FY2018 Annual Report

Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit
Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Group Photo 2018

Abstract

This year the group continued work related to nanofibre-mediated nonlinear optics in cold atomic systems, particle trapping at the nanoscale, fibre-optic based neuronal imaging, and nonlinear optics using whispering gallery resonators. The major outputs are discussed below.   We also continued to contribute to outreach activities through the OSA Student Chapter and a new SPIE Student Chapeter, and welcomed many young research interns from all around the world to hone their research skills by spending time with us here at OIST.  

1. Staff

Research Staff

  • Dr. Viet Giang Truong, Group Leader/Staff Scientist
  • Dr. Jonathan Ward, Staff Scientist
  • Dr. Domna Kotsifaki, Staff Scientist (from August 2018)
  • Dr. Vandna Gokhroo, Staff Scientist (from February 2019)
  • Dr. Tridib Ray, Postdoctoral Scholar
  • Dr. Jinjin Du, Postdoctoral Scholar (until July 2018)
  • Dr. Xue Han, Postdoctoral Scholar (until August 2018)
  • Dr. Fuchuan Lei, Postdoctoral Scholar
  • Dr. Wenfang Li, Postdoctoral Scholar (until July 2018)
  • Dr. Georgiy Tkachenko (JSPS fellow from November 2018)
  • Dr. Priscila Romagnoli (from June 2018)
  • Dr. Jesse Everett (from September 2018)
  • Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ceppe (from February 2019)

Support Staff

  • Ms. Emi Nakamura, Research Unit Administrator
  • Dr. Kristoffer Karlsson, Technician
  • Mr. Metin Ozer, Technician

PhD Students

  • Mr. Thomas Nieddu, OIST PhD student
  • Mr. Simon Peter Mekhail, OIST PhD student
  • Ms. Krishnapriya Subramonian Rajasree, OIST PhD student
  • Mr. Sho Kasumie, OIST PhD student
  • Ms. Cindy Esporlas, OIST PhD student
  • Mr. Ratnesh Gupta, OIST PhD student
  • Ms. Maki Maeda, OIST PhD student
  • Mr. Theodoros Bouloumis, OIST PhD student
  • Ms. Christina Ripken, OIST PhD student

Visiting Researchers

  • Dr. Aditya Saxena, Visiting Researcher, IIT Kanpur, December 2017- March 2019

Rotation/Intern Students

  • Paul Wood, Research Intern, Cork Institute of Technology Ireland (March-August 2019)
  • Simon Jeffers, Research Intern, Cork Institute of Technology Ireland (March-August 2019)
  • Antoine Pichené, Research Intern, Institut d'Optique Aquitaine France (February-August 2019)
  • Muhammad Sirajul Hasan, Rotation Student (January-April 2019)
  • Kristine Roque, Rotation Student (January-April 2019)
  • Ianto Cannon, Rotation Student (January-April 2019)
  • Stephy Vincent, Research Intern, Sacred Heart College, India (July-December 2018)
  • Elliot Harvie, Research Intern, St Andrews University, Scotland (July-December 2018)
  • Ivan Toftul, Vising Research Student, ITMO University, Russia (June-December 2018)
  • Taylor Douglas, Rowan University, USA (May-August 2018)
  • Lewis Ruks, Rotation Student (May-September 2018)

2. Collaborations

  • Theme: Nanoparticle trapping using novel optical fibres
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • J. Fick (Institut Neel, France)
  • Theme: Rydberg atoms and optical nanofibres 
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • E. Brion (University of Toulouse, France), J. Robert (ENS Paris Saclay, France)
  • Theme: Nonlinear materials for WGM resonators 
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • P. Wang (Harbin Engineering University, China)
         
  • Theme: WGM-based photothermal imaging
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • R. Goldsmith (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA)
  • Theme: Multifibre probes for imaging
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • A. Douplik (Ryerson University, Canada)
  • Theme: Cold atoms 
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • F. Petruccione, Y. Ismail (University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa)
  • Theme: Deep brain imaging by means of fibre micro-endoscopy
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • G. Arbuthnott (Brain Mechanisms for Behaviour Unit, OIST)
  • Theme: Atoms and optical nanofibres
    • Type of collaboration: Joint research
    • Researchers:
      • T. Busch and F. Le Kien (Quantum Systems Unit, OIST)
      • M. Petrov (ITMO, St. Petersburg, Russia)

3. Activities and Findings

3.1 Optical Cavities and Sensing Group

The importance of bio/chemical sensing increases in an ever more polluted world. Whether the detection of nanoparticles in air or water to the label free detection of cancer markers, the need for cheap and ultra-sensitive devices is a common goal among the optical microcavity research community. Whispering gallery microcavities rely on the small but intense evanescent field on the surface of the microcavity for optical sensing. The whispering gallery mode propagating around just under the surface of the microcavity interacts with the external environment through its evanescent field. Any particle entering the field will cause a change in the properties of the whispering gallery mode, which can then be detected. We are working with a unique type of hollow whispering gallery microcavity called a microbubble resonator. This device has a special type of light field named a quasi-droplet mode. This quasi-droplet mode can propagate inside the external medium and produce a significantly larger optical field. The larger, more intense field of the quasi-droplet mode means it is hundreds of times more sensitive to the presence of nanoparticles, hence we say our device has a sensing capability beyond the evanescent field.

FY18 Figure 1

Figure 1. (A) Schematic of a microbubble resonator with tapered optical waveguide. The green dots represent nanoparticles inside the liquid filled microbubble. (B) Simulation of whispering gallery modes in the wall of the microbubble resonator. The mode labeled n = 3 is a quasi-droplet mode, this mode is used to detect the presence of nanoparticles. (C) Time evolution of the spectra for two different modes in the presence of a nanoparticle. Mode 1 is a quasi-droplet mode and mode 2 is a normal mode. (D) The measured mode shift and linewidth change for mode 1, taken from (C).

Novel materials for whispering gallery lasers

In collaboration with our colleauges in Harbin Engineering University, we continued looking at novel materials for laser fabrication.1  Enhanced upconversion lasing and luminescence was obtained in a transparent compound fluorosilicate glass co-doped with Yb3+ and Er3+ ions. The sample was prepared by a conventional melt-quenching technique followed by a heat treatment, and a very high upconversion efficiency (quantum yield >1%) is achieved. Visible green lasing in a microsphere resonator with a diameter of 58 μm was observed with a relatively low lasing threshold of circa 52.5 μW. Importantly, when the input power increased to 16.8 mW in a microsphere with a diameter of 110 μm, the colors of the luminescent emissions became yellow-green and then yellow-red when the pump power was increased further to 40 mW. 

Nanoparticle sensing using quasi-droplet microcavity 

We presented experimental results on the detection of 100 nm and 500 nm polystyrene particles in aqueous solution using thin-walled, hollow WGRs supporting quasi-droplet modes.2 The detection sensitivity in terms of mode shift and broadening was measured, with mode shifts of 400 MHz observed for 100 nm particles. In terms of the number of linewidths, this is 276 times larger than similar experiments with microsphere WGRs, thus showing a significant increase in detection sensitivity beyond the capability of standard evanescent field sensing with WGRs.

References:
1. X Wang, Y Yu, S Wang, JM Ward, S Nic Chormaic and P Wang, “Single mode green lasing and multicolor luminescent emission from an Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped compound fluorosilicate galss microsphere resonator”, OSA Continuum 1, 261(2018).

2. JM Ward, Y Yang, F Lei, X-C Yu, Y-F Xiao and S Nic Chormaic, “Nanoparticle sensing beyond evanescent field interaqction with a quasi-droplet microcavity”, Optica 5, 674 (2018). 

 

3.2 NanoBioOptics Group

Micro and nanoparticle trapping with plasmonic tweezers

We demonstrated trapping of dielectric microparticles using plasmonic tweezers based on nano-hole (Fig. 2a & b) and nano-aperture arrays fabricated on a 50 nm Au thin film. The transmission spectra and the electric-field distribution are simulated to calibrate the arrays. Theoretically, we observe sharp peaks in the transmission spectra for dipole resonance modes and these are red-shifted as the size of the annular aperture is reduced. We also expect an absorption peak at approximately 1115 m for the localised plasmon resonance. Using a laser frequency between the two resonances, multiple plasmonic hot spots are created and used to trap and transport micron and submicron particles. Experimentally, we demonstrate trapping of individual 0.5 μm and 1 μm polystyrene particles and the feasibility of particle transportation over the surface of the annular apertures using less than 1.5 mW μm−2 incident laser intensity at 980 nm.1

FY18 Figure 2

Figure 2. (a) and (b) SEM image of a fabricated nanohole array, and (c) Raw data trace of transmission signal against time. A zoomed in step increase around the time point of 147.7 second is shown in the inset, which represents a time interval of 0.003 sec.

