Bridging Nanophotonics and Optical Fibers through 3D Nanoprinting: A Novel Approach for Tailored Light Control

Abstract:

Nanophotonics and fiber optics are both highly relevant fields at the forefront of modern photonics, yet they have largely evolved as separate disciplines with limited overlap. A promising strategy to unify these fields is 3D nanoprinting, which enables the transfer of fiber-optic concepts to on-chip photonics and the direct fabrication of nanoscale structures on the facet of optical fibers.

In the first part of the talk, I will report on the concept of meta-fibers - optical fibers functionalized with 3D nanoprinted nanostructures on their end faces used for tailored beam manipulation. I will discuss demonstrations including optical trapping of microspheres and bacteria, fiber-interfaced metasurfaces for achromatic focusing and advanced beam shaping, and tunable focus generation via phase-only holograms.

In the second half of the talk, I will present our recent progress in fiber-inspired on-chip hollow-core waveguides, emphasizing their potential for tailored light guiding via the anti-resonant effect. This interference-based mechanism allows light to propagate in low-index media such as gases and liquids, making them highly attractive for applications in vapor-phase spectroscopy, liquid-phase sensing, and nanoparticle tracking analysis to study the Brownian motion of nanoscale objects.

Taken together, these results demonstrate how 3D nanoprinting provides a flexible and powerful platform for custom beam control and novel photonic functionality at the interface of nanophotonics and fiber optics.