Micromachines Webinar | Glass and Micro/Nano Devices (G-MIND) - Speciality Optical Fibers and their Application
Micromachines Webinar | Glass and Micro/Nano Devices (G-MIND) - Speciality Optical Fibers and their Application
Part of the Micromachines Webinars series
27 October 2025
Glass Optical Fibers, Structure and Application, Micro Devices, Nano Devices
Welcome from the Chair
I am pleased to introduce the first event in the G-MIND (Glass and Micro/Nano Devices) webinar series, organized under the D4 Section of the Micromachines journal. This series is designed to foster scientific discussion on key topics in the field while also promoting related Special Issues and Topical Collections. For more details on these publications and submission deadlines, please visit the MDPI D4 Section website.
This inaugural webinar brings together two leading experts to explore cutting-edge developments in the structure and applications of glass optical fibers.
- Blanc (University of Nice, France) will explain how nanoparticles can modify the properties of optical fibers, enabling both enhanced performance and novel optical functions. Traditionally, heterogeneities in fibers have been minimized to reduce optical losses. However, Dr. Blanc will show that nanoparticle-induced light scattering holds significant promise for applications in sensors and lasers. He will also discuss the manufacturing and characterization challenges associated with these advanced fibers.
- Seddon (University of Nottingham, UK) will highlight the use of chalcogenide glass optical fibers, which can transmit mid-infrared (MIR) light, in cancer detection. A growing body of research demonstrates that MIR spectroscopy of excised tissues and body fluids reliably distinguishes between cancerous and non-cancerous samples across multiple cancer types. Since MIR light can penetrate the surface of biological tissues—and most cancers originate in epithelial layers—this approach also enables in vivo analysis. Prof. Seddon has therefore proposed a novel MIR spectroscopy endoscopy technique based on chalcogenide fibers.
Chair: Dr. Giancarlo Righini
Date: 27 October 2025
Time: 3:00 pm CET | 2:00 pm GMT
Webinar ID: 813 9229 7411
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Event Chairs
Nello Carrara Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via Madonna del Piano, Firenze, Italy
Giancarlo C. Righini is an Italian physicist. He pursued a scientific career spanning more than 40 years at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), where he also served as Director of the National Department on Materials and Devices. He is currently a Senior Associate at the Nello Carrara Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC-CNR) in Florence. His research, primarily in optics and photonics, has produced more than 600 scientific publications (ORCID: 0000-0002-6081-6971). He has also served as Editor or co-Editor of several books on optical materials and devices, and as Editorial Board Member of a few journals; he is currently Editor-in-Chief of the D4 Section of Micromachines. Professor Righini is a Fellow of the Optica, SPIE, European Optical Society (EOS), Italian Physical Society (SIF), and Italian Society of Optics and Photonics (SIOF). Over the years, he has held prominent leadership roles, including Vice-President of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). He was also one of the founding members of SIOF. His scientific interests include glass materials, fiber optics, integrated optics, photonic devices, and, more recently, cosmic rays.
Keynote Speakers
Wilfried Blanc received an M.Sc. Degrees in Physics and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University Claude Bernard, Lyon, France, in 1996 and 2000, respectively. He held a post-doctoral position at the University of Bordeaux (ICMCB laboratory), funded by Rhodia-Solvay. In 2002, he started working with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at the Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée (now Institut de Physique de Nice), where his main interests are the design, realization, and characterization of silica optical fibers made using the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) technique.
Faculty of Engineering. University of Nottingham, UK
• Professor Angela B Seddon BSc (Hons), MPhil, PhD, FSGT, FIMM, FRSC, CChem, FSPIE • President of Society of Glass Technology • Chair of Inorganic Materials and Head of Mid-Infrared Photonics Group, GGIEMR, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Trustee of the Royal Institution, London
Registration
This is a FREE webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.
Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
Can’t attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CET |
Time in GMT
|
|
Dr. Giancarlo C. Righini Chair Introduction |
3:00–3:15 PM |
2:00-2:15 PM |
|
Dr. Wilfried Blanc Nanoparticles in optical fibers: Nano-heterogeneities for giga-applications |
3:15–3:45 PM |
2:15-2:45 PM |
|
Prof. Angela Seddon Mid-infrared photonics: A new frontier in disease screening and diagnosis |
3:45–4:15 PM |
2:45-3:15 PM |
|
Q&A |
4:15-4:30 PM |
3:15-3:30 PM |
|
Dr. Giancarlo C. Righini Closing of the webinar |
4:30-4:40 PM |
3:30-3:40 PM |
Relevant Topical and Special Issues
Topical Collection:
Microdevices and Applications Based on Advanced Glassy Materials
Editors: Dr. Giancarlo Righini, Dr. Luigi Sirleto and Dr. Francesco Enrichi
Special Issues:
Nanostructured Glasses and Composites: Innovations in Properties, Microfabrication and Applications
Editors: Dr. Dragana Marinkovic and Dr. Maurizio Ferrari
Laser-Based Fabrication of Glassy and Hybrid Micro/Nano Devices for Biomedical Applications
Editors: Dr. Ana Gomez-Varela and Prof. Dr. Carmen Bao-Varela
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
