Seminars

mm-Wave wireless radar network for early detection of Parkinson’s Disease by gait analysis.

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Speaker:  D.Ignacio Esteban Lopez Delgado.
Organization: Information Processing and Telecommunications Center (IPTC).

Date: 17 de Marzo, 2023.
Hour: 10.00 hora.
Place: B-223, ETSI of Telecommunications de la UPM [Cómo llegar]

Abstract

Anticipating the detection of Parkinson’s Disease is critical to delay its effects. It is presented the design of a radar network for the early-detection of Parkinson’s Disease analyzing gait impairments. The preliminary results of the radar network show that gait biometrics, and gait asymmetries linked to Parkinson’s Disease can be clearly identified in the microDoppler signature.

Plasmonic Metastructures: Processing and Characteristics.

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Speaker:  D.Pablo Ibáñez.
Organization: Instituto de Sistemas Optoelectrónicos y Microtecnología (ISOM), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Data: February 17th 2023.
Hours: 10.00 hours.
Place: Room B-223 of the ETSI of Telecommunications of the UPM [Cómo llegar]

ABSTRACT

CdO has been proven to be a TCO (transparent conductive oxide) with outstanding plasmonic properties. In this talk I recall my latest work on processing this material and designing with it plasmonic metastructures. First, a succesful protocol for etching CdO thin films using RIE ICP is shown through a set of samples where a CdO grating is performed. Using a finite element model the reflectance in the mid infrared of said samples is simulated and matched to the experimental results recorded with FTIR spectroscopy. Finally, a brief overview on Hyperbolic Metamaterials is given through the devices that we have designed using CdO.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment based on Optomechanical Nanosensors.

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Speaker:  Dr. Eduardo Gil Santos. Instituto de Micro y Nanotecnología (IMN) del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) & Dr. Javier Martínez. Instituto de Sistemas Optoelectrónicos y Microtecnología (ISOM-UPM).

 

ABSTRACT.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the enormous need for the development of new technologies that can quickly and effectively warn of the presence in the environment of pathogens that are highly dangerous to humans. This technology would drastically reduce the spread of respiratory infections in general, and Covid-19 in particular. In view of the current pandemic, the installation of sensors that warn of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in public transport, educational centers, cinemas and restaurants, among many other places, would allow all types of public meetings and events to be held more safely. In addition, having this technology available in hospitals, and specifically in operating rooms, would prevent frequent hospital infections. The SARSNO project has developed and established a novel technique, mechanical spectroscopy based on optomechanical nanosensors, capable of detecting, identifying and quantifying the presence of pathogens in the environment. It should be noted that this technology can be applied simultaneously to a wide variety of pathogens.

Brief resume of Eduardo Gil Santos´ Curriculum Vitae.

Eduardo Gil Santos graduated in Physics in 2007 (USC). He joined the Bionanomechanics Laboratory (CSIC) in October 2007 through a national competitive grant (JAE Predoc). He obtained his PhD in Physics in May 2012. At that time, he worked on the development of novel devices, concepts and techniques in order to improve the capabilities of micro- and nano-mechanical sensors, always looking for biological and biomedicine applications.

In February 2013, he joined the Materials and Quantum Phenomena Laboratory (Paris Diderot University, France) thanks to an international competitive grant (Research in Paris). During this time, he learnt theoretical and experimental aspects about optomechanical devices and their applications. He opened a new research line focused on the development of optomechanical resonators for sensing applications.

In November 2016, he came back to the Bionanomechanics Laboratory by means of a European grant (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Individual Fellowship) with the goal of applying optomechanical devices as biological sensors. Currently, he is a «Ramón y Cajal» researcher working at the Bionanomechanics Laboratory.

In the last years, he has obtained six national project as principal investigator (ComFuturo, RETOS, «Ramón y Cajal», «Intramural Especial», «Fundación Ramón Areces» and «Leonardo») which has enabled him to consolidate his own research line. His main research objective is to develop optomechanical devices as biological sensors, definitively bringing them to the society. Apart from his own projects, he is involved in several European projects (ERC-CoG and FET-proAct, among others).

His scientific work has been published in 1 book chapter, 30 ISI-indexed articles and 4 patents (1 licensed, 2 granted and 1 registered). This work has received 831 citations (WoS), with an h-index of 16 (WoS).

