Mao Nakajima
Organisation: Hamamatsu Role: Project Manager, Scientific Imaging Department, Systems Division
Mao Nakajima headed up the team behind the hugely respected ORCA-Quest qCMOS Camera, which accurately measures the number of photons and performs imaging under extremely low noise conditions. As Nakajima explained: ‘Strictly speaking, measurement at the individual photon level has not been possible. With this camera, we succeeded in reducing noise to the utmost limit and accurately counting the number of photons. That is a huge difference from conventional sensors.’ Of course, Hamamatsu has been pioneering cameras for weak light
Carmen Palacios-Berraquero
Organisation: Nu Quantum Role: CEO
As well as running Nu Quantum, founded in 2018 to commercialise research generated over the last decade at Cambridge’s renowned Cavendish Laboratory, Carmen Palacios-Berraquero in October co-founded UK Quantum, a new umbrella organisation representing the interests of UK quantum players. ‘The UK’s quantum industry is thriving
across all application areas from computing, to communication and sensing. It is the right time for the industry to unite under one voice and push forward those topics which are key to our success – with a priority on UK Government quantum strategy and
Based in: Cambridge, UK Education: PhD, University of Cambridge
international relationships,’ she said of the launch. In 2018, Palacios-Berraquero was awarded
the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics for her work on 2D materials and quantum optics. Her group has developed a method of deterministically creating single-photon emitting sites in large scale arrays of transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs). Referred to as quantum dots, these quantum confinement potentials can trap single-excitons. The excitons recombine radiatively to emit single photons, a requirement for many quantum information technology applications.
Lieven Penninck
Organisation: PlanOpSim Role: CEO
Lieven Penninck founded PlanOpSim in 2019 to develop numerical simulation software for the design of metasurfaces, metalenses and planar optics in general. Penninck believes the development of
ultra-compact sensors and imagers will demand significant research attention: ‘These sensors will become a backbone of ever smarter devices.’ ‘I think we are on the brink of large-scale
application,’ he said. ‘Two major challenges need to be overcome for this. The first is identifying winning applications where meta-surfaces can realise their promise of game-changing components. Second is
Based in: Ghent, Belgium Education: PhD in Photonics Engineering, Ghent University
industrialising from small-scale prototyping to high-volume manufacturing. Both are formidable tasks.’ Despite his confidence that the R&D community will overcome those challenges, Penninck made special mention of the work of Francesco Monticone and Owen Miller, who he said make great contributions about the limits of nano-structured components. ‘Nano-structures can do a lot, but they cannot do everything, said Penninck. You can find Penninck online at
linkedin.com/ in/lieven-penninck-86200a10/. He plans to attend Photonics West in January and the META conference in Paris in July.
Based in: Japan Education: BSc, Shizuoka University
measurement for 30 years, but this one is a gamechanger, as shown by it winning an Innovation Award at Laser Munich 2022. Having got this launch off the ground, the
graduate of Shizuoka University isn’t giving up on the ambition of further reducing noise and admits there is still lots of room for improvement in quantum efficiency. It’s no exaggeration to say that Mao’s
exciting launch, working with project manager Kunihiko Tsuchiya and designers Takuo Kameyama and Masaya Kyoguko, is one of the most impressive of the past 18 months.
46 Photonics100 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
