Vasily Astratov Associate Professor Office: 332 Grigg Hall  Phone: (704) 687-8131  E-mail:astratov@uncc.edu Current Courses: OPTI 6103/8103: Light Sources & Detectors OPTI 6110/8110: Optics Seminar

Mesophotonics Lab

· Research Job Openings for 2 PhD Students: Optical Scalpels and Microcavity Devices

· 2010-11 Active Research Projects

· Destinations of Former Group Members

· Introduction

· Goals and Activities

· Project Highlights

Research Areas

· Novel structures and materials: microcavities and photonic crystals, coupled resonator optical waveguides, opals.

· Quantum optics: light-matter interaction, optical coupling between high-Q cavities, localization of light, polaritons.

· Optoelectronics applications: integrated optical circuits, delay lines, switches and spectrometers on a chip.

Education

· Ph.D., Physics, A. F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St.-Petersburg, Russia (1986)

· Diploma in Physics, corresponds to B.Sc.&M.Sc. in Physics, Dep. of Physics, St.-Petersburg State University, Russia (1981)

Professional Experience

· Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Optical Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2007-present)

· Adjunct Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2009-present)

· Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Optical Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2002-2007)

· Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, UK (1997-2001)

· Senior Fellow (1997) and Member of Research Staff (1981-1997)

Leader of the group pioneered studies of synthetic opals (1993-1997)

Department of Solid State Optics, A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

· Docent (part time), Department of Industrial Electronics, North-West State Technical University, St.-Petersburg, Russia (1992-1997)

Honors and Awards

· Senior Visiting EPSRC Fellow Award in the UK, University of Sheffield, April-July 2006

· Award of Royal Society and Russian Academy of Sciences, Program of Exchange Visits, Oct.-Dec. 1996

· Award in the Annual Competition of the Division of Solid State Physics, A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute 1993

· First Prize in the Annual Competition, A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute 1985

Service

· Associate Editor, Optics Express, 2005-present

· Non-European Member of Management Committee, Action MP0702: Towards Functional Sub-Wavelength Photonic Structures, European Cooperation on Science and Technology, 2010-present

· Referee, NASA Postdoctoral Program, 2008

· Conference session co-organizer (with Svetlana Boriskina), ICTON 2009 Special session Microresonators and Photonic Molecules

· Deputy chair, OECC 2008 subcommittee Frontiers in Photonics

· Organizer and Editor, Focus Issue of Optics Experess devoted Physics and Applications of Microresonators, 2007

· Organizer, Gordon-type Workshop on Physics of Microresonators, Charlotte, 2007

· Program committee member and alternate chair, CLEO/QELS 2006 and 2007 subcommittee Fundamentals of Metamaterials, Periodic and Random Media

· Program committee member, ICTON 2007 and 2008 Special session Microresonators and Photonic Molecules

· Panelist, NSF: Unsolicited Proposals in Photonics/Optics (ECS/EPDT), 2004-2006 and CAREER 2008

· Panelist, DFG: Priority DFG Program Photonic Crystals in Germany, 2000-2005

· Frequent Reviewer, Applied Physics Letters, Advanced Materials, Physical Review B, IEEE J. of Quantum Electron., Langmuir, et al.

· Dep./University: Optics Ph.D. Program Committee, 2002-present; Search Committee, 2004-05

Download Vasily’s vitae

· Research Grants (~$1M as a sole PI in 3 years)

· Journal Articles (67)

· Book Chapters (2)

· Referred Conference Proceedings (37)

· Patents (9)

· Invited Talks at Conferences (20)

· Presentations at Conferences (36)

· Invited Seminars (42)

Courses Taught

· PHYS 2102: Physics for Science and Engineering II

· PHYS 4241/6141: Quantum Theory I

· OPTI 6105/8105: Optical Properties of Materials I

· OPTI 6103/8103: Light Sources & Detectors

· OPTI 6110/8110: Optics Seminar

Brief Biography

Graduate Students

Collaborations

Research Visits

Latest News

· Photonic nanojets for laser surgery

V.N. Astratov, A. Darafsheh, M.D. Kerr, K.W. Allen, N.M. Fried, A.N. Antoszyk, and H.S. Ying, SPIE Newsroom, 12 March 2010.

Recent Publications

· Splitting and Lasing of Whispering Gallery Modes in Quantum Dot Micropillars

B.D. Jones, M. Oxborrow, V.N. Astratov, M. Hopkinson, A. Tahraoui, M.S. Skolnick, and A.M. Fox, Opt. Express 18, 22578 (2010).

· Chapter 17: Fundamentals and Applications of Microsphere Resonator Circuits

V.N. Astratov, Photonic Microresonator Research and Applications edited by I. Chremmos, N. Uzunoglu and O. Schwelb (Springer), 423-457, 2010.

· Spectroscopy of Coherently Coupled Whispering-Gallery Modes in Size-Matched Bispheres Assembled on a Substrate

   S. Yang and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Lett. 34, 2057-2059 (2009).

· Photonic Nanojet-Induced Modes in Chains of Size-Disordered Microspheres with an Attenuation of Only 0.08 dB per Sphere

S. Yang and V.N. Astratov, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 261111 (2008). Selected for the Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology 18, Issue 2 (2008).

· Perturbations of Whispering Gallery Modes by Nanoparticles Embedded in Microcavities

K.R. Hiremath and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Express 16, 5421-5426 (2008). Selected for the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics 3, Issue 5 (2008).

· Editorial: Introduction to the Focus Issue of Optics Express on Physics and Applications of Microresonators

V.N. Astratov, Opt. Express 15, 17171 (2007). Selected for the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics 3, Issue 1 (2008).

