Dr. Goutam K. Samanta

Photonic Sciences Laboratory

Group Lead: Dr. Goutam K. Samanta, Professor

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Navrangpura, Ahmedabad - 380009, India

Tel: +91 (79) 2631 4635 (O) / 4703 (L) Fax: +91 (79) 2631 4460 Email: [email protected] Profile: Google Scholar

About Photonic Sciences Laboratory

The Photonic Sciences Laboratory at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, led by Prof. Goutam K. Samanta, is engaged in cutting-edge fundamental and applied research in the field of experimental quantum optics, nonlinear optics, quantum science and technology, structured optical beams, and photonics.

Despite decades of progress since the invention of the laser, the scarcity of suitable gain media across key spectral regions, from the ultraviolet (UV) to the terahertz (THz), continues to drive the need for advanced optical sources with tailored spectral, temporal, spatial, and quantum properties. We address these challenges by exploiting nonlinear optical frequency conversion to develop custom-engineered optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) for generating tunable classical and squeezed light, and innovative spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) sources for high-brightness single and entangled photons. Our research integrates nonlinear optics, structured light, and quantum engineering to generate and manipulate Airy, vector vortex, and Poincaré beams, while advancing broadband polarization entanglement, spatial multiplexing, and geometric phase control. These innovations enable next-generation technologies in quantum communication, quantum random number generation (QRNG), quantum sensing and imaging, and quantum information processing. By combining fundamental research with technology development, we bridge the gap between laboratory-scale discoveries and deployable quantum photonic systems.

About Group Leader

News & Recent Updates

Research Thrusts

Research Projects & Initiatives

ANRF Project

Parametric up-conversion of near and mid-IR optical radiation for hyperspectral photometry and imaging in astronomy and solar observations

Building the intracavity upconversion system based on the optical parametric oscillator for imaging of astronomical objects in near and mid-IR wavelength ranges using the standard imaging systems widely used for the visible spectrum.

Duration: 5 years

Status: Ongoing from July 2026

Funding agency: ANRF, India

DST-TDP Project

Indigenous development of compact, hands-free, stable entangled photon sources at 810 nm

Development of high-brightness, robust entangled photon sources optimized for free-space and satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD) initiatives in India.

Duration: 3 years

Status: Completed, March 2026

Funding agency: DST, India

i-Hub, Pune Fellowship

Development of portable, quantum random number generator (QRNG): an extension to device-independent QRNG

Development of quantum random number generator (QRNG) at a high quantum bit rate, study the effect of Bell’s inequality on the randomness of the source, and development of device-independent QRNG.

Duration: 3 years

Status: Completed, March 2026

Funding agency: i-Hub, Pune, DST, India

DRDO Project

Development of single-photon source-based quantum refractometry and displacement sensors

Development of the quantum sensor based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer for the displacement and refractive index measurement.

Duration: 2 years

Status: Completed, March 2023

Funding agency: DRDO, India

Product Development

JONAKI

JONAKI: Entangled Photon Source at 810 nm

JONAKI is a compact, field-deployable, entangled photon source designed for next-generation quantum communication, quantum sensing, and advanced research applications. Engineered for stability and performance, it generates non-collinear, degenerate polarization-entangled photon pairs at 810 nm, optimized for free-space and laboratory-based quantum experiments.

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SAMAY

SAMAY: Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC)

High-resolution time-to-digital converter for photon timing, coincidence measurements, and quantum optics experiments. Observe detection rates for up to four single-photon detectors, generate up to four coincidence pairs between any pair of connected detectors or trigger signals, and record every time tag for an exceptionally high number of detected photons, all with subnanosecond precision.

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Group Members

Anirban Ghosh

Mr. Anirban Ghosh

Scientific Assistant

Topic: Ultrafast Mid-IR Sources & Nonlinear Optics

Vimlesh Kumar

Mr. Vimlesh Kumar

Mechanical Engineer

Topic: Quantum Optics, Nonlinear Optics, and Optomechanical Engineering

Chahat Kaushik

Ms. Chahat Kaushik

Senior Research Fellow

Topic: Geometric Phase Manipulation & Bell States

Rutuj Gharate

Mr. Rutuj Gharate

Electronics Engineer

Topic: Electronics System Development, TDC Systems & QKD Hardware Implementation

Swagata Sarkar

Ms. Swagata Sarkar

DST Inspire PhD Student

Topic: Structured Single Photon Generation

Ayan Kumar Nai

Dr. Ayan Kumar Nai

Postdoctoral Fellow

Topic: Multiplexing Spatial Pair Photons for QRNG & QKD

Bhabhes Pant

Dr. Bhabhes Pant

Postdoctoral Fellow

Topic: Photorefractive Material and Structured Beams

Milan Jana

Mr. Milan Jana

Project Associate-I

Topic: Quantum Source and Quantum Sensing

Sanjan Roychowdhury

Mr. Sanjan Roychowdhury

Project Associate-I

Topic: Squeezed Light, Quantum Sensing and Ranging

Shubham Sharma

Mr. Shubham Sharma

Junior Research Fellow

Topic: Nonlinear Interaction of Structured Beams

Siddhant Vernekar

Mr. Siddhant Vernekar

Visiting PhD, IIT Delhi (June 2025-)

