Brian Vohnsen

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Brian Vohnsen

Brian Vohnsen is an Associate Professor of Physics at UCD [1] in Dublin, Ireland specializing in optics. He is head of the Advanced Optical Imaging Group which he founded in 2008. [2] [3] He has received recognition for his ability to connect the field of biomedical optics and nano-optics. [4] In 2021 he became a fellow of Optica for significant contributions to vision science, including photoreceptor optics and high resolution retinal imaging. [5]

Contents

Early life and education

Brian Vohnsen, born in Aarhus Denmark studied Engineering at Aalborg University before transferring into the field of Optics. [5] In 1994 he graduated with a Masters of Science in Optical Engineering and Laser Technology before going on to complete a PhD in Optical Physics at the same university in 1998. [1] He went on to become an Assistant Professor at Aalborg University for 3 years after completing his PhD, before moving to Spain after being awarded a Marie-Curie Fellowship [5] where he worked as a researcher in Universidad de Murcia [3] alongside Pablo Artal for 7 years (2001 - 2008). During this time he was also awarded a Ramon y Cajal fellowship. [3] In 2008 he moved to Ireland in search of further research opportunities and started working in University College Dublin where he still works today. During his travels Brian has gained Fluency / Professional Working Proficiency in Danish, English, German and Spanish. [1]

Professional biography

Vohnsen did his PhD in the area of nano-photonics and near-field optics at Aalborg University under Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi. [6] He did a postdoctoral fellowship at Universidad de Murcia funded by a Marie-Curie Fellowship where he worked on topics such as Evanescent field and directional imaging including a 2001 research paper on visualizing evanescent waves ("Direct visualization of evanescent optical waves") [7] and imaging of retinal cone mosaic ("Directional imaging of the retinal cone mosaic"). [8]

In 2008 Vohnsen came to Ireland as a Science Foundation Ireland Stokes awardee and created a new MSc. programme in NanoBio Science [3] [9] while also exploring advanced optical techniques centered on high-resolution optical images. [10] Lately, he has pioneered new exploration of the Stiles-Crawford effect in relation to vision science [11] and myopia. [12]

Awards and honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retina</span> Part of the eye

The retina is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then processes that image within the retina and sends nerve impulses along the optic nerve to the visual cortex to create visual perception. The retina serves a function which is in many ways analogous to that of the film or image sensor in a camera.

'Optica is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and carries out charitable activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptive optics</span> Technique used in optical systems

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technique of precisely deforming a mirror in order to compensate for light distortion. It is used in astronomical telescopes and laser communication systems to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion, in microscopy, optical fabrication and in retinal imaging systems to reduce optical aberrations. Adaptive optics works by measuring the distortions in a wavefront and compensating for them with a device that corrects those errors such as a deformable mirror or a liquid crystal array.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical tweezers</span> Scientific instruments

Optical tweezers are scientific instruments that use a highly focused laser beam to hold and move microscopic and sub-microscopic objects like atoms, nanoparticles and droplets, in a manner similar to tweezers. If the object is held in air or vacuum without additional support, it can be called optical levitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy</span>

Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) is a method of examination of the eye. It uses the technique of confocal laser scanning microscopy for diagnostic imaging of the retina or cornea of the human eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fovea centralis</span> Small pit in the retina of the eye responsible for all central vision

The fovea centralis is a small, central pit composed of closely packed cones in the eye. It is located in the center of the macula lutea of the retina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ICFO</span> Photonic sciences research institute in Spain

ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences is a research center devoted to the science and technology of light. Located in Castelldefels, ICFO was created in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Technical University of Catalonia.

Philip St. John Russell, FRS, is Emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany. His area of research covers "photonics and new materials", in particular the examination of new optical materials, especially of photonic crystal fibres, and more generally the field of nano- and micro-structured photonic materials.

Nanophotonics or nano-optics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, and of the interaction of nanometer-scale objects with light. It is a branch of optics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, and nanotechnology. It often involves dielectric structures such as nanoantennas, or metallic components, which can transport and focus light via surface plasmon polaritons.

The Stiles–Crawford effect is a property of the human eye that refers to the directional sensitivity of the cone photoreceptors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Optics</span>

The Institute of Optics is a department and research center at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The institute grants degrees at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels through the University of Rochester School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Since its founding, the institute has granted over 2,500 degrees in optics, making up about half of the degrees awarded in the field in the United States. The institute is made up of 20 full-time professors, 12 professors with joint appointments in other departments, 10 adjunct professors, 5 research scientists, 11 staff, about 170 undergraduate students and about 110 graduate students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyant College of Optical Sciences</span> Division of the University of Arizona

The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, considered the largest institute for optics education in the United States, is dedicated to research and education in optics with an emphasis on optical engineering. The college offers more than 90 courses in optical sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Optical Sciences and Engineering, Masters and Doctoral degree programs in Optical Sciences, as well as a dual master's degree in Optical Sciences and Business Administration. The college also offers comprehensive distance learning courses leading to a Professional Graduate Certificate or a master's degree and markets non-credit short courses on DVD to optics professionals.

