CERN, the biggest experiment ever…

100 metres underground on the Swiss-French border is a 27km tunnel, built by the European physics community to probe fundamental properties of the universe.

This is CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, where right now physicists are building the biggest scientific instrument in history, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), due to start working in May 2008.

The LHC will accelerate protons to near the speed of light, before smashing them together to see what new particles are created at such extreme energies.

Thousands of physicists from all over the world will participate in experiments on the LHC to try and answer such profound questions as:

• What gives matter its mass?

• What is the invisible 96% of the universe made from?

• Why does nature prefer matter to antimatter?

As well as potentially providing answers to these questions, discoveries arising from the LHC could lead to ‘spin-off‘ applications in important fields such as medicine, computing and energy generation. For example, particle beams are already used in medicine for cancer therapy and in the production of radio-pharmaceuticals. In the future particle accelerators could be used in surgery to provide laser beam scalpels with improved precision.

The most computing power ever…
When the LHC is up and running there will be 600 million collisions per second taking place inside the four detectors. Although only data from the most interesting looking collisions will be captured, this will still amount to 15 petabytes of experimental data each year. That’s equivalent to a stack of CDs 20 km high! No single computer or computer cluster is capable of storing and processing this amount of data, so physicists are creating the LHC computing Grid, a network of computers in different countries, sharing immense computer power and storage capacity over the internet. Innovations in computing are no new thing at CERN. During the 1990s the World Wide Web was invented there, as a way for scientists to share their results easily.

The coldest place ever…
The particles in the accelerator are kept on-track by a strong magnetic field, which can bend and focus the proton beams. Superconducting magnets are used and these require extremely low temperatures. In early 2007, a 3.3 km section of the LHC was cooled to just 1.9 degrees Kelvin (-271 degrees Celsius) just a couple of degrees above the lowest temperature possible, absolute zero, and colder than outer space.

Laser system inaugurated at CELOS.... from newspapers

A "subpicosecond" laser system was officially inaugurated at the Centre of Excellence in Laser and Optoelectronic Sciences (CELOS) in the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) on Saturday.
Vice-Chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis inaugurated the system. CELOS authorities claimed that Cusat had become the second university in the country to acquire such a system.
The system produces 80 femto second laser pulses at a repetition rate of 1,000 pulses per second. When focussed, this laser beam is capable of producing Terrawatt of pure light power at the focal spot of the beam.
Atoms and molecules in the focal spot virtually explode under this intense laser field and they undergo explosive ionisation giving rise to many interesting physical and chemical phenomena.
The new system is one of the most advanced and powerful lasers available in the world. It was imported from the U.S. at a cost of Rs.1.5 crores.
Director of CELOS C.P. Girijavallabhan said that the system would be operated as a national facility for the benefit of research workers from all over the country.

WHERE I'M STUDYING...........

Centre of Excellence in Lasers and Optoelectronic Sciences
Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) is one of the few institutions in India that have facilities for R&D activities and manpower training in Photonics and related fields. In recognition of the outstanding work carried out by a group of teachers and researchers in photonics and related subjects, the University Grants Commission (UGC) identified CUSAT as a "University with Potential for Excellence in Lasers and Optoelectronic Sciences" in March 2002. Following this selection by University Grants Commission, CUSAT established a separate and independent "Centre of Excellence in Lasers and Optoelectronic Sciences" (CELOS) in the month of July 2002. The activities under the CELOS have been jointly proposed by the International School of Photonics (ISP), Department of Physics and Department of Electronics in CUSAT. Based on the recommendations of the experts, UGC has made a budgetary allocation of Rs. 35.456 million towards the R & D activities at the above Centre.
As approved by the Expert Committee of the UGC, CELOS has established a National Facility centered around “Tsunami” a Spectra Physics make Ti:Sapphire pico/subpicosecond laser system with an amplifier. "Tsunami" is pumped by 5W “Millennium” diode pumped solid state laser. The output from the "Tsunami" seed laser is further amplified by "Spitfire" a chirped pulse amplifer which is pumped by "Empower" a 30W Q-switched DPSS Nd:YLF laser. The final amplified ultrashort pulses have 70 femtosecond pulse duration and an energy of ~ 2.5mJ per pulse at 1KHz repitition rate.
Research activities have been initiated by CELOS in the fields of Optical Fiber Amplifier, Fiber Optic Sensors, Photonic Materials, Microwave Photonics, Laser produced Plasma, Nonlinear Processes, Biophotonics and related fields. At present CELOS has two Research Associates, two Senior Research Fellows and four Junior Research Fellows.
Another major activity of CELOS is the conduct of the five year integrated M.Sc degree course in Photonics. UGC has set apart an amount of Rs. 19.4 million specifically for this purpose out of the total grant of Rs. 50 million. Five batches of 20 students each have so far joined the course and the first batch is now in the ninth semester of the ten semester Integrated M.Sc degree course in Photonics. The first batch would be passing out in July 2007.
The participating schools/departments in CELOS are:
International School of Photonics, CUSAT
Department of Electronics, CUSAT
Department of Physics, CUSAT

