Fabrication of materials and photonics devices

The group has been involved in the field of development and fabrication of materials and photonics devices based mainly on group III nitrides. Within these research lines, the group has a deep expertise in the deposition of metals and III-Nitrides by sputtering on several kind of surfaces, like standard optical fibre, flexible substrates, sapphire and Silicon. Related to this subject, the main developments have been:

  • Study of the non-linear properties and applications of group III nitrides and  related new structures with applications such as optical switching, optical limiting and generation of pulsed lasers at optical communications wavelengths. This research line has led to the development of ultrafast (<100 fs) and high peak-power (in the range on MW) fiber pulsed laser using a III-nitrides based saturable absorber. All these especial characteristics open the possibility of novel applications like high sensitivity remote sensing and ranging.   
  • Sensors and solar cells based on group III nitrides. Including the design, implementation and optimization of structures for applications in the visible and near-infrared spectrum; as well as the application of strategies to increase efficiency in solar cells, including layers based on photonic elements. Thanks to the research in this field, the group attains the highest efficiency reported in III-nitrides on Silicon solar cells, with the advantage of using low-cost methods.  
  • Design and validation of fiber optic sensors based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), with applications to the measurement of Magnetic Field by means of ferrofluid transducers. Design and validation of fiber optic sensors based on fluorescence of GADOX compounds doped with Eu or Tb for the detection and quantification of ionising radiation: Rx and Rg. 
  • Fabrication of microfibers for temperature detection using Fourier Transform techniques.
  • Frequency multiplexed systems for the multiple detection of interferometric sensors.
  • Design of surface nanostructures for the optimization of thin-film solar cells.