Photonics is a flagship initiative of the CUNY Chancellor that derives to a great extent from the research activities of a number of faculty members (Alfano, Akins, Gayen, Lenzner, Lombardi, Meriles, Petricevic, Tamargo and Tu) and senior research staff (Bykov, Cai, Katz, Sharonov, Wang, Zeylikovich) in the departments of Physics and Chemistry at the Science Division of the City College of New York. Ongoing Photonics research at CCNY Science Division include: - Optical biomedical imaging for noninvasive detection of breast and prostate cancers (Alfano, Gayen, Wang)
- Tunable solid-state lasers (Petricevic, Bykov, Sharonov, Alfano, Gayen)
- Ultrafast laser development and ultrafast laser spectroscopy (Lenzner, Alfano, Gayen, Petricevic, Akins)
- Spectroscopy and microscopy of quantum wells, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and hybrid organic-inorganic nanoscale materials (Tamargo, Alfano, Akins, Gayen)
- Raman and FTIR spectroscopy (Lombardi, Tu, Alfano)
- Photonic devices, such as, high-efficiency solar cells
- Ultraviolet and near-infrared light detectors ( Tamargo, Wang, Alfano)
- Optical biomedical spectroscopy and optical biopsy (Katz, Alfano)
- Pulse propagation and optical imaging of targets through turbid media (Cai, Alfano, Gayen), optical Faraday rotation and optical nuclear magnetic resonance (Meriles)
Many of these researchers are affiliated with two CCNY research centers: the Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (IUSL) directed by Distinguished Professor Alfano, and the Center for Analysis of Structures and Interfaces (CASI) directed by Professor Akins. The photonics research activities at CCNY enjoy substantial federal, state, and industrial support, that include two current major center grants: the DoD Center for Nanoscale Photonic Emitters and Sensors (PI: Alfano), and the NSF CREST Center for Exploitation of Nanostructures in Sensors and Energy Systems (PI: Akins). Professor Alfano was recently recognized by the Optical Society of America with its Charles Hard Townes Award for his contributions in photonics research. |