THIS IS WHAT EXPERTS GOTTA SAY ABOUT PHOTONICS

Photonics--A Technological Revolution

Vlado Zeman
Canada
18 July 2003

The technological breakthrough created by the manufacture of optical fibers to process ever-increasing global communications demands has spawned a new discipline: photonics. Many experts think that photonics will drive communications innovation in the 21st century in much the same way that electronics dominated the 20th.

Although the industry has been flat in some regions because of the weak global economy, it is currently making a strong rebound. A lot of photonics R&D is going on in both university and industrial laboratories, enhancing the demand for both researchers and technologists in the field.

Photonics is the technology of generating, transmitting, and manipulating light. Because light travels much faster than does an electric field in a wire, with less signal loss and faster achievable switching frequencies, it is ideal for transmitting a lot of information over long distances, as with telephone calls or Internet signals. In recent years, photonics has been exploited for medical and biological purposes, opening up the new field of biophotonics. And photonics is now being combined with nanotechnology--the engineering of materials on the atomic scale--resulting in the development of microscopic photonic devices.

Optics Valley

Arizona and Ottawa are hubs of the photonics industry in their respective countries. Tucson, or "Optics Valley," as it is known in the industry, and Ottawa--"Silicon Valley North"--share many traits. Both are home to clusters of photonics companies, despite the modest sizes of their communities; both benefit from their proximity to larger cities (Phoenix and Toronto, respectively); and both are centers for intensive photonics research.

The Optical Sciences Center (OSC), located at the University of Arizona (U of A), is recognized as a world center for leading-edge academic and research programs in optics. According to its Web site, 180 students are enrolled in U of A's master's and Ph.D. programs in photonics, and another 90 are in the undergraduate program. Courses are taught by 37 faculty members, and another 61 people are employed as research associates and technicians.

Robert Breault, founder and chair of Breault Research Organization in Tucson, has just returned from his 10th trip to Ottawa, where he participated in collaboration talks with Canadian and Mexican officials. Breault and other government and industry leaders are intent on making "a tricountry effort out of this."

Universities and Research Institutes

Well over 100 universities in the United States offer courses or conduct research in photonics. Many of these offer undergraduate or graduate degrees or both. Funding for research in photonics is abundant, thanks to the rich collaboration of industries, governments, and universities. A comprehensive list of the various institutes and universities involved in this field can be found on the Web pages of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) or at Photonics.com. The Optical Society of America (OSA), with 21 local sections in the states and another seven worldwide, also provides a rich source of information and resources.

New photonics institutes and research centers pop up frequently. OE Magazine, published by SPIE, reported in April that the Florida state board of education has approved spending $10 million to establish the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence at the University of Central Florida (UCF). This is one of three new "centers of excellence" that Governor Jeb Bush's Emerging Technology Commission recommended be created. It follows a 1999 study done by the Florida High-Tech Corridor, an organization promoting Florida's high-tech industries, which found that there were 106 photonics companies clustered around UCF between the cities of Melbourne and St. Petersburg and 148 statewide.

