Niels Quack
EPFL STI IMT GR-QUA
BM 5142 (Bâtiment BM)
Station 17
CH-1015 Lausanne
41 21 693 73 83
41 21 693 47 46
Office: BM 5142
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Fields of expertise
Photonic Micro- & Nanosystems
Micro- and Nanofabrication
Photonic MEMS
Integrated Photonics
Diamond Photonics
Photonic Switches
Silicon Photonics
Optical MEMS
Heterogeneous Integration
Tunable Optical Microsystems
Microspectrometers
Mid-Infrared Photonics
MicroLIDAR
Biography
Awards and Grants
2015 - IEEE Senior Member
2015 - SNSF Professorship
2015 - Best Poster Award, Photonics for Disaggregated Data Centers, OIDA, Los Angeles, USA (co-authored)
2015 - OFC Top Scored Paper, Los Angeles, USA (co-authored, highlighted in OFC press release and awarded as Tingye Li Innovation Prize)
2014 - OFC Top Scored Paper, San Francisco, USA (co-authored)
2013 - NMC Travel Award, Stanford, USA
2013 - IEEE MEMS Outstanding Paper Award, Taipei, Taiwan (co-authored)
2012 - CIS User Grant, 2012, Stanford, USA
2005 - Prix de la Commune d'Ecublens, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
2004 - SSBE, Max Anliker Memorial Poster Award, Zürich, Switzerland
2000 - VEGR Best Matura Project Award, Zürich, Switzerland
Professional course
Senior MEMS Engineer
sercalo Microtechnology ltd.
2014-2015
Postdoctoral Researcher
Integrated Photonics Laboratory, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center
University of California, Berkeley
2011-2015
Education
Doctor of Sciences
ETH Zürich
2005-2010
Master of Science
EPF Lausanne
2000-2005
Publications
Infoscience publications
Main Publications
2021
[100] 32 x 32 silicon photonic MEMS switch with gap-adjustable directional couplers fabricated in commercial CMOS foundry
Journal Of Optical Microsystems
2021-04-01
DOI : 10.1117/1.JOM.1.2.024003
[99] Broadband Compact Single-Pole Double-Throw Silicon Photonic MEMS Switch
Journal Of Microelectromechanical Systems
2021-04-01
DOI : 10.1109/JMEMS.2021.3060182
[98] Diamond diffractive optics-recent progress and perspectives
Advanced Optical Technologies
2021-02-01
DOI : 10.1515/aot-2020-0052
[97] Method for flattening substrates or layers using 3d printing and etching
2021.
[96] Shining Diamond: from Micro- and Nano-Engineering to Quantum Photonics
Lausanne, EPFL, 2021.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-8601.
2020
[95] Integrated photonic devices in single crystal diamond
Journal Of Physics-Photonics
2020-10-01
DOI : 10.1088/2515-7647/aba171
[94] Diffractive optical elements in single crystal diamond
Optics Letters
2020-07-01
DOI : 10.1364/OL.393679
[93] Compact broadband suspended silicon photonic directional coupler
Optics Letters
2020-06-01
DOI : 10.1364/OL.394470
[92] Reactive ion etching of single crystal diamond by inductively coupled plasma: State of the art and catalog of recipes
Diamond and Related Materials
2020-04-05
DOI : 10.1016/j.diamond.2020.107839
[91] Single crystal diamond gain mirrors for high performance vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers
Diamond And Related Materials
2020-04-01
DOI : 10.1016/j.diamond.2020.107744
[90] MEMS for Photonic Integrated Circuits
Ieee Journal Of Selected Topics In Quantum Electronics
2020-03-01
DOI : 10.1109/JSTQE.2019.2943384
[89] MEMS-Enabled Silicon Photonic Integrated Devices and Circuits
Ieee Journal Of Quantum Electronics
2020-02-01
DOI : 10.1109/JQE.2019.2946841
[88] Compact low loss MEMS phase shifters for scalable field-programmable silicon photonics
2020-01-01. Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) , San Jose, CA , May 10-15, 2020.[87] Optical element
2020.
