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Dr Mickael Mounaix

ARC DECRA Research Fellow

School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
m.mounaix@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 53529

Overview

PhD project fully funded available now!

My main research area is the control of the spatial and spectral/temporal properties of light, particularly through complex disordered photonics materials such as multimode optical fibers, white paint, fog or biological tissues. The scattering of light through these materials inhibits many applications such as biomedical imaging and optical telecommunications, as it prevents light from being delivered to the desired position(s) at the desired time(s).

To achieve such level of control, I’m using a spatial light modulator in addition to some lab-made software techniques.

Recent research achievements:

This work is part of an international collaboration with Nokia Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill Labs in Holmdel, NJ, USA with Dr Nicolas Fontaine and colleagues.

Lossless linear propagation of waves is linear in time, a principle which can be used to create time reversed waves. Such waves are “pre-scattered” spatio-temporal fields, which propagate through a complex medium (which induces scattering) and arrive after propagation as a desired target field. Time reversed waves were previously demonstrated for relatively lower frequency waves such as water waves, acoustics waves and micro waves. Many attempts have been made to extend these techniques into optics, however the much higher frequencies of optics do not able a direct measurement of the spatio-temporal optical field, flip its time response and send it backwards. A fully time reversed wave is a volumetric field (2 transverse and 1 longitudinal dimensions) with arbitrary amplitude, phase and polarization at every point in space and time. The creation of such fields has not been possible in optics.

We have demonstrated time reversed optical waves with a new device capable of independently controlling all light’s classical degrees of freedom simultaneously. Such device is capable of generating a sequence of arbitrary 2D spatial/polarisation wavefronts at a bandwidth-limited rate (4.4 THz). This new ability to manipulate the full field of an optical beam could be used to control both linear and nonlinear optical phenomena.

Youtube video article: 5 min abstract link which explains the motivation, the setup and some applications. A 75 minutes full technical presentation link presents in depth the results with pedagocial graphics.

The paper was published in "Time reversed optical waves by arbitrary vector spatiotemporal field generation", Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 5813 (2020) link

Press Release: Physicists create time reversed optical waves, by the UQ News media team link, reposted by different science websites including Phys.org

Conference presentation: I have presented these results at the CLEO virtual conference 2020, the video is accessible for free after registration on the CLEO page (paper SM2H.7) link

With Dr Joel Carpenter, we have demonstrated how to control light delivery after propagation through a multimode fibre in the temporal domain. Because of the natural mode coupling within a multimode fibre, the impulse response of light gets temporally stretched, over multiple order of magnitudes (picoseconds to nanoseconds) compared to the initial pulse duration (usually ~100 femtoseconds). We notably demonstrated in this work how to maximize the impulse response at arbitrary delay(s), and how to minimize the impulse response, with polarization-resolution.

The results were published in “Control of the temporal and polarization response of a multimode fiber” Nature Communications 10 5085 (2019) link

Press Release: Cutting through fog with laser focus, by the UQ News media team link, reposted by different science websites including Phys.org

Conference presentation: I have presented these results at the CLEO virtual conference 2020, the video is accessible for free after registration on the CLEO page (paper SM1L.3) link

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Paris Sorbonne University
  • DOCTORATE - PHYSICS IN ILE-DE-FRANCE, University of Paris

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

  • Shaping the light in space and time

    Doctor Philosophy

  • Spatial, spectral and temporal imaging through multimode optical fibre

    Doctor Philosophy

  • Spatial, spectral and temporal imaging through multimode optical fibre

    Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • Shaping light in space and time

    • Starting date: no earlier than Monday 1st February 2021
    • The role

    We seek applications from suitably qualified candidates who will focus on the development of optical systems for the measurement and manipulation of the spatial, spectral and temporal properties of light. The position is fully funded by a PhD stipend from the University of Queensland.