· Percolation of Light through Whispering Gallery Modes in 3D Lattices of Coupled Microspheres

V.N. Astratov and S.P. Ashili, Focus Issue on Physics and Applications of Microresonators, Opt. Express 15, 17351-17361 (2007). Selected for the Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology 17, Issue 10 (2008).

· Wispering Gallery Resonances in Semiconductor Micropillars

V.N. Astratov, S. Yang, S. Lam, B.D. Jones, D. Sanvitto, D.M. Whittaker, A.M. Fox, M.S. Skolnick, A. Tahraoui, P. W. Fry, and M. Hopkinson, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 171115 (2007)

· Observation of Nanojet-Induced Modes with Small Propagation Losses in Chains of Coupled Spherical Cavities

A.M. Kapitonov and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Lett. 32, 409-411 (2007). ISI times cited 25

· The Effects of Inter-Cavity Separation on Optical Coupling in Dielectric Bispheres

S.P. Ashili, V.N. Astratov, and E.C.H. Sykes, Opt. Express 14, 9460-9466 (2006).

· Optical Coupling at a Distance Between Detuned Spherical Cavities

A.V. Kanaev, V.N. Astratov, and W. Cai, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 111111 (2006). ISI times cited 20

· Optical Coupling and Transport Phenomena in Chains of Spherical Dielectric Microresonators with Size Disorder

V.N. Astratov, J.P. Franchak, and S.P. Ashili, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 5508-5510 (2004). ISI times cited 63

· Numerical Study of Light Propagation via Whispering Gallery Modes in Microcylinder Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguides

S. Deng, W. Cai, and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Express 12, 6468-6480 (2004). ISI times cited 34

Selected Highly Cited Publications (Total number of ISI citations is above 2000)

· Continuous Wave Observation of Massive Polariton Redistribution by Stimulated Scattering in Semiconductor Microcavities

R.M. Stevenson, V.N. Astratov, M.S. Skolnick, D.M. Whittaker, M. Emam-Ismail, A.I. Tartakovskii, P.G. Savvidis, J.J. Baumberg, and J.S. Roberts, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3680-3683 (2000). ISI times cited 240

· Manifestation of Intrinsic Defects in Optical Properties of Self-Organized Opal Photonic Crystal

Y.A. Vlasov, V.N. Astratov, A.V. Baryshev, A.A. Kaplyanskii, O.Z. Karimov, and M.F. Limonov, Phys. Rev. E 61, 5784-5793 (2000). ISI times cited 187

· Existence of a photonic pseudogap for visible light in synthetic opals

Y.A. Vlasov, V.N. Astratov, O.Z. Karimov, A.A. Kaplyanskii, V.N. Bogomolov, and A.V. Prokofiev, Phys. Rev. B 55, R13357-13360 (1997), ISI times cited 185

· Optical Spectroscopy of Opal Matrices with CdS Embedded in its Pores: Quantum Confinement and Photonic Band Gap Effects

V.N. Astratov, V.N. Bogomolov, A.A. Kaplyanskii, A.V. Prokofiev, L.A. Samoilovich, S.M. Samoilovich, and Y.A. Vlasov, Nuovo Cimento D 17, 1349-1354 (1995), ISI times cited: 155

· Enhancement of optical gain of semiconductors embedded in three-dimensional photonic crystals

Y.A. Vlasov, K. Luterova, I. Pelant, B. Honerlage, and V.N. Astratov, Appl. Phys. Lett., v.71, No.12, pp.1616-1618 (1997), ISI times cited 144

· Photonic Band Structure Effects in the Reflectivity of Periodically Patterned Waveguides

V.N. Astratov, D.M. Whittaker, I.S. Culshaw, R.M. Stevenson, M.S. Skolnick, T.F. Krauss, and R.M. DeLaRue, Phys. Rev. B 60, R16255-16258 (1999), ISI times cited 120

· Exciton-Light Coupling in Single and Coupled Microcavities: Polariton Dispersion and Polarisation Splitting

   G. Panzarini, L.C. Andreani, A. Armitage, D. Baxter, M.S. Skolnick, V.N. Astratov, J.S. Roberts, A.V. Kavokin, M.V. Vladimirova, and M.A. Kaliteevski

   Phys. Rev. B 59, 5082-5089 (1999). ISI times cited 87

· Resonant Coupling of Near-Infrared Radiation to Photonic Band Structure Waveguides

V.N. Astratov, I.S. Culshaw, R.M. Stevenson, D.M. Whittaker, M.S. Skolnick, T.F. Krauss, and R.M. DeLaRue, Resonant Coupling of Near-Infrared Radiation to Photonic Band Structure Waveguides, J. of Lightwave Technology, v.17, 2050-2057 (1999), ISI times cited 76

· Interplay of Order and Disorder in the Optical Properties of Opal Photonic Crystals

V.N. Astratov, A.M. Adawi, S. Fricker, M.S. Skolnick, D.M. Whittaker, and P.N. Pusey, Phys. Rev. B 66, art.165215 (2002). ISI times cited 68

· Photonic Band Gaps in 3D Ordered FCC Silica Matrices

V.N. Astratov, Y.A. Vlasov, O.Z. Karimov, A.A. Kaplyanskii, Yu.G. Musikin, N.A. Bert, V.N. Bogomolov, and A.V. Prokofiev, Physics Letters A 222, 349-353 (1996). ISI times cited: 57

· Heavy Photon Dispersions in Photonic Crystal Waveguides

V.N. Astratov, R.M. Stevenson, I.S. Culshaw, D.M. Whittaker, M.S. Skolnick, T.F. Krauss, and R.M. De La Rue, Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 178-180 (2000), ISI times cited 56

Photonic & Sonic Band-Gap Bibliography

Photonic Band Gap Links

Pictures of opals

Pictures of St.-Petersburg

Last update September, 2010