The imagination of nature is far, far greater than the imagination of man
- Richard Feynman
Radwanul Hasan Siddique
I am leading the Metaphotonics research group to advance Samsung's imaging and sensing research based on bioinspired and nanophotonic principles within Image Sensor Lab of Samsung Semiconductor Inc. located in Pasadena, USA.
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I was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Division of Engineering & Applied Science (EAS) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA. I have received my Ph.D. (summa cum laude) from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany in 2016.
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Currently, I am developing bio-inspired nanophotonic devices and sensors for optoelectronic & biomedical applications.
NEWS & UPDATES
December 24, 2019
Our recent development on aluminum based metasurfaces for highly efficient and low-cost multiplexed biosensing published in ACS Nano
July 01, 2019
Joined Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) - USA as a Research Team Lead
March 16, 2019
Outreach - Science For March with PCC and Caltech
Learning Nanophotonics from Butterflies! Perfect outreach with Pasadena community college students during #ScienceForMarch event at Caltech especially when painted lady butterflies are migrating all over Pasadena!
October 26, 2018
Awarded VDI International Bionic Award 2018 from The Association of German Engineers
I am awarded the International Bionic Award 2018 along with my KIT colleagues Mr. Yidenekechaw Donie and Dr. Guillaume Gomard for our work "Butterfly-inspired photonic nanostructures for energy and healthcare applications". The International Bionic Award is endowed with 10.000 EUR by the Schauenburg-Foundation and will be awarded by VDI - The Association of German Engineers
The prize was presented by the Schauenburg Foundation at the congress on Biomimetics "Patents from Nature" on the evening of the October 26th, 2018 at Bremen City Hall.
October 01, 2018
Upcoming talks & seminars
October 15 - Patel lab, UC Berkeley
October 16 - Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, UC Berkeley
November 1 - Nano Thermal Energy Research Group, UC Irvine
November 26 - MRS Fall Meeting, Symposium BM08, Boston
November 28 - Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University
November 29 - Seminar series on soft materials, structures & devices, MIT
June 06, 2018
Our work featured in Nature Nanotechnology News & Views: Nature-inspired sensors
April 30, 2018
Bio-inspired multifunctional nanostructures for medical implants: Published in Nature Nanotechnology
Numerous living organisms possess biophotonic nanostructures that provide colouration and other diverse functions for survival. While such structures have been actively studied and replicated in the laboratory, it remains unclear whether they can be used for biomedical applications. Here, we show a transparent photonic nanostructure inspired by the longtail glasswing butterfly (Chorinea faunus) and demonstrate its use in intraocular pressure (IOP) sensors in vivo. We exploit the phase separation between two immiscible polymers (poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene) to form nanostructured features on top of a Si3N4 substrate. The membrane thus formed shows good angle-independent white-light transmission, strong hydrophilicity and anti-biofouling properties, which prevent adhesion of proteins, bacteria and eukaryotic cells. We then developed a microscale implantable IOP sensor using our photonic membrane as an optomechanical sensing element. Finally, we performed in vivo testing on New Zealand white rabbits, which showed that our device reduces the mean IOP measurement variation compared with conventional rebound tonometry without signs of inflammation.
January 03, 2018
Our work on peacock spider coloration is highlighted in Nature research highlights!
How peacock spiders shimmer and shine with rainbows
The secret is in the scales.
December 22, 2017
Bio-inspired diffractive optics: Published in Nature Communications
Brightly colored Australian peacock spiders (Maratus spp.) captivate even the most arachnophobic viewers with their flamboyant courtship displays featuring diverse and intricate body colorations, patterns, and movements – all packed into miniature bodies measuring less than five millimeters in size for many species. However, these displays are not just pretty to look at. They also inspire new ways for humans to produce color in technology. We investigated the spider’s photonic structures using techniques that included light and electron microscopy, hyperspectral imaging, imaging scatterometry and optical modeling to generate hypotheses about how the spider’s scale generate such intense rainbows. Our team then used cutting-edge nano 3D printing to fabricate different prototypes to test and validate their hypotheses. In the end, we found that the intense rainbow iridescence emerged from specialized abdominal scales on the spiders. These scales combine an airfoil-like microscopic 3D contour with nanoscale diffraction grating structures on the surface. It is the interaction between the surface nano-diffraction grating and the microscopic curvature of the scales that enables separation and isolation of light into its component wavelengths at finer angles and smaller distances than are possible with current engineering technologies.
