Register now for AIM Photonics Boot Camp 2023
COURSE TYPE: In-person
DATES: January 10-12, 2023
LOCATION: The course will be held at the Labs for Education and Application Prototypes (LEAP) at MIT and Bridgewater State University
PREREQUISITES: Undergraduate work in Physics and Optics. Knowledge of electromagnetism and photonics is a plus
Course Description and Objectives
Our boot camps give students hands-on experience with testing passive photonic chips. We will cover key concepts and provide hands-on training using state-of-the-art tools. This is not a lecture format. Students will spend the majority of their time in the lab, which prepares them for the challenges they will face in the workforce.
You will learn:
Basic concepts in photonic devices, including TE/TM propagation modes, light confinement, evanescence, on-chip guiding and applications
Prototyping using integrated circuit packaging
Die-bonding of surface-mounted components using reflow soldering followed by inspection
Characterization of integrated photonic devices using data collected from on-chip straight waveguides, ring resonators, and Mach-Zehnder interferometers
Fiber-to-chip coupling
Mask Design - GDSII creation for a foundry run
Virtual Reality device and tool simulations
Non-mechanical beam steering using integrated optical phased arrays for LiDAR sensing applications
How to use data analysis software to characterize photonic devices based on measured data
Registration
In order to give students plenty of hands-on opportunities and 1:1 interaction with instructors, space is limited to 12 so register early to reserve your spot!
The cost to register for this course is $6000.
A discounted rate of $1000 is available for students currently enrolled in a STEM program at a U.S. university or college.
Academic/AIM Discount Rate – a discounted rate of $3000 is available for AIM Photonics and MIT Microphotonics Center members. To receive the discount, request Promo Code from anu@mit.edu.
Course Instructors
Dr. Anu Agarwal is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT and AIM Academy's leader of LEAPs (Labs for Education and Application Prototypes). She has more than 100 journal and refereed conference publications, six awarded patents and five pending patents. Her work on MIR materials and devices is creating a planar, integrated, Si-CMOS-compatible microphotonics platform which will enable on-chip imaging and sensing applications.
Dr. Samuel Serna is an Assistant Professor of physics at Bridgewater State University and a 2019 OSA Ambassador. He received his doctoral degree in science - photonics at the University of Paris-Sud for research in novel techniques to test and exploit third-order nonlinear susceptibilities in silicon-photonic structures. As a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, he explored novel hybrid devices in the integrated photonics platform for telecom and mid-IR functionalities.
Dr. Jelena Notaros is the Robert J. Shillman Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at MIT. Her research interests are in integrated silicon photonics devices, systems, and applications. Jelena was one of three Top DARPA Risers, a 2018 DARPA D60 Plenary Speaker, a 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Listee, a 2020 MIT RLE Early Career Development Award recipient, a 2015 MIT Grier Presidential Fellow, and a 2019 OSA CLEO Chair's Pick Award recipient, among other honors.
Dr. Juejun Hu is the Merton C. Flemings Associate Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at MIT. His research interest is in optics and photonics for sensing, imaging, communications, and photovoltaics applications.
Dr. Lionel Kimerling is the Thomas Lord Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and the founding Director of the MIT Microphotonics Center, where he conducts an active research program in the design and processing of semiconductor materials and devices. He is also Executive of AIM Academy.
Dr. Sajan Saini is an Instructional Designer at MIT. He has been a lecturer in writing and science communications at Princeton University and was formerly a member of the physics faculty at Queens College of CUNY. His photonics research interests include waveguide optical amplifiers, nanostructured materials, and photonic crystal devices.
Dr. Erik Verlage is a research scientist in the Knowledge and Innovation for Manufacturing Initiative, and is designing interactive learning tools to teach integrated photonics to a wide audience. He received his doctoral degree in materials science at Caltech for research on nanophotonic antireflective coatings in photoelectrochemical devices for the synthesis of solar fuels.
Dr. Kazumi Wada is a Research Scientist in MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and an Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan. His expertise is on defect engineering and device physics of semiconductors including Si, Ge, III-V and IV-VI compounds. He works on photonics integration/packaging for on-chip LiDAR and sensing as well as data communication.
Drew Weninger is a PhD student working in Dr. Kimerling’s Electronic Materials Group. He received his Bachelor of Science in physics from the United States Naval Academy and his Master of Science in materials science and engineering from MIT. His doctoral work focuses on developing a silicon material platform for optoelectronic packaging, one capable of scaling with future bandwidth demands in datacom/telecom, biochemical sensing, and RF communications, to name a few.
Luigi Ranno is a PhD student working in Prof. Juejun Hu’s Photonic Materials group. He received an integrated Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in material science from Imperial College London. His current research involves the use of Two Photon Polymerization (TPP) to create optical structures for uses in integrated photonics, imaging optics, opto-electronic co-packaging and more.
Milica Notaros is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Photonics and Electronics Research Group at MIT. She received her B.S. degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017 and her M.S. degree from MIT in 2019. She is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the MIT Jacobs Presidential Fellowship, the 2022 Optica Emil Wolf Paper Finalist Award, the 2016 IEEE Region 5 Paper Competition Award, and the 2021 MIT MARC Best Paper Award.
Samuel Bechtold is an undergraduate student in Photonics Engineering at Bridgewater State University, and a research student in Dr. Serna's CHIRP Photonics lab at BSU. He has characterized nonlinearities in semiconductor materials and is working on simulations for a Supercontinuum Laser.
Peyton Brown is an undergraduate student at Bridgewater State University. He is planning to double major in physics, with a concentration in astrophysics, photonics and optical engineering.
Logistics
Attendees must make arrangements for their lodging. See information about local hotels or bed-and-breakfast options.
A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided on all three days of the boot camp. A networking dinner will be held on the evening of Jan 11.
While attending this in-person event at MIT, participants must follow the campus COVID health and safety policies.
Materials Required
MIT Boot Camp attendees are required to bring a laptop. A lab notebook and manual with detailed descriptions of the experiments will be provided by MIT.