We have used a gold nanohole array to trap single polystyrene nanoparticles, with a mean diameter of 30 nm, into separated hot spots located at connecting nanoslot regions (Fig. 2(a)&(b)). Figure 2(c) shows a trace of the raw transmission signal versus time. When a single nanoparticle was trapped, a clear step increase in transmission was observed. A high trap stiffness of approximately 0.85  fN/(nm·mW) at a low-incident laser intensity of ∼0.51  mW/μm2 at 980 nm was obtained. The experimental results were compared to the simulated trapping force, and a reasonable match was achieved.2 This plasmonic array is useful for lab-on-a-chip applications and has particular appeal for trapping multiple nanoparticles with predefined separations or arranged in patterns in order to study interactions between them.

References:
1. X Han, VG Truong, PS Thomas and S Nic Chormaic, “Sequential trapping of single nanoparticles using a gold plasmonic nanohole array”, Photon. Res. 6, 981 (2018).

2. X Han, VG Truong and S Nic Chormaic, “Efficient microparticle trapping with plasmonic annular aperture arrays”, Nano Futures 2, 035007 (2018)  Featured in Physics World.

3.3 Neutral Atoms for Quantum Technologies Group

One-color, two-photon transition at 993 nm

We experimentally demonstrated a one-color two-photon transition from the 5S1/2 ground state to the 6S1/2 excited state in rubidium (Rb) vapour using a continuous wave laser at 993 nm (Fig. 3(a)).1 The transition follows selection rules that forbid angular momentum transfer from the photon to the excited atom, thus limiting the number of hyperfine transitions allowed [Fig. 3(b)]. The Rb vapour contains both isotopes (85Rb and 87Rb) in their natural abundances. The spectrum of the transition is obtained and characterised (Fig. 3(c)). Since the optical setup is relatively simple, and the energies of the allowed levels are impervious to stray magnetic fields, this is an attractive choice for a frequency reference at 993 nm, with possible applications in precision measurements and quantum information processing. We establish the viability of the transition as a frequency reference by generating error signals for each one of the spectroscopic peaks on which the 993 nm laser can be frequency-locked (Fig. 3(d)).

FY18 Figure 3

Figure 3. (a) Energy levels involved in the one-color two photon transition at 993 nm. The intermediate virtual state is represented as a dashed line. (b) Hyperfine level diagrams for the two Rb isotopes. Two-photon transitions allowed by the selection rule are shown along with the frequencies of the hyperfine splittings. (c) Typical spectroscopic signal obtained by scanning the frequency of the 993 nm pump beam. Each peak indicates a hyperfine transition as labeled. (d) Modulated signals and the generated error signals for each peak to which the laser can be locked. For clarity, a 1 V offset is added to the modulated signal.

Interaction of the higher order modes of a nanofiber with cold atoms

This work focuses on the study of an optical nanofibre’s (ONF) higher order modes (HOM). We embedded the ONF in a cloud of cold rubidium atoms and studied the influence of the atomic density onto the guided modes, the influence of modal excitation on atomic absorption, and its subsequent fluorescent emission into the ONF’s guided modes. The study relied on modal decomposition at the output of the fiber to establish a transfer matrix of the system (Fig. 4).

FY18 Figure 4

Figure 4. (a) Field decomposition of the nanofibre output into horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization components for each input mode. (b) Transfer matrix of the system calculated by decomposing each input mode in the nanofibre-mode basis.

