Engineering Physics

Raman Kashyap

Photonics ● Optics ● Lasers ● Distributed Bragg reflectors

Professor Raman Kashyap is a Canada Research Chair holder and the head of the FABULAS lab of the departments of Engineering Physics and Electrical Engineering.

His expertise encompasses a wide range of subjects including, principally, optoelectronics and photonics. Main research subjects involve nonlinear optics, optical sensors, optical fibres, lasers (specifically Raman and Brillouin lasers), ablation and modification of materials by fs laser, ultra-long fibre Bragg gratings, as well as plasmonic and laser cooling.

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Playing with photons

Photonics (the science of light) is ubiquitous in the modern world, and increasingly popular because of the multifaceted possibilities that it offers. Professor Kashyap creates new devices based on the interaction of light with materials, from diffractive devices that act on certain properties of photons (light particles) to structures that capture light and store information. Professor Kashyap plays with photons to push back the frontiers of this fascinating realm of physics that has interested scientists for centuries.

As a specialist in tiny diffractive devices inserted in optical fibres, Professor Kashyap’s end goal is to simplify the traditional methods of photon manipulation, which are very complex. Using the tools available in the FABULAS laboratory at Polytechnique, he and his team are dedicated to constantly expanding the frontiers of our knowledge of photonics.

Latest news

As part of research work recently completed with his team, he has perfected integration of waveguides into glass used in cellular phone displays, for real-time analysis of health problems: for example, we may soon be able to analyse droplets of saliva or blood directly on our smartphones—and this astounding future may be closer than we think!

He is continually at the forefront of fibre-optic laser technology, which he along with his team are involved in designing: advances include distributed feedback lasers (DFBs), which have exceptional optical properties and are extremely stable, and Raman (no relation!) lasers, which are used to achieve precise wavelengths for specific applications.

Professor Kashyap’s work also bridges the gap between plasmonics and fibre-optic technology: he has designed a sensor system that combines tilted fibre Bragg gratings (TFBGs) with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology in a single optical fibre, enabling detection of various chemical compounds in liquids. He has also developed distributed temperature and pressure sensors that can be deployed over distances of several kilometres to monitor temperature or pressure variations over a few metres.

Professor Kashyap also devotes part of his research to theoretical and practical models of laser cooling. He has published more than 500 papers in journals and conference proceedings.

entrepreneurial fibre

Among Professor Kashyap's many accomplishments, he is the founder of PhotoNova (a company specialized in development of high-performance photonics components and subsystems), holds several patents, and is the author of a well-regarded book on fibre Bragg gratings.


Lasers
(c) Laboratoire prof. Raman Kashyap

FABULAS station
(c) Laboratoire prof. Raman Kashyap