Nanolasers for in-vivo deep in tissue neuron activation and action potential sensing
Summary
Nanolasers offer the ultimate photonic gadget with unique properties as biosensors and actuators. Lasers at the nanoscale can concentrate high optical powers in small volumes and use a fraction of the power required to drive a conventional laser. Recently, nanolasers and nanoresonators have seen use for biosensing, with the focus so far on in-vitro biochemistry. Translating this approach to in-vivo is complex but promises to link relevant in-vivo physiological information with chemical pathways. This project aims to integrate photonic architectures for in-vivo deep-tissue exploration and to translate this technology to areas where probing the local environment with light has an immediate impact, such as the Brain. My proposed research thus bridges different scientific disciplines exploring the physics of biological sensing.
I foresee 3 major efforts to succeed in this research:
1 – Design of micro- and nanocavities operating in the IR.
2 – In vitro characterization through highly scattering media. 
3 – In vivo investigations for deep-tissue sensing.