Silesian University of Technology
The Photonics and Nanotechnology Team at the Silesian University of Technology is a multi-generational, interdisciplinary group of scientists consisting of physicists, chemists, a mechatronics engineer, and a biotechnologist. The Team’s research activity carried out within the HYPHa project is related to the design, fabrication, and characterization of integrated optics structures, primarily for use in planar fiber-optic sensors. The foundation for this research area is the set of composite SiOx:TiOy waveguide layers developed within the Team, produced using the sol–gel method and dip-coating technique, characterized by a high refractive index (1.8) and very low optical losses.
The design of integrated optics structures is supported by theoretical analyses performed using commercial software as well as proprietary programs developed by Team members. The fabricated structures are characterized mainly by optical methods, using both commercial instruments and custom-built measurement systems. The Team’s research focuses primarily on technological issues aimed at further developing fabrication methods for composite SiOx:TiOy waveguide layers, in particular the development of low-loss, single-mode, passive and active waveguide layers with a designed refractive index in the range from ~1.5 to over 1.9.
By applying two or three layers onto a single substrate, waveguide layers with thicknesses suitable for applications in the NIR spectral range (1550 nm) are produced. The unsatisfactory surface quality of available glass substrates prompted research on developing a method for their smoothing, also using the sol–gel method and dip-coating technique. An important research direction initiated and implemented within the HYPHa project concerns active layers produced by doping the developed waveguide layers with selected lanthanide ions. In parallel, technological research is being conducted on the development of silica layers and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) layers.
Team members
Associate Professor Paweł Karasiński, PhD Eng
Associate Professor Paweł Karasiński, PhD Eng obtained his master’s and engineering degrees in technical physics from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Silesian University of Technology in 1986. He received his PhD in physical sciences from the same Faculty in 1998, and completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Electronics of Wrocław University of Science and Technology in 2013. His research interests include the design, fabrication, and characterization of planar fiber-optic structures for use in sensors operating in the evanescent-field spectroscopy technique; the fabrication of dielectric layers and multilayer structures using the sol–gel method and dip-coating technique, particularly waveguide layers, dielectric mirrors, antireflection structures, and multifunctional layers.
He is the author or co-author of 127 scientific publications indexed in Scopus and one book chapter (total IF 136.03, h-index 13). Associate Professor Paweł Karasiński, PhD has served as principal investigator on six projects funded by KBN, MNiSW, and NCN (OPUS 3 and OPUS 13), as well as TANGO 3 (NCBiR), and as a researcher in eleven other projects. He is currently the leader of the research group from the Silesian University of Technology participating in the FNP-HYPHa project. His doctoral thesis was awarded a promotional scholarship from FIAT. He has also received multiple awards from the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements, is a laureate of the Polish Intelligent Development Award 2020, and received the silver medal of the 14th International Fair of Inventions and Innovations in Katowice for the “Innovative photonic measurement system for biomedical applications.”