UoH Scientist Elected INSA Fellow for Work Advancing Organic Photonics
Prof Chandrasekar is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, and, according to the university, among the world’s top 2 two per cent of scientists in nanoscience and technology in the Stanford global ranking.
Hyderabad: Tiny organic crystals that can manipulate light could shape future communication, sensing and computing technologies, a research area that has earned University of Hyderabad scientist Prof. Rajadurai Chandrasekar election as Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
The appointment of Prof. Chandrasekar of the UoH School of Chemistry will be effective January next. He joins the academy’s distinguished group of scientists recognised for significant contributions to science. INSA’s citation specifically recognises his work on advanced organic photonic materials, crystal-based waveguides, lasers and circuits, and his pioneering work in mechanophotonics.
Prof Chandrasekar is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, and, according to the university, among the world’s top 2 two per cent of scientists in nanoscience and technology in the Stanford global ranking. He has also received the SERB-STAR Research Award, Materials Research Society of India Medal and YIM Boston Young Scientist Award. His score is 47 on the H-Index which measures the productivity and citation impact of a researcher's works.
Prof. Chandrasekar also serves on international editorial boards of journals in materials chemistry and science. His election places his work in organic photonics and mechanophotonics among the research recognised at the national academy level.
Prof. Chandrasekar’s research group develops miniature, all-organic photonic systems — essentially tiny devices in which organic crystals perform functions normally associated with conventional optical components. Such systems can guide, split, modulate and process light, opening possibilities in communications, sensing, computing, robotics and space technologies.
A statement said his group pioneered “mechanophotonics”, which uses mechanical manipulation of microscopic crystals to build reconfigurable organic photonic circuits. UoH research has demonstrated flexible organic crystal waveguides and circuits, including components that can be mechanically rearranged after fabrication.
The research is now moving towards AI-driven soft materials for programmable optical communication devices, supported by the J.C. Bose Grant, the university said. The work brings together AI, soft materials and photonics to develop optical devices whose functions can be programmed for different applications.