Luis Aleman-Castaneda

About Me

I work primarily in fluorescence polarization microscopy, designing and developing new techniques for ensemble or single-molecule scenarios. My aim is to create high-performance methods that are simple to implement and supported by computationally efficient data analysis. My work combines theory, numerical simulations, and experiments, including understanding theoretical limitations, implementing optical setups, performing data analysis, and conducting and improving parameter estimation.

In addition, I enjoy modeling and working on optical systems beyond microscopy (such as interferometry) especially those that require, or benefit from, exploiting all the degrees of freedom of light (intensity, phase, and polarization). Recently, I have also begun collaborating on elastography, exploring and designing optical systems to study mechanical waves in tissues for biomedical applications.

Research interests: materials anisotropy, birefringence, geometric phase optics, polarization optics, mathematical and numerical simulation of optical systems, and super-resolution microscopy techniques.

Career summary

I completed my bachelor’s degree in physics at UNAM (Mexico) and carried out an internship on birefringent materials and ray tracing under the supervision of Dr. Martha Rosete at ICAT (formerly CCADET). I then obtained a joint PhD from the University of Rochester (USA) and Aix Marseille Université (France), working under the supervision of Dr. Miguel Alonso. My PhD thesis focused on structured light, a concept that refers to the study, generation, and applications of light whose intensity, phase, and/or polarization exhibit spatial variations that endow it with interesting or useful properties. During this time, I had the opportunity to work on a broad range of topics, such as non-imaging optics, interferometry, microscopy, and elastography.

After completing my PhD, I carried out a two-year postdoc at Institut Fresnel and Centrale Méditerranée, working exclusively on microscopy. There, I focused on single-molecule orientation and localization microscopy techniques capable of simultaneously measuring both the 3D position and 3D orientation of individual molecules within a sample. I recently obtained an associate professor position at Centrale Méditerranée, allowing me to continue my research at Institute Fresnel, where I primarily work on fluorescence polarization microscopy.

Throught out all my career teaching has been an essential part. I've taught in english, spanish and french, from bachelor to PhD level courses. I've had the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant at both UNAM and University of Rochester, as well as professor at Centrale Méditerrranée and as an invited professor at PUCP (Peru).