Research
I work in the field of Astrophotonics, which is an area of research emerged over the past decade in response to the increasing demands of astronomical instrumentation. It uses rapidly evolving technologies from Astronomy/Astrophysics and Photonics in order to improve modern astronomical instruments and observation techniques. New astrophotonic components are being developed at a rapid pace and have already many applications. Recent examples of such applications include spectroscopy, sky emission line filtering, interferometry and space, using components such as Bragg gratings inscribed inside fibers, integrated spectrographs, photonic lanterns, adaptive optics parts and fiber position technologies. As the next generation of telescopes gets bigger, a number of new challenges for telescope systems and instrumentation emerge.
My PhD is shared between the state observatory of Heidelberg, Germany (Landessternwarte) and MacQuarie University of Sydney. While at the Landessternwarte I will work with Professor Andreas Quirrenbach and Dr. Robert Harris, to develop new components for the future Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). I will try to find the best to combine conventional and astrophotonic technologies in instruments. While at MacQuarie University, I will work with Senior Lecturer Christian Schwab and I will complement this by working on high resolution spectrographs designed to measure the Radial velocity of planets and experiment with new detection techniques. For the second part to my thesis I plan to follow up radial-velocity planets and experiment with new detection techniques.