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The research group from the Department of Optics and Photonics of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology

The research group from the Department of Optics and Photonics of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology is part of the Optical Fiber Group. The group has the knowledge and the necessary equipment for the design and experimental characterization of optical fibers as well as various photonic and optical fiber components and devices. A significant part of the team’s scope of competences includes modeling and numerical simulations of linear and non-linear propagation properties of photonic elements using advanced numerical tools. The models used have been developed and verified through many years of cooperation with technology groups in Poland and around the world, and thanks to extensive experimental competences.

The group is also interested in developing technologies for structuring optical fibers and photonic elements, including nano-structuring of optical fibers, production of long-term Bragg gratings, or deposition and subsequent structuring of metallic or dielectric layers on the surfaces of special optical fibers. In recent years, the group’s interests also include the design and experimental characterization of integrated optics elements.

Dr. Eng. Jacek Olszewski (Team leader)

A graduate of MA studies in the field of biomedical engineering (2002), a doctor of physical sciences (2006). Assistant professor at the Department of Optics and Photonics at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. Co-author of over 70 articles in international journals and conference materials (h-index 14), 2 submitted patents, participation in 12 research projects. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship and several foreign research internships. He is a specialist in using the finite element method to simulate electromagnetic fields in photonic structures. His research interests concern numerical modeling and the design of optical waveguides for sensing applications.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8978-6059
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jacek-Olszewski

Dr. Eng. Tadeusz Martynkien

A graduate of master’s studies in biomedical engineering, doctor of physical sciences. Assistant professor at the Department of Optics and Photonics at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. Co-author of over 70 publications from the Philadelphia list, a leader in one grant, and contractor in over 10 grants. He has over 20 years of experience in numerical modeling and experimental characteristics of waveguides and special optical fibers for applications in nonlinear optics and sensors.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-2735
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrzej-Gawlik-2

Dr. Eng. Andrzej Gawlik

Graduate of Master’s studies in the field of technical physics (2014), doctor of physical sciences (2021). Assistant professor at the Department of Optics and Photonics of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Recipient of the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) Ph.D. scholarship for basic research on industrial application at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) and the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) in Belgium. His research interests concern the interaction of light with a matter for applications in nanophotonics and nanoelectronics.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-2735
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrzej-Gawlik-2

Sc. Eng. Edyta Środa

A graduate of master’s studies (2019) in optics, specializing in optical and photonic engineering at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. As an R&D engineer for optical systems, she worked at Scanway (2017 – 2019), implementing a research project financed by the National Center for Research and Development. From 2019. is pursuing a doctorate at the Fiber Optics Group at the Wrocław University of Technology under the supervision of prof. Wacław Urbańczyk and Dr. Jacek Olszewski on the properties of selected photonic structures produced in the sol-gel technology. She participates in the TEAM-NET research program financed by the FNP. Her research interests are focused on numerical simulations of passive photonic structures. She is an active member of SPIE and OPTICA.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-7340

Sc. Eng. Piotr Pala

A graduate of master’s studies in Optical and Photonic Engineering (2019) at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. His master’s thesis concerned numerical simulations of microstructural optical fibers in order to optimize their dispersion and nonlinear properties in terms of the possibility of generating solitons. Currently, he is pursuing a doctorate in Physical Sciences at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Co-author of 3 JCR publications. His main research interests are in the simulation of numerical optical structures using the finite element method and the finite difference method in the time domain. In addition, he has experience in the simulation and design of optical fibers, sensors based on the surface plasmon resonance, and passive elements of planar optics.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-7340

Adrian Ślipek

A student of engineering in the field of Technical Physics, he is specializing in Nanoengineering at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Science Technology. Since March 2022, he has been a scholarship holder in the TEAM-NET HYPHa project, involved in the design of lithographic masks and the study and modeling of planar photonics structures, which is the focus of his engineering thesis. He is also interested in machine learning and issues at the interface between both fields – AI and photonics.

Michał Łukomski

Fourth-year student of Quantum Engineering at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Since 2022, he has been a scholarship holder of the TEAM-NET HYPHa project, under which he mainly deals with the numerical modeling of waveguides using the finite element method, as well as examining the properties of the produced planar structures. The current goal of his work is to study the properties of MoS2 flake waveguides in the context of sensor applications.

Eng. Karolina Gemza

She is a graduate of engineering studies and a graduate student in optics, specializing in optical and photonic engineering at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Technology. Since 2019, he has been cooperating with the Optical Fiber Optics Group in research projects and as part of diploma theses. From 2020 to 2022, she was a scholarship holder in the TEAM-NET HYPHa project, where she dealt mainly with studying the produced planar structures. As part of his master’s thesis, he also deals with the modeling of real structures of waveguides and couplers.

Sc. Eng. Piotr Kołodziej

A graduate of engineering studies in the field of Technical Physics, specializing in Nanoengineering, at the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Wrocław University of Technology. As part of his master’s thesis, he dealt with planar photonic structures based on ceramic materials. In 2020, an associate of the Optical Fiber Optics Group at the Wrocław University of Technology in the study of microstructural, optical fiber parameters and a technical employee in a project dealing with integrated photonic platforms based on ceramic materials as part of the TEAM – NET program.

