Applied Physics Seminar
***Pizza lunch at 11:30am in Watson Lobby
Abstract:
The next frontier in optics lies in fusing photonics with biology to create systems that can see, hear, and interpret the molecular world in real time. Microtoroid optical resonators, when combined with frequency locking, balanced detection, and advanced data processing, enable label-free single-molecule detection at zeptomolar concentrations within seconds. We have developed such a system, called FLOWER (Frequency Locked Optical Whispering Evanescent Resonator), which uses laser–cavity frequency locking to continuously track resonance wavelength shifts induced by molecular binding events. Building on this foundation, we are developing next-generation sensing platforms: FLORAL (Frequency Locked Optical Resonator for Acoustic Listening), which extends resonator technology to acoustic detection of molecular interactions and environmental signals; PETALS (Photon Entanglement for Toroidal Advanced Label-free Sensing), which employs entangled photons to surpass classical sensitivity limits; and integration with frequency combs for simultaneous detection and absorption spectroscopy. I will also discuss advances in high-sensitivity photothermal spectroscopy and efforts toward engineering a portable, clinically translatable device. Together, these technologies point toward an emerging era where light becomes a powerful probe advancing discovery, diagnostics, and environmental monitoring through molecular-scale insight.
More about the Speaker:
Judith Su is a Craig M. Berge Faculty Fellow and an Associate Professor in Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics from Caltech. Her lab develops next-generation optical sensing platforms and applies them in collaboration with leading researchers to address critical challenges in science, medicine, and society.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including an NSF CAREER Award, an NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, the 2024 ASME Rising Star Award, the American Society of Laser Surgery and Medicine Young Investigator Award, the Journal of Physics Photonics 2023 Early Career Award, and recognition in the 2024 Photonics100 list of the field's most innovative people. She is also a Fellow of SPIE, has been a Siegman International School on Lasers Lecturer, and was a Scialog: Chemical Machinery of the Cell Fellow. She served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and currently serves on the Steering Committee for the Human Exposome Project, which seeks to define and measure the environmental determinants of human health.
Dr. Su gave a keynote talk at SPIE Photonics West in 2022 and has held leadership roles in major international conferences. She served as the General Co-Chair of Optica's Advanced Photonics Congress, Integrated Photonics Research (IPR) Conference in Busan, Korea (2023), Quebec City, Canada (2024), and most recently in Marseille, France (2025).