Super-Pixels: Redefining the way we sense the world.

We observe the world around us predominantly through the measurement of optical intensity. Although powerful, this leaves the other fundamental optical degrees of freedom, phase and polarisation massively under-utilized. Our tendency to solely use intensity results from the static sensor technology that is available, which offer very limited ability to dynamically reconfigure their function or perform any optical processing. In Super-Pixels we will co-develop a new integrated sensor platform that will revolutionize the way we process light to allow the full utilization of its fundamental properties. Redefining the core functionality of our sensor technology will radically impact the technology that is deployed in a broad spectrum of cross-disciplinary areas such as nano-particle detection, compact atmospheric corrected imaging systems, endoscopy, coherent communications and on-chip processing of structured light. This vision will be enabled by a compact and multi-functional photonic integrated chip that would be installed into phones, microscopes, cameras, communication and environmental monitoring systems, becoming central part of the way we collect and process optical information. In Super-pixels, we will create such an integrated photonics device that is based on a mesh of several hundred Mach-Zehnder interferometers, which will be used to dynamically map phase and polarization, with the ability to fully transform any optical field incident. A revolutionary prototype system will be delivered that will partner our Super-Pixels chip with a commercially available camera to enhance its functionality within a single frame of a camera. This prototype will support a number of potential applications that include visualising normally invisible nano-particles through phase mapping, imaging through multimode optical fibres, reconfigurable quantum communication links and mapping of airflow and particulates through phase and polarisation retrieval.