The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2010-2011

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2010-2011 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) during the period July 2010 through June 2011. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. In education, 21BUPC graduate students received Ph.D. diplomas. BUPC faculty taught 20 photonics courses. One graduate student was funded through the Photonics Center Dean’s Fellowship Program. BUPC supported the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Biophotonic Sensors and Systems. In addition to working in the laboratories and heading to Northeastern University for shared seminars, the eight teachers split into two groups to participate in cleanroom activities. The University hosted its annual Science and Engineering Day, where the Photonics Center sponsored the Herbert J. Berman "Future of Light" Prize. Professor Goldberg’s Boston Urban Fellows Project started its sixth year. For more on our education programs, turn to the Education section on page 62. In research, BUPC faculty published journal papers spanning the field of photonics. Eleven patents were awarded to faculty this year for new innovations in the field. A number of awards for outstanding achievement in education and research were presented to BUPC faculty members. These honors include the NSF CAREER Award for Professors Altug, the 2010 R&sD 100 Award for Professor Bifano, and the Dean’s Catalyst Award for Professor Joshi. New external grant funding for the 2010-2010 fiscal year totaled $20.9M. For more information on our research activities, turn to the Research section on page 24. In technology development, this year was the beginning of a transitional period at the Photonics Center as ARL pipeline programs were completed and new research projects were proposed as part of the newly funded National Science Foundation (NSF) Industrial University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) on Biophotonic Sensors and Systems. As researchers finished programs for ARL development, many successfully presented programs at the first annual I/UCRC meeting in April 2011. In the I/UCRC model, industry members of the Center provide the market vision and orient research to solve urgent market needs – in an extension of the successful ARL pipeline model in which the Department of Defense’s urgent needs motivated our research goals. For more information on our technology development pipeline and projects, turn to the Technology Development section on page 49. In commercialization, the business incubator continues to operate at capacity. Its tenants include ten technology companies with a majority having core business interests primarily in photonics and life sciences. It houses several companies founded by current and former BU faculty and students and provides students with an opportunity to assist, observe, and learn from start-up companies. For more information about business incubator activities, turn to the Business Incubation chapter in the Facilities and Equipment section on page 74. In early 2010, the BUPC unveiled a five-year strategic plan as part of the University’s comprehensive review of centers and institutes. The BUPC strategic plan will enhance the Center’s position as an international leader in photonics research. For more information about the strategic plan, turn to the BUPC Strategic Plan section on page 11

Trends of biosensing: plasmonics through miniaturization and quantum sensing

Despite being extremely old concepts, plasmonics and surface plasmon resonance-based biosensors have been increasingly popular in the recent two decades due to the growing interest in nanooptics and are now of relevant significance in regards to applications associated with human health. Plasmonics integration into point-of-care devices for health surveillance has enabled significant levels of sensitivity and limit of detection to be achieved and has encouraged the expansion of the fields of study and market niches devoted to the creation of quick and incredibly sensitive label-free detection. The trend reflects in wearable plasmonic sensor development as well as point-of-care applications for widespread applications, demonstrating the potential impact of the new generation of plasmonic biosensors on human well-being through the concepts of personalized medicine and global health. In this context, the aim here is to discuss the potential, limitations, and opportunities for improvement that have arisen as a result of the integration of plasmonics into microsystems and lab-on-chip over the past five years. Recent applications of plasmonic biosensors in microsystems and sensor performance are analyzed. The final analysis focuses on the integration of microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip with quantum plasmonics technology prospecting it as a promising solution for chemical and biological sensing. Here it is underlined how the research in the field of quantum plasmonic sensing for biological applications has flourished over the past decade with the aim to overcome the limits given by quantum fluctuations and noise. The significant advances in nanophotonics, plasmonics and microsystems used to create increasingly effective biosensors would continue to benefit this field if harnessed properly

