assisted methods for micro- and nanostructuring:

•  Pulsed Laser Deposition of metal, metal oxides and composited thin films and nanostructures

•  Laser nanostructuring based on laser annealing and ablation

•  Fabrication of noble metal colloids by laser ablation

•  Laser micro- and nanostructuring of biomaterials, biocompatible polymers and ceramics

•  Fabrication of 3D nanoparticle–composed structures inside glass and polymers

Properties of structures composed of metal nanoparticles

•  Optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles and nanoparticle ensembles

•  Optical properties of colloids and composite materials

•  Electrical and hydrophobic properties of nanostructures

•  Biocompatibility and bioactivity

Theoretical modeling

•  Interaction of the EM field with nanostructures, optical properties of complex nanoparticle ensembles – Mie theory, generalized Mie theory for multi-particle systems, non-spherical particles, Finite Difference Time Domain simulations

•  Molecular dynamics simulations of laser ablation and laser nanostructuring

Applications

•  Noble metal nanostructures and composites for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for high sensitive detection of pesticides and nitrates

•  Optical gas sensors

•  Colloids for printing

•  Photothermal cancer cell therapy

•  Bioimplants for ophthalmology, orthopedic and dental medicine, tissue engineering, controlled cell growth

The laboratory is equipped with modern nanosecond laser system that generates high power radiation at 266, 355, 532 and 1064 nm; excimer lasers; pulsed laser and thermal deposition systems for thin films and nanostructures; systems of optical spectroscopy; Raman spectrometer, commercial and homemade theoretical modes for complex nanostructures optical properties description and laser ablation dynamics study.