about

Established in the year 2004 the Femtosecond Laser Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur primarily focuses on theoretical and experimental laser-based optical approaches of coherent control of molecular dynamics leading to vast applications ranging from quantum computing to biological-imaging. We work at the frontiers of multiple disciples, including femtosecond chemistry, control dynamics, measurement, information theory, electrical engineering and cognition. More specifically, we are investigating ultrafast laser pulse shaping applications in gaseous and liquid phase molecular dynamics, opto-electronics, biologically relevant multi-photon fluorescence microscopy & optical trapping and knotting all these odd ends together leading to quantum computing.

What We Do

  • Pulse shaping
  • Develop novel expermental tecniques
  • Probe system dynamics
  • Investigate quantum communication techniques
  • Understand colloidal aggregation
  • Uncover new processes via non-linear techniques

Contact

Physical Address

    Department of Chemistry
    Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India
    Lab: SL-216.
    Tele-Fax: +91-259-7554.
    Phone (O): +91-259-7187 ||  +91-259-7436

Contact Form

equipment

Having built from the ground-up, one of the pioneering laser labs in India, the lab has a host of equipment, both commercial and home grown.

  • Confocal Microscope
  • NOPA ring

News

Editorship of ACS Journal of Physical Chemistry Leters

Prof. Goswami has been has been invited to join the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters for a term of January 2024 to December 2026.

Invited Lecture

Prof. Goswami delivered an invited lecture at the Biological Physics (iPoLS) seminar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entitled “Harnessing ‘shaped’ light for understanding biological applications at the molecular length scale”.

Symposium Lecture

Prof. Goswami delivered an invited talk entitled “Observing and Unraveling Nonlinearities and Dynamics at Nanoscales: Chemistry with Femtosecond Lasers” at the IIT Kanpur-La Trobe University online chemistry symposium representing the IIT Kanpur Department of Chemistry.

Visiting Professorship

Prof. Goswami and Sonaly Goswami will be hosted by the Grubele group under Prof. Martin Grubele at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for an academic visit of two months.

Best Poster Award

The lab celebrates Deepak Kumar who received the best poster presentation award at the conference PHOTONICS 2023 at IISc Bangalore.

Invited Colloquium

Prof. Goswami delivered an invited seminar at the Harish-Chandra Research Institute on “Quantum Manipulation with Laser Precision: Exploring the Frontiers of Coherent Control”.

Publication

Congratulations to Subhajit Chakraborty, Ashwini Kumar Rawat, Dr. Amit Kumar Mishra and Prof. Debabrata Goswami, for their publication “Quality Assessment of the Commercially Available Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers with Femtosecond Thermal Lens Spectroscopy” (details on the publications page)

Invited Chem/Biochem Seminar

Prof. Goswami was invited to, and delivered an in-person talk for the Chem/Biochem seminar at the University of Iceland where his talk was entitled: “Steering Molecular Destiny: Exploring the Frontiers of Coherent Control in Chemistry”.

Visiting Professorship

Prof. Goswami and Sonaly Goswami have been invited by Prof. Hannes Jonsson at the University of Iceland for an academic visit of two weeks.

Note

These news announcements have been paused till May 2023

Publication

Congratulations to Ashwini Kumar Rawat, Subhajit Chakraborty, Dr. Amit Kumar Mishra and Prof. Debabrata Goswami, for their publication “Unraveling Molecular Interactions in Binary Liquid Mixtures with Time-Resolved Thermal-Lens-Spectroscopy” which has appeared in the Journal of Molecular Liquids, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.116322.

Conference Lecture

Prof. Goswami delivered an excellent talk entitled “Quantum Information processing with Femtosecond Laser-Induced Control” at the 5th Quantum Optics and Information Meeting. A recording of the same can be viewed here.

Teaching Commendation

Prof. Goswami received a letter of commendation for his course CHM521A: Mathematics for Chemistry during the 2020-21-I semester. Congratulations!

New members!!

