Labs ‒ PHOTONICS ‐ EPFL

AQUA – Advanced Quantum Architecture Lab

BIOP – BioImaging and Optic Platform

BIOS – BIOnanophotonic Systems laboratory

FIMAP – Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices

GALATEA LAB – Ultrafast laser processing

HYLAB – Hybrid Photonics Laboratory

LANES – Nanoscale Electronics and Structures

LAPD – Applied Photonics Devices

LASPE – Advanced Semiconductors for Photonics and Electronics

LBEN – Nanoscale Biology

LBP – Fundamental BioPhotonics

LEB – Experimental Biophysics

LIB – Biomedical Imaging Laboratory

LIFMET – Group Wagnières

LMSC – Semiconductor Materials

LNB – Nanobiotechnology

LNET – Nanoscience for Energy Technologies

LPI – Photonics and Interfaces

LPQM – Photonics and Quantum Measurements

LQG – Physics of Quantum Gases

LQNO – Quantum Nano-Optics

LTPN – Theoretical Physics of Nanosystems

LUMES – Ultrafast Microscopy and Electron Scattering

PHOSL – Photonic Systems Laboratory

PV-LAB – Photovoltaics-Laboratory

RH – SCI SB Romuald Houdré Group

Research:

Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) for Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), Quantum Microscopy and Quantum random number generation and other quantum imaging applications
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPD) for quantum applications

Applications: Quantum computing, Quantum imaging, Metrology, Quanta burst photography

Links to industry: STMicroelectronics (FR/GE), Spiden (CH), Fastree3D (Lausanne), PI Imaging Technology (Neuchatel), Hitachi Research (UK), Global Foundries (Singapore), TSMC (TW). Samsung, Intuitive Surgical (USA), Analog Devices (USA), Facebook, Qrypt (USA)

Activities and Research:

The BioImaging and Optics Platform (BIOP) provides instruments and expertise to solve challenging (biological) questions with modern light-microscopy

Applications: Health & Life Science

Links to industry: We are providing access to instruments from Leica, Nikon, Olympus and Zeiss and start-up companies like e.g. Lunaphore

Research:

Nanophotonics and its application in optical devices, biosensing, bioimaging & Mid-IR spectroscopy
Lab-on-a-chip integration of photonics, microfluidics and data science for disease and point-of-care diagnostics
Novel nano/microfabrication and bionanopatterning methods

Applications: Health & Life Science, Safety, Communication, and Metrology

Links to industry: Collaborations with companies in Switzerland, Europe, and US (e.g. ThermoFisher, Bosch, BD Science, Instrumentation Laboratory, Heidenhain)

Research:

Nano-scale fabrication on unconventional substrates (large area, 1D, flexible, stretchable, etc.) via fluid flow engineering
Micro- and nanostructure-based photonic devices and Metasurfaces
Multi-material fibers for energy harvesting, sensing and actuation

Applications: Health & Life Science, Energy & Mobility, Industry & Manufacturing, Agriculture and Food, Green-tech & Sustainability

Links to industry: IP generation and transfer of technology, numerous projects with industry partners, ERC POC and other grants for Start-up launching

Research:

3D Manufacturing
Systems made out of single monoliths
Packaging of complex optical systems
Transforming materials locally with lasers

Applications:

3D manufacturing, 3D printing, glass structuring
Environmental sensing
Watchmakers components

Links to industry: Richemont, FEMTOprint, Amplitude Laser, Huawei

Research:

Terahertz integrated photonics: sources and detectors
Free-space electro-optic transducers
Active photonics

Applications:

Metrology, Spectroscopy, Quantum, Integrated Photonics, Sources and Detectors.

Research:

Science and technology of 2D semiconductors and heterostructures for optoelectronic, electronic and spintronic device applications
Growth and integration of 2D materials

Applications:

Information and Communication
Quantum, Energy

Links to industry: joint projects with companies in Europe

Research:

Volumetric 3D printing method based on tomography (entire solidification at once). 3D printing of functional human tissues (ENLIGHT project).
High-resolution retinal imaging with new technique called trans scleral optical phase imaging.
Optical fiber imaging using multimode fibers and neural networks.

Applications: Health & Life Science, Manufacturing, Information and Communication.

Links to industry: Startups/Spinoffs: Composyt Light Labs (acquired by Intel), Insolight (concentrated photovoltaic), Earlysight (retinal imaging),Readily3D (3d bioprinting) and Modendo Inc (endoscopic imaging ).

Research:

Wide bandgap semiconductors (group-III nitrides) for:

Quantum Dots and Nanostructures
2D and 1D Photonic Crystals
Short-Wavelength Optoelectronics

Applications: LED lighting; UV and visible sources and compact devices; Energy sector

Links to industry:

Spin-offs/Startups: Nanoga, Novagan, Hexisense
Projects with Swiss and US companies

Research:

Single-molecule manipulation using optical tweezers and optical wrench.
New modalities in super-resolution microscopies capable of molecular-scale resolution (SMLM, SIM and SOFI)*

Applications: Health & Life Science, Materials Science,

* Single-molecule localization (SMLM), Structured light illumination microscopy (SIM), Super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (SOFI)

Research:

Develop nonlinear optical technology such as second harmonic scattering, sum frequency scattering, wide-field multiphoton microscopy, ultrafast spectroscopy
Generating molecular level understanding of aqueous systems & interfaces driven by new technology

Applications:

Energy, Health & Life Science
Materials Science

Links to industry: Startups/spinoffs: ORYL Photonics, MATIS

Research:

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (PALM, STORM, PAINT, SIM).
High-throughput, automated, and intelligent microscopy.