Topic: Structured Optical Fields

Niravra Nag

Mr. Niravra Nag

Master's, IISER Kolkata (June 2025-)

Topic: SPDC & Entanglement

Divyakanti Ghorui

Mr. Divyakanti Ghorui

Master's, IISER Pune (June 2025-)

Topic: HOM Interferometry

Hitansh Luhar

Mr. Hitansh Luhar

Master's, DAIT Pune (June 2025-)

Topic: Single-Photon Counting Systems

  • Mr. Soham Acharya — Summer project, IISc Bangalore (15 May - 15 July, 2026)
  • Mr. Tanay Nalawde — Academic Project Training, MIT WPU, Pune (19 Jan - 10 Jun, 2026)
  • Ms. Aditi Kumari — Academic Project Training, NIT Patna (23 Mar - 15 May, 2026)
  • Ms. Harsha N Jijish — Master Thesis 2025-2026, IISER Berhampur
  • Mr. Gopal Sahu — Visiting Student, IIT Dharwad
  • Mr. Niladri Das — PhD Student, IISc Bangalore
  • Dr. Sandeep Singh — Postdoctoral Fellow, DTU Denmark
  • Dr. Saumya Jyoti Sarkar — Postdoctoral Fellow, Chiba University, Japan
  • Dr. Subith Kumar — Postdoctoral Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Dr. Deepika Yadav — Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan
  • Mr. Anupam Pal — Master's Student, Abbe School of Photonics, Germany
  • Dr. Varun Sharma — Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Graz, Austria
  • Dr. Ravi Kiran Saripalli — Postdoctoral Fellow, University of New Orleans, USA
  • Mr. Harshith Bachimanchi — PhD Student, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Dr. A S V Rao — JSPS Fellow, Chiba University, Japan
  • Dr. Raghwinder Singh — Postdoctoral Fellow, Delaware University, USA
  • Dr. Jabir M. V. — Postdoctoral Fellow, NIST Gaithersburg, USA
  • Mr. Sabir Alam — PhD Student, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong
  • Dr. Aadhi A. — Postdoctoral Fellow, INRS Varennes, Canada
  • Dr. Apurv Chaitanya N. — Postdoctoral Fellow, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

Full List of Prizes, Awards & Recognitions

  • EPS QEOD Travel Grant Student Award (Sept 2026)

    Awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh by European Physical Society for contribution to EPS QEOD Conference.

  • 2026 SPIE Optics and Photonics Scholarship (May 2026)

    Prestigious scholarship awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh by SPIE, USA.

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-33 (Mar 2025)

    Awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh for "High repetition rate mid-IR coherent radiation through 1064 nm CW pumped OPA, injection seeded with Multi-gigahertz OPO", 33rd National Laser Symposium (BRNS, RRCAT Indore & Medi-Caps Univ).

  • Best PhD Thesis Award — Indian Laser Association (2024)

    Awarded to Dr. Sandeep Singh for thesis "Generation and Characterization of Pair Photons for Quantum Sensing Applications" at 32nd DAE-BRNS NLS, RRCAT Indore.

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-32 (2024)

    Awarded to Ms. Chahat Kaushik for "Geometric phase induced tunable optimum output coupling in optical parametric oscillators".

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-32 (2024)

    Awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh for "Experimental Observation of Optical Hilbert's Hotel in Vector Beam".

  • DST International Travel Grant (2023)

    Awarded to Mr. Sandeep Singh to attend Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science (FiOLS) in Denver, Colorado, USA.

  • URSI Young Scientist Award (2023)

    Awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh to attend URSI GASS 2023 in Sapporo, Japan for "Hilbert Hotel: An experimental realization in polarization topological vortex beam".

  • Outstanding Poster Presentation Award (2019)

    Awarded to Mr. Anirban Ghosh for "Nonlinear generation of ultrafast, high power, higher order vector vortex beams", IISc Bangalore.

  • Travel Grant Student Award (2019)

    Awarded to Mr. Varun Sharma by European Physical Society (EPS) for CLEO/EUROPE-EQEC 2019, Munich, Germany.

  • 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Participant (2019)

    Selected participant: Mr. Varun Sharma, Lindau, Germany.

  • Best Student Poster Contribution Award (2018)

    Awarded to Mr. Varun Sharma at Europhoton Conference, Barcelona, Spain.

  • Incubic / Milton Chang Travel Grant (2017)

    Awarded to Mr. Jabir M. V. for Frontiers in Optics, Washington DC, USA.

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-25 (2016)

    Awarded to Mr. Jabir M. V. at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.

  • Best Poster Award — PHOTONICS 2016

    Awarded to Mr. Apurv Chaitanya N. at IIT Kanpur.

