Dr hab. inż. Paweł Karasiński (Team leader)

Dr hab. inż. Paweł Karasiński earned a master’s degree in technical physics from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Silesian University of Technology in 1986. He received PhD in physics also from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Silesian University of Technology in 1998 and habilitation in electronics from the Faculty of Electronics at Wrocław University of Technology in 2013. His academic interest include: design, fabrication and characterization of planar waveguide structures for application in the technique of evanescent wave spectroscopy, fabrication of dielectric films and multilayer dielectric structures using a sol-gel method and dip-coating technique, in particular waveguide films, anti-reflective structures and multifunctional coatings. He authored or co-authored 125 scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database and a single book chapter (summary IF 127.648 and Hirsh index 13). He was a manager of 6 projects funded by KBN, MNiSW, NCN (OPUS 3, OPUS 13) and TANGO 3 (NCBiR). He is the leader of the FNP-HYPHa project in Silesian University of Technology. He was an investigator in 11 other projects. He received scholarship from FIAT, in the recognition of his PhD dissertation, and many Silesian University of Technology Rector’s Awards. He is a recipient of Polish Award of Intelligent Development and he received silver medal on 14th International Invention and Innovation Show INTARG for the development of the „Innovative photonic measurement system for biomedical applications”.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5436-9212
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pawel-Karasinski

Dr hab. inż. Cuma Tyszkiewicz

Dr hab. inż. Cuma Tyszkiewicz earned a master’s degree in technical physics from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Silesian University of Technology in 2001. He received PhD in physics also from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Silesian University of Technology in 2006 and habilitation in electronics from the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science at Silesian University of Technology in 2019. His academic interest include: theoretical and experimental issues concerning propagation of electromagnetic waves in integrated optic structures, especially those based on SiO_x-TiO_y waveguide films. He authored or co-authored 57 scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database (summary IF 60,217 and Hirsh index 10). He was an investigator in 6 national and 1 international projects. He is a member of OPTICA and IEEE. He is a guest editor in scientific journals: Energies and Photonics (MDPI). He received several Silesian University of Technology Rector’s Awards. He is a recipient of Polish Award of Intelligent Development and he received silver medal on 14th International Invention and Innovation Show INTARG for the development of the „Innovative photonic measurement system for biomedical applications”.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9724-5183
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cuma-Tyszkiewicz

Dr inż. Paweł Kielan earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Silesian University of Technology in 2004. He specialized in mechatronics and robotics. He received PhD in electrical engineering also from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Silesian University of Technology in 2011, defending dissertation entitled „Aspects of controlling mechatronic devices over the Internet – analysis of the TCP/IP protocol”. His academic interest include: electrical engineering, methods and algorithms for controlling mechatronic devices, signal and image processing, control of mechatronic systems over the Internet. He authored or co-authored 60 scientific publications and conference papers indexed in the Scopus database. His papers are published among the others in journals: Electronics, Robotics, Materials and Bulletin of Polish Academy of Sciences. He was an investigator in 9 national or international projects. He is a reviewer in scientific journals: Applied Sciences and Electronics (MDPI).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5648-2120
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pawel-Kielan

dr Katarzyna Wojtasik

Dr Katarzyna Wojtasik earned a master’s degree in chemistry from Faculty of Chemistry at Jagiellonian University. She specialized in modern synthesis and organic physiochemistry. She received PhD in chemical sciences from Faculty of Chemistry at University of Opole in January 2020. Since July 2020 she is employed at the Department of Optoelectronics of Silesian University of Technology where she completes post-doc internship in a scope of the HYPHA project. She deals with the fabrication technology of thin films using the sol-gel method and the characterization of films which find their application in optoelectronics. She is a member of the Polish Academy of Chemistry.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2022-842X
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Katarzyna-Wojtasik-2

Mgr inż. Magdalena Zięba

A graduate of MA studies in the field of Chemistry, specialization in Bioorganic Chemistry (2016) at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. After completing her studies for 3.5 years, she worked at the Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze as an assistant, where she gained valuable scientific experience. Currently, she is a PhD student at the Joint Doctoral School at the Silesian University of Technology in the discipline of automation, electronics, and electrical engineering. She participated in the implementation of 4 research projects financed from national and European sources, of which she is currently conducting research in two. Co-author of 24 scientific publications published in journals indexed in the Scopus database (IF = 80,437). Number of citations in Scopus 151 (h = 7). Currently, the area of her scientific activity is technological research on the production of optical layers by the sol-gel method and the dip-coating technique. An important element of the conducted research is technological research on composite waveguide layers doped with lanthanide ions and their characterization.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0126-031X
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Magdalena-Zieba-4

Mgr Mateusz Wdowiak

He is a graduate of Biotechnology studies, specializing in molecular biotechnology, at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Warsaw. Currently, he is a PhD student at the Warsaw PhD School in Natural and BioMedical Sciences, at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is a co-author of scientific publications and the book chapter in Nanotechnology for Infectious Diseases published by Springer Nature. As part of his doctorate, he deals with the development of methods for the protection of bacteriophages against adverse external factors, and the use of bacteriophages to detect bacteria. His scientific interests are also focused on methods of elimination of drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria and surface modification, enabling, among others, improvement of long-term storage of biological materials.