[86] Distributed optical fiber sensing based on frequency-scanned phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry
Lausanne, EPFL, 2020.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-8419.
[85] MORPHIC: Programmable photonic circuits enabled by silicon photonic MEMS
2020-01-01. Conference on Silicon Photonics XV , San Francisco, CA , Feb 03-06, 2020. p. 1128503.DOI : 10.1117/12.2540934.
[84] Non-contact polishing of a crystalline layer or substrate by ion beam etching
2020.
WO2020021501
2019
[83] High-quality single crystal diamond diffraction gratings fabricated by crystallographic etching
Optics Express
2019-10-07
DOI : 10.1364/OE.27.030371
[82] FCC-hh: The Hadron Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 3
European Physical Journal-Special Topics
2019-07-01
DOI : 10.1140/epjst/e2019-900087-0
[81] HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4
The European Physical Journal Special Topics
2019-07-01
DOI : 10.1140/epjst/e2019-900088-6
[80] Silicon Photonic MEMS Phase-Shifter
Optics Express
2019-06-24
DOI : 10.1364/OE.27.018959
[79] FCC Physics Opportunities: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 1
European Physical Journal C
2019-06-05
DOI : 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6904-3
[78] FCC-ee: The Lepton Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 2
European Physical Journal-Special Topics
2019-06-01
DOI : 10.1140/epjst/e2019-900045-4
[77] Non-contact polishing of single crystal diamond by ion beam etching
Diamond And Related Materials
2019-02-01
DOI : 10.1016/j.diamond.2019.01.007
[76] Freestanding Silicon Photonic Ring and Disk Resonators
2019-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA , Jul 28-Aug 01, 2019. p. 212-213.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2019.8925106.
[75] Silicon Photonic Broadband Suspended Directional Coupler
2019-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA , Jul 28-Aug 01, 2019. p. 214-215.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2019.8925298.
[74] Dielectric Actuation Techniques at the Nanoscale: Piezoelectricity and Flexoelectricity
Lausanne, EPFL, 2019.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-7238.
[73] Fabrication and Characterization of Freestanding Single Crystal Diamond and Silicon Microresonators
Lausanne, EPFL, 2019.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-9862.
[72] Single crystalline diamond part production method for stand alone single crystalline mechanical and optical component production
2019.
CN111417747
EP3676426
US2020199780
WO2019043432
[71] Single crystalline diamond diffractive optical elements and method of fabricating the same
2019.
JP2020531921
EP3676427
CN111279023
WO2019043570
[70] Advanced Diamond Microfabrication for Microoptics and Photonics
Lausanne, EPFL, 2019.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-9771.
[69] Silicon Photonic MEMS: Exploiting Mechanics at the Nanoscale to Enhance Photonic Integrated Circuits
2019-01-01. Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC) , San Diego, CA , Mar 03-07, 2019.2018
[68] Single crystal diamond micro-disk resonators by focused ion beam milling
Apl Photonics
2018-12-01
DOI : 10.1063/1.5051316
[67] Digital Silicon Photonic MEMS Phase-Shifter
2018-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Lausanne, SWITZERLAND , Jul 29-Aug 02, 2018. p. 217-218.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2018.8454633.
[66] Characterization of crystallographically etched single crystal diamond diffraction gratings
2018-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Lausanne, SWITZERLAND , Jul 29-Aug 02, 2018. p. 173-174.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2018.8454634.
[65] Size control of self-organized gold nanoparticles on nanopatterned single crystal diamond
2018-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Lausanne, SWITZERLAND , Jul 29-Aug 02, 2018. p. 94-95.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2018.8454531.
[64] Enhancement of optical quality factor by thermal annealing of single crystal diamond micro-resonators
2018-01-01. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Lausanne, SWITZERLAND , Jul 29-Aug 02, 2018. p. 20-21.DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2018.8454596.
[63] Silicon photonic MEMS variable optical attenuator
2018-01-01. Conference on MOEMS and Miniaturized Systems XVII , San Francisco, CA , Jan 30-31, 2018. p. 105450H.DOI : 10.1117/12.2317507.
