Photonics Communications Research Laboratory

Photonics Communications Research Laboratory PCRL is as a research facility of the ECE School of NTUA. http://photonics.ntua.gr/

✨We are proud to share the successful PhD presentation of Argyris Ntanos at Photonics Communications Research Laboratory...
26/05/2026

✨We are proud to share the successful PhD presentation of Argyris Ntanos at Photonics Communications Research Laboratory!

His thesis, titled:

“Experimental Implementation and Performance Modelling of QKD in Fiber, Free-Space and Satellite Networks”

focuses on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and the future of ultra-secure communications in the quantum era.

Argyris’ research spans optical fiber, free-space optical links, and satellite quantum communications, contributing to the development of technologies that could secure tomorrow’s global communication networks against the challenges posed by quantum computing.

His work combines experimental implementations, real-world testing, and advanced system modelling, helping bridge the gap between cutting-edge academic research and practical deployment of quantum communication systems.

We are especially proud that this work is part of PCRL’s pioneering activity in quantum communications research in Greece, an area introduced and actively developed by members of our laboratory over the past years.

Beyond academia, Argyris and his colleagues also co-founded QRBIT, a spin-off company aiming to accelerate the development of optical and quantum technologies and support the next generation of quantum and satellite-based communication systems.

👏 Congratulations to Argyris on this important achievement, and best wishes for continued success in both research and innovation!

15/05/2026

🌍 International Day of Light 16 May💡

Light is everywhere around us.
It connects people, drives innovation and helps us better understand the world.

This year’s International Day of Light theme, “Light for a Sustainable Future”, reminds us of the important role that photonics and optical communications can play in creating greener, smarter and more connected societies.

At Photonics Communications Research Laboratory, light is at the core of our research, our collaborations and our everyday inspiration.

Because every discovery starts with curiosity…
and every breakthrough begins with light. ✨

Happy International Day of Light 2026!

🔙 Throwback Thursday to 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗖𝗥𝗟.Back in 1993, the Photonics Communications Research Laboratory was...
07/05/2026

🔙 Throwback Thursday to 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗖𝗥𝗟.

Back in 1993, the Photonics Communications Research Laboratory was just an idea—brought to life by Prof. Hercules Avramopoulos, with a bold 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗲.

An idea supported by the generous donation of $1 million worth of equipment from AT&T. That year the Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο - National Technical University of Athens formally accepted this donation during a ceremony, which was covered by the media.

📰 A newspaper article covering this milestone found its way to a young engineer, Thanos Papakyriakopoulos, who was at the time considering pursuing his PhD abroad. Instead, inspired by PCRL’s vision, he picked up the phone and called Prof. Avramopoulos.

☕ They met at a coffee shop in Zappeion.

They talked about ideas, ambitions, and what they hoped to build.

There was alignment. There was trust. There was a shared belief that something meaningful could be created together.

✨ Thanos became the very first member of PCRL.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

🚀 Σπουδαία ανακοίνωση από το PCRL 🚀Με ιδιαίτερη (και καθόλου υπερβολική 😇) χαρά, σας παρουσιάζουμε το νέο μας επίτευγμα:...
01/04/2026

🚀 Σπουδαία ανακοίνωση από το PCRL 🚀

Με ιδιαίτερη (και καθόλου υπερβολική 😇) χαρά, σας παρουσιάζουμε το νέο μας επίτευγμα:

🔬 Τον πρώτο στον κόσμο μηδενικής καθυστέρησης, άπειρου bandwidth, αυτοτροφοδοτούμενο photonic σύνδεσμο, που μεταδίδει δεδομένα… πριν καν δημιουργηθούν.

Ναι, καλά διαβάσατε.

Με τη βοήθεια κβαντικά διεμπλεκόμενων φωτονίων, προηγμένων αλγορίθμων τεχνητής νοημοσύνης και λίγης… δημιουργικής φυσικής, καταφέραμε να στείλουμε πληροφορία πίσω στον χρόνο.

👉 Πιθανές εφαρμογές:
• Να απαντάς σε emails πριν στα στείλουν
• Να ξέρεις τι θα σου ζητήσει ο καθηγητής πριν το meeting
• Να προλαβαίνεις deadlines… για πρώτη φορά στην ιστορία 😄

Πιστεύουμε ότι η ανακάλυψη αυτή ανοίγει νέους ορίζοντες στην επικοινωνία — και ίσως τραβήξει και την προσοχή της επιτροπής των Nobel (χωρίς πίεση 😉).

Περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες σύντομα… ή ίσως έχουν ήδη ανακοινωθεί στο μέλλον.

30/03/2026

Με μεγάλη χαρά υποδεχθήκαμε σήμερα στο ΕΜΠ μαθητές της Γ’ Λυκείου από το 5ο Λύκειο Ιλίου! 😊

Οι μαθητές, που ενδιαφέρονται να συνεχίσουν τις σπουδές τους σε Πολυτεχνικές σχολές, είχαν την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσουν από κοντά τη Σχολή Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Μηχανικών Υπολογιστών (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering NTUA) και να έρθουν σε επαφή με σύγχρονους τομείς της τεχνολογίας.

