Prof. Madden currently leads research on the hybridisation of Chalcogenide, Tellurite, silicon nitride, and germanosilicate technologies for multifunctional integrated optical devices for sensing, communications, metrology and chip based ultrafast laser systems. He also contributes to research on the applications for and system design of high power ultrafast laser systems for nonlinear optics, multiphoton microscopy, and materials processing from the DUV to MIR. His research career spans the period from 1984 to the present in start-ups and multi-nationals before joining the Laser Physics Centre in 2004, covering a diverse range of areas including Liquid Crystals, seven different materials systems for planar devices, all fibre devices, Hybrid integration, Bragg gratings and devices, planar tunable lasers, optical transmission systems and all optical networking, non-linear effects in SOAs and planar waveguide devices, advanced semiconductor processing techniques, high power laser processing systems, ultra-high performance optical metrology system development. The spectrum of work has covered fundamental science through to putting new high technology products into volume production and out onto the market.
Prof. Madden also runs the new Precision Optics ANFF Optofab node currently being established at ANU which currently offers high performance custom metal oxides/nitride optical coatings on substates up to 45cm by Ion Beam Sputtering, and a small resarch IBS chamber for experimental processes with exotic materials such as rare earth doped glasses for photonics applciations on 100mm wafers/substrates. We also currently offer custom diamond turned optics in soft glasses, metals and polymers. By Q3 2023 we expect to be able to offer full freeform polsihing up to 200mm (600mm diameter by Q2 2024), 6 axis diamond turning up to ~600mm diameter, and replica molding services for pilot volume production up to 110mm diamter. We are also seeking to offer photonic chip devices based around a toolkit for multi-material hybrid integration of passive, active, nonlinear, and amplifying media.
Prof. Madden is also involved on work on ultrafast laser ablation for suface processing, cleaning, and film deposition. The highest profile of these activities is the ARC Linkage Project with Transport for New South Wales on ultrafast laser restoration of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.