Plenaries

1

Opening Cerimony

8:50 to 8:55  /  Auditorium

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2

Opening Cerimony

8:55 to 9:00  /  Auditorium

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3

Initiatives of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) in Photonics

9:00 to 9:30  /  Auditorium

This presentation aims to present the Photonics initiatives carried out within the scope of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – MCTI. Inside the Ministry, the Secretariat of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SEMPI-MCTI) has been responsible for Public Policies in Photonics since 2017. The General Coordination of Enabling Technologies (CGTH-DETAP-SEMPI-MCTI) is the technical area responsible for carrying out Programs in the fields of Photonics. In order to assist the MCTI in technical discussions, the MCTI implemented, through the Presidential Ordinance no. 10,137/2019, an Advisory Committee of Photonics (CCFOTO), designed to formulate, and evaluate proposals related to photonics. In addition, MCTI has been working with structuring Public Policies in Photonics, such as: (i) The Brazilian Photonics Initiative (IBFóton) that was established by the Ministerial Ordinance no. 4,532/2021. IBFóton is the main strategic program to encourage Photonics in the Brazil with a focus on promoting innovation in Brazilian industry and scientific, technological, economic and social development; and (ii) the Brazilian Photonics Laboratories System (Sisfóton-MCTI) that was established by the Ministerial Ordinance nº 4,530/2021. Sisfóton-MCTI is a set of laboratories or networks of multi-user laboratories, of open access to public and private users, and directed to research, development and the provision of technological services, entrepreneurship and innovation in Photonics. For the promotion of the area, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), in partnership with the MCTI, launched the Public Call 01/2021 whose objective is to finance up to 11 laboratories in Photonics.

4

Intraoperative 5‑ALA photodynamic therapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients: a preliminary analysis of the INDYGO clinical trial (NCT03048240)

9:30 to 10:15  /  Auditorium

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive malignant primary brain tumor. The unfavorable prognosis despite maximal therapy relates to high propensity for recurrence. Thus, overall survival (OS) is quite limited and local failure remains the fundamental problem.

A safety and feasibility trial after treating GBM intraoperatively by photodynamic therapy (PDT) after 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) administration and maximal resection was performed at The Lille University Hospital, France.

Ten patients with newly diagnosed GBM were enrolled and treated between May 2017 and June 2018. The standardized therapeutic approach included maximal resection (near total or gross total tumor resection (GTR)) guided by 5-ALA fluorescence-guided surgery (followed by intraoperative PDT. Postoperatively, patients underwent adjuvant therapy (Stupp protocol). Follow-up included clinical examinations and brain MR imaging was performed every 3 months until tumor progression and/or death.

There were no unacceptable or unexpected toxicities or serious adverse effects. At the time of the interim analysis, the actuarial 12-months progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 60% (median 17.1 months), and the actuarial 12-months OS rate was 80% (median 23.1 months).

PDT delivered immediately after resection as an add-on therapy of this primary brain cancer is safe and may help to decrease the recurrence risk by targeting residual tumor cells in the resection cavity.

5

Advancing photonic systems through machine learning

10:15 to 11:00  /  Auditorium

As our current society is highly dependent on our ability to share information, optical communication systems, i.e. the backbone of our communication infrastructure need to continuously evolve. The machine learning (ML) toolbox provides an effective and necessary set of tools to enable such technological advancements, as ML excels at: 1) learning complex input-output mappings allowing for simple system optimization, 2) extracting optimal decision rules for highly nonlinear classification problems 3) performing ultra-sensitive signal detection, 4) solving inverse system design problems. These strengths of ML make it applicable from the characterization of photonic devices to the optical subsystem design and full end-to-end system optimization.

In this talk, I will review our recent efforts on applying ML for signal equalization in intensity-modulated directly-detected (IM/DD) systems as well as constellation shaping for long-haul coherent transmission. I will discuss our proposed framework for the design and optimization of Raman amplifiers, Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), and hybrid Raman+EDFA amplifiers. Finally, I will show an application of Bayesian filtering enabling ultra-sensitive characterization of fiber lasers and frequency combs, with potential applications in fiber sensing and quantum communication.