Forces on atoms from nanofibre-guided light

We continued our collaborative work with the Quantum Systems Unit and the ITMO team on studying the forces from light on a two-level atom near an ultrathin optical fibre.2  We showed that the total force consists of the driving-field force, the spontaneous-emission recoil force, and the fiber-induced van der Waals potential force. Due to the existence of a nonzero axial component of the field in a guided mode, the Rabi frequency and, hence, the magnitude of the force of the guided driving field may depend on the propagation direction. When the atomic dipole rotates in the meridional plane, the spontaneous-emission recoil force may arise as a result of the asymmetric spontaneous emission with respect to opposite propagation directions. The van der Waals potential for the atom in the ground state is off-resonant and opposite to the off-resonant part of the van der Waals potential for the atom in the excited state. Unlike the potential for the ground state, the potential for the excited state may oscillate depending on the distance from the atom to the fibre surface.

Rydberg atoms next to optical nanofibres

Continuing our collaboration on using Ryderg atoms for quantum networks, we reported on numerical calculations of the spontaneous emission rate of a Rydberg-excited sodium atom in the vicinity of an optical nanofibre.3 In particular, we studied how this rate varies with the distance of the atom to the fibre, the fibre’s radius, the symmetry s or p of the Rydberg state as well as its principal quantum number. We found that a fraction of the spontaneously emitted light can be captured and guided along the fibre. This suggests that such a setup could be used for networking atomic ensembles, manipulated in a collective way due to the Rydberg blockade phenomenon.

References:
1. T Nieddu, T Ray, KS Rajasree, R Roy and S Nic Chormaic, “Simple, narrow, and robust atomic frequency reference at 993 nm exploiting the rubidium (Rb) 5S1/2 to 6S1/2 transition using one-color two-photon excitation”, Opt. Express 27, 6528 (2018).

2. F Le Kien, DF Kornovan, SSS Hejazi, VG Truong, MI Petrov, S Nic Chormaic and Thomas Busch, “Force of light on a two-level atom near an ultathin optical fiber”, New J. Phys. 20, 093031 (2018). 

3. E Stourm, Y Zhang, M Lepers, R Guérout, J Robert, S Nic Chormaic, K Mølmer and E Brion, “Spontaneous emission of a sodium Rydberg atom close to an optical nanofibre”, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 52, 045503 (2019). 

 

4. Publications

4.1 Journals

  1. Niranjan, M., Dutta, S., Ray T. and Rangwala, S.A. Measuring spatially extended density profiles using atom-cavity collective strong coupling to higher-order modes*. Phys. Rev. A 99, 033617, doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.99.033617 (2019).
  2. Nieddu, T., Ray, T., Rajasree, K.S., Roy, R. and Nic Chormaic, S. Simple, narrow, and robust atomic frequency reference at 993 nm exploiting the rubidium (Rb) 5S1/2 to 6S1/2 transition using one-color two-photon excitation. Opt. Express 27, 6528, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.006528 (2019).
  3. Stourm, E., Zhang, Y., Lepers, M., Guérout, R., Robert, J., Nic Chormaic, S., Mølmer, K. and Brion, E. Spontaneous emission of a sodium Rydberg atom close to an optical nanofibre*. J. Phys. B 52, 045503, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6455/aafb95 (2019).
  4. Han, X., Truong, V.G., Thomas, P.S., and Nic Chormaic, S. Sequential trapping of single nanoparticles using a gold plasmonic nanohole array. Photon. Res. 6, 981, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.6.000981 (2018).
  5. Madugani, R., Kasumie, S., Yang, Y., Ward, J., Lei, F. & Nic Chormaic, S.  Whispering gallery resonators for optical sensing SPIE Proceedings, 25th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors 10323, 1-4, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2272457 (2017).
  6. Kien, F.L., Kornovan, D.F., Hejazi, S.S.S, Truong, V.G., Petrov, M.I., Nic Chormaic, S. and Busch, T. Force of light on a two-level atom near an ultrathin optical fiber. New J. Phys. 20, 093031, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aadf6d (2018).
  7. Wang, X., Yu, Y., Zhou, S., Wang, S., Gao, Z., Ward, J.M., Nic Chormaic, S. and Wang, P. Single mode green lasing and multicolor luminescent emission from an Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped compound fluorosilicate glass microsphere resonator*. OSA Continuum 1, 261, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/OSAC.1.000261 (2018).
  8. Han, X., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Efficient microparticle trapping with plasmonic annular aperture arrays. Nano Futures 2, 035007, Featured in Physics World. doi:https://doi.org/10.1088/2399-1984/aad4c0 (2018).
  9. Kien, F.L., SSS Hejazi, Truong, V.G., Nic Chormaic, S. and Busch, T. Chiral force of guided light on an atom. Phys. Rev. A 97, 063849, doi: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.97.063849 (2018).
  10. Esporlas, C., Tkachenko, G., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibers: Guided modes, angular momentum, and applications (invited review). Rev. Las. Engin. 46 196, doi: N/A (2018).
  11. Ward, J.M., Yang, Y., Lei, F., Yu, X-C., Xiao, Y-F. and Nic Chormaic, S. Nanoparticle sensing beyond evanescent field interaction with a quasi-droplet microcavity, Optica 5, 674, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.000674 (2018).
  12. Li, W., Du, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Tailoring a nanofiber for enhanced photon emission and coupling efficiency from single quantum emitters. Opt. Lett. 43, 1674, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.43.001674 (2018).
  13. Guzman, C., Han, X., Shoguchi, E. and Nic Chormaic, S. Fluorescence from a single Symbiodinium cell. Methods Appl. Fluoresc. 6, 035033, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/2050-6120/aaba89 (2018).
  14. Mekhail, S.P., Abudukeyoumu, N., Ward, J.M., Arbuthnott, G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Fiber-bundle-basis sparse reconstruction for high resolution wide-field microendoscopy, Biomed. Opt. Express 9, 1843, doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.9.001843 (2018).