The Group of Photonics and Nanotechnology at Silesian University of Technology carry out the following research in the HYPHa project:

– sol-gel method, which is the chemical method of creating materials from liquid phase. Its biggest advantage is the ability to having control over structure and homogeneity of materials on the molecular level. We have strong experience in the field of synthesis of one-component sols (SiO₂, TiO₂) and two-component SiO_x:TiO_y as well as in deposition of thin films using a dip-coating method. Waveguide films are fabricated from the two-component sol. Physical and chemical properties of sols can be modified by adding dopants at a stage of sol synthesis. That way we can fabricate active films. Applying appropriate surfactants or porogenes we can control porosity of materials being created.

– passive waveguide films fabricated using the combination of the sol-gel method and dip-coating technique for application in planar waveguide sensors. Composite SiO_x:TiO_y waveguide films characterized by molar ratio Si:Ti=1:1 are routinely fabricated. They have refractive index 1.8, thickness ~200 nm and RMS surface roughness less than 0.2 nm. For those films we achieved record-low optical losses <0.2 dB/cm. They have long-term stability of optical parameters. Thicker films, suitable for application in the NIR wavelength range (λ=1550 nm) are fabricated by subsequent deposition of two or three films on the same substrate. By proper selection of Si to Ti molar ratio we can change waveguide films refractive index. This way we developed technology allowing fabrication of films having refractive index in the range from ~1.5 to more than 1.9. We aim to increase the upper limit of this interval. Scattering on defects and imperfections of substrate surfaces is the main source of optical losses in fabricated waveguide films. For this reason we have developed buffer layers which deposited on substrates make their interfaces to waveguide films more smooth. Refractive index of those buffer films is very close to the refractive index of glass substrates.

– active waveguide films for application in integrated optics are fabricated on the basis of passive films. Salts of selected lanthanides are added at the stage of sol synthesis. We investigate the influence of lanthanides on crystallization of TiO₂ as well as the influence of TiO₂ content on photoluminescent properties of doped SiO_x:TiO_y waveguide films. The intended aim of this research thread is development of active integrated optics structures that can be applied in the designs of optical amplifiers and planar waveguide lasers.

– characterization of films fabricated by a combination of the sol-gel method and dip-coating technique. Transmission and reflectance spectrophotometry, monochromatic and spectral ellipsometry are routine methods we use to characterize fabricated films. Members of our Group have strong experience in using those methods. Fundamental technological characteristics, which are relationships of film refractive index and thickness with respect to the substrate withdrawal speed from sol, are determined using monochromatic ellipsometer SENTECH SE 400. Spectrophotometric methods in a range of wavelengths from 190 nm to 1700 nm are applied for the determination of absorption edge and absorption bands as well as determination of films optical homogeneity. Chromatic dispersion characteristics of complex refractive index, which are measured using spectral ellipsometry, are among of input data for theoretical analysis. Surface morphology of fabricated films is investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

 – analysis and design of planar waveguide structures is carried out using software developed by the members of the Group and commercial package FIMMWAVE with the FIMMPROP extension. The self-developed software is applied for analysis of one-dimensional photonic structures and initial analysis of two-dimensional structures. We use commercial software for theoretical analysis of integrated optics strip waveguide structures. The results of that analysis is helpful in the process of their designing and photolithographic masks allowing their fabrication.

2023

• Muhammad Ali Butt, Łukasz Kozłowski, Ryszard Piramidowicz
  Numerical scrutiny of a silica-titania-based reverse rib waveguide with vertical and rounded sidewalls,
  Applied Optics, 62 (2023) 1296-1302,
  IF = 1,905
  org/10.1364/AO.480856
• Muhammad Ali Butt, Muhammad Shahbaz, Łukasz Kozłowski, Andrzej Kaźmierczak, Ryszrad Piramidowicz
  Silica-Titania Integrated Photonics Platform-Based 1 × 2 Demultiplexer Utilizing Two Serially Cascaded Racetrack Microrings for 1310 nm and 1550 nm Telecommunication Wavelengths, Photonics, 10(2) (2023) 208;
  IF = 2,536
  doi.org/10.3390/photonics10020208

