Dr. Michael Mazilu

- Position:
-
Senior Lecturer
- Research Theme:
- Condensed Matter and Photonics
- Research Group:
- Photonics
- Institution:
- St. Andrews
- Email address:
- mm17@st-andrews.ac.uk
- Website:
- http://www.eigenoptics.net
- Telephone number:
- +44 (0)1334 463210
- Address:
- School of Physics & Astronomy, Physical Science Building, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, United Kingdom
Research interests
Dr Mazilu has pioneered a novel way to describe general light-matter interactions. This approach is best understood as a natural decomposition of the light field into independent non-interfering partial fields, which I term Optical Eigenmodes (OEi). The aim of his research is to create new theoretical tools and to deliver a profound and insightful understanding of the photonic modes within the general context of modern applied optics. The plan is to develop the OEi approach into an advanced photonic tool applicable to a range of problems in the fields of optics, imaging, optical manipulation, plasmonics, cavity opto-mechanics, quantum optics, ultra-fast photonics, and non-linear optics.
The optical eigenmode method offers a new approach to numerical computation of photonic interactions. In effect, this approach allows the description of the light field as a superposition of orthogonal solutions specifically calculated for each device and for each interaction, eg. momentum transfer, coupling or absorption. This description greatly simplifies the way we understand any given interaction. Numerically, these eigenmodes can be calculated directly, enabling a quick and insightful visualisation of all fundamental interaction between any photonic object and the electromagnetic field, without having to consider specific illumination or boundary conditions. In effect, every possible interaction is defined by its eigenmodes. The strength of the interaction is determined by the overlap with the emission eigenmodes. For example, consider the momentum eigenmodes of a prism shaped microparticle. Here, using the OEi method, we can numerically determine the beam profile delivering the best tractor beam (a beam that pulls the microparticle towards the source). The vision is to expand this approach to a larger number of cases and ultimately develop a generic numerical toolbox that can be used for photonic interaction modeling, medical spectroscopy and photonic micro-fabrication design.
Research outputs
- Nonlinear Optical Eigenmodes; perturbative approach, : Proceedings of SPIE (2019)
- Breaking the symmetry of momentum conservation using evanescent acoustic fields DOI, Physical Review Letters, 121, 24 (2018)
- Wide-field multiphoton imaging through scattering media without correction DOI, Science Advances, 4, 10 (2018)
- Ultrasonic waves in uniaxially stressed multilayered and 1-D phononic structures DOI, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144, 1 , p. 81-91 (2018)
- Hyperelastic tuning of one dimensional phononic band-gaps using directional stress DOI, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 65, 6 , p. 1056-1061 (2018)
- Light-sheet microscopy with attenuation-compensated propagation-invariant beams DOI, Science Advances, 4, 4 (2018)
- Modal beam splitter DOI, Scientific Reports, 7 (2017)
- Making the most of interference, speckle metrology and its application to cold atoms (2017)
- Harnessing speckle for a sub-femtometre resolved broadband wavemeter and laser stabilization DOI, Nature Communications, 8 (2017)
- Dynamics of optically levitated microparticles in vacuum placed in 2D and 3D optical potentials possessing orbital angular momentum DOI, : Proceedings of SPIE (2017)