Seminars

Strain-optical coupling is a known property since the pioneering work by Sir David Brewster on photoelasticity dating back to the early 19^th century. The emergence of micro- and nano-photonics in the past decade shed new light on this centuries-old phenomenon. Besides strain-induced modifications to material optical properties due to photoelastic coupling, strain also leads to deformation of microphotonic device structures and a plethora of intriguing optomechanical effects on device behavior. In this talk, we will discuss the tensorial strain-optical coupling theory in the context of microphotonic devices, and apply the fundamental insight to engineering novel flexible integrated photonic systems with extraordinary mechanical compliance and durability.