Conference Agenda

Soliton X-junctions are used as photonic neurons to perform both supervised and unsupervised learning. Networks of soliton interconnections connected together by simple X-junctions behave as AI self-organizing maps, learn complex information, store it and recognise unknown information by comparison. We will also show that solitonic interconnections can also replace the plastic element of reasoning and memory for extremely compact systems to process information transported, for example, in the form of SPP (surface-plasmon-polariton) signals. The advantage is the possibility of creating hybrid electronic-photonic circuits.

Directional scattering by dielectric core-semishell nanoparticles is simulated using FEM software. The directionality of the scattering arises from the phase difference caused by the different materials which the nanoparticle is composed of. Conventionally, this phase difference is achieved by the use of metals. By choosing a medium with the refractive index between the core and semishell material, a pi phase difference is introduced causing directional scattering by the nanoparticle. This means that dielectric materials can be used, such that absorption by the nanoparticle is minimized.

In this work, we report the design of an ultrathin (300 nm thick) and thermo-optically reconfigurable silicon metalens operating in the visible regime (632 nm). Importantly, in our design, we rely on the thermo-optical effects to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve continuous variation of the focal-length at a fixed wavelength overcoming the need for a spatially-varying modulation input and potentially enabling an all-optical photo-thermal modulation. Our metalens exhibits a linear focal shift from 165 μm at 20°C to 135 μm at 260°C.

In this work, we will compare the photogating performances of phototransistors based on pure graphene and graphene/2D-semiconductor. In particular, MoS2 and WSe2 will be used as n- and p- type semiconductors respectively. Our goal is to analyse the performance and mechanism of the photogating graphene-based devices, and explore nanophotonic engineering strategies to enhance their photoresponse.