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2011-2012

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2011-2012 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center during the period July 2011 through June 2012. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. In 2010, the Photonics Center unveiled a five-year strategic plan as part of the University’s comprehensive review of centers and institutes. The Photonics Center continues to show progress on the Photonics Center strategic plan and is growing the Center’s position as an international leader in photonics research. For more information about the strategic plan, read the Photonics Center Strategic Plan section on page 11. In research, Photonics Center faculty published more than 100 journal papers spanning the field of photonics. A number of awards for outstanding achievement in education and research were presented to Photonics Center faculty members, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for Professor Altug, the Boston University Peter Paul Professorship for Professor Han, and a Dean’s Catalyst Award for Professor Joshi. New external grant funding for the 2011-2012 fiscal year totaled $15.8M. For more information on our research activities, read the Research section on page 26. In technology development, the close of FY11 marked the end of the Photonics Center’s decade-long collaboration pipeline technology development with the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The successful outcomes of that unique partnership include a compelling series of photonics technology prototypes aimed at force protection. Our direct collaboration with Army end users has enabled transformative advanced in sniper detection of bioterror agents, and nuclear threat detection. In the past year, the Photonics Center has expanded the scope of its unique photonic technology development program to include applications in the commercial healthcare sector. For more information on our technology development program and on specific projects, read the Technology Development section on page 52. In education, 17 Photonics Center graduate students received Ph.D. diplomas. Photonics Center faculty taught 29 photonics courses. The Center supported a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) site in Biophotonic Sensors and Systems for 10 middle school and high school teachers. The Photonics Center sponsored the Herbert J. Berman “Future of Light” Prize at the University’s Science and Engineering Day. Professor Goldberg’s Boston Urban Fellows Project started its seventh year. For more on our education programs, read the Education section on page 64. In commercialization, the Business Innovation Center continues to operate at capacity. Its tenants include 11 technology companies with a majority having core business interests primarily in photonics and life sciences. It houses several companies founded by current and former BU faculty and students and provides students with an opportunity to assist, observe, and learn from start-up companies. For more information about Business Innovation Center activities, read the Business Innovation Center chapter in the Facilities and Equipment section on page 78

Engineered environments for biomedical applications: anisotropic nanotopographies and microfluidic devices

During the last two decades micro- and nano-fabrication techniques originally developed for electronic engineering have directed their attention towards life sciences. The increase of analytical power of diagnostic devices and the creation of more biomimetic scaffolds have been strongly desired by these fields, in order to have a better insight into the complexity of physiological systems, while improving the ability to model them in vitro. Technological innovations worked to fill such a gap, but the integration of these fields of science is not progressing fast enough to satisfy the expectations. In this thesis I present novel devices which exploit the unique features of the micro- and nanoscale and, at the same time, match the requirements for successful application in biomedical research. Such biochips were used for optical detection of water-dispersed nanoparticles in microchannels, for highly controlled cell-patterning in closed microreactors, and for topography-mediated regulation of cell morphology and migration. Moreover, pilot experiments on the pre-clinical translation of micropatterned scaffolds in a rat model of peripheral nerve transaction were initiated and are ongoing. Given these results, the devices presented here have the potential to achieve clinical translation in a short/medium time, contributing to the improvement of biomedical technologies

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2015-2016

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2015-2016 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that this year the Center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $18.9M in new research grants/contracts. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, and cooperated in supporting National Science Foundation sponsored Sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Research Experiences for Teachers. As a community, we emphasized the theme of “Frontiers in Plasmonics as Enabling Science in Photonics and Beyond” at our annual symposium, hosted by Bjoern Reinhard. We continued to support the National Photonics Initiative, and contributed as a cooperating site in the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) which began this year as a new photonics-themed node in the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Development of Less Toxic Treatment Strategies for Metastatic and Drug Resistant Breast Cancer Using Noninvasive Optical Monitoring led by Professor Darren Roblyer, continued support of our NIH-sponsored, Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Cathy Klapperich, and an exciting confluence of new grant awards in the area of Neurophotonics led by Professors Christopher Gabel, Timothy Gardner, Xue Han, Jerome Mertz, Siddharth Ramachandran, Jason Ritt, and John White. Neurophotonics is fast becoming a leading area of strength of the Photonics Center. The Industry/University Collaborative Research Center, which has become the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program, continues to focus onadvancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its sixth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base

Terahertz spectra of electrolyte solutions under applied electric and magnetic fields