[62] Trapezoidal Diffraction Grating Beam Splitters in Single Crystal Diamond
COMPONENTS AND PACKAGING FOR LASER SYSTEMS IV
2018
DOI : 10.1117/12.2290557
[61] Precision micro-mechanical components in single crystal diamond by deep reactive ion etching
MICROSYSTEMS AND NANOENGINEERING
2018
DOI : 10.1038/s41378-018-0014-5
[60] Large-Scale Polarization-Insensitive Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches
JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY
2018
DOI : 10.1109/JLT.2018.2791502
[59] Freestanding optical micro-disk resonators in single-crystal diamond by reactive ion etching and multidirectional focused ion-beam milling
ADVANCES IN PHOTONICS OF QUANTUM COMPUTING, MEMORY, AND COMMUNICATION XI
2018
DOI : 10.1117/12.2290177
2017
[58] Geometric Integrators for Nonadiabatic Molecular Quantum Dynamics Induced by the Interaction with the Electromagnetic Field
Lausanne, EPFL, 2017.DOI : 10.5075/epfl-thesis-8145.
[57] Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuit for 3D Microimaging
Ieee Journal Of Solid-State Circuits
2017
DOI : 10.1109/Jssc.2016.2621755
2016
[56] Large-Scale Silicon Photonic Switches
2016. 21st OptoElectronics and Communications Conference (OECC) / International Conference on Photonics in Switching (PS) , Niigata, JAPAN , JUL 03-07, 2016.[55] Die Level Release of Silicon Photonic MEMS
2016. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) .DOI : 10.1109/OMN.2016.7565832.
[54] Scalable Row/Column Addressing of Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches
2016. International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN) , Jerusalem, ISRAEL , AUG, 2015. p. 561-564.DOI : 10.1109/Lpt.2016.2515106.
[53] Highly Scalable Digital Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches
2016. Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC) , Los Angeles, CA , MAR 22-26, 2015. p. 365-371.DOI : 10.1109/Jlt.2015.2496321.
[52] Large-scale broadband digital silicon photonic switches with vertical adiabatic couplers
Optica
2016
DOI : 10.1364/OPTICA.3.000064
[51] Chip-Scale Electro-Optical 3D FMCW Lidar with 8μm Ranging Precision
2016. 63rd IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) , San Francisco, CA , JAN 31-FEB 04, 2016. p. 214-216.DOI : 10.1109/ISSCC.2016.7417983.
2015
[50] Engineering Nano-Opto-Electromechanical Systems
2015. Frontiers in Nanophotonics , Ascona, Switzerland , 30 August 2015 - 4 September 2015.[49] Large-Scale, MEMS-Actuated Silicon Photonic Switches
2015. Photonics in Switching 2015 , Florence, Italy , 22-25 September 2015.[48] MEMS-Enabled Scalable Silicon Photonic Switches
2015. Frontiers in Optics 2015 , San Jose, California United States , 18–22 October 2015.DOI : 10.1364/FIO.2015.FW3B.2.
[47] 50x50 Digital Silicon Photonic Switches with MEMS-Actuated Adiabatic Couplers
2015. Optical Fiber Communication Conference , Los Angeles, California , 2015. p. M2B.4.DOI : 10.1364/OFC.2015.M2B.4.
[46] Large-Port-Count MEMS Silicon Photonics Switches
2015. Optical Fiber Communication Conference , Los Angeles, California , 2015. p. M2B.3.DOI : 10.1364/OFC.2015.M2B.3.
[45] Development of an FMCW LADAR Source Chip using MEMS-Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration
GOMACTech, St. Louis, MO, USA, March 23-26, 2015.[44] Large-scale silicon photonic switches with movable directional couplers
Optica
2015
DOI : 10.1364/OPTICA.2.000370
[43] Row/Column Addressing of Scalable Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches
International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (IEEE OMN), Jerusalem, Israel, August 2-6, 2015.[42] 64x64 Low-Loss and Broadband Digital Silicon Photonic MEMS Switches
Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2015), Valencia, Spain, 27 September - 1 October 2015.2014
[41] Method for Increasing the Operating Distance of MEMS LIDAR beyond Brownian Noise Limitation
