Vasily Astratov

 

Professor

Office: 332 Grigg Hall 
Phone: (704) 687-8131 
E-mail:astratov@uncc.edu

 

Current Courses:

OPTI 6103/8103: Light Sources & Detectors

 

vasily_bw2.jpg

 

Biography

Vasily N. Astratov is a professor in the Department of Physics and Optical Science at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. He received his M.S. from the St. Petersburg State University, Russia, in 1981, and received his Ph.D. degree from the A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, St. Petersburg, in 1986. At this institution he had accomplished a career as a research scientist, rising through the ranks from staff member (1981-1992), group leader (1992-1997), to senior member of staff in 1997. In his group at Ioffe Institute he pioneered studies of synthetic opals as novel 3D self-assembled photonic crystals for visible light. In 1997-2001 he worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Sheffield where he developed novel surface coupling techniques for studying photonic crystal waveguides and semiconductor microcavities. He joined UNC-Charlotte in 2002. He was a topical editor for the journal Optics Express in 2005-2011 and an editor and co-editor for two Focus Issues of this journal. He has served as a technical committee member for major international conferences including CLEO/QELS 2006-07 and 2012-13, ICTON 2009, and OECC/ACOFT 2008. He is a recipient of a number of awards including International Visitor Award in France by Triangle de la Physique in 2011, Senior Visiting EPSRC Fellow Award in the UK in 2006, Award of the Exchange Program adopted between Royal Society and Russian Academy of Sciences in 1996, and the Award in the Annual Competition from A.F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute in 1985. During his career he has published more than 130 technical publications which have been cited more than 2400 times. His Hirsch index is h=23. He is an author and coauthor of 10 patents. His current research spans a broad range of optical effects in mesoscale photonic structures including photonic nanojets, unusual sensor capabilities, resonant light pressure and optical super-resolution effects.

 

Mesophotonics Lab

· 2012 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

· Professor, Department of Physics and Optical Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2012-present)

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

· Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Optical Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2007-2012)

· 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

 

Honors and Awards

· 2011      International Visitor Award in France, Triangle de la Physique, Institute for Fundamental Electronics, Paris (1 month)

· 2006      Senior Visiting EPSRC Fellow Award in the UK, University of Sheffield (3 months)

· 1996      Award of Royal Society & Russian Academy of Sciences, Program of Exchange Visits (2 months)

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

· 1985      First Prize in the Annual Research Competition (with co-authors), A.F. Ioffe Institute

· 1985      First Prize in the Annual Young Investigator Competition, A.F. Ioffe Institute

 

Service

· Associate Editor, Optics Express, 2005-2011 (editor for more than 500 manuscripts)

· Panelist, NSF: ECCS EPDT 2004-06, CAREER ECCS EPMD 2008, DMR CMP 2012

· Co-Editor, Focus Issue of OPEX, Collective Phenomena in Phot., Plasmonic & Hybrid Structures, 2011

· Editor, Focus Issue of OPEX, Physics and Applications of Microresonators, Dec. 2007

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

· Alternate Chair, program committee, CLEO 2012 and 2013, Micro- and Nano-Photonic Devices

· Conference Session Co-organizer, ICTON 2009, Microresonators and Photonic Molecules

· Referee, NASA postdoctoral program 2008

· Deputy Chair, OECC/ACOFT 2008 subcommittee Frontiers in Photonics

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

· Member & Alternate Chair, subcommittee, CLEO/QELS’06-07, Fundamentals of Metamaterials

· Reviewer, Petroleum Research Fund, 2005

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

· Frequent Reviewer, Applied Physics Letters, Advanced Materials, Physical Review B, Langmuir, et al.

· Ph.D. Program Committee Member, UNCC Program in Optical Science and Engineering, 2002-present

· Faculty Council Member, UNC-Charlotte, 2011-2012

· Faculty Search Committee, 2004-05

 

Download Vasily’s vitae

· Research Grants (>$1.2M as a sole PI in 4 years)

· Journal Articles (71)

· Editorial Articles and Highlights (3)

· Book Chapters (2)

· Referred Conference Proceedings (53)

· Patents (10)

· Invited Talks at Conferences (24)

· Presentations at Conferences (44)

· Invited Seminars (47)

 

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 6211/8211: Introduction to Modern Optics

· OPTI 6110/8110: Optics Seminar

 

Graduate Students

Collaborations

Research Visits

 

Recent Publications

Book Chapter

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.

 

Articles

· Characterization of Novel Microsphere Chain Fiber Optic Tips for Potential Use in Ophthalmic Laser Surgery

   T.C. Hutchens, A. Darafsheh, A. Fardad, A.N. Antoszyk, H.S. Ying, V.N. Astratov, and N.M. Fried, J. of Biomed. Opt. 17, 068004 (2012).

· Periodically Focused Modes in Chains of Dielectric Spheres

   A. Darafshesh and V.N. Astratov, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 161121 (2012).

· Editorial: Collective Phenomena in Photonic, Plasmonic and Hybrid Structures

   S. V. Boriskina, M. Povinelli, V. N. Astratov, A.V. Zayats, and V.A. Podolskiy, Opt. Express 19, 22024-22028 (2011).

· Fiber coupling to BaTiO3 glass microspheres in an aqueous environment

   O. Svitelskiy, Y. Li, A. Darafsheh, M. Sumetsky, D. Carnegie, E. Rafailov, and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Lett. 36, 2862-2865 (2011).

· Contact Focusing Multimodal Microprobes for Ultraprecise Laser Tissue Surgery

   A. Darafsheh, A. Fardad, N.M. Fried, A.N. Antoszyk, H.S. Ying, and V.N. Astratov, Opt. Express 19, 3440-3448 (2011).

   Selected for the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics 6, Issue 3 (2011).

· 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).

· 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). ISI times cited 21

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). ISI times cited 19.

· 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). ISI times cited 20.

· 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 45

 

Selected Highly Cited Publications (Total number of ISI citations is about 2400)

· 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 267

· 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 210

· 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 193

· 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: 172

· 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 155

· 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 132

· 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 108

· 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 88

· 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, J. of Lightwave Technology, v.17, 2050-2057 (1999), ISI times cited 82

· 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 75

· 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: 60

· 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 60

 

Photonic & Sonic Band-Gap Bibliography

Photonic Band Gap Links

Pictures of opals

Pictures of St.-Petersburg

 

Last update July, 2012