Laboratory for the Design of High-technology Products for Photonics
The Laboratory for the Design of High-technology Products for Photonics conducts fundamental and applied research in the fields of femtosecond photonics, laser-based systems, detectors and new materials, with the aim of developing state-of-the-art photonic and optoelectronic technologies.
Description of Activities
Description of Services
Testing and adjustment of electronic modules
Detailed description of the service: The investigation is carried out using a Function Generator for testing and adjusting electronic modules, as well as for simulating optical signals with light-emitting diodes.
Testing of electronic modules
Detailed description of the service: The investigation is carried out using a Logic Analyser and enables the tracing of digital communication and the decoding of code, as well as the generation of digital data protocols for testing receivers.
Diagnostics of optical radiation
Detailed description of the service: The investigation is carried out using an Oscilloscope and enables the diagnostics and adjustment of electronic modules.
Investigation of the response speed of all kinds of optical and optoelectronic components, as well as of new materials
Detailed description of the service:
The investigation is performed using a Laser System emitting ultrashort laser pulses with an ultra-broad spectrum, Element, Newport, and includes the formation of Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams with mode indices specified by the client. Parallel irradiation of samples with a controlled number of beams arranged in the focal plane is possible.
Data acquisition
Detailed description of the service:
The investigation is carried out using a Multichannel High-speed Data Acquisition System, CAEN, and comprises:
- Data acquisition with an external trigger signal provided by the client,
- Data acquisition with triggering at a threshold set by the client,
- Data acquisition with a software trigger and noise analysis.
| Services offered | Price in EUR* |
| Testing of electronic modules | 37 |
| Testing and adjustment of electronic modules | 37 |
| Diagnostics of the M^2 factor of a laser beam. | 60 |
| Diagnostics of optical radiation – optical beam profile, divergence, polarisation, power, pulse repetition rate. | 60 |
| Measurement of the nonlinear Kerr coefficient of new materials prepared in the form of thin plates or layers using the z-scan method. | 240 |
| Investigation of the response speed of optical detectors and optoelectronic components. | 60 |
| Data acquisition with an external trigger signal provided by the client | 144 |
| Data acquisition with triggering at a threshold set by the client | 144 |
| Data acquisition with a software trigger and noise analysis | 224 |
| Spectroscopy of ionising radiation | 342 |
| Identification of alpha-emitter lines in submitted samples | 228 |
| Measurement of the steady-state transmission or reflection of materials in the range 200 nm – 5 microns (UV-VIS and mid-IR) | 37 |
| Measurement of the transient transmission or reflection of nanostructured materials with a spatial resolution below 10 micrometres in the vis range from 1 micron to 350 nm | 111 |
| Analysis of transient absorption signals – the dynamics of absorption or reflection with femtosecond resolution in a time window from 100 fs to 1 millisecond. Applications in the field of new materials for photovoltaics, investigation of nano- and meta-optical surfaces, and others. | 86 |
| Design and testing of laser amplifiers | 33 |
| Data interpretation | 24 |
* The prices indicated are approximate and depend on the scope of the research. They include VAT at 20%.
Equipment
The femtosecond laser system is a fully encapsulated (sealed) laser oscillator with a built-in pump laser source and autonomous closed-loop cooling. The system emits sub-7-femtosecond pulses and can be tuned over a broad spectral range.
The equipment is applied in the following areas:
Design and investigation of high-technology products – laser-based systems, detectors and new materials, as well as the possibility of investigating the response speed of all kinds of optical and optoelectronic components and of new materials.
Experimental research on the structuring of the surfaces of biocompatible materials suitable for the fabrication of contact lenses. Ultrashort pulses do not create bulk heat sources in the processed materials, which makes them suitable for this purpose.
Its use as a gauge of changing layer thicknesses or for comparing layer thicknesses with a resolving power of the order of 5 nm.
Contacts
Heads: Acad. Prof. Alexander Dreischuh, ald@phys.uni-sofia.bg,
Assoc. Prof. Venelin Kozhuharov venelin@phys.uni-sofia.bg
Access to the laboratory and service requests
The laboratory is part of the research infrastructure of the National Centre of Excellence “Mechatronics and Clean Technologies” and is located on the Lozenets campus. Requests for access and for joint research are therefore processed centrally — see Contacts. In addition, a full overview of the Centre’s other laboratories is available on the page Infrastructure and Laboratories.
The laboratory’s equipment was established under project BG16RFPR002-1.014-0006, funded by the Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation Programme 2021–2027, co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.