4.2 Books and other one-time publications

N/A

4.3 Oral and Poster Presentations

  1. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibre applications from atomic physics through quantum optics (seminar): Center for Photonic Innovations, The University of Electrocommunications, Tokyo, Japan, 22 March (2019).
  2. Maeda, M. Towards investigation of light-matter interactions of single quantum emitters using multimode ultrathin fibre cavity (poster): Quantum Nanophotonics, Benasque, Spain, 20 March (2019).
  3. Nic Chormaic, S. Optical nanofibre mediated light interactions with Rb atoms (invited talk): 11th International Conference on Fundamental Physics using Atoms (FPUA2019), Okinawa, Japan, 04 March (2019).
  4. Nic Chormaic, S. Optical nanofibre mediated light interactions with cold Rb atoms (contributed talk): EQTC 2019, Grenoble, France, 20 February (2019).
  5. Ward, J. Optical sling shot for nanoparticles in quasi-droplet microresonators (invited talk): Photonics West, San Francisco, USA, 04 February (2019).
  6. Nieddu, T., Ray, T., Mekhail, S.P., Du, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Manipulation of structured light in an atom-clad optical nanofber (contributed talk): Photonics West, San Francisco, USA, 05 February (2019).
  7. Kasumie, S., Lei, F. and Nic Chormaic, S. Multiple-line Raman scattering (contributed talk): Photonics West, San Francisco, USA, 06 February (2019).
  8. Han, X., Truong, V.G., Kotsifaki, D. and Nic Chormaic, S. Plasmonic annular aperture arrays for nanoparticle manipulation (contributed talk): Photonics West, San Francisco, USA, 07 February (2019).
  9. Esporlas, C.L., Tkachenko, G., Maimaiti, A., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Light-induced rotation of dielectric microspheres near an ultrathin fiber (contributed talk): Photonics West, San Francisco, USA, 07 February (2019).
  10. Ward, J., Kasumie, S., Lei, F. and Nic Chormaic, S. Visible frequency comb generation using a Hollow WGM Resonator (invited talk): The 39th Laser Society of Japan Annual Meeting, Tokyo, Japan, 13 January (2019).
  11. Ray, T. Evanescent wave multiphoton excitation of cold atoms (invited talk): International Workshop on Hybrid Quantum Systems, Okinawa, Japan, 08 January (2019).
  12. Tiwari, U., Minz, R.A., R.A.,Kumar, A., Mondal, S., Nic Chormaic, S., Lahlil, K., Gacoin, T., Sinha, R.K. and Fick, J. Manipulation of rare earth doped nanorods using single optical fiber tip tweezers (contributed talk): Photonics 2018, New Delhi, India, 15 December (2018).
  13. Ray, T., Rajasree, K.S., Nieddu, T., Mekhail, S.P., Du, J., Roy, R. and Nic Chormaic, S. Evanescent field interaction of light with cold atoms (seminar): Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India, 11 December (2018).
  14. Ray, T., Nieddu, T., Mekhail, S.P, and Nic Chormaic, S. Evanescent field interaction of structured light with cold atoms (contributed talk): AISAM13, Mumbai, India, 05 December (2018).
  15. Kasumie, S., Lei, F., Ward, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Visible Kerr Comb and Dynamical Raman Comb in WGM Resonators (contributed talk): KEIO Symposium on Microresonator Frequency Comb, Yokohama, Japan, 05 December (2018).
  16. Nic Chormaic, S. Nanoparticle detection and manipulation using quasi-droplet modes of a whispering gallery resonator (invited talk): Taiwan-Israel Bilateral Workshop on Optofuidics and Electrokinetics in Micro and Nanoscale Devices, Haifa, Israel, 05 December (2018).
