Photonics Research Labs

About 

Our research focus on the interplay of light and matter at the nano-scale investigating their unique properties and behavior for technological applications. 

The Photonics Research Labs is housed in approximately 1,500 sq. ft. and is well-equipped with optical, photonic and opto-electronic instrumentations and components. In particular, we are well prepared for carrying out experiments in integrated optics, thin-films, biological and chemical assemblies, electrochemical analysis, guided-wave devices and several optical spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, we largely benefit from dedicated equipment and custom-made hardware developed along the years for working with planar optical waveguides and fiber optics technologies and integration of those technologies with spectroscopic tools for studies of molecular assemblies and surface-confined phenomena. 

Key Research Areas

  • Photonic Integrated Optics
  • Nanao-Optics
  • Optics of Thin Films
  • Optical and Electronic Properties of Biomolecules
  • Optical Spectroscopies of Nano-Structured Materials
  • Super-Resolution Imaging 

Our Work

  • Electrically-Controlled Thermal Emissivity for Wireless Power Transfer
  • Potential Modulated Surface Plasmon Waves for Spectroelectrochemistry and Biosensing
  • Electro-Active, Single-Mode, Integrated Optical Waveguides and their Applications
  • Evanescent-Wave Cavity-Ring-Down Spectroscopy  
  • Electrochemically Modulated Surface Plasmon Waves for Characterization and Interrogation of DNA-based Sensors, Anil Sharma, Thomas Hulse, Aymen Qatamin, Monica Moreno, Klester S. Souza, Marcelo B. Pereira, Fabricio S. Campos, Leandro B. Carneiro, A.M.H. de Andrade, Paulo M. Roehe, Flavio Horowitz, and Sergio B. Mendes, Analyst, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), in press (2024).
  • Investigating the influence of solvent type and pH on protein adsorption onto silica surface by evanescent-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy, Analytical Sciences, 40, 1089–1099 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44211-024-00529-3.
  • Effects of UV treatment on the properties of ultra-thin indium tin oxide films during growth and after deposition by cavity ring-down spectroscopy, Shadi A. Alnaanah, Aymen H. Qatamin, Melanie K. Dieterlen, and Sergio B. Mendes, Optics Continuum, (2022), 1 (12), 2503-2512.
  • Photobleaching Reduction in Modulated Super-Resolution Microscopy, Jafar H. Ghithan, Jennifer M. Noel, Thomas J. Roussel, Maureen A. McCall, Bruce W. Alphenaar, and Sergio B. Mendes, Microscopy, (2021), 70 (3), 278-288.
  • Adsorption Properties and Electron-Transfer Rates of a Redox Probe at Different Interfaces of an Immunoassay Assembled on an Electro-Active Photonic Platform, Jafar H. Ghithan, Monica Moreno, Robert S. Keynton, Martin G. O’Toole, and Sergio B Mendes, Analytical Sciences, (2021), 37, 1391-1399. 

Team 

Dr. Sergio B. Mendes, Professor

sb.mendes@louisville.edu 
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Photonics Research Labs

A&S Department of Physics and Astronomy

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Location

Shumaker Research Building, Rooms 211, 212 and 222