History and Mission

The Center for Research in Optics and Photonics, CePOF, is one of the 17 Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPIDs) supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). CePOF's mission is to develop basic and applied science, promote technological advances in optics, and foster broad interdisciplinary collaboration among the Center, private companies, and international partners.

CePOF currently consists of more than 300 people, including students, technicians, researchers, and administrative staff. At first glance, it may seem like just another university-based research project, but it is not. CePOF conducts basic research, applied research, technological innovation, and science dissemination with equal seriousness. In all these areas, CePOF's activities have impacts of various kinds.

In basic science, CePOF researchers work tirelessly to advance knowledge, particularly in atomic physics. Producing atoms at very low temperatures (-273°C), CePOF researchers have gained an international reputation for studying how light interacts with such samples, produced for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere the so-called Bose-Einstein condensates, and investigate one of the most challenging phenomena in current science: quantum turbulence. The basic research topics connect the São Carlos Center with the largest international centers and several important researchers, some of whom are Nobel Prize winners in Physics.

Our Center pioneered the study of quantum systems out of equilibrium, specifically quantum turbulence in trapped superfluids. CePOF's work on cold atoms put Brazil on the world map of low-temperature quantum system physics. Knowledge in atomic physics enabled the construction of the Brazilian Atomic Clock, placing the country among those investing in scientific time and frequency metrology. Thanks to this lab, the country has finally produced unprecedented work in metrology, such as the proposal of a compact cold atom clock, recognized even by major American companies as a relevant scientific project.

In applied physics, CePOF built excellent infrastructure for nanofabrication. The work conducted allows demonstration of new effects that enable the development of biosensors and quantum studies of radiation interaction with microscopic structures. Work in biophotonics has helped understand how light can interfere with living organisms' metabolism. Such studies have advanced biophotonics for new therapeutic techniques for various diseases. CePOF is a world pioneer in demonstrating photodynamic action for controlling fungicide-resistant fungi and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The proposal of a new method to fight pneumonia with extracorporeal illumination, demonstrated experimentally, highlights the importance of producing basic science to develop practical health applications. The fundamental understanding of how light interacts with turbid media and acts on microorganisms made these applications possible.