Center for Laser Technologies and Nanoengineering

About Us

The NDL-109 research laboratory has been established in 2005 at the Department of Telecommunications within the framework of two subsequent projects: the STC project No. 4584 “Development of a methodology for creating the most effective acousto-optic cells of the microwave range for controlling powerful laser radiation” (2008-2010) and the joint Ukrainian-Polish project No. M/138-2009 (2009- 2010) funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Grant of the President of Ukraine ( GP/F56/167) based on the European Union-funded project of the Ukrainian Science and Technology Center (USTC) No. 3222 "Optimization of the geometry of electro- , piezo- and acousto - optical interactions based on a full 3D analysis of the spatial anisotropy of the corresponding effects" (2005-2007, scientific supervisor A.S. Andrushchak).

In 2010, Professor A.S. Andrushchak has won an international grant and became the coordinator of the European Project No. 272715 "New production technology development for most efficient and more stable application of electro - optical and nonlinear optical crystalline materials" within the framework of the FP 7- PEOPLE -2010- IIF Program, which he successfully accomplished first at the Czestochowa Polytechnic (Poland, 2011-2013), and later at the Lviv Polytechnic National University (return phase, 2013-2014).

In 2017, Professor A.S. Andrushchak together with his research team has obtained another international grant MSCA-RISE-2017-IMAGE #778156 of the European Horizon 2020 Program (see: https://project-image.eu ) where an Ukrainian organization (Lviv Polytechnic National University) under the project leader A.S. Andrushchak became the Ukraine's first main coordinator of this type of grant, uniting 9 European institutions.The Scientific and Educational Center for Innovative Technologies and Nanoengineering (SEC ITNI) has been created in 2018 for the successful implementation of this project on the basis of NDL-109 lab, where the implementation of a number of international projects is now in progress and the following scientific and educational laboratories have been created:

It's worth noting that in recent years, based on the laboratories created at the NSC ITNI, the state budget projects DB/Anisotropy (2016-2018, registration number №0116U004136), DB/Modulator (2017- 2019, No. 117U004847) and the state budget projects DB/Nanocrystallite (2019-2021, No. 0119U002255) and DB/OPTIMA (2020-2022, No. 0120U00####) together with completed projects of young scientists DB/Nanocomposite (2016-2018, No. 0116U004412) and DB/SubTera (2019-2021, No. 0119U100609), etc. have been successfully accomplished. For more details on each of the above projects, see the "Projects" section of this site.

Based on the above projects, the following experimental equipment for applied optical and quasi-optical research has been created and purchased and is actively used in the laboratories of the NSC ITNI:

  1. Equipment for mechanical cutting and optical processing of the crystalline samples under study, determination of their mass, density and signs of the crystallographic axes based on the piezoelectric method
  2. Technological setup for control of quality and geometry of crystalline materials samples using conoscopic and interferometric methods
  3. Automated optical and quasi-optical setups and corresponding software for measuring the refractive indices of plane-parallel samples made of isotropic and anisotropic materials in the visible and subterahertz spectral ranges
  4. Acoustic setup for measuring the velocities of longitudinal and transverse sound waves in anisotropic crystals of different symmetry classes by the dynamic echo -pulse method with subsequent computing of their piezoelectric and elastic coefficients
  5. Interferometric (based on the Michelson interferometer) and polarization optical setups with own methodology developed for determining all components of the electro-optical effect tensor in crystalline materials of arbitrary symmetry class
  6. Interferometric (based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer) and polarization optical setups also with own dedicated methodology for determining all components of the tensors of the piezo- and elasto-optical effect in crystalline materials of all symmetry classes
  7. Acousto-optical installation for measuring the acousto-optic quality parameter of crystalline materials using the Dixon-Cowan method
  8. A setup for measuring nonlinear optical parameters of materials using the Z- scan method
  9. A 130 GHz measurement complex for studying photomodulation of THz wave at this frequency by semiconductor materials
  10. Terahertz spectrometer for measuring transmission or reflection spectra in the frequency range of 0.1-1.35 THz (TOPTICA)
  11. Raman spectrometer from for conducting Raman studies of crystalline materials (REINSHAW)
  12. IBM PC personal computers and existing proprietary software to automate the measurement process and necessary calculations

This equipment can be used to perform all necessary fundamental and applied studies of piezo-, elastic-, electro- , acousto- and nonlinear optical effects in crystalline materials of all symmetry classes to use more efficiently these materials as core components of the corresponding control devices or conversion of laser radiation. An experimental base has been created at the laboratory for growth research and nanoengineering, for the development and production of a new class of crystalline nanocomposites with a given anisotropy based on nanoporous matrices of Al2O3 or Si / SiO2 and various water-soluble or water- insoluble crystalline materials.