• Shahbaz, Łukasz Kozłowski, Muhammad Ali Butt, Ryszard Piramidowicz,
  Mitigating the bending losses of the silica-titania-based rib waveguide structure, Opto-Electronics Review, 31 (2023) 145551
  IF= 2.227
  doi.org/10.24425/opelre.2023.145551

2022

• Muhammad Ali Butt,
  Thin-Film Coating Methods: A Successful Marriage of High-Quality and Cost-Effectiveness—A Brief Exploration,
  Coatings, 12(8) (2022) 1115,
  IF = 3,236
  org/10.3390/coatings12081115
• Łukasz Kozłowski, Muhammad Shahbaz, Muhammad Ali Butt, Cuma Tyszkiewicz, Paweł Karasiński, Andrzej Kaźmierczak, Ryszard Piramidowicz
  Low-cost Integrated Photonic Platform Developed via a Sol-gel Dip-coating Method: A Brief Review,
  Sensors & Transducers, 259 (2002) 82-92,
  https://sensorsportal.com/HTML/DIGEST/P_3284.htm

2021

• Magdalena Zięba, Katarzyna Wojtasik, Cuma Tyszkiewicz, Ewa Gondek, Jacek Nizioł, Katarzyna Suchanek, Michał Wojtasik, Wojciech Pakieła, Paweł Karasiński
  High Refractive Index Silica-Titania Films Fabricated via the Sol–Gel Method and Dip-Coating Technique—Physical and Chemical Characterization.
  Materials, 14 (2021), 7125/1-7125/20
  IF = 3.748
  10.3390/ma14237125

2020

• Paweł Karasiński, Cuma Tyszkiewicz, Ryszard Piramidowicz, Andrzej Kaźmierczak
  Development of integrated photonics based on SiO₂:TiO₂ sol-gel derived waveguide layers: state of the art, perspectives, prospective applications.
  Integrated photonics platforms: fundamental research, manufacturing and applications, Baets R.G., O’Brien P., Vivien L. (red.), Proceedings of SPIE, 11364 (2020), 1136414
  10.1117/12.2559059

2022

Prof. Paweł Karasiński chairs a special session „FOTONIKA I FOTOWOLTAIKA NA KANWIE XXI WIEKU” during the XXIh National Electronics Conference, Darłowo 05.06-09.06.2022

Zespołu Fotoniki i Nanotechnologii na sesji plakatowej XXI Krajowej Konferencji Elektroniki, Darłowo 05.06-09.06.2022

Dr Katarzyna Wojtasik during the oral presentation on XXIth Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, Darłowo 05.06-09.06.2022

Magdalena Zięba, MSc receives a diploma for the best oral presentation in a special session on
XXIth National Electronics Conference, Darłowo 05.06-09.06.2022

Magdalena Zięba, M.Sc. during the oral presentation on XXIth National Electronics Conference,
Darłowo 05.06-09.06.2022

Magdalena Zięba, M.Sc. during the poster session on EuroScience Open Forum 2022 Katowice Regional Site/Leiden, July 13-16, 2022, Katowice

2021

Scholarship students during ellipsometric measurements, Magdalena Żebrowska and Krzysztof Grabiński

Dr. Katarzyna Wojtasik and prof. Paweł Karasiński during a poster session
on XXth National Electronics Conference.

Prof. Paweł Karasiński gives an invited lecture Dielectric layers produced by the sol-gel method for applications in optoelectronics. IInd National Conference of Science and Industry “Fotowoltaika 2025”,
31 May – 3 June 2021, Rytro.

Magdalena Zieba, MSc and Katarzyna Wojtasik, Dr present a poster on . IInd National Conference of Science and Industry “Fotowoltaika 2025”, 31 May – 3 June 2021, Rytro.