  17. Bouloumis, T., Han, X., Kotsifaki, D., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Trapping nanoparticles with nearfield plasmonic tweezers (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  18. Ragasree, K.S., Ray, T., Nieddu, T., Roy, R. and Nic Chormaic, S. Optical nanofibre mediated nonlinear effects in a single color two-photon transition (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  19. Harvie, E., Han, X., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Determining trap stiffness of optically trapped nanoparticles in a plasmonic nanoring array (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  20. Vincent, S., Kasumie, S., Lei, F., Ward, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Optomechanical system coupled to a fiber loop laser (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  21. Toftul, I., Truong, V.G., Kien, F.L., Petrov, M. and Nic Chormaic, S. Dipole nanoparticles with induced anisotropy as point detectors of the angular momentum of light (poster: poster prize winner): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  22. Maeda, M., Romagnoli, P., Truong, V.G., Li, W., Du, J., Ward, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Towards investigation of light-matter interactions of single quantum emitters using a multimode nanofiber cavity (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  23. Gupta, R.K., Offer, R., Arnold, S-F., Arnold, A.S. and Nic Chormaic, S. Frequency up-conversion via four-wave mixing in rubidium vapour with structured light (poster): JSAP Photonics division meeting, Okinawa, Japan, 30 November (2018).
  24. Ripken, C. Is Phytoplankton dying to tell us its Nanoplastic story? (poster): MICRO 2018 Fate and Impact of Microplastics: Knowledge, Actions and Solutions, Lanzarote, Spain, 19 November (2018).
  25. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibres from atomic physics through quantum optics to particle manipulation (plenary talk): EOSAM 2018, Delft, The Netherlands, 09 October (2018). 
  26. Tkachenko, G., Esporlas, C.L., Maimaiti, A., Truong, V.G., and Nic Chormaic, S. Light-induced rotation of dielectric microparticles in the vicinity of an ultrathin optical fiber (contributed talk): EOSAM 2018, Delft, The Netherlands, 09 October (2018).
  27. Ragasree, K.S., Ray, T., Nieddu, T., Roy, R. and Nic Chormaic, S. Optical nanofibre mediated nonlinear effects in a single color two-photon transition (poster): CQD2018, Okinawa, Japan, 28 September (2018).
  28. Gupta, R.K., Offer, R., Arnold, S-F., Arnold A.S. and Nic Chormaic, S. Frequency up-conversion via four wave mixing in rubidium vapour with structured light (poster): CQD2018, Okinawa, Japan, 28 September (2018).
  29. Toftul, I., Kornovan, D., Petrov, M. Self-trapping of submicron particles near a nanofiber (poster): CQD2018, Okinawa, Japan, 28 September (2018).
  30. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fiber applications for quantum technologies (invited talk): OSA-JSAP Joint Symposium, JSAP Autumn Meeting, Nagoya, Japan, 20 September (2018). 
  31. Ward, J. Enhanced Nanoparticle Detection with Quasi-Droplet Modes (contributed talk): JSAP Autumn Meeting, Nagoya, Japan, 19 September (2018). 
  32. Maeda, M., Romagnoli, P., Truong, V.G., Li, W., Du, J., Ward, J. and Nic Chormaic, S. Towards investigation of light-matter interactions of single quantum emitters by multimode nanofibre cavity (poster): JSAP Autumn Meeting, Nagoya, Japan, 19 September (2018). 
  33. Esporlas, C.L., Tkachenko, G., Maimaiti, A., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Rotation of dielectric microspheres trapped near an ultrahin optical fiber (e-poster JTu3A.6): FiO 2018, Washington DC, USA, 18 September (2018). 