Most biomolecules require an aqueous environment to fully exert their biological activity. However, the rotation mode, vibration mode, and energy associated with the hydrogen bonding network of water are in the terahertz band, resulting in strong absorption. Therefore, it is difficult to detect liquid biological samples using the terahertz technology. Here, a high-transmittance double-layer microfluidic chip was prepared using a cycloolefin copolymer material with high transmittance of terahertz waves. Combined with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, the terahertz spectral characteristics of deionized water, NaCl, NaCO3, and CH3COONa solutions were studied. The changes in the terahertz transmission intensity of these electrolyte solutions under constant electric and magnetic fields were measured. The results show that the terahertz spectra of different sodium salt solutions with the same concentration of 0.9 mol/L are different. Furthermore, the terahertz absorption coefficients of the different electrolyte solutions gradually decrease with the increase of their residence time under the electric field, which is contrary to the results obtained under the external magnetic field. This study provides a new idea for the detection of sodium salt solution and lays a foundation for the development of THz technology

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2005-2006

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2005-2006 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This Annual Report is intended to serve as a synopsis of the Boston University Photonics Center’s wide-ranging activities for the period from July 2005 through June 2006, corresponding to the University’s fiscal year. It is my hope that the document is reflective of the Center’s core values in innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and that it projects our shared vision, and our dedication to excellence in this exciting field. For further information, you may visit our new website at www.bu.edu/photonics. Though only recently appointed as Director, my involvement in Center activities dates back to the Center’s formation more than ten years ago. In the early years, I worked with a team of faculty and staff colleagues to design and construct the shared laboratories that now provide every Center member extraordinary capabilities for fabrication and testing of advanced photonic devices and systems. I helped launch the business incubator by forming a company around an idea that emerged from my research laboratory. While that company failed to realize its vision of transforming the compact disc industry, it did help us form a unique vision for our program of academically engaged business acceleration. I co-developed a course in optical microsystems for telecommunications that I taught to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the new M.S. degree program in Photonics offered through the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. And since the Center’s inception, I have contributed to its scholarly mission through my work in optical microsystem design and precision manufacturing at the Center’s core Precision Engineering Research Laboratory. Recently, I had the opportunity to lead the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Committee on Photonics, charged with broadening the Center’s mission to better integrate academic and educational programs with its more established programs for business incubation and prototype development. [TRUNCATED

Superheterodyne Microwave System for the Detection of Bioparticles with Coplanar Electrodes on a Microfluidic Platform

The combination of microwave and microfluidic technologies has the potential to enable wireless monitoring and interaction with bioparticles, facilitating in this way the exploration of a still largely uncharted territory at the intersection of biology, communication engineering and microscale physics. Opportunely, the scientific and technical requirements of microfluidics and microwave techniques converge to the need of system miniaturization to achieve the required sensitivity levels. This work, therefore, presents the design and optimization of a measurement system for the detection of bioparticles over the frequency range $0.01$ to $10$ $\mathrm{GHz}$, with different coplanar electrodes configurations on a microfluidic platform. The design of the measurement signal-chain setup is optimized for a novel real-time superheterodyne microwave detection system. In particular, signal integrity is achieved by means of a microwave-shielded chamber, which is protected from external electromagnetic interference that may potentially impact the coplanar electrodes mounted on the microfluidic device. Additionally, analytical expressions and experimental validation of the system-level performance are provided and discussed for the different designs of the coplanar electrodes. This technique is applied to measure the electrical field perturbation produced by $10$ $\mathrm{\mu m}$ polystyrene beads with a concentration of $10^5$ $\mathrm{beads/mL}$, and flowing at a rate of $10$ $\mathrm{\mu L/m}$. The achieved SNR is in the order of $40$ $\mathrm{dB}$ for the three coplanar electrodes considered

Entwicklung und Automatisierung 3D-gedruckter mikrofluidischer Systeme zur Integration und Kultivierung adhärenter Zellkulturen