Canada is also investing heavily in photonics. In January, Montreal's McGill University, along with a host of academic, government, and business partners, launched the Agile All-Photonic Network (AAPN). Made possible by a 5-year grant of CA$7 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), this new institute will train more than 100 students and postdocs over the next 5 years. The NSERC grant is intended mainly to pay the salaries of the students and researchers; it follows a CA$35 million grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, which is paying for lab equipment. A major focus of AAPN, and of the global telecommunications industry in general, is to develop all-photonic networks, keeping the use of much slower electronic components to a bare minimum.

Biophotonics

Photonics techniques are increasingly being applied in medicine and biology. For example, the interaction of light with human and biological cells is used to noninvasively detect specific tissues such as tumors. Light can also be used to change the properties of certain tissues and cells, allowing noninvasive treatments. DNA can be detected and sequenced using biophotonic methods. And photonics techniques are used extensively in medicine to improve visualization techniques. For more information on biophotonics applications, see a previous Next Wave article.

One major biophotonics research institute is located at the University of California, Davis. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology has a research program that consists of 28 interrelated projects involving 100 researchers. Current projects focus on the development of advanced optical microscopes, optical labels, light sources, optical sensors, and photosensitive materials. The center is also exploiting single-molecule detection methods to explore the mechanisms of basic biological interactions.

Research and development in biophotonics are very often major components of general photonics institutes. Funding for biophotonics--and for photonics in general--comes from a variety of sources, an indication of how pervasive the discipline has become. In 1996, in another example of U.S.-Canadian photonics collaboration, the U.S. Department of Defense implemented a Defense Appropriations Act to provide $75 million for the Breast Cancer Research Program at Photonics Research Ontario (PRO), located at the University of Toronto. "Part of the reason that the U.S. Department of Defense funds this type of research," explains Guida NéNé, manager of marketing and communications at PRO, "is that they have many people in the Army [who] either get breast cancer, or someone in their family does, and it ends up costing them a lot of money. As a preventive measure, they are funding this type of research."

Microphotonics and Nanophotonics

Although photonics-driven communications technology has the potential to make the world a smaller place, science and technology are also making photonics devices smaller. Nanotechnology, another big scientific industry with great potential, has joined forces with photonics. Microphotonics and nanophotonics research is important in industries where miniaturization is a critical concern, such as microelectronics, computing, and telecommunications.

Spending on nanotechnology R&D is skyrocketing. Mihail Roco, chair of the White House/National Science and Technology Council/Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee and a senior adviser for NSF, was quoted in the July 2002 edition of OE Magazine as saying that "global governmental funding for nanotechnology R&D has jumped from $432 million in 1997 to $2154 million in 2002." Roco estimates that the worldwide annual industrial production for this sector will exceed $1 trillion in 10 or 15 years.

One research center that has seized upon the promising future of miniaturizing photonics is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Three years ago, the Microphotonics Center at MIT and Nanovation Technologies Inc. established a world-class center specializing in microphotonics and nanophotonics. Its goal is to develop technologies that will increase Internet speed, possibly by a factor of hundreds, by increasing the capacity and bandwidth of telecommunications devices.

Another site brimming with activity is Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, which is in the final stages of building a new nanotechnology facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy: the Center for Nanoscale Materials. One of the main themes of this center will be nanophotonics, already a well-established research field at Argonne. Research will focus on subdiffraction-limit properties of photons, the development of new nanostructures for light sources, and the spectroscopy and photochemistry of nanostructures and nanoparticles.

The Future of Photonics

The list of industries that are making direct use of photonics technology is impressive. Outside of telecommunications and medicine, photonics is prevalent in industrial manufacturing, energy and lighting, environmental applications such as remote sensing of the atmosphere and oceans, and the security industry, to name just a few.

Despite the recent downturn in the economy, the future looks bright for photonics researchers. "Our graduates are not having a problem finding a job," says James Wyant, director of Arizona's OSC. "This is surprising, considering the economy, but there seems to be a good need for optics graduates." Ali Adibi, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is also not overly concerned about the economy's impact on photonics. "In the long run, the prospect is good. The market will recover in 2004," he predicts. Adibi believes that the industry will pick up as soon as inventories from the boom days are depleted. Breault, too, is positive about the future. "The photonics industry in some regions has been flat," he admits, "but [it] is coming back."