    The project relates to an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) “Taming the light: full control in polarisation, space, and time”, led by Dr Mickael Mounaix. This project will extend the capacity to control all the properties of an optical bean (space, time, polarisation) in the frame of a collaboration between the University of Queensland and industry partner Nokia Bell Laboratories [1]. A general audience video, explaining the research problem and our results is available [2]. The aim of this PhD project is to build prototype optical beam shaping systems, that can control all the properties of a light beam. The project will culminate with applying the developed prototypes to the field of high-power fibre amplifiers, with interesting perspectives in laser physics, optical micromanipulation and the interaction between light and matter.

    The successful applicant will work in a young and dynamic team at the School of ITEE at UQ (Dr Mickael Mounaix, Dr Joel Carpenter, Dr Martin Ploschner), and in strong collaboration with industry partner Nokia Bell Laboratories (9 Nobel Prizes in Physics, the Turing medal, and the National Medals of Science) in the USA.

    [1]: Mickael Mounaix, Nicolas K. Fontaine, David T. Neilson, Roland Ryf, Haoshuo Chen, Juan Carlos Alvarado-Zacarias & Joel Carpenter, “Time reversed optical waves by arbitrary vector spatiotemporal field generation”, Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 5813 (2020) link

    [2] https://youtu.be/1WcIejZd__w : “Time reversed optical waves by arbitrary vector spatiotemporal field generation (General audience)”

    • The candidate

    Supervisor – Dr Mickael Mounaix, ARC DECRA Fellow

    This position is opened to either a domestic (Australia) or an international candidate. The applicant will be required to have already achieved a Masters or Honours degree in a relevant area of Physics or Engineering, with experience in experimental work, numerical simulation and programming.

    Ideally candidates will be experienced with optical physics, especially Fourier optics, spatial light modulators, multimode fibre optics and free-space optics. Strong programming skills are desirable, particularly in Matlab, Python, C, C++ and CUDA.

    The successful applicant should have a strong desire to develop a successful and highly productive research career and possess good general research skills and writing abilities.

    • Remuneration

    The position is already funded by a PhD scholarship (stipend and full tuition fee support) for 3 years. The scholarship consists of tuition fees, a living stipend and Overseas Student Health Cover (for international applicants).The current stipend is valued at $28,092 per annum (2020) for 3 years, with two possible six-month extensions, and is subject to UQ's PhD admissions and scholarship policy requirements.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Arbitrary vector spatiotemporal beamshaping: any amplitude, phase and polarization at any delay

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Neilson, David T., Ryf, Roland, Chen, Haoshuo, Alvarado-Zacarias, Juan Carlos and Carpenter, Joel A. (2023). Arbitrary vector spatiotemporal beamshaping: any amplitude, phase and polarization at any delay. SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2652118

  • Spatial tomography of light resolved in time, spectrum, and polarization

    Ploschner, Martin, Morote, Marcos M., Dahl, Daniel S., Mounaix, Mickael, Light, Greta, Rakic, Aleksandar D. and Carpenter, Joel (2023). Spatial tomography of light resolved in time, spectrum, and polarization. SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2658893

  • High-dimensional Stokes-space spatial beam analyzer

    Dahl, Daniel S., Plöschner, Martin, Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K. and Carpenter, Joel (2022). High-dimensional Stokes-space spatial beam analyzer. Washington, D.C.: Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA). doi: 10.1364/dh.2022.w5a.50

  • Waveform generation in space, frequency, time and polarization

    Fontaine, Nicolas K., Mazur, Mikael, Chen, Haoshuo, Ryf, Roland, Neilson, David T., Mounaix, Mickael and Carpenter, Joel (2021). Waveform generation in space, frequency, time and polarization. European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC), Bordeaux, France, 13-16 September 2021. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/ECOC52684.2021.9606103

  • Arbitrary vector spatiotemporal wavefront shaper

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Neilson, David T., Ryf, Roland, Chen, Haoshuo, Alvarado-Zacarias, Juan Carlos and Carpenter, Joel (2020). Arbitrary vector spatiotemporal wavefront shaper. 2020 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC), Vancouver, Canada, 28 September-1 October 2020. Piscataway, NJ USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/IPC47351.2020.9252436