Applications:

Health & Life Science
Agriculture & Food

Research:

Development of new algorithms and mathematical tools for biomedical imaging
Advanced image reconstruction
Super-resolution microscopy
Phase imaging (diffraction tomography, unwrapping)
Deep learning for inverse problems

Applications: Health & Life Science.

Links to industry: Mirrakoi

Research:

Cancer detection and characterization by fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging.
Light dosimetry and tissue optical spectroscopy.
Photobiomodulation and Photodynamic therapy.
Study of the metabolism by time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy.

Applications: Health & Life Science.

Links to industry: Spin off, Medlight SA. Most projects of this group are based on collaborations established with pharmaceutical and medtech partners.

Research: Synthesis and characterization of novel materials and structures (nanowires) for semiconductor technologies for e.g. solar energy harvesting, photodetection and next generation computing.

Applications: Energy, Information and Communication, Quantum.

Links to industry: IRIS

Research:

Synthetic biology and protein engineering to engineer light-harvesting bioenergy
Laser-excited fluorescence of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) used for optical biosensing and bioimaging for near-IR in-vivo applications

Applications: Energy, Health & Life Science, Agriculture & Food

Links to industry: Future Food (Bühler, Givaudan and Nestlé)

Research: Nanophotonic engineering of energy conversion devices and nanophotonic design of tunable “flat optics”:

Perfect light absorbers for photothermal and photochemical energy conversion devices
Fundamental understanding of plasmonic hot carrier photodetectors and photocatalysts
Design of tunable metalenses

Applications: Energy sector, photodetection, miniaturized light-harnessing and sensing devices, flat optics

Research:

Graetzel cells: Dye-sensitized solar cells with adjustable transparency (installed on the Swiss Tech Convention Center)
Metal halide perovskite solar cells: ultra-thin active layers, high efficiencies, low cost, stability issues to be solved
Generation of chemical fuels from sunlight.

Applications: Renewable Energy, Green-tech & Sustainability, Ambient light harvesting for powering the IoT, Manufacturing

Links to industry: Spinoffs: Solaronix, Glass 2 Energy H.Glass, Other startups linked to Graetzel cells: Exeger, Dyenamo, G24I, Saul, Ambient Photonics, Oxford PV

Research achievements:

Discovery of chip-based frequency combs (‘Microcombs’) in different photonic platforms i.e. Si₃N₄ and GaP
Developed cavity quantum optomechanics, techniques to manipulate mechanical oscillators in the quantum regime
Superconducting circuit electro-mechanics

Applications: Information & Communication, Metrology, Mobility, Quantum, Space

Links to industry: IBM Research Europe (Zurich), Menlo Systems (Munich). Lab Spinoffs: LiGenTec SA, MicroR, DEEPLight SA

Research:

Cavity quantum electrodynamics
Ultra-cold and strongly correlated quantum matter
Quantum simulation with neutral atoms

Applications:

Quantum information processing
Metrology

Research:

Quantum optics, spectroscopy of nanoscale hybrid systems
Frequency conversion
Quantum sensing

Applications:

Metrology
Communication
Safety & Security
Life Science

Links to industry: Wainvam-E (precision sensing), SICPA (anti-counterfeiting), Lytid (THz spectroscopy)

Research:

Study and modeling of open quantum systems, i.e. influenced by the surrounding environment in the form of driving, losses, and phase noise
Modelling and optimization of artificial photonic nanostructures (e.g. with machine learning)

Applications:

Information and Communication
Metrology
Quantum

Research (linked to photonics): Manipulation of free electrons via laser pulses to establish new experimental tools for ultra-fast electron microscopy

Applications:

Energy
Health & Life Science
Industry

Links to industry: Google Inc., Lockheed Martin, ADAM (CERN startup on radiotherapy)

Research:

Optical waveguide engineering for enhancing nonlinear optical processes and light generation
Integrated nonlinear optics for frequency conversion
All-optical signal processing
Versatile fiber lasers
Supercontinuum, optical frequency combs

Applications: Information & Communication Technologies, Metrology, Health (sensing)

Links to Industry: Research Collaborations with companies in Switzerland & Europe

Research:

Thin-film technology, semiconductors, TCOs, light management
Manufacturing processes, production technologies for PV and small-scale production for solar cells and modules
Specialty filters, colored photovoltaic cells and panels, packaging polymers and reliability

Applications: Energy & Mobility, Green-tech & Sustainability

Links to industry: Many connections to industry via CSEM (Prof. Ballif is VP Photovoltaic). Startups/spinoffs: INDEOtec, Meyer Burger, Bluebird Photovoltaics, Luminesys, 3S solar plus

Research:

Optical trapping in photonic crystal structures
Non-linear optics in photonic crystal structures

Applications:

Health & Life Science
Information & Communication

		. Full professor: Edoardo CHARBON (since 2015) . http://aqua.epfl.ch . EPFL STI IEM AQUA in Microcity, Neuchâtel . > 30 collaborators
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	. Head of unit: Arne SEITZ . http://biop.epfl.ch . EPFL SV PTECH PTBIOP in Lausanne . > 10 collaborators
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		. Full professor: Hatice ALTUG (since 2020) . https://bios.epfl.ch . EPFL STI IBI-STI BIOS in Lausanne . ~ 20 collaborators
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		. Associate professor: Fabien SORIN (since 2020) . https://fimap.epfl.ch . EPFL STI IMX-FIMAP in Lausanne . 10 to 19 collaborators
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