The Photonics Research Lab, lead by Thomas E. Murphy at the University of Maryland, conducts research related to integrated optics, nanophotonic devices, nonlinear dynamics, terahertz photonics, nonlinear optics, ultrafast optics, microwave photonics, and optical communication systems. Our central goal is to explore new devices and techniques that improve the speed, sensitivity, resolution, and efficiency of optical communication and sensor systems.

Some recent and ongoing projects include: optical systems for high-speed random number generation, ultrafast optical sampling using two-photon absorption, nonlinear dynamics and chaos in optical and microwave systems, polarization dependence in nonlinear optics, nonlinear optical processes in integrated waveguides, high dynamic range radio-over-fiber communication systems, terahertz materials and devices, and nanoporous optical waveguides for biological and chemical sensing. Please visit our publications page to learn more about our research.

Our research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS), and DARPA.

• Spring 2012 - We welcome Mr. Mehdi Jadidi, who joins our research group as a graduate research fellow in the Spring.
• Fall 2011 - Professor Murphy will be teaching ENEE 791 - Nonlinear Optics (Quantum Electronics II) in the Fall 2011 semester. The course provides a comprehensive treatment of the experimental and mathematical methods used in nonlinear optics. It is intended for engineering or physics graduate students who are interested in learning about nonlinear optical effects and how they can be used in practice.
• Summer 2011 - Congratulations to Bhargava Ravoori and Adam B. Cohen, who each defended their Ph.D. thesis.
• 4/2011 - An updated version of our electromagnetic waveguide modesolver (WGMODES) is now available for download. (This version fixes some bugs in the examples, stretchmesh, and associated contour plotting routines.)
• 3/2011 - In this month's issue of Optics Letters, we describe a Scalable parallel physical random number generator based on a superluminescent LED.
  
• 1/2011 - Welcome to Ms. Shanshan Li, who has joined our research group this semester. Shanshan completed her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at USTC before coming to UMD in Fall 2010.

We currently have one or more available positions for graduate research assistants in the coming semesters. Please contact me if you are interested in joining the group! Prospective students are requested to please read the "Information for Prospective Graduate Students" before contacting me.

We are looking for an undergraduate web developer to hire for a short-term project to renovate and reinvigorate our web site. Applicants must be familiar with Dreamweaver templates and content-management systems such as Drupal or Joomla. Interested students should inquire with Prof. Murphy.

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This page was last modified on Tuesday September 27, 2011.