A sneak peek with light into opaque materials

Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture (Bonus Lecture)

Abstract: Complex heterogeneous materials, that scatter light in a highly complex way, present a huge challenge for imaging (think of seeing inside or through milk or in biological tissues). They are also a very interesting playground to study fundamental questions in wave physics. Very recently, we have shown that random light propagation in complex media can be leveraged for computational tasks. I will illustrate this concept through various examples, ranging from brain imaging to  optical computing (both classical and quantum). 

Bio: Sylvain Gigan is Professor of Physics at Sorbonne Université in Paris, and group leader in Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel, at Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS, Paris). His research interests range from fundamental investigations of light propagation in complex media, biomedical imaging, sensing, signal processing,  to quantum optics and quantum information in complex media. He is also the cofounder of a spin-off:  LightOn (www.lighton.io) aiming at performing optical computing for machine learning and Big Data. 

This lecture is part of the IMT Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture is considered as a bonus lecture for the class MICRO-626 (usual attendance requirement does not apply, but participation is highly encouraged).