Dr. Alfonso Nardi (ETH Zürich, Switzerland) delivered a seminar at the University of Brescia on Monday 20 May 2024 entitled « Disorder as a resource for photonics ».

Abstract. Disorder is generally regarded as a detrimental factor in the realization of photonic devices. Indeed, standard optical systems require to minimize any deviation from the ideal design in order to achieve their intended tasks. However, adopting a different perspective, we can identify a random system as a large reservoir of degrees of freedom that can be harnessed to efficiently perform a variety of tasks. In this talk, I will present a series of examples in which a disordered medium acts as a lens with a high numerical aperture, as a large and reconfigurable optical linear port, or as a compact and broadband spectrometer. Finally, I will highlight the potential of the approach by showing how random media are used to implement programmable networks for quantum computing, and accelerators for machine learning.

Biography. Alfonso Nardi is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zürich, in the Optical Nanomaterial Group, led by Prof. Rachel Grange. His research focuses on investigating the physics and applications of nonlinear disordered media and exploiting nonlinear optics for photonic computing. Previously, he received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Electronics Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and obtained his PhD in the Photonics Laboratory (ETH Zürich), investigating the control of coherence for optical communications.