11:00 to 11:10

Break

6

Overcoming the Light Penetration Limits in Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

11:10 to 11:55  /  Auditorium

The high attenuation of light in tissue limits clinical applications. In particular, photodynamic therapy (PDT) using light-activated compounds (photosensitizers) has been unsuccessful in treating melanoma, because of its high pigmentation. Approaches to address this are optical clearing and fs laser-based 2-photon activation. For other large and deep-seated tumors, an emerging strategy is Radiodynamic Therapy, in which PDT is mediated by a low dose of deeply-penetrating high-energy X-rays as the energy source. The low activation efficiency of RDT can be circumvented by targeting the photosensitizer to the cell nucleus. These concepts are demonstrated using cell and animal tumor models.

7

Towards space division multiplexing with 1000s of spatial modes

11:55 to 12:40  /  Auditorium

Space division multiplexed communications uses fibers supporting multiple spatial modes to increase the capacity carried by a single optical fiber. In this talk, I will overview some of the research inside and outside Nokia Bell Labs to build devices supporting large mode counts and the transmission experiments using these devices. The key components include mode multiplexers, optical amplifiers, and special optical fibers.

8

From Nonlinear Optics to High-Intensity Laser Physics

9:00 to 9:45  /  Auditorium

The laser increased the intensity of light that can be generated by orders of magnitude and thus brought about nonlinear optical interactions with matter. Chirped pulse amplification, also known as CPA, changed the intensity level by a few more orders of magnitude and helped usher in a new type of laser-matter interaction that is referred to as high-intensity laser physics. In this talk, I will discuss the differences between nonlinear optics and high-intensity laser physics. The development of CPA and why short, intense laser pulses can cut transparent material will also be included. I will also discuss future applications.

9

Photonic Glass ceramics

9:45 to 10:30  /  Auditorium

Looking at the literature of the last years is evident that glass-based rare-earth-activated optical structures represent the technological pillar of a huge of photonic applications covering Health and Biology, Structural Engineering, Environment Monitoring Systems and Quantum Technologies. Since the pioneering work of Tick, Borrelli, Cornelius, and Newhouse on transparent glass ceramics performed in 1995, the research regarding photonic glass-ceramics is growing fast, covering a broad spectrum of applications. In the last years, we demonstrated that SiO2-SnO2 glass ceramics, presenting a strong absorption cross section in the UV range due to the SnO2 nanocrystal, are effective rare earth ions sensitizers. Another interesting property of the SiO2-SnO2 system is its photorefractivity, demonstrated in several papers published by our consortium. It has been shown that the UV irradiation induces refractive index change allowing the direct writing of both channel waveguides and Bragg gratings. The presented results not only demonstrate the viability and outstanding properties of the SiO2-SnO2 glass-ceramics for photonic applications but also lay the foundations for the fabrication of efficient integrated lasers.

10

Advances in Photonic Aperiodic Arrays and Circulators

10:30 to 11:15  /  Auditorium

Due to their much lower losses photonic dielectric antennas are preferred, in several applications, instead of the metallic ones. However, their sizes are typically in the order of one wavelength, consequently, if single beamforming is needed, the use of aperiodic phased arrays capable of suppressing grating lobes is mandatory. On the other hand, the recent development of nonreciprocal materials without external magnetization may enable the design of compact integrated circulators. Such devices among other applications, allow the antennas to operate in the transceiver mode. In this talk, the research advances of these two key topics will be addressed in detail.

11:15 to 11:25

Break

11

Photonics and the contribution to control microorganisms

11:25 to 11:55  /  Auditorium

Using light as the main element, and photo-reactions as actions, it is possible to develop several techniques that allow microbiological control. From the treatment of infections external to the body, through internal infections to the preparation of organs for transplantation, these are realities within photonics today. In this presentation, we will review the work carried out by the Center for Optics and Photonics at IFSC – University of São Paulo

12

Extreme Light Scattering

11:55 to 12:40  /  Auditorium

We discuss the physics and applications of nonlinear Thomson scattering. When high intensity laser light (~1018 W/cm2) scattered with electrons, the degree of polarization of the scattered light was found to depend on its intensity level. This has implications for recent tests of cosmological theories based on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. At higher intensity (~1021 W/cm2), a novel x-ray generation mechanism was demonstrated, namely high-order multiphoton Thomson scattering (n > 500).1 Nonlinear Thomson scattering was also predicted theoretically to measure the pulse duration of attosecond electron bunches.2 A compact all-laser-driven x-ray source with synchrotron quality and gamma-ray energy was developed, based on Thomson scattering by a highly relativistic electron beam (>100 MeV), which was accelerated by a laser-wakefield plasma wave. Experiments showed that the quality of the electron beam could be improved with optical injection.3 The x-rays were applied to structural analysis via femtosecond diffraction, and to active interrogation of shielded materials. Prospects for medical applications will also be discussed.