Boston Micromachines Corporation is a US company operating out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Boston Micromachines manufactures and develops instruments based on MEMS technology to perform open and closed-loop adaptive optics. The technology is applied in astronomy, beam shaping, vision science, retinal imaging, microscopy, laser communications, and national defense. The instruments developed at Boston Micromachines include deformable mirrors, optical modulators, and retinal imaging systems, all of which utilize adaptive optics technology to enable wavefront manipulation capabilities which enhance the quality of the final image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Eggleton</span> Australian scientist & academic

Benjamin John Eggleton,, is Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney. He is also Professor in the School of Physics where he leads a research group in integrated photonics, nonlinear optics and smart sensors and serves as co-director of the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN).

Andrea Alù is an Italian American scientist and engineer, currently Einstein Professor of Physics at The City University of New York Graduate Center. He is known for his contributions to the fields of optics, photonics, plasmonics, and acoustics, most notably in the context of metamaterials and metasurfaces. He has co-authored over 650 journal papers and 35 book chapters, and he holds 11 U.S. patents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Strickland</span> Canadian physicist, engineer, and Nobel laureate

Donna Theo Strickland is a Canadian optical physicist and pioneer in the field of pulsed lasers. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Gérard Mourou, for the practical implementation of chirped pulse amplification. She is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Bozhevolnyi</span> Danish physicist

Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi is a Russian-Danish physicist. He is currently a professor and the leader for the Centre for Nano Optics at the University of Southern Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Boltasseva</span> American physicist and engineer

Alexandra Boltasseva is Ron And Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, and editor-in-chief for The Optical Society's Optical Materials Express journal. Her research focuses on plasmonic metamaterials, manmade composites of metals that use surface plasmons to achieve optical properties not seen in nature.

Nathalie Picqué is a French physicist working at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in the field Frequency Combs, where she studies ultra-high resolution spectroscopy using ultrashort pulses of light combined with Fourier-transform spectroscopy to reveal the fine chemistry of samples, in particular in the mid-infrared, demonstrating resolving power in excess of 1,000,000,000,000.

Kimani Christopher Toussaint, Jr. is an American engineer who is a professor and senior associate dean in the School of Engineering at Brown University. His research considers the development of quantitative nonlinear optical imaging methods and advanced optical techniques for nanotechnology, and the characterization of plasmonic nanostructure. He is a Fellow of Optica.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Brian, Vohnsen. "Brian Vohnsen Profile | University College Dublin". people.ucd.ie. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  2. "Advanced Optical Imaging People". www.ucd.ie. Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Vohnsen, Brian; Thibos, Larry N.; Ginis, Harilaos (2013). "Visual and Physiological Optics". Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 33 (4): 391–393. doi: 10.1111/opo.12078 . ISSN   1475-1313. PMID   23786381. S2CID   1927304.
  4. "Brian Vohnsen, University College Dublin, Ireland". www.photonics.com. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hornback, Samantha. "Brian Vohnsen". Optica. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  6. Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.; Vohnsen, Brian; Smolyaninov, Igor I.; Zayats, Anatoly V. (15 June 1995). "Direct observation of surface polariton localization caused by surface roughness". Optics Communications. 117 (5): 417–423. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(95)00170-D. ISSN   0030-4018.
  7. Sterligov, V. A.; Cheyssac, P.; Kofman, R.; Lysenko, S. I.; Lytvyn, P. M.; Vohnsen, B.; Bozhevolnyi, S. I.; Maradudin, A. A. (2002). "Near/Far-Field Investigations of the Interaction between Surface Waves and Nanoparticles". Physica Status Solidi B. 229 (3): 1283–1294. Bibcode:2002PSSBR.229.1283S. doi:10.1002/1521-3951(200202)229:3<1283::AID-PSSB1283>3.0.CO;2-O. ISSN   1521-3951.
  8. 1 2 Vohnsen, Brian; Iglesias, Ignacio; Artal, Pablo (1 May 2004). "Directional imaging of the retinal cone mosaic". Optics Letters. 29 (9): 968–970. doi:10.1364/OL.29.000968. ISSN   0146-9592. PMID   15143643.
  9. "MSc NanoBio Science - Programme Details". www.ucd.ie. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  10. 1 2 "UCD News -Leading International Researchers join UCD under the SFI Stokes Programme". www.ucd.ie. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  11. Vohnsen, Brian (1 May 2014). "Directional sensitivity of the retina: A layered scattering model of outer-segment photoreceptor pigments". Biomedical Optics Express. 5 (5): 1569–1587. doi:10.1364/BOE.5.001569. ISSN   2156-7085. PMC   4026908 . PMID   24877016. S2CID   31187841.
  12. Vohnsen, Brian (1 December 2021). "Geometrical scaling of the developing eye and photoreceptors and a possible relation to emmetropization and myopia". Vision Research. 189: 46–53. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2021.09.002. hdl: 10197/13053 . ISSN   0042-6989. PMID   34619411. S2CID   238263441.