In March 2025, the NSC ITNI has been renamed the Educational and Scientific Center for Laser Technologies and Nanoengineering (CLTN).

Currently the following state funded and international projects are being carried out by the CLTN employees:

  1. State Budget Project DB/ Nanoelectronics "Innovative High-Efficiency Bulk, Film and Nanocomposite Materials for Electro- and Nonlinear -Optical Devices of Micro- and Nanoelectronics ", 2023-2025, (see https://mon.gov.ua/static-objects/mon/uploads/public/661/696/b93/661696b932184126837957.pdf ).
  2. State Budget Project DB/ Nanoarchitectonics " Nanoarchitectonics , physical and technological research and creation of anti-reflective materials", 2024-2026 (see https://lpnu.ua/news/16-rozrobok-naukovtsiv-lvivskoi-politekhniky-matymut-finansuvannia-z-derzhavnoho-biudzhetu ).
  3. NFDU project "Optical and acoustically controlled devices for controlling terahertz radiation based on crystalline and nanocomposite materials", according to Agreement No. 28/0410, 2023-2025 (see https://nrfu.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/rishennya10_18.02.22.pdf ).
  4. Project HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01-TeraHertz No. 101086493 "Novel Technologies and Materials for TeraHertz Radiation Control" in within the framework programs Horizon Europe , 2023-2026 ( see https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101086493 ; DOI 10.3030 / 101086493)
  5. Project LASER - PRO Grant Agreement Number: 101186838, Project Title : " Advanced Laser Technologies for Sustainable Prosperity in Europe " under the Horizon Europe Programme, 2025-2028 ( see https://www.laserpro-eh.eu/ ) .

The CLTN team has a significant body of the research publication: more than 280 scientific and technical papers and 17 copyright certificates and patents, 2 Dr.Sci. and 4 PhD theses, more than 170 abstracts have been published at domestic and international conferences and symposia. A textbook with the seal of the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine has also been published (letter No. 1/11-6547 dated 07/22/2011): Applied Electrodynamics of Information Systems: textbook / A.S. Andrushchak , Z. Yu. Gotra , O. S. Kushnir. - Lviv: Lviv Polytechnic Publishing House, 2012. - 304 p.

As well as a number of monographs:

  1. Mytsyk B.G. Photoelasticity . - Lviv: Liga-Press, 2012. - 320 p.
  2. Bury O.A., Ubizsky S.B. Modeling and optimization of solid-state microchip lasers: monograph. — Lviv:Lviv Polytechnic Publishing House, 2013. — 200 p.
  3. Andrushchak A.S., Buryy O.A., Andrushchak N.A., Dem'yanishyn N.M. Spatial anisotropy of induced optical effects in crystalline materials: a monograph in 2 volumes. T.1. Analytical description, geometric representation and experimental methodology. - Lviv: Prostir M, 2019. - 200 p.
  4. Andrushchak A.S., Buryy O.A., Andrushchak N.A., Dem'yanishyn N.M. Spatial anisotropy of induced optical effects in crystalline materials: a monograph in 2 volumes. T.2. Spatial distribution of electro- , piezo- , elastic- and acousto -optical effects in the studied crystals. - Lviv: Prostir M, 2021 - 290 p.
  5. Andrushchak A. Spatial anisotropy of induced optical effects in crystalline materials : monograph / A. Andrushchak, O. Buryy, N. Andrushchak, N. Demyanyshyn . - Cambridge : Cambridge Scholars Publishing , 2023. - 196 p.

Studies carried out at the laboratories correspond to the fields of interests of the CLTN, the Department Applied Physics and Nanomaterials Science and are parts of the basic and applied research scope of Lviv Polytechnics National University being at the world level.