As part of the HYPHA project, the research team from the WUST Department of Optics and Photonics is involved in the design and numerical modeling of integrated photonic (IP) components, such as straight and bent waveguides, narrowed waveguides, couplers, interferometers, resonators or multiplexers. The simulations are carried out mainly using software based on the finite element method in the frequency domain, the finite difference in time domain method, and the eigenmode expansion method. The aim of the simulation is to design photonic components with specific optical properties (effective refractive indexes, field distributions, waveguide and bending losses, coupling coefficients, crosstalk, etc.) for specified spectral ranges. An example may be the developed two-step components with reduced bending losses dedicated for a platform with an average contrast of refractive indices, eg SiO2:TiO2.

The team also deals with the experimental characterization of PIC components. We have systems for horizontal and vertical light coupling into IP systems and simultaneous microscope observation of the top and side surfaces of the analyzed samples. The output signal is registered with a camera, detectors, spectrometers, or an optical spectrum analyzer. In addition, broadcast sources such as superluminescent diodes, supercontinuum sources, or tunable lasers are used to study waveguides and photonic components.

2022

  1. Edyta Środa, Jacek Olszewski, Wacław Urbańczyk
    Reducing bend-induced loss and crosstalk in a two-mode ridge waveguide by steplike thickness structuring
    Applied Optics, 61 (2022), 1164-1170
    IF = 1.905
    10.1364/AO.447496
  2. Piotr Pala, Karolina Gemza, Piotr Kołodziej, Justyna Krzak, Andrzej Gawlik, Jacek Olszewski, Gabriela Statkiewicz-Barabach, Katarzyna Komorowska, Tadeusz Martynkien
    Ceramic surface relief gratings imprinted on an optical fiber tip
    Applied Optics, 61 (2022), 6128-6133
    IF= 2.07
    10.1364/AO.459390
  3. Edyta Środa, Jacek Olszewski, Wacław Urbańczyk
    Reducing loss and crosstalk in two-mode ridge waveguide by step-like thickness structuring
    Integrated Photonics Platforms II, Proceedings of SPIE, 12148 (2022), 121480A
    IF = 1.905
    10.1117/12.2621293

At this year’s XXI National Electronics Conference, which took place in Darłówko Wschodnie on June 5-9, 2022, our Ph.D. students: Edyta Środa and Piotr Pala, received awards for the best presentations of young scientists during their sessions.


Ceremonial presentation of diplomas by prof. dr hab. Eng. Janusz Zarębski, chairman of the Scientific Committee of the 21st KKE.

Conference presentations:

  • Edyta Środa, Jacek Olszewski, Wacław Urbańczyk “Reducing bend-induced loss and crosstalk in a two-mode ridge waveguide by step-like thickness structuring,” VII Silicon Photonics Summer School 2022 – ePIXfab, 20- 24.06.2022, Paris, France (poster).
  • Edyta Środa, Jacek Olszewski, Wacław Urbańczyk “Reducing loss and crosstalk in two-mode ridge waveguide bend by step-like thickness structuring, “XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05-09.06.2022, Darłowo, Poland (oral presentation).
  • Edyta Środa, Jacek Olszewski, Wacław Urbańczyk “Reducing loss and crosstalk in two-mode ridge waveguide bend by step-like thickness structuring,” SPIE Photonics Europe on Demand 2022, 09- 15.05.2022 (online oral presentation).
  • Piotr Pala “Light coupling methods for integrated photonics systems,” XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05-09.06.2022, Darłowo, Poland (oral presentation).
  • Jacek Olszewski, Edyta Środa, Piotr Pala, Karolina Gemza, Piotr Kołodziej, Andrzej Gawlik, Paweł Mrowiński, Katarzyna Komorowska, Tadeusz Martynkien „Design principles of integrated photonics components specific to the silica-titania platform,” XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05-09.06.2022, Darłowo, Poland (oral presentation).
  • Piotr Pala, Karolina Gemza, Piotr Kołodziej, Justyna Krzak, Andrzej Gawlik, Jacek Olszewski, Gabriela Statkiewicz‐Barabach, Katarzyna Komorowska, Tadeusz Martynkien “Ceramic diffraction gratings produced on the optical fibers end-faces,” XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05- 09.06.2022, Darłowo, Poland (oral presentation).
  • Katarzyna Komorowska, Natalia Turek, Andrea Szpecht, Adrian Zając, Tadeusz Martynkien, Piotr Pala, Marcin Śmiglak “Fabrication and characterization of ionic liquid based periodic structures on an optical fiber,“ MNE EUROSENSORS 2022, 19-23.09.2022, Leuven, Belgium (poster).
  • Jacek Olszewski, Edyta Środa, Piotr Pala, Andrzej Gawlik, Paweł Mrowiński, Krzysztof Rola, Muhammad Ali Butt, Paweł Karasiński, Katarzyna Komorowska, Tadeusz Martynkien, Alicja Bachmatiuk “Design and characterization of integrated photonics components specific to the silica-titania platform,“ 4th Interdisciplinary FNP Conference, 06-07.10.2022, Warszaw, Poland (poster).