1, W. Yan et al., Nature Photonics 11, 514 (2017).

2. C. Fruhling, G. Golovin, and D. Umstadter, Physical Review AB 23, 072802 (2020)

3. G. Golovin et al., Physical Review Letters 121, 104801 (2018).

13

TCAD Simulation for Optics & Photonics

9:00 to 9:30  /  Auditorium

In this talk we will describe optical devices and technologies and the methods used to design and analyze them. It is essential to have tools that can model the complex and diverse structures found in these devices and simulate them to provide insight into their performance and behavior. These tools need to rely on advanced physics modeling that often goes down to the quantum mechanical level and at the same time need work at the macro level for predicting J-V, thermal, and optical parameters. These tools are called Technology computer-aided design (technology CAD or TCAD) are part of electronic design automation and models semiconductor fabrication and semiconductor device operation.

14

Optical fibers in life-science applications

9:30 to 10:15  /  Auditorium

Microstructured silica optical fibers and capillaries are a useful tool for various studies in life-sciences. Although not replacing lab-on-a-chip, they exhibit unique characteristics, such as minimally invasive footprint and potential use in-vivo. In this talk we describe some fiber-based systems that include high performance flow cytometers, cell separation and cell picking devices. We also discuss recent results on the development of a fiber-based molecular diagnostic system aiming at viral detection and quantification. The system is designed to perform loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in thousands of droplets flowing in an optofluidic fiber arrangement. Digital viral presence or absence in each droplet is assessed through fluorescence probing. The number of droplets with the virus (e.g., COVID 19) should allow for quantifying the viral load of the sample analyzed.

15

Shining Light on Nonlinear Optics in 2D Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

10:15 to 11:00  /  Auditorium

2D Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (LTMDs) are bi-dimensional nanostructures consisting of atomically thin monolayers of the type MX2, with M a transition metal atom and X a chalcogen atom. Besides the well-known and studied semiconducting MoS2 and WS2, semi-metallic ZrTe2 and metallic NbS2 are examples of 2D LTMDs. In this talk, I shall review the relevant properties of the four above mentioned materials, some of the fabrication methods, and will describe nonlinear optical studies covering a range of excitation regimes. Using CW or CW/ML (>1MHz repetition rate) excitation sources with linearly or circularly polarized light, we show that the intensity dependent refractive changes are thermal in origin, ~10-6cm2/W, and lead to ring formation due to spatial self-phase modulation. Using optical sources with 1kHz repetition rate and 100fs pulse duration, we determined the intensity dependent nonlinear refraction (~10-16cm2/W) of electronic origin, besides, in some cases, the nonlinear absorption. We also show how ZrTe2 can be used as a scatterer for a colloidal dye-based random laser.

11:00 to 11:10

Break

16

Photonic Sensors at UTFPR – CPGEI

11:10 to 11:55  /  Auditorium

This talk will present and discuss, following an historical timeline, the main achievements in the field of Photonic sensing. The focus will be on the activities developed within the Graduate Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering – CPGEI at Federal University of Technology – UTFPR. In the presentation, the evolution of research will be presented. From the early developments on optical fiber grating sensors, the establishment of new Photonic sensing branches in Spectroscopy and Plasmonics will be discussed.

17

Compact Terahertz Driven Electron and X-ray Sources

11:55 to 12:40  /  Auditorium

The use of very high frequencies, in the THz region, specifically 100 – 500 GHz, enables operation of accelerators at higher field strength with lower energetic driver pulses. This opens up the possibility of compact low emittance electron sources and high-brightness fully coherent X-ray sources. In this contribution, we summarize the progress made in the ERC Synergy Grant AXSIS: Attosecond X-ray Science – Imaging and Spectroscopy in source technology. The high acceleration fields and field gradients possible in terahertz devices enables novel electron bunch manipulations, bunch diagnostic and promise ultimately fully coherent X-ray production from compact sources. Latest experimental results in the implementation of electron and X-ray sources based on this technology will be discussed.