The Photonic Materials and Devices–Laboratory (PMDL) is an Applied Physics research group, oriented in the field of Photonics. PMDL started its activities in March 2004. The PMDL focuses on the research of materials, light propagation effects, designs and fabrication methods for the development of Photonic Devices mainly in guided wave geometry, with significant effort currently being invested in grating based and Photonic Crystal Fibre (PCF) devices. The knowledge generated on materials related problems and processes, as well as, light propagation effects is directly transferred into the research for developing photonic devices of increased technological and scientific added value, targeting high socio-economical impact applications. The strategic vision of the group refers to the development of hybrid photonic devices and related processes by engaging existing and emerging technologies in a ‘disruptive’ way, covering scientific and technology readiness levels from the basic research and the proof-of-principle study, up to the laboratory prototyping.

The objectives of PMDL can be summarized into the following:

• Fusion of diverse optical design and material technologies for the demonstration of “disruptive” photonic devices, well beyond the state-of-the-art
• Photonic research for meeting Societal and Market needs, spanning from “proof-of-principle-studies” up to “laboratory-prototype-systems”
• Investigation of fundamental light propagation effects and implementation of those into realistic photonic device designs
• New laser processing methods for accelerating development of photonic devices

Research Topics