Speaker
Abbas
Alighanbari
Visiting
Assistant
Professor,
University
of
Waterloo
Assistant
Professor,
Shiraz
University,
Shiraz,
Iran
Title
Plasmonics: Theory and Applications to Guiding, Sensing and Photovoltaics
Abstract
Collective oscillation of electrons on the surface of metals adjacent to a dielectric medium can sustain the propagation of infrared or visible electromagnetic waves. Such electromagnetic surface waves are known as surface plasmon-polaritons (SPP). SPPs are guided along metal-dielectric interfaces in similar fashion as light is guided by an optical waveguide, with the unique characteristic of sub-wavelength confinement perpendicular to the interface. The SPP can propagate along the surface of a metal, until energy is lost either via absorption in the metal or radiation into free-space. Locally resonant plasmonic nano-structures exhibit similar confinement characteristics. Photonic integration will improve by using plasmonic interconnects, couplers, filters, and guiding structures, instead of conventional photonic counterparts. Several other applications of SPPs are under investigation. For instance, as plