Ultra-flat optics for broadband thermal imaging

$side view of a fabricated wafer containing meta-optics held above a conventional refractive lens.$

Long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) imaging holds critical significance across many applications, from consumer electronics to defense and national security. It finds applications in night vision, remote sensing, and long-range imaging. However, the conventional refractive lenses employed in these imaging systems are bulky and heavy, which is undesirable for almost all applications. Compounding this issue is the fact that many LWIR refractive lenses are crafted from expensive and limited-supply materials, such as germanium.

Arka Majumdar named 2024 Optica Fellow

Arka Majumdar, an associate professor in UW ECE and in the physics department, was recently named a 2024 Optica Fellow for his significant achievements in optics — the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter.

Next-generation data centers within reach thanks to new energy-efficient switches

In a paper published online July 4 in Nature Nanotechnology, a team led by University of Washington scientists reported the design of an energy-efficient, silicon-based non-volatile switch that manipulates light through the use of a phase-change material and graphene heater. The exceptional performance of their switch could help advance both information technology and quantum computing.

UW researchers developing miniaturized imaging device to treat heart attack, stroke

An interdisciplinary research team at the University of Washington, led by Arka Majumdar, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics, was awarded $3.6 million in funding from the National Science Foundation to use meta-optics to develop a dramatically smaller endoscope that can image previously inaccessible areas of the heart and brain.

Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain

Researchers at the UW and Princeton University have developed an ultracompact camera the size of a coarse grain of salt. The system relies on metasurfaces fabricated at Washington Nanofabrication Facility to produce crisp, full-color images on par with a conventional camera lens 500,000 times larger in volume, the researchers reported in Nature Communications.

Small Business awards from DARPA and NASA fuel growth of UW spinout Tunoptix

Tunoptix, a Seattle-based optics startup co-founded by University of Washington electrical and computer engineering professors Karl Böhringer and Arka Majumdar, received a $1,500,000 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award from NASA to advance their meta-optics imaging systems.

UW-led team receives $5M award to help bring quantum computing into the real world

A multi-institutional research team led by NanoES faculty members Mo Li, Arka Majumdar and Karl Böhringer is developing a powerful, miniaturized optical control engine, called PEAQUE, which will greatly increase capacity and speed of quantum computers.

A new kind of lens for tiny cameras

A UW team led by Karl Böhringer and Arka Majumdar has developed a tunable lens made of metasurfaces and actuated by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).