November 27, 2017
Invited as a speaker for MRS Fall Meeting 2017 at Symposium BM03!
Presented our work on the integration of the biophotonic nanostructures to implantable and sensing devices in the MRS Fall Meeting 2017 at Symposium BM03: Biological and Bioinspired Materials for Photonics and Electronics—From Living Organisms to Devices. Thank you organizers for the invite and for organizing such a wonderful symposium!
November 01, 2017
Press release on disordered nanostructures of black butterfly for thin photovoltaic applications
October 29, 2017
My butterflies participated in Caltech Outreach Activities
My butterflies had a great time at the first annual Pasadena monarch festival at Washington Park, celebrating Pasadena's status as a monarch city. We shared research about using what is known about insect nanostructures to engineer better medical and optoelectronic devices. Thanks to event organizer Kristy Brauch for inviting us!
October 19, 2017
Light management by bio-inspired disordered nanostructures: Published in Science Advances
Photon management and light trapping in thin-film solar cells have been an active field of research for over half a decade now. Interestingly, some of the black butterflies have been doing that for millions of years to regulate their body temperature. And, nature has always found the best engineering route to solve any problem!
Therefore, we extracted the working and design principle of those butterflies and applied it on a photovoltaic absorber in a simple possible manner!
February 17, 2017
Fresh from the press: article got accepted in Light: Science & Applications!
This is the outcome of my research visit at University of Cambridge. I thank Silvia and Jan to make it possible.It was indeed a great learning experience. We probably have shown the first true demonstration of visible-IR SERS by aluminium nanostructures. Usually aluminum is only used for UV SERS as the material has an inherent plasmonic signature at the UV wavelengths. By tweaking the geometry of our surface, we can achieve a broadband SERS response. This broad strong plasmonic response, extending from the UV to the NIR, originates from the precise engineering of sub-10-nm nanogaps.
January 21, 2017
Bio-inspired Nanophotonics meets Bangladesh!
I presented my work on bio-inspired nanophotonics at different universities in Bangladesh; including my almamater Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), BRAC University and University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh (ULAB). I was truly amazed with the engagement of young researchers after the talks. All the talks were arranged under different chapters of IEEE Bangladesh section.
November 29, 2016
New class of bio-inspired random plasmonic metasurface presented at MRS Fall Meeting 2016!
Biomimetics based on photonic structures found in nature inspires unconventional design principles to create unique and highly functional dielectric-based nanophotonics. On the other hand, plasmonic metasurfaces break the diffraction limits and localize light into subwavelength dimensions by coupling light with electron oscillations in metals with the aid of nanoscale metal-dielectric architectures. Here, we combine a biomimetic design of random nanoholes with plasmonics to create a large scale flexible metal-dielectric metasurfaces for biosensing applications.
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It was also fun catching up biomimetics colleagues and friends and chairing a session for the first time!
November 18, 2016
How nature uses physics to create blue: Interview with Researchgate.net
November 02, 2016
Structural color of Hypolimnas salmacis are explained and published in Nature Scientific Reports!
How to get blue color out of white and brown, impossible with conventional color mixing! Again, mother nature teaches us how to think beyond the conventional spectral blending and how to exploit the toolbox of photonics to achieve such interesting phenomena! Here, we analyse the mechanisms responsible for such colouration on the dorsal wings of Hypolimnas salmacis and experimentally demonstrate that the lower thin lamina in the white cover scales causes the blue iridescence. This outcome contradicts other studies reporting that the radiant blue in Hypolimnasbutterflies is caused by complex ridge-lamellar architectures in the upper lamina of the cover scales. Our comprehensive optical study supported by numerical calculation however shows that scale stacking primarily induces the observed colour appearance of Hypolimnas salmacis.
October 11, 2016
Photonic structures with long-range order are inherently iridescent, suggesting by current theory. Contrary to this paradigm and inspired by biological photonic structures from hairs of blue tarantulas, a non-iridescent photonic structure with long-range order is shown here. This photonic structure is hierarchical and has high degrees of rotational symmetry in suitable spatial scales.