Κατά τη διάρκεια της επίσκεψης:
🔹 παρακολούθησαν παρουσίαση από τον Καθ. Ηρακλή Αβραμόπουλο
🔹 ξεναγήθηκαν στο εργαστήριο Φωτονικών Επικοινωνιών (Photonics Communications Research Laboratory)
🔹 επισκέφθηκαν το Εργαστήριο Υψηλών Τάσεων (High Voltage Laboratory National Technical University of Athens)

Ευχαριστούμε πολύ για την επίσκεψη και ευχόμαστε σε όλα τα παιδιά καλή επιτυχία στις εξετάσεις και στις μελλοντικές τους επιλογές! 🎓

Θα χαρούμε να σας ξαναδούμε σύντομα!

📢 𝗣𝗖𝗥𝗟 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗙𝗖 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲The Photonics Communications Research Laboratory (PCRL) will participate in the Optical Fiber Communic...
13/03/2026

📢 𝗣𝗖𝗥𝗟 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗙𝗖 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

The Photonics Communications Research Laboratory (PCRL) will participate in the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition 2026 (OFC 2026), one of the most important international conferences in optical communications.

Ms 𝗘𝘃𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗶𝗸𝗶 𝗞𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘇𝗶, Research Scientist at PCRL, will present the paper:

📄 “𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗗𝗡-𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝟬.𝟰𝟴 𝗧𝗯/𝘀 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁/𝗜𝗠-𝗗𝗗 𝟬.𝟳𝟱 𝗸𝗺 𝗙𝗦𝗢/𝗙𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.”

The work demonstrates a 0.48 Tb/s hybrid Free-Space Optics / fiber system, combining coherent and IM-DD technologies with SDN capabilities and highlighting the potential of hybrid optical architectures for future ultra-high-capacity connectivity.

📍 Session: High Speed Coherent FSO (M1H)
🕗 Presentation: M1H.3
📅 March 16, 2026
⏰ 8:30 – 8:45 AM (Pacific Time)
📌 Room 502B

If you are attending OFC 2026, we would be happy to meet and exchange ideas with the global optical communications community!

🔬✨ Σήμερα είχαμε τη χαρά να υποδεχθούμε 80 μαθητές και μαθήτριες Α΄ και Β΄ Λυκείου, Θετικής Κατεύθυνσης, από την Εράσμει...
18/02/2026

🔬✨ Σήμερα είχαμε τη χαρά να υποδεχθούμε 80 μαθητές και μαθήτριες Α΄ και Β΄ Λυκείου, Θετικής Κατεύθυνσης, από την Εράσμειος Ελληνογερμανική Σχολή | Επίσημη Σελίδα Σχολής🎓

Η επίσκεψη ξεκίνησε με μια ιδιαίτερα εμπνευσμένη παρουσίαση του Καθηγητή Ηρακλή Αβραμόπουλου για τη Σχολή Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών & Μηχανικών Υπολογιστών και τις επιλογές που ανοίγονται μπροστά στους αυριανούς μηχανικούς 🚀

Ακολούθησε ξενάγηση στο εργαστήριό μας, όπου οι μαθητές γνώρισαν τα ερευνητικά μας αντικείμενα στους τομείς των οπτικών επικοινωνιών και της φωτονικής 💡

Ευχαριστούμε θερμά την Εράσμειο Σχολή για την επίσκεψη και ευχόμαστε στα παιδιά καλή επιτυχία στις μελλοντικές τους επιλογές! 🌟

📍 Photonics Communications Research Laboratory
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering NTUA
Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο - National Technical University of Athens

23/12/2025

✨𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼!🎄

Last night, the PCRL Christmas party brought together current and former members of our lab, along with their families, for an evening full of laughter, memories, and festive cheer.

It was truly wonderful to reconnect with old friends and celebrate the season over good food and drinks.

Wishing all our friends a joyful Christmas season!

19/12/2025

🎄 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔!

Wishing you and your families health, joy, and peaceful holidays.
May the new year bring inspiration and new opportunities.

✨ 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝒞𝑅𝐿 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓂 ✨

✨ 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱! ✨We celebrated this special day at Photonics Communications Research Laboratory with a wo...
21/10/2025

✨ 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱! ✨

We celebrated this special day at Photonics Communications Research Laboratory with a wonderful presentation by Prof. Hercules Avramopoulos, who founded our laboratory from scratch 30 years ago!

He took us through PCRL’s fascinating journey — from the early years when everything started with a generous donation of lab equipment from AT&T Bell Labs, to the first pioneering experiments and publications that still inspire researchers today.

We heard stories about the first PhD students, the growth of the lab through research projects, and how PCRL evolved from blue-sky research to applied innovation — and finally to its third, fractal phase, where teams of senior and younger researchers collaborate and create together.

After this inspiring talk and heartfelt discussion, we celebrated the Greek way — with souvlakia and good company at a nearby taverna! 🍢🥂

As this third phase of PCRL slowly gives way to a new, fourth era, we look forward to new challenges, fresh ideas, and exciting opportunities ahead. 🌟

Here’s to the next chapter — and until next year’s Day of Photonics! 💫

🔗 Learn more about us: https://photonics.ntua.gr

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9 Iroon Polytechniou Str
Athens
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