Investigation and characterization of turbid media via optical means

Micro and nano-particles are present everywhere in our everyday life, as dust particles in the air, as nanoparticles in suncream, as bacteria in our body and much more. Commonly, particles or cells tend to aggregate, forming colloids that exhibit high turbidity, like it is the case of milk or yeast. However, this property often represents a challenge when trying to measure their op-tical properties and how these change within the lifetime of cells.

Within the framework of the Bachelor thesis, novel optical techniques will be developed to characterize both composition and status of biological suspensions. Modern sensor methods based on light scattering and fluorescence will be used for this purpose. The study can be rele-vant for new photonic-based quality control tests.

This Bachelor thesis is organized thematically into the ongoing research of the "optical tweezers" team of Nonlinear Photonics group. In such team, Bachelor, Master, PhD students and Post-docs discuss frequently about results, problems, scientific articles and new ideas in an enjoyable atmosphere.

We are looking for committed students interested in microfluidic applications of Photonics and eager to work on actual research activities.

Interested? Do not hesitate to contact Dr. Neus Oliver to know more about the topic, the labs, and the proposed thesis within the framework of optical micromanipulation.