Mikrofluidische Systeme werden zur Manipulation von Flüssigkeiten auf Mikroebene eingesetzt. Von ihnen profitieren insbesondere Biowissenschaften durch die Reduktion von Reagenzien und die Automatisierung ganzer Arbeitsabläufe. Die Mikrostrukturierung erlaubt zudem die Entwicklung neuartiger mikrofluidischer Zellkultursysteme wie den organ-on-a-chip Systemen. Diese Systeme zeichnen sich durch eine höhere physiologische Relevanz gegenüber klassischen in vitro Systemen aus und können zur Rekonstruktion einzelner Organfunktionen genutzt werden. Aufgrund ihrer komplizierten Fertigung wird jedoch der Zugang zu diesen Systemen für Biowissenschaftler:innen er-schwert, sodass ihr Potential noch kaum in kommerziellen Produkten realisiert werden konnte. Eine Lösung bietet die additive Fertigung (3D-Druck) mikrofluidischer Systeme, durch die die unkomplizierte Herstellung eigener Prototypen an Ort und Stelle ermöglicht wird. Um den 3D-Druck jedoch auch für die Herstellung mikrofluidischer Zellkultursysteme nutzen zu können, benötigt es deutlich mehr Biokompatibilitätsstudien zu neuen 3D-Druckmaterialien. In diesem Sinne wurde in dem ersten Teil dieser Arbeit die in vitro Biokompatibilität eines aus Polyacrylat bestehenden, hitzebeständigen 3D-Druckmaterials sowie dessen Eignung für die Heißdampfsterilisation untersucht. Dabei konnte eine Biokompatibilität gegenüber adhärenten Mausfibroblasten und Hefezellen nachgewiesen werden. Diese Ergebnis-se ermöglichen somit den Einsatz des Materials für die Zellkultur. Die Biokompatibilität blieb auch nach Heißdampfsteri-lisation unbeeinträchtigt, sodass mit diesem Material gedruckte Zellkultursysteme unkompliziert sterilisiert werden können. Im Gegensatz dazu erwies sich das Material für menschliche embryonale Nierenzellen in Suspension als schädlich, was die Bedeutung einer auf den Organismus und die Anwendung zugeschnittenen Biokompatibilitätsprü-fung verdeutlicht. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde das evaluierte 3D-Druckmaterial zur Herstellung eines vollautomatischen mikroflui-dischen Ventilsystems eingesetzt, dessen Nutzen anschließend durch die Automatisierung eines Zellkulturassays als Machbarkeitsstudie demonstriert wurde. Alle mikrofluidischen Komponenten inklusive Anschlüsse, Mikromischer, Mikroventile und Auslässe wurden dabei in einem Stück gefertigt. Die kostengünstige und leicht zu steuernde Aktuation der 3D-gedruckten Ventilmembranen durch Servomotoren ist ein komplett neuer Ansatz. Die Automatisierung des Sys-tems erfolgte durch einen Raspberry Pi Computer sowie selbst entwickelter Python Skripte. Durch den kompakten Com-puter wird die portable und ferngesteuerte Verwendung des Ventilsystems ermöglicht. Nachdem eine zuverlässige Mischgenauigkeit sowie die hohe Robustheit der Ventile gezeigt werden konnte, wurde das mikrofluidische Ventilsys-tem zur Automatisierung eines Zytotoxizitätsassays als Machbarkeitsstudie verwendet. Das von der Konzentration des Toxins abhängige Zellwachstum wurde dabei mittels Lebendzellmikroskopie und Bildverarbeitung automatisiert ausge-wertet. Die Ergebnisse wurden anschließend mit denen eines pipettierten Assays verglichen. Beide Assays zeigten ein fast identisches Wachstumsverhalten, das die Eignung des Systems für die Zellkultur beweist. Letztendlich konnte durch den 3D-Druck in Kombination mit der Biokompatibilitätsbestimmung eines 3D-Druckmaterials die Automatisierung von Zellkulturassays durch ein neu entwickeltes, 3D-gedrucktes mikrofluidisches Ventilsystem ermöglicht werden. Mit der Veröffentlichung der 3D-Modelle und Skripte ist es Wissenschaftler:innen nun möglich, das System an ihre eigenen Anwendungen anzupassen.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/Emmy Noether/346772917/E