Extending a warm welcome to the lab’s newest postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Amit Kumar Mishra, a recipient of an institute fellowship, who has worked on thermal conductivity enhancements, and Sandip Paul, who has joined the PhD program to delve deeper into femtosecond spectroscopy

IoP Instrument Science and Technology Group Committee Chair

Prof. Goswami has been elected to lead the Institute of Physics (London) Instrument Science and Technology Group Committee for the session 2020-2024, taking over from Professor Andy Augousti

Edwin Land Medal Committee Member

Prof. Goswami has been elected to the OSA Edwin H. Land medal selection committee for the 2020-2024 session

First Virtual Physical Chemistry Seminar at Princeton

Due to COVID-19, Prof. Goswami delivered his lecture entitled “Femtosecond Photothermal Spectroscopy for Molecular Recognition” as the first virtual physical chemistry seminar at his alma-mater, Princeton University.

Associate Editorship of Science Advances AAAS

Prof. Goswami has been elected to the editorial board of the prestigious AAAS Science Advances journal.

Congratulations Dr. Soumendra!!!

Prof. Goswami and the lab wish the best to the newly minted Dr. Soumendra Nath Bandyopadhyay, who successfully defended his thesis on the Application of Femtosecond Optical Tweezers towards the understanding of complex systems. Dr. Bandyopadhyay has gone on to an assistant professorship.

Student Advisor for IITK OSA chapter

Prof. Goswami has been elected as the student advisor for the IITK student chapter of the OSA.

OSA-SPIE-IEEE Student Chapter lecture

Prof. Goswami delivered a talk on “Spatiotemporal Control with Femtosecond Shaped pulses for tracking Light Matter Interactions” at the invitation of the OSA-SPIE-IEEE Student Chapter of the Department of Radio Science of the University of Kolkata.

ICOL-2019

OSI Annual Conference three day conference. Prof. Goswami delivered an invited talk, judged posters, and chaired a session. Rohit gave an oral presentation from the lab.

First PeerJ Physical Chemistry Publication

The group published the first PeerJ Physical Chemistry paper of its inaugural volume entitled Effect of Femtosecond Laser Pulse Repetition Rate on Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic Liquids

New Site Layout

Made with Jekyll by Rohit Goswami.

Openings

The Femtosecond Laser Lab, established in 2004 under the guidance of Prof. Debabrata Goswami, is a pioneering research facility at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. It is a nexus for interdisciplinary exploration across quantum computing, nonlinear optics, and beyond. We are dedicated to cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive research environment and offer opportunities for academic growth at various stages.

Academic Opportunities

Masters Students

  • Eligibility: Open to IITK Master’s students from departments like Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and CELP, with a commendable academic record.
  • Research Focus: Involvement in cutting-edge projects at the intersection of multiple disciplines.
  • Application Process: Express interest by forwarding academic credentials and a brief research interest statement to the PI or use the contact form.

PhD Students

  • Eligibility: Candidates must have qualified CSIR, GATE, or be current IITK Master’s students with a strong academic record.
  • Research Opportunities: Engage in advanced research contributing to the lab’s innovative endeavors.
  • Funding: Primarily self-funded through scholarships like CSIR, GATE, etc. Support available for exploring additional funding avenues.
  • Application Process: Send a comprehensive CV, a detailed statement of purpose, and two academic reference letters to the PI or use the contact form.

Postdoctoral Researchers

  • Eligibility: PhD graduates in relevant fields with a demonstrable record of high-quality research.
  • Expectations: Leadership in research projects, mentoring PhD students, and collaboration in grant writing.
  • Funding: Self-funded or institute-funded; assistance in applying for fellowships or grants.
  • Application Process: Submit a CV, a concise research proposal, and three references to the PI. Referees will only be contacted after written communication.

Summer Interns

  • Opportunity: Open to both national and international students for a short-term research immersion.
  • Accommodation: Limited hostel accommodation may be available.

Our DEI Commitment

The Goswami Research Group at IIT Kanpur is resolute in its commitment to fostering a research milieu characterized by diversity, equity, and inclusion. We warmly invite candidates from varied backgrounds to contribute to our collaborative and innovative research landscape.

Contact

For more details and application procedures, please reach out using the contact form.


For comprehensive information on the PhD program’s admission criteria at IIT Kanpur, please refer to the IIT Kanpur official website.