PHAS Colloquia

Photons, plasmons, and polaritons: optical phenomena in complex materials

by Stephanie Law (University of Delaware)

Tuesday, 6 April 2021 from to (America/Chicago)
Description
Speaker: Dr. Stephanie Law (Material Science and Engineering, University of Delaware)

Title: Photons, plasmons, and polaritons: optical phenomena in complex materials

Abstract: When light interacts with complex materials, it can give rise to a variety of interesting phenomena. In this talk, I will first give a short explanation of how light interacts with materials. This will include a discussion of plasmon polaritons, a type of quasiparticle that arises from the strong interaction of a photon with the electrons in a material. Plasmon polaritons can be used for a variety of applications including focusing and imaging below the diffraction limit of light, subdiffraction waveguiding, gas sensing, and many more. I will discuss our work on exciting and coupling plasmon polaritons in topological insulator thin films and layered structures. Topological insulators have two-dimensional surface states that house massless electrons, and the plasmon polaritons in these materials show unusual properties. I will discuss the dispersion of these modes and show record high mode indices and extremely long polariton lifetimes. I will close by discussing our work on semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials. These materials act optically metallic in one direction and transparent in the other direction. I will show our work demonstrating negative refraction (bending light backward) in these materials as well as their ability to house their own complex plasmon polariton modes.

About the speaker: Prof. Law is an Associate Professor in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She co-directs the UD Materials Growth Facility and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. She received her B.S. in Physics from Iowa State University and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She then held a postdoctoral position in the Electrical Engineering department at Illinois before moving to Delaware. Prof. Law has won the North American Molecular Beam Epitaxy Young Investigator award, the Department of Energy Early Career award, the AVS Peter Mark Memorial Award, the International Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy Young Investigator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

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Join Zoom Meeting by clicking the link in the material below or
https://zoom.us/j/9952917599?pwd=MHdiOFRIRG1kVFJ2a1JjVXczVEVnUT09

Meeting ID: 995 291 7599
Passcode: PHAS

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Please also visit Department Colloquia webpage. Please find the link below more information.

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Material
Organised by Wade DeGottardi/ CMP