  34. Minz, R.A., Tiwari, U.K., Mondal, S.K., Nic Chormaic, S. and Fick, J. Thermal effects on transient optical trapping of gold nanoparticles in single and dual fiber-tip tweezers (poster): NFO15, Troyes, France, 26 August (2018).
  35. Lei, F. Pump induced lasing suppression in Yb:Er-doped microlasers (contributed talk): IMCO2018, Shanghai, China, 07 August (2018).
  36. Ward, J., Lei, F. and Nic Chormaic, S. Enhanced nanopaticle detection with quasi-droplet modes (contributed talk):  CLEO Pacific Rim, Hong Kong, 02 August (2018).
  37. Kasumie, S., Ward, J., Nic Chormaic, S. and Yang, Y. Visible frequency comb in a silica microbubble resonator (poster): CLEO Pacific Rim, Hong Kong, 01 August (2018). 
  38. Nieddu, T., Rajasree, K.S., Gupta, R.K., Krishnadas, A., Ray, T., Du, J., Li, W. and Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibres for probing and manipulating neutral atoms (contributed talk): CLEO Pacific Rim, Hong Kong, 31 July (2018). 
  39. Maeda, M., Ward, J., Ray, T. and Nic Chormaic, S. Towards Rb absorption spectroscopy in a microbubble (poster): “E. Fermi” International School of Physics on Nanoscale Quantum Optics, Varenna, Italy, 24 July (2018).
  40. Romagnoli, P., Rosa, H.G., López-Cortés, D., Souza, E.A.T., Viana-Gomes, J.C., Margulis, W. and De Matos, C.J.S. Making Graphene Visible on Transparent Dielectric Substrates: Brewster Angle Imaging (poster): “E. Fermi” International School of Physics on Nanoscale Quantum Optics, Varenna, Italy, 24 July (2018).
  41. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibre applications from atomic physics through quantum optics (seminar): CQT, NUS, Singapore, 12 July (2018).
  42. Han, X., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Trapping micro- and nanoparticles with a plasmonic coaxial annular aperture array (poster): GRC Plasmonics and Nanophotonics, Sunday River, USA, 09 July (2018).
  43. Nic Chormaic, S. Optical manipulation and detection of micron and submicron particles (invited talk): Journée de Seminaire "Lumbin", Silicon Nanoelectronics, Photonics and Structures Group (CEA), Golf International de Grenoble, France 28 June (2018).
  44. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibre applications from atomic physics through quantum optics (seminar): Physics Dept. Ulm University, Germany 14 May (2018).
  45. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibre applications from atomic physics through quantum optics (seminar): Physics Dept. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 11 May (2018).
  46. Nieddu, T. Atom-photon interface using the higher order modes of an ultrathin optical fiber (seminar): Universite Pierre-Marie Curie, Paris, France 11 May (2018).
  47. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibres for neutral atom spectroscopy and manipulation (seminar): ICFO, Barcelona, Spain 03 May (2018).
  48. Nic Chormaic, S. Ultrathin optical fibres for neutral atom spectroscopy and manipulation (seminar): Physics Dept., University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland 26 April (2018).
  49. Nic Chormaic, S. Using laser light to control, probe and manipulate objects in ways you may not have imagined (OSA Traveling Lecturer): DIT, Dublin, Ireland 20 April (2018).
  50. Li, W., Du, J., Truong, V.G. and Nic Chormaic, S. Optical nanofiber-based cavity for enhanced photon emission and coupling efficiency from single quantum emitters (poster): CQIS2018, Tokyo, Japan 09 April (2018). 

