Research & Initiatives

Luminescent materials for device applications based on their unique properties

Our group mainly works on luminescent organic/inorganic materials to develop photonic devices and optical components. Utilizing polymer materials and smart crystals (stimuli-responsive) to trap, modulate, guide, split, and direct the light at the nano/micron-scale domain. Our research is quite interdisciplinary and integrates the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Materials science, and Biology.

The prime motto is to apply "Mechano-Photonics" principles to (i) understand and predict the optical and mechanical properties of the functional materials in solid-state and (ii) design and develop optical components and photonic circuits for the next generation optoelectronic and photonic devices. Also, these functional materials can be exploited for real-time practical applications based on their importance in different fields.

Intelligent or Smart materials are unique, display multifunctional applications in interdisciplinary fields, and are sensitive to heat, light, pressure, and chemical vapors.

Waveguides

A single crystal-based material or device that confines and directs the propagation of electromagnetic waves, specifically light is called an optical waveguide.

Our group works on varieties of single crystals with optical waveguiding properties displaying wavelength tunability. Involve in the design and synthesis of organic/inorganic molecules displaying different emissions.

Optical Microresonators

Microresonators are micrometer-scale structures for confining light. Light is reflected internally at the edges of the resonator. This creates a series of standing-wave optical modes, or resonances, similar to those on a vibrating guitar string.

We use single crystals, polymer particles, and embedded systems to create microresonators for multiple applications.

Flexible Crystals

Mechanically bendable molecular crystals are called flexible crystals. Based on its shape-retaining capability, it is classified as either elastic or plastic.

Elastically bendable crystals retain their original shape, whereas Plastically bendable crystals remain in their modified shape even after removing external stress.

Our group synthesizes organic/inorganic molecules exhibiting both mechanical flexibility and optical waveguiding.

Organic Photonic Integrated Circuits

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) or integrated optical circuit is a microchip containing two or more photonic components which form a functioning circuit. This technology detects, generates, transports, and processes light.

We work on flexible single crystals-based optical circuits which function as single crystals based photonic integrated circuits.

Carbon Dots

Luminescent carbon dots (CDs) are emerging as a potential eco-friendly alternative to standard metal-based semiconductor quantum dots. Through the solvothermal method, it is easy to prepare crystalline, nitrogen-rich, surface-passivated, and wavelength-tuneable fluorescent CDs. These carbon dots can be impregnated into any matrix and use as a fluorescent material for different applications.