Conference presentations

• Tyszkiewicz C., Kazmierczak A., Butt M.A., Karasiński P. Rib waveguide homogeneous sensitivity with regard to single mode propagation condition. 16th Conference: INTEGRATED OPTICS – Sensors, Sensing Structures and Methods, IOS’2022, 28.02–04.03.2022, Szczyrk.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P., Optical properties of erbium-doped TiO2 films, 16th Conference: INTEGRATED OPTICS – Sensors, Sensing Structures and Methods, IOS’2022, 28.02–04.03.2022, Szczyrk.
• Zięba M., Tyszkiewicz C., Wojtasik K., Dorosz D., Karasiński P. Erbium-doped sol-gel derived silica-titania films, SPIE Photonics Europe 2022, 03-07.04.2022, Strasbourg.
• Kazmierczak A., Butt M.A., Zięba M., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P., Piramidowicz R., Towards the most convenient configuration of integrated photonic sensor for implementation in SiO2:TiO2 sol-gel derived waveguide film technology, SPIE Photonics Europe 2022, 03-07.04.2022, Strasbourg.
• Duda Ł., Czajkowski M., Karasiński P., Tyszkiewicz C., Zięba M., Guzik M., Bachmatiuk A., Fabrication of formable sol-gel and polymer films for planar photonic systems, PANIC Summer School 2022, 30.05-3.06.2022, Wrocław
• Karasiński P., Zięba M., Tyszkiewicz C., Straty optyczne w warstwach falowodowych ‐ źródła strat i metody pomiarowe. XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05.06-09.06.2022 Darłowo,
• Tyszkiewicz C., Kazmierczak A., Butt M.A Karasiński P. Badanie zależności między czułością homogeniczną światłowodów żebrowych a rozkładem energii prowadzonych w nich pól modów HE00 i EH00 XXI Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05.06-09.06.2022 Darłowo.
• Karasiński P. Kompozytowe Warstwy Falowodowe SiOx:TiOy Wytwarzane Metodą Zol-Żel i Techniką Dip – Coating Nową Platformą Materiałową Optyki Zintegrowanej. Polska Konferencja Optyczna 2022, 12-15.06.2022, Płock.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P Dielectric films produced via sol-gel method and dip-coating technique for optoelectronics, EuroScience Open Forum 2022 Katowice Regional Site/Leiden, 13-16.07.2022, Katowice.
• Tyszkiewicz C., Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Karasiński P., Influence of silica-titania layers doping with lanthanides on their waveguide properties, Symposium on Advanced Technologies and Materials, 06-09.09.2022, Wrocław.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Warstwy falowodowe o wysokim współczynniku załamania wytwarzane metodą zol-żel i techniką dip-coating. Interdyscyplinarność kluczem do rozwoju. XIII Interdyscyplinarna Konferencja Naukowa TYGIEL 2021, 25-28.03. 2021.
• Karasiński P. Zastosowanie metody zol-żel do wytwarzania struktur fotonicznych. Interdyscyplinarność kluczem do rozwoju. XIII Interdyscyplinarna Konferencja Naukowa TYGIEL 2021, 25-28.03. 2021.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Warstwy TiO2 domieszkowane jonami wybranych lantanowców – technologia i charakteryzacja. II Krajowa Konferencja Nauki i Przemysłu “Fotowoltaika 2025”, 31.05 – 3 .06. 2021, Rytro.
• Karasiński P. Warstwy dielektryczne wytwarzane metodą zol-żel do zastosowań w optoelektronice. II Krajowa Konferencja Nauki i Przemysłu “Fotowoltaika 2025”, 31.05. – 3 .06. 2021, Rytro.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Optical properties of sol-gel derived SiOx : TiOy waveguide films, International conference Opto 2021, 12-15.07.2021, Wrocław.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Niskostratne warstwy falowodowe na zakres spektralny Vis-NIR. XX Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05.09-09.09.2021, Darłowo.
• Wojtasik K. , Zięba M., Tyszkiewicz C., Kielan P., Karasiński P. Wpływ starzenia zolu na właściwości warstw falowodowych SiOx:TiOy wytwarzanych metodą zol-żel i techniką dip-coating. XX Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05- 09.09.2021, Darłowo.
• Karasiński P. Warstwy falowodowe wytwarzane metodą zol-żel- platforma materiałowa dla optyki zintegrowanej. . XX Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05.09-09.09.2021, Darłowo.
• Baraniecki T., Hlushchenko D., Zięba M., Karasiński P., Gemza K., Guzik M., Bachmatiuk A. Zastosowanie trawienia plazmowego do wytwarzania światłowodów paskowych z kompozytowych warstw falowodowych SiOx:TiOy XX Krajowa Konferencja Elektroniki, 05.09-09.09.2021, Darłowo.
• Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Low loss, sol-gel derived optical waveguide films for applications in evanescent wave sensors technology, 16th International Conference on Optical and Electronic Sensors COE2020, 27–29.09.2021, Kraków (online).
• Tyszkiewicz C., Karasiński P. Grating couplers as highly sensitive transducers for refractive index measurements. 16th International Conference on Optical and Electronic Sensors COE2020, 27 – 29.09.2021, Kraków (online).
• Kasiński P., Tyszkiewicz C., Zięba M., Wojtasik K., Low loss and high refractive inwaveguide films fabricated using sol-gel method and dip-coating technique, Prequel Symposium on Advanced Technologies and Materials (ATAM 2020) , 13-15.10.2020, Wrocław.