5. Intellectual Property Rights and Other Specific Achievements

  • Nanopositioner and method of making
    RMJ Murphy, F Lei, J Ward, S Nic Chormaic, Y Yang
    United States Patent Application Publication US2019/0033527 A1

6. Meetings and Events

6.1 Seminar

  • Title: Group delay and its dispersion in SNAP resonators
  • Date: March 25, 2019
  • Venue: C209, Centre building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Dr Yong Yang (Aston University, UK)
     
  • Title: Optical vortex creation and nonlinear frequency conversion in plasmonic devices
  • Date: February 12, 2019
  • Venue: C209, Centre building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Prof Robin (Chen-Bin) Huang (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan)
     
  • Title: Quantum plasmonics
  • Date: January 31, 2019
  • Venue: C210, Centre building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Prof Mark Tame (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
     
  • Title: Supressing photothermal convection in plasmonic optical tweezers and optogenetic bioreactors
  • Date: Januray 23, 2019
  • Venue: C209, Centre building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Prof Jack Ya-Tang Yang (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan)
     
  • Title: Optical Fiber Nanoantenna: Nano-Photonics to Optical Tweezers
  • Date: September 13, 2018
  • Venue: B700, Level B, Lab 3, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Dr Samir Mondal (CISO Chandigarh, India)
     
  • Title: Application of contactless micromanipulation using one- and two-color femtosecond lasers in force and fluorescence spectroscopy
  • Date: April 10, 2018
  • Venue: C210, Centre Building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Dr Dipankar Mondal (IIT Kharagpur, India)
  • Title: Experimental many-body physics using arrays of individual Rydberg atoms
  • Date: April 06, 2018
  • Venue: B503, Centre Building, OIST Campus
  • Speaker: Mr Sylvain de Léséleuc (Institut d'Optique - Orsay, France)
  • Title: Introduction of surface nanoscale axial photonics (SNAP)
  • Date: April 03, 2018
  • Venue: C209, Centre Building, OIST campus
  • Speaker: Dr Yong Yang (Institute of Photonics, Aston University, UK)
     

6.2 CQD2018: Okinawa School in Physics: Coherent Quantum Dynamics

  • Date: September 25 – October 4, 2018
  • Venue: Seaside House, Okinawa
  • Organisers: Thomas Busch (OIST), Síle Nic Chormaic (OIST), Yasunobu Nakamura (The University of Tokyo), and Yoshiro Takahashi (Kyoto University)
  • Lecturers:
    • Markus Arndt (University of Vienna, Austria)
    • Claudiu Genes (Max Planck Institute for the science of light, Germany)
    • Michèle Heurs (Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany)
    • Patrik Öhberg (Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPaQS), Heriot-Watt University, Scotland)
    • William D. Oliver (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
    • Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler (University of Mainz, Germany)
    • Sebastian Wüster (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, India)
  • Colloquium Speakers:
    • Mio Murao (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
    • Noboru Sasao (Okayama University, Japan)
    • Yosuke Takasu (Kyoto University, Japan)
    • Akihisa Tomita (Hokkaido University, Japan)

6.3 Research Visit

  • Dr Yong Yang, Aston University, UK 24 - 28 March 2019
  • Prof Robin (Chen-Bin) Huang, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan 12 - 13 February 2019
  • Prof Mark Tame, Stellenbosch University, South Africa 30 January - 01 February 2019
  • Prof Jack Ya-Tang Yang, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan 22-24 January 2019
  • Danil Kornovan, ITMO University, Russia 05 - 17 October 2018
  • Dr Samir Mondal, CISO Chandigarh, India 12-15 September 2018
  • Max Ramsay, UCL, England 28 June 2018
  • Dr Joe Welch, UCL, England 28 June 2018
  • Erwan Stourm, Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, France 16-28 April 2018
  • Dr Dipankar Mondal, IIT Kharagpur, India 10-12 April 2018
  • Sylvain De Léséleuc, Institut d'Optique - Orsay, France 04-07 April 2018
  • Dr Yong Yang, Aston University, UK 01-09 April 2018

7. Other

Prof. Nic Chormaic was a CNRS Visiting Researcher at the Laboratoire Aimé-Cotton, Université Paris-Sud, France (November 2017) and a Visiting Researcher at the Institut Néel, Grenoble, France (February and March 2018). 

Prof. Nic Chormaic was appointed as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK and Ireland). 

Sanele Dlamini graduated from UKZN (South Africa) with a PhD.

Muhammad Hassan Kazi graduated from Ruhr Univesität Bochum (Germany) with an MSc.