Other

Hitachi, Ltd.

Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Cambridge Enterprise Limited

Btg International Limited

Mesophotonics Limited

Hitachi Europe Limited

Renishaw Diagnostics Limited

Cambridge Enterprise Limited of the Old Schools

D3 Technologies, Ltd.

Luxtaltek Corporation

Jeremy John Baumberg

Majd Zoorob

James Gordon Wilkinson

John Lincoln

Sumeet Mahajan

Sven Mahnkopf

Maria Caterina Netti

David Arfon Williams

Roger Coulston

Oren Scherman

Martin Charlton

Greg Jason Parker

Gregory Jason Parker

Martin David Brian Charlton

Robin Mark Cole

David Snoswell

Martin D B Charlton

Phillip Nigel Bartlett

Richard William Taylor

Christopher Finlayson

Qibin Zhao

Nicolas Perney

Gotz Peter Hellmann

Albert P Heberle

Tung-Chun Lee

Peter Wolfgang Andreas Spahn

Setu Kasera

Götz Peter Hellmann

Christian Gerhard Schafer

Jonathan Mar

Xiulai Xu

Christian Gerhard SCHÄFER

Greg Parker

James Wilkinson

Martin David Charlton

Majd Elias Zoorob

David Williams

The invention relates to the use of a construct for the detection of an analyte using surface enhanced spectroscopic techniques. The construct includes linked surfaces, where the link is formed by a linker providing a fixed inter-surface separation between the linked surfaces, wherein the linker is a linking compound, and at least one of the surfaces is the surface of a nanoparticle. The linking compound is suitable for interacting with the analyte. The linking compound may be a cucurbituril. The surface enhanced spectroscopic technique may be surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).

Plasmonic junctions for surface-enhanced spectroscopy

A polymer opal material comprises a three dimensionally periodic arrangement of core particles in a matrix material and exhibits structural color via Bragg reflection. IN a process for manufacturing such a material, a sandwich structure is provided, of a precursor composite material held between first and second sandwiching layers. A relative shear strain of at least 10% is imposed on the precursor composite material by curling the sandwich structure around a roller. The shear strain is cycled, in order to promote the formation of the three dimensional periodic arrangement.

Manufacture of composite optical materials

Metal nanovoids are grown on a stretchable plastic film. The fabrication proceeds by assembling the template of a single layer of close packed silica spheres on a conducting substrate. A conducting layer is then electrochemically grown on top to form a master. An elastomeric precursor is then coated on the master (e.g. by spinning) and is cured before removal. The resulting plastic film is then coated with a thin (e.g. 20 nm) layer of noble metal (e.g. Au, Ag or Cu), to produce a flexible film. Applications for such tuneable structural color would be coating of injection molded artifacts, such as mobile phone covers, car bodies to form an iridescent skin, wall and fascia decorations, loudspeaker coatings, architectural tent coverings, and clothing.

Colour change material and method of manufacture thereof

A planar optical platform for generating a Raman signal from a foreign object comprises an input region and an output region, for receiving and extracting optical radiation, optically coupled to a plasmonic band structure region. The plasmonic band structure region comprises a layer of a first material, having a first refractive index, patterned with an array of sub-regions of a second material, having a second refractive index, wherein a side-wall of each sub-region is coated with a metallodielectric layer. The array of sub-regions gives rise to a plasmonic band structure and, in use, each sub-region confines a plasmon resonance excited by optical radiation coupled into the plasmonic band structure region, which gives rise to a Raman signal from a foreign object placed proximate the plasmonic band structure region. The platform may be incorporated into a spectroscopic measurement system and is particularly useful for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of analyte molecules.

Metal nano-void photonic crystal for enhanced raman spectroscopy

Metal nano-void photonic crystal for enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In order to create an optical device with a photonic band gap extending in two dimensions and with very uniform properties in any direction and for any polarisation state, to within 1%, air holes are etched within a substrate of low refractive index material such silicon oxynitride or silica glass. The ratio of air hole area to the remainder of the substrate is low, being less than 35%. The air holes define a quasicrystal structure, having twelve fold symmetry, being based on a square-triangle system. In another development, an etched substrate with a regular crystal structure or quasicrystal structure exhibits a non-linear refractive index. Two adjacent areas in such a substrate have different lattice properties, or have defects in the lattices, to create a unidirectional transmission path (diode action). A further beam of light may be used to modulate the transmission path by reason of the non-linear refractive index.

Optical device

There is provided a non-linear optical device for enhancing the bandwidth accessible in the nonlinear generation of an optical signal. The device comprises a planar optical waveguide, the planar optical waveguide being operative to generate an optical output from an optical input having an input bandwidth by means of a non-linear optical process, the optical output having a wavelength within an accessible bandwidth, wherein the planar optical waveguide is operative to enhance the accessible bandwidth such that the ratio of the accessible bandwidth to the input bandwidth is at least 4. The device is particularly applicable to broad optical continuum generation, but may also be used in a parametric oscillator or amplifier arrangement with broad tuning range.

Nonlinear optical device

Silicon possesses an indirect band-gap, which limits its use in some photonic applications. A phonon generator is included in a silicon-based device, which promotes electron-hole recombination and so allows silicon to emit photons efficiently. Phonons may be generated by optical or electrical stimulation or as a result energy relaxation of hot-electrons.

Photonic device

Optically generated charge carriers in an optically responsive medium, such as an optical switch, which are produced in response to a first pulse of optical radiation (P,), are de-excited by directing a second pulse (P,) of optical radiation into the medium. The second pulse occurs while the excitation produced by the first pulse remains coherent, and the relative phase of the first and second pulses is selected so that the second pulse destructively interferes with the excitation produced by the first pulse. The apparatus may be used as an optical switch or as a photodetector.

Apparatus for coherently controlling an optical transition

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Cambridge, United Kingdom

Jeremy John Baumberg