Applied and Integrated Photonics

The workshop Advanced Imaging and Analytical Methods for the Characterization of Microorganisms and Plants was held in Dalešice on October 21–22, 2025, under the Strategy AV21 – Sustainable food production and consumption.

The main topics included Raman spectroscopy, hyperspectral and multispectral imaging, as well as other techniques such as atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, microchip fabrication, and mass spectrometry.

The workshop successfully brought together experts from various universities, research institutes, scientific centers, and the industrial sector across the Czech Republic, who shared their latest insights and experience in this rapidly developing field.

Between October 15 and 17, 2025, our colleague Ing. Jakub Vejrosta took part in the international conference NANOCON 2025 held in Brno, where he won first place in the Best Poster Award competition.

His presented work, Active Bacterial Orientation for New Generation Biodevices, introduces progress in the active orientation of bacteria using acoustic waves. The research aims at developing biodegradable piezoelectric materials for advanced biosensing and biomedical applications.

Between September 23 and 25, 2025, our team visited the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) in Leipzig.

As part of the visit, Dr. Momír Šerý gave a talk entitled Advanced Spectral Methods and Instrument Design for Measurement of Microorganisms.

We greatly appreciate the warm welcome and the opportunity for fruitful scientific exchange.

We are proud to announce that a collaborative work by researchers from our institute was featured on the cover of the latest issue of Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B (JVST B), May/June 2025, Volume 43, Number 3.

The cover image, captured during plasma diagnostics experiments, is credited to Lukáš Šilhan, Jon Ander Arregi, Tomáš Plichta, Ondřej Vaculík, Jan Novotný, and Mojmír Šerý.

The corresponding article is available in JVST B 43(3) and can be accessed via DOI: 10.1116/6.0004296.

Congratulations to all authors for this achievement!

On May 5, 2025, we had the pleasure of welcoming a team of distinguished researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Leipzig, led by group leader Dr. Klaus Zimmer, for a scientific seminar held in the lecture hall of our Institute.

The visit was part of a growing collaboration, as our colleague Lukáš Šilhan recently completed a research stay at IOM, where he gained valuable experience and established close scientific connections. This beneficial visit, which extended over several days, culminated in the joint preparation of a project proposal between the two Institutes.

The seminar featured two expert talks:

• Dr. Pierre Lorenz: "Atmospheric pressure pattern transfer by laser and plasma: benefits and problems"
• Dr. Martin Ehrhardt: "Laser-Induced Microplasma in Reactive Atmospheres – a Tool for Precision Etching"

We sincerely thank our guests for their inspiring presentations and the productive scientific exchange that followed.

On February 19, 2025, our Institute had the pleasure of welcoming Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Karel Žídek, Ph.D., from TOPTEC – Research Centre for Special Optics and Optoelectronic Systems, a division of the Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Together with his colleagues, Dr. Žídek visited our research group and toured several of our laboratories.

During the visit, he also gave an inspiring talk titled:
"Characterization of thin films: what can femtosecond pulses tell us about them?"

We thank Dr. Žídek and his team for an engaging visit and valuable scientific exchange.