Team

Neha Ahlawat is a researcher specializing in optical fiber sensing, photonic sensors, plasmonics, and non-Hermitian photonics, with a particular focus on developing highly sensitive and multiparameter optical sensing technologies. Her research combines photonic device engineering, light–matter interaction, numerical modeling, fiber-optic experimentation, and machine-learning-based data analysis.

Her research journey began during her M.Tech. in Applied Optics at IIT Delhi, where she worked on the design and development of a low-cost photoacoustic imaging system. Her work involved integrating laser excitation, ultrasound detection, and computational imaging, providing her with a foundation in experimental optics and biomedical photonics. 

During her Ph.D., her research has evolved toward advanced optical and fiber-optic sensing. Her work encompasses plasmonic mode interference, Fiber Bragg gratings, exceptional-point-based sensing, and multimode interference to enhance sensor sensitivity and enable compact multiparameter sensing platforms. 

Her research includes the development of a plasmonic mode-interference sensor based on a degenerate n-doped silicon waveguide, demonstrating an estimated bulk sensitivity of approximately 3400 nm/RIU for biologically relevant refractive-index ranges. She has also investigated exceptional-point-engineered FBG sensors for enhanced temperature and strain sensing, including approaches for mitigating multiparameter cross-sensitivity. 

More recently, she has developed mode-engineered SMS fiber sensors combined with neural-network-based spectral analysis for simultaneous strain and temperature measurement, integrating physics-based sensor design with machine learning. Her work further extends to twist-induced chirality in fiber Bragg gratings and exceptional-point dynamics in photonic time crystals.

Her broader expertise includes optical design, fiber-optic experimentation, photonic-device fabrication, numerical simulation, and computational data analysis, with experience in MATLAB, Python, Lumerical, COMSOL, LabVIEW, and related tools.