2014. CLEO: Applications and Technology , San Jose, California , 2014. p. AW3H.2.DOI : 10.1364/CLEO_AT.2014.AW3H.2.
[40] Monolithic Large-Scale Optical Switches Using Silicon Photonic MEMS
2014. 2014 OptoElectronics and Communication Conference and Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology (OECC/ACOFT 2014) , Melbourne, Australia , July 6-10, 2014. p. 625.[39] Monolithic 50x50 MEMS Silicon Photonic Switches with Microsecond Response Time
2014. Optical Fiber Communication Conference , San Francisco, California , 2014. p. M2K.2.DOI : 10.1364/OFC.2014.M2K.2.
[38] Development of a FMCW LADAR Source Chip Using MEMS-Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration
GOMACTech, Charleston, SC, USA, March 31 - April 3, 2014.[37] Integrated VCSEL-Microlens Scanner With Large Scan Range
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems
2014
DOI : 10.1109/JMEMS.2014.2315810
[36] Results of the Test of Industrially Manufactured HTS Current Leads With Novel Design Features
Ieee Transactions On Applied Superconductivity
2014
DOI : 10.1109/Tasc.2013.2281121
2013
[35] Linear Frequency Chirp Generation Employing Opto-electronic Feedback Loop and Integrated Silicon Photonics
2013. CLEO , San Jose, CA, USA , June 9-14, 2013..[34] Phase Noise Spectrum and Carrier Power Modeling of High Performance Optomechanical Oscillators
2013. CLEO: QELS_Fundamental Science , CLEO: QELS_Fundamental Science (2013) , 2013. p. QTh4E.2.DOI : 10.1364/CLEO_QELS.2013.QTh4E.2.
[33] Enhancement of mechanical Q for low phase noise optomechanical oscillators
2013. 2013 IEEE 26th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) , Taipei, Taiwan , January 20-24, 2013. p. 118-121.DOI : 10.1109/MEMSYS.2013.6474191.
[32] Through Silicon Vias and thermocompression bonding using inkjet-printed gold nanoparticles for heterogeneous MEMS integration
2013. 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXVII) , Barcelona, Spain , June 16-20, 2013. p. 834-837.DOI : 10.1109/Transducers.2013.6626896.
[31] Development of an FMCW LADAR Source Chip using MEMS-Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration
GOMACTech, Las Vegas, NV, USA, March 11-14 ,2013.[30] 3D Imaging: Sub-mm Resolution Ranging using a Chip-scale MEMS FMCW LIDAR Source
Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC), Research Review, Berkeley, CA, USA, September 17-18, 2013.[29] Droplet-on-Demand Inkjet-filled TSVs as a Pathway to Cost-efficient Chip Stacking
IMPAS 2013, 46th International Symposium on Microelectronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 30 September – 3 October, 2013.2012
[28] Self-aligned VCSEL-microlens scanner with large scan range
2012. 2012 IEEE 25th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) , Paris, France , January 29 - February 2, 2012. p. 656-659.DOI : 10.1109/MEMSYS.2012.6170272.
[27] A Platform for On-Chip Silica Optomechanical Oscillators with Integrated Waveguides
2012. CLEO: Science and Innovations , San Jose, California , 2012. p. CW1M.5.DOI : 10.1364/CLEO_SI.2012.CW1M.5.
[26] Wafer-scale silica optomechanical oscillators with low threshold power and low phase noise for monolithic optical frequency references
2012. 2012 IEEE Photonics Society International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics , Banff, AB, Canada , August 6-9, 2012. p. 51-52.DOI : 10.1109/OMEMS.2012.6318797.
[25] Wafer Level AlGe Eutectic Bonding for MEMS-Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration
International Nano-Optoelectronics Workshop, UC Berkeley and Stanford University, CA, USA, August 7-15, 2012.[24] MEMS-Electronic-Photonic Heterogeneous Integration (MEPHI)
Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC), Research Review, Berkeley, CA, USA, March 7-9, 2012.[23] Development of HTS current leads for industrial fabrication
2012. MT-22, International Conference on Magnet Technology , Marseille, France , September 11-16, 2011.DOI : 10.1109/Tasc.2011.2178013.
