Lab Title	Virtual Optics Laboratory
Location	R425A, EE BuildingⅡ
Research Direction	Conventional research method to study biomedical optics involved various heuristic approximations, resulting in indefinite error.  We accurately analyze optical characteristics of macroscopic irregular geometry in a virtual environment.  By means of numerical solutions of Maxwell’s equations, the simulations enable accurate analysis of optical properties in a practically noise-less environment, similar to an ideal virtual optical experiment.  In our lab—virtual optics laboratory, we specialize in three simulation techniques: the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique, the Monte Carlo technique, and the pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) technique.  In our recent publication in Applied Physics Letters (Applied Physics Letters, 2007. 91(051114), DOI: 10.1063/1.2767777), we quantitatively determined the accuracy of the Monte Carlo technique for macroscopic light scattering simulations.  Furthermore, our research enables accurate analyses of optical characteristics that can potentially lead to innovative optical techniques for biomedical applications. In the past two years, a major research area of our lab is the phenomenon of Optical Phase Conjugation (OPC).  OPC has recently attracted much attention as it enables guiding light deep into biological tissues by undoing the light scattering effect of turbid medium.  The OPC simulation of macroscopic dimensions has not been achieved until we reported our initial simulation (Opt. Express 15, 16005-16016, 2007; Opt. Express 17, 5490-5495, 2009).  The simulation tools that we have recently developed enable accurate simulation of the OPC phenomenon and can help shed light on understanding the unanswered questions arising in experimental research.  We are collaborating in projects with various institutes, including Caltech, UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute, and MIT.  By means of our virtual optical simulations, our goal is to help advance the research of biomedical optics.
Facility	We have nothing but computers in our lab.
Extension Number	+886-2-33663700 ext.425