  • Controlling the temporal impulse response of light propagating through a multimode fiber

    Mounaix, Mickael and Carpenter, Joel (2020). Controlling the temporal impulse response of light propagating through a multimode fiber. 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA USA, 10-15 May 2020. Piscataway, NJ USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1364/cleo_si.2020.sm1l.3

  • Optical time reverser

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Neilson, David T., Ryf, Roland, Chen, Haoshuo, Alvarado-Zacarias, Juan Carlos and Carpenter, Joel (2020). Optical time reverser. 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA USA, 10-15 May 2020. Piscataway, NJ USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1364/cleo_si.2020.sm2h.7

  • Full polarization-resolved spatiotemporal beam shaping

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Neilson, David T., Chen, Haoshuo, Ryf, Roland, Zacarias, J.C. Alvarado- and Carpenter, Joel (2020). Full polarization-resolved spatiotemporal beam shaping. Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Pacific Rim 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 3 - 5 August 2020. Washington, DC, United States: The Optical Society. doi: 10.1364/cleopr.2020.c3b_2

  • Temporal control of the combination over all spatial and polarization modes propagating through a multimode fibre

    Mounaix, Mickael and Carpenter, Joel (2019). Temporal control of the combination over all spatial and polarization modes propagating through a multimode fibre. 2019 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC), Munich, Germany, 23-27 June 2019. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/cleoe-eqec.2019.8871823

  • Time reversal of optical waves

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Neilson, David T. and Carpenter, Joel (2019). Time reversal of optical waves. Frontiers in Optics 2019, Washington, DC, United States, 15–19 September 2019. Washington, DC, United States: OSA. doi: 10.1364/fio.2019.ftu6b.5

  • Time reversal of optical waves

    Mounaix, Mickael, Fontaine, Nicolas K., Chen, Haoshuo, Ryf, Roland, Neilson, David T. and Carpenter, Joel A. (2019). Time reversal of optical waves. AOS Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology (ACOFT) and Australian Conference on Optics, Lasers, and Spectroscopy (ACOLS) 2019, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 8 - 10 December 2019. Bellingham, WA, United States: SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2556661

  • Temporal recompression of an ultrashort pulse of light with a broadband transmission matrix

    Mounaix, Mickael, de Aguiar, Hilton B. and Gigan, Sylvain (2018). Temporal recompression of an ultrashort pulse of light with a broadband transmission matrix. SPIE BiOS 2018, San Francisco, CA, United States, 27-28 January 2018. SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2290893

  • Coherent spatio-temporal control of pulsed light through multiple scattering media

    Mounaix, Mickael, Defienne, Hugo, Andreoli, Daria, Volpe, Giorgio, Katz, Ori, Grésillon, Samuel and Gigan, Sylvain (2017). Coherent spatio-temporal control of pulsed light through multiple scattering media. 2017 European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and European Quantum Electronics Conference, Munich, Germany, 25-29 July 2017. OSA - The Optical Society.

  • Deterministic light focusing in space and time through multiple scattering media with a Time-Resolved Transmission Matrix approach (Conference Presentation)

    Mounaix, Mickael, Defienne, Hugo and Gigan, Sylvain (2017). Deterministic light focusing in space and time through multiple scattering media with a Time-Resolved Transmission Matrix approach (Conference Presentation). Adaptive Optics and Wavefront Control for Biological Systems III, San Francisco, CA, United States, 28–30 January 2017. Bellingham, WA, United States: SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2251820

  • Point-spread-function engineering through a complex medium

    Mounaix, Mickael, Boniface, Antoine, Blochet, Baptiste, Piestun, Rafael and Gigan, Sylvain (2017). Point-spread-function engineering through a complex medium. 2017 European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and European Quantum Electronics Conference, Munich, Germany, 25-29 July 2017. OSA - The Optical Society.