Indeed, Breault's efforts at forging international links between companies are helping the industry rebound. "Company to company, we are trying to sell to each other, collaborate, and do mergers or joint ventures," he explains. With the Tucson-Ottawa meetings, for example, "we want their [Ottawa's] companies to expand here, and they want ours to expand there. So we try to do both. If we know of a growing company here that is thinking of expanding, we fill them in and push them toward Ottawa, and Ottawa tries pulling." Breault is also trying to increase the visibility of the Canadian photonics industry by pushing for an international conference on clusters in Ottawa in October 2004, and for OSA and SPIE to hold three meetings a year in Canada. All this will give photonics greater international exposure, result in more photonics-related business, and create more jobs at the ground level.

"You Never Stop Training"

Photonics follows a trend in modern scientific research in that it is highly multidisciplinary. Because progress in this field is so rapid, it can be a challenge--albeit a rewarding and stimulating one--to stay on top of new developments and to broaden one's knowledge base as photonics combines with other fields.

"In this job you never stop training," admits Tim Rutkevich, an optical technologist at Toronto's PRO, who got started in photonics as an undergraduate participant in a co-op work-study program at Canada's University of Waterloo. "You have to keep on reading magazines, articles, keep posted on what other people do ... look for a technology that is just coming out, then see if it is of interest to you ... [and] always be aware of the adjacent technologies."

TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PHOTONICS

What is Photonics - Harnessing the power of light

Photonics is the technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is a photon. The science include light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. In brief photonics is the technology of mastering light.

The era of modern photonics began with the invention of laser in 1960, and its impact in telecommunications was enabled by the perfection in the late 1970s of low signal loss optical fibers for long haul under sea and terrestrial communications. Photonics technology can also be used in other industrial and military applications. Theoretically, almost any physical or environmental parameter can be measured using light, including temperature , strain, electric current, vibration, chemical and biological pollutants, or sound. A growing area is biophotonics, where photonics technology is used to develop new procedures and and techniques in biotechnology, microbiology, medicine, surgery and other life sciences. Photonics has a strong reputation in solving research problems through advanced spectroscopy, lasers, microscopy, and fiber optic imaging. The use of light in meeting the demands of society's evolving needs is just beginning. The use of light will most certainly and dramatically change the quality of almost every aspects of our lives !!

International School of Photonics

International School of Photonics (ISP) came in to existence in 1995 by restructuring and delinking the laser laboratories along with the faculty members of the laser group from the Department of Physics at Cochin University of Science and Technology. Manpower development and establishment of research activities in photonics and related fields are the major objectives of ISP. In 1995 we started a three semester M.Tech course in Optoelectronics and Laser Technology . In 2001 we also started an M.Phil course in Photonics with an objective to train teachers in the area of Photonics.

The School has one of the best laser laboratories in the country. Our research areas span from fundamental to applied fields in photonics and related areas. At present we have collaborative research activities with various institutions in India and abroad. The most important one is with the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands in the area of Photonics. This joint programme is supported under the MHO assistance offered by the Dutch government to ISP. The total project outlay during the first phase is about NLG 2 million for the period of four years.

Please feel free to look through our site and contact us if you have an interest in our courses or research areas.

OUR PROJECT- students assembly 57'

this is what news papers had to say:

Students to recreate Keralas first assembly
By IANS @ 12:00 AM

Indo Asian News Service
Thiruvananthapuram, July 22 (IANS) The first Kerala assembly - with the first democratically elected communist government in the world - will come alive again as school students will take up the roles of 130 legislators and enact some of its important proceedings here Monday.
This is being done to introduce values of parliamentary democracy to the new generation. The first Kerala government is a golden chapter in history and what will happen tomorrow is also going to be part of history, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijaykumar told reporters here Sunday.
The function will include scenes of the passage of the educational bill, the agricultural reforms bill, question hour and adjournment motions. The speeches and proceedings will be recreated in letter and spirit, he added.
All living former legislators and their families have been invited for the event.
The students assembly will be held at the very same place, the old assembly hall, where the first assembly had its meetings.
The function is part of celebrations of the golden jubilee of the E.M.S. Namboodiripad government, which was formed in 1957.
The celebrations started April 5, marking the first day of the historic assembly.