Polymer-based waveguides and devices for photonic integrated circuits and sensing.

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Speaker: Fernando J. Gordo Quiroga from CEMDATIC.
Date: 03/02/2023.
Time: 10:00am.
Place: Room B-223. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación UPM
Abstract
 
The aim of this talk is to show polymer materials as a valid alternative to existing platforms for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) manufacture. Polymers are inexpensive compared with inorganic materials and the production process presented here can be potentially adapted to fast and cost-effective microfabrication methods, such as roll-to-roll or nanoimprint lithography. The compatibility of polymer-based integrated waveguides and devices with operation in the visible range and combination with flexible thin-film substrates, makes them a promising option to consider for the next PICs generation. Its impact will be superior in non-traditional fields, such as biosensing, in which inorganic materials have predominated so far and devices are designed to operate in the same wavelength bands historically used in telecommunications.
 
 

 

 

Development of tunable LC devices.

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Speaker:  Javier Pereiro García from CEMDATIC.
Date: 13/01/2023.
Time: 10:00am.
Place: Room B-223. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación UPM.
Abstract:
The use of tunable optical devices is of great interest in numerous applications, such as space communications, autofocusing systems or laser machining. Liquid crystals (LC) could be used for the realization of these devices, enabling the modification of their effective refractive index in response to the applied electric field. Thus, LC devices are electronically reconfigurable without requiring moving parts. In this work, a series of non-mechanical phase-only devices are presented, including a beam steerer capable of redirecting a light beam or a reconfigurable axicon. These devices have been manufactured using Direct Laser Writing Technique (DLW) leading to devices with high fill factor.

Monitoring liquid dynamics on the chip-scale.

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Speaker: Prof. Borislav Hinkov from TU Wien. Institute of Solid State Electronics & Center for Micro- and Nanostructures.
Date: 16/12/2022.
Time: 10:00am.
Lugar: Room B-223. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación UPM.
Abstract:
 
Monitoring gases and liquids in the mid-IR spectral range is a very sensitive and selective technique for molecule analysis. However, probing dynamical processes in liquids like chemical reactions or conformational changes is often still limited to bulky sensor systems, requiring time consuming offline analytics. This work will present a photonic integration concept, enabling miniaturized liquid sensors with specifically tailored characteristics for dynamical measurements. The combination of samewavelength mid-IR quantum cascade laser and detector (QCLD) devices with novel surface-sensitive mid-IR plasmonic waveguides, unlocks the realization of monolithic lab-on-a-chip sensors for the chemical analysis of liquids. They are further optimized by enhancing the plasmonic sensing section and e.g. increasing its spectral bandwidth or implementing functionalization to address specific molecules. In the final part, new pathways for plasmonic beam guiding along the chip surface are presented. They enable much more complex chip-scale mid-IR photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and networks for applications in advanced liquid spectroscopy and mid-IR free space telecommunication.
 
 

mm-wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces based on Liquid Crystals.

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Speaker:  D. Robert Guirado.
Organization: Grupo de Electromagnetismo Aplicado (GEA). ETSIT-UPM.

Data: December 2nd 2022, 10:00h
Hours: 10.00 hours.
Place: Room B-223 of the ETSI of Telecommunications of the UPM [Cómo llegar]

ABSTRACT

Liquid Crystal (LC) technologies are starting to be studied at mm-wave bands in order to develop tunable devices that work properly at those frequency ranges. Because of its birefringence, by applying a low-frequency electric field to a cavity containing nematic LC, its electromagnetic properties can be varied and therefore the device response changes. This varying behavior is related to a continuous change on the electric permittivity, which can be leveraged to vary the resonant frequency or beam of an antenna, or to tune the different elements in a reflectarray antenna, to name a few. Recently, the use of nematic LC as the key phase-shifting element of the upcoming Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), planar devices able to manipulate electromagnetic propagation, has been proposed, as it is one of the few tunable technologies with moderate cost capable of keeping the pace of the high frequencies (>100GHz) expected in future network generations beyond 5G. Nevertheless, the relatively slow switching times between states, in the order of seconds, is the main weakness of such LC-based devices. However, to be fully implantable in future ultra-reliable low-latency communication networks, improving these times is of utmost importance due to the stringent dynamic requirements of upcoming communication protocols. In this talk, different solutions to overcome this challenge will be discussed.