2011
[22] MEMS Lens Scanner
Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC), Research Review, Berkeley, CA, USA, September 13, 2011.2010
[21] Tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors for Mid-Infrared Gas Spectroscopy
MIOMD-X, 10th International Conference on Mid-Infrared Optoelectronics: Materials and Devices, Shanghai, China, September 5-9, 2010.[20] Mid infrared resonant cavity detectors and lasers with epitaxial lead-chalcogenides
Opto-Electronics Review
2010
DOI : 10.2478/s11772-010-1028-5
[19] Lead salt resonant cavity enhanced detector with MEMS mirror
2010. 14th International conference on Narrow Gap Semiconductors and Systems . p. 1127-1131.DOI : 10.1016/j.phpro.2010.01.150.
2009
[18] IV-VI Mid-IR Tunable Lasers and Detectors with External Resonant Cavities
2009. Optics and Photonics, Infrared Spaceborne Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XVII , San Diego, CA, USA , August 2-6, 2009.[17] Mid infrared resonant cavity detectors and lasers with epitaxial lead-chalcogenides
European Materials Research Society (EMRS), Warsaw, Poland, September 14-18, 2009.[16] Lead Salt Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detector with MEMS Mirror
NGS-14, 14th International Conference on Narrow Gap Semiconductors, Sendai, Japan, July 13-17, 2009.[15] Narrow band tunable resonant cavity enhanced detectors for 3 - 10 μm wavelength
1th European Symposium on Semiconductor Detectors, Wildbad Kreuth, Germany, June 7-11, 2009.[14] Electrostatically Actuated Micromirrors for Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors
MicroNanoFabrication Annual Review Meeting, Lausanne, Switzerland, May 19, 2009.[13] Micromirrors for integrated tunable mid-infrared detectors and emitters
ETH, 2009.DOI : 10.3929/ethz-a-005994709.
[12] A comb drive actuated vertically moving micromirror for tunable mid-infrared Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors
Microelectronic Engineering
2009
DOI : 10.1016/j.mee.2008.12.064
2008
[11] A Comb Drive Actuated Vertically Moving Micromirror for Mid-Infrared Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors
34th international conference on Micro and Nano Engineering (MNE), Athens, Greece, September 15-18, 2008.[10] Mid-Infrared Tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors
nternational Conference on Mid- Infrared Optoelectronics: Materials and Devices (MIOMD) IX, Freiburg, Germany, September 7-11, 2008.[9] Durchstimmbare resonanzverstärkte Detektoren für das mittlere Infrarot
Deutschsprachiger Workshop für Molekularstrahlepitaxie (DMBE), Zürich, Switzerland, September 1-2, 2008.[8] Mid-infrared tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors employing vertically moving comb drive actuated MEMS micromirrors
2008. 2008 IEEE/LEOS Internationall Conference on Optical MEMs and Nanophotonics , Freiburg, Germany , August, 11-14, 2008. p. 174-175.DOI : 10.1109/OMEMS.2008.4607885.
[7] Electrostatically Actuated Micromirrors for Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors, MicroNanoFabrication
Annual Review Meeting, Lausanne, Switzerland, May 20, 2008.[6] Micro and Nanosystems Platform
Industry Day, Zürich, Switzerland, March 19, 2008.[5] Mid-Infrared Tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
2008
DOI : 10.3390/s8095466
[4] Epitaxial Lead Chalcogenides on Si for Mid-IR Detectors and Emitters Including Cavities
Journal of Electronic Materials
2008
DOI : 10.1007/s11664-008-0429-0
[3] Tunable resonant cavity enhanced detectors using vertically actuated MEMS mirrors
Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics
2008
DOI : 10.1088/1464-4258/10/4/044015
[2] Vertically moving micromirror for detectors in the mid infrared
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
2008
DOI : 10.1016/j.sna.2007.06.013
[1] Wavelength Tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Photodetectors Based on Lead-Salts Grown by MBE
2008.DOI : 10.1007/978-1-4020-8425-6_34.
Other publications
Doctoral Thesis
Teaching & PhD
Teaching
Microengineering