R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminars |
Events During the Week of October 8th through October 15th, 2017
Monday, October 9th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Tuesday, October 10th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Wednesday, October 11th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Thursday, October 12th, 2017
- All-Dielectric Optical Metamaterials
- Time: 10:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Jason Valentine , Vanderbilt University
- Abstract:
Optical metamaterials are man-made materials in which structuring is used to control the effective optical properties. Using the engineering freedom associated with structuring, researchers have utilized metamaterials for a number of exotic applications including sub-diffraction limit imaging and cloaking. However, absorption loss has been a major impediment to the adoption of metamaterials in practical applications. This absorption loss arises due to ohmic damping in the metals that traditionally comprise the unit cell. In this talk, I will discuss all-dielectric metamaterials in which metal, and the accompanying absorption, is completely avoided. As with their metallic counterparts, manipulation of the unit cell structure of all-dielectric metamaterials offers a means to engineer a wide variety of optical properties. Along these lines, I will discuss several implementations of all-dielectric metasurfaces with functionalities that include polarization control, wavefront tailoring, near-unity reflection, and sharp Fano resonances. The freedom to achieve a wide variety of optical properties, combined with the reduction in absorption loss, could lead to ultra-thin optical elements including lenses, waveplates and sensors as well as more complex assemblies of these elements in the form of metaoptics.
- Host: Brar
Friday, October 13th, 2017
- *** SPECIAL TIME ***
- Revealing Interactions in Complex Systems with Coherent Multi-Dimensional Spectroscopy
- Time: 11:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Jeffrey Davis, Swinburne University of Technology-Melbourne Australia
- Abstract: Multidimensional coherent spectroscopies are designed to identify and quantify interactions between quasi-particles. The nature of these interactions can vary from simple population transfer or coherent coupling, through to more complex higher-order correlations and many-body effects. The challenge with these measurements is being able to extract the salient information. We have developed methods that selectively probe specific quantum pathways, which allows us to access details of weak interactions that are otherwise hidden in complex systems. In this seminar, I will discuss some of the insights we have been able to gain in a range of sample systems, from photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes, through to coupled semiconductor nanostructures, and high-Tc cuprate superconductors.
- Host: Deniz Yavuz