Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell is an expert in integrated photonics who works with academics and industry to create technology solutions with real world impact.
Prof Mitchell has built RMIT’s capability in photonics (the science of using and manipulating light) over his 20-year career through national and international collaboration.
His research focuses on multi-disciplinary microtechnology – the technology that enables an entire computer with billions of functional electronic components that come together on a chip the size of your fingernail. However, rather than only creating circuits that can control electronic signals, Prof Mitchell uses microtechnology to create circuits which can also control fluids, vibrations and even light.
These multi-disciplinary microchips can be used for a vast array of applications including detecting diseases in blood, measuring contaminants in the ocean, monitoring the structural integrity of bridges, guiding the trajectory of spacecraft and submarines and transmitting and processing vast quantities of digital information.
Research projects
Uncovering what lies beneath our cities – all with our internet’s optical fibres
From ensuring our homes don’t crack to keeping our skyscrapers standing tall – understanding our city’s bedrock is foundational. Our researchers are repurposing the optical fibres already buried beneath Melbourne to map what lies beneath – all without digging a single hole.
More accurately mapping Australia’s earthquake-prone areas using our internet’s optical fibres
Using the same underground optical fibres that transmit our internet, researchers think they will be able to measure our Earth’s tremors more accurately than ever before.
Connecting internet superhighways to keep up with data demands
A team of researchers from Monash, RMIT, University of Adelaide and the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications have created a fingernail-sized chip to more efficiently route our internet’s data to its destination.
Observing the tiny wobble of a star more accurately to find earth-like planets
Making the world’s most accurate colour ruler smaller and more robust will bring us one step closer to finding habitable planets like our Earth.
Securing our supply chain: Designing for scale up from day one
Disrupted chip supply chains – exposed during COVID-19 – and slow iteration cycles significantly slow research progress in Australia. The COMBS Infrastructure Committee is working to secure diverse fabrication pathways and future-proof microcomb scalability, aiming to make them as accessible as consumer electronics.
Building trust between scientists and policymakers for evidence-based decision making
As a researcher, how do you help politicians create good policy, make good decisions and invest effectively in the future of our nation? At COMBS, we’re equipping our members with the skills to become trusted advisors, guiding evidence-based policies for all Australians.
Towards an Australian GPS solution: Precise timekeeping and measurement in a thumbnail-sized piece of glass
What would happen if the USA-based GPS were switched off? At COMBS, we’re developing smaller, tougher atomic clocks for compact, cost-effective Australian satellites.