  • Sub-diffraction limit focusing through a complex medium by virtual Fourier filtering

    Boniface, Antoine, Mounaix, Mickael, Blochet, Baptiste, Piestun, Rafael and Gigan, Sylvain (2017). Sub-diffraction limit focusing through a complex medium by virtual Fourier filtering. Conference on Adaptive Optics and Wavefront Control for Biological Systems III, San Francisco, CA, United States, 28 - 30 January 2017. Bellingham, WA, United States: S P I E - International Society for Optical Engineering. doi: 10.1117/12.2251864

  • Coherent spatiotemporal control of light through a multiply scattering medium

    Mounaix, Mickael, Andreoli, Daria, Defienne, Hugo, Volpe, Giorgio, Katz, Ori, Grésillon, Samuel and Gigan, Sylvain (2016). Coherent spatiotemporal control of light through a multiply scattering medium. 2016 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, California, United States, 5-10 June 2016. Piscataway, NJ, USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1364/cleo_qels.2016.fw4d.3

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Shaping light in space and time

    • Starting date: no earlier than Monday 1st February 2021
    • The role

    We seek applications from suitably qualified candidates who will focus on the development of optical systems for the measurement and manipulation of the spatial, spectral and temporal properties of light. The position is fully funded by a PhD stipend from the University of Queensland.

    The project relates to an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) “Taming the light: full control in polarisation, space, and time”, led by Dr Mickael Mounaix. This project will extend the capacity to control all the properties of an optical bean (space, time, polarisation) in the frame of a collaboration between the University of Queensland and industry partner Nokia Bell Laboratories [1]. A general audience video, explaining the research problem and our results is available [2]. The aim of this PhD project is to build prototype optical beam shaping systems, that can control all the properties of a light beam. The project will culminate with applying the developed prototypes to the field of high-power fibre amplifiers, with interesting perspectives in laser physics, optical micromanipulation and the interaction between light and matter.

    The successful applicant will work in a young and dynamic team at the School of ITEE at UQ (Dr Mickael Mounaix, Dr Joel Carpenter, Dr Martin Ploschner), and in strong collaboration with industry partner Nokia Bell Laboratories (9 Nobel Prizes in Physics, the Turing medal, and the National Medals of Science) in the USA.

    [1]: Mickael Mounaix, Nicolas K. Fontaine, David T. Neilson, Roland Ryf, Haoshuo Chen, Juan Carlos Alvarado-Zacarias & Joel Carpenter, “Time reversed optical waves by arbitrary vector spatiotemporal field generation”, Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 5813 (2020) link

    [2] https://youtu.be/1WcIejZd__w : “Time reversed optical waves by arbitrary vector spatiotemporal field generation (General audience)”

    • The candidate

    Supervisor – Dr Mickael Mounaix, ARC DECRA Fellow

    This position is opened to either a domestic (Australia) or an international candidate. The applicant will be required to have already achieved a Masters or Honours degree in a relevant area of Physics or Engineering, with experience in experimental work, numerical simulation and programming.

    Ideally candidates will be experienced with optical physics, especially Fourier optics, spatial light modulators, multimode fibre optics and free-space optics. Strong programming skills are desirable, particularly in Matlab, Python, C, C++ and CUDA.

    The successful applicant should have a strong desire to develop a successful and highly productive research career and possess good general research skills and writing abilities.

    • Remuneration

    The position is already funded by a PhD scholarship (stipend and full tuition fee support) for 3 years. The scholarship consists of tuition fees, a living stipend and Overseas Student Health Cover (for international applicants).The current stipend is valued at $28,092 per annum (2020) for 3 years, with two possible six-month extensions, and is subject to UQ's PhD admissions and scholarship policy requirements.

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Optics, photonics, Physics, optical beam shaping, optical fibres

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

Links

ORCID: 0000-0003-2715-4862

Google Scholar ID: s61u-8IAAAAJ

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