  • OSA Foundation Travel Grant (2016)

    Awarded to Dr. Apurv Chaitanya N. for Frontiers in Optics, University of Rochester, USA.

  • EPS Grant for Young Scientist (2016)

    Awarded to Mr. Jabir M. V. at 7th EPS-QEOD Europhoton Conference, Vienna, Austria.

  • EPS Grant for Young Scientist (2016)

    Awarded to Dr. A. Aadhi at 7th EPS-QEOD Europhoton Conference, Vienna, Austria.

  • Best Poster Award — RAOS (2016)

    Awarded to Mr. Apurv Chaitanya N. at RAOS-2016 conference, Hyderabad University, May 6-7, 2016.

  • SPIE Best Poster Award — ICTP (2016)

    Awarded to Dr. A. Aadhi at Winter College on Optics: Optical Frequency Combs held at ICTP, Trieste, Italy during February 2016.

  • Incubic / Milton Chang & OSA Travel Grant (2015)

    Awarded to Dr. A. Aadhi by Optical Society of America (OSA) for Frontiers in Optics, San Jose, USA.

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-24 (2015)

    Awarded to Mr. Jabir M. V. at RRCAT, Indore.

  • Student Presentation Award — SPIE (2015)

    Awarded to Mr. Apurv Chaitanya N. at ICOP 2015, Calcutta University.

  • Best Poster Award — Photonics (2014)

    Awarded to Mr. Apurv Chaitanya N. at Photonics, IIT Kharagpur, December 13-16, 2014.

  • Best Poster Award — NLS-24 (2015)

    Awarded to Mr. Apurv Chaitanya N. at National Laser Symposium, Tirupoti, December 3-6, 2014.

  • Best Poster Award — ICOP (2014)

    Awarded to Mr. A. Aadhi at International Conference on Optics & Optoelectronics, Instruments Research & Development Establishment, Dehradun, March 5-8, 2014.

Journal Cover Pages

  • APL Photonics Cover (June 2023)

    Simple experimental realization of optical Hilbert Hotel using scalar and vector fractional vortex beams, APL Photonics, 8, 066105 (2023).

  • Applied Optics Front Cover (January 2012)

    Single-frequency, high-power, continuous-wave fiber-laser-pumped Ti:sapphire laser, Applied Optics, 51, 15-20 (2012).

  • KIRAN Cover — Indian Laser Association (2010)

    Stable, 9.6 W, continuous-wave, single-frequency, fiber-based green source at 532 nm, Optics Letters, 34, 1561-1563 (2009).

Magazine Highlights

  • Laser Focus World Highlight (2011)

    Dual-wavelength, two-crystal, continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator, Optics Letters, 36, 3033-3035 (2011).

  • Laser Focus World Highlight (2011)

    Multicrystal, continuous-wave, single-pass second-harmonic generation with 56% efficiency, Optics Letters 35, 3513-3515 (2010).

  • Virtual Journal of Ultrafast Science Highlight (2009)

    Continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator pumped by a fiber laser green source at 532 nm, Optics Letters, 34, 2255-2257 (2008).

  • Laser Focus World (2008), Optics.org (2008), and Optics and Laser Europe Highlight (2009)

    Continuous-wave, single-frequency, solid-state blue source for the 425-489 nm spectral range, Optics Letters, 33, 1228-1230 (2008).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Sept 2020)

    Watt-level, ultrafast, tunable yellow source based on single-pass, fourth-harmonic generation of Cr2+:ZnS laser at 2360 nm, Optics Letters, 45, 5109-5112 (2020).

  • Ranked 47th Top Downloaded Physics Paper — Scientific Reports (2017)

    Robust, high brightness, degenerate entangled photon source at room temperature, Scientific Reports 7, 12613 (2017).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Consecutive Months 2017)

    High power, high repetition rate, tunable broadband mid-IR source based on single-pass optical parametric generation of a femtosecond laser, Optics Letters, 42, 2886-2889 (2017).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (June 2016)

    Ultrafast optical vortex beam generation in the ultraviolet, Optics Letters, 41, 2715-2718 (2016).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Nonlinear Optics)

    All-periodically poled, high-power, continuous-wave, single-frequency tunable UV source, Optics Letters 40, 33-36 (2015).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Nonlinear Optics)

    High-power, high-repetition-rate, Yb-fiber laser based femtosecond source at 355 nm, Optics Letters, 40, 4269-4272 (2015).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Jan 2012)

    Frequency-modulation-mode-locked optical parametric oscillator, Optics Letters, 37, 115-117 (2012).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (May 2009)

    Stable, 9.6 W, continuous-wave, single-frequency, fiber-based green source at 532 nm, Optics Letters, 34, 1561-1563 (2009).

  • Top 10 Downloaded Paper — Optics Letters (Dec 2008)

    Stable, High-power, continuous-wave, second-harmonic generation at 532 nm in periodically poled KTiOPO4, Optics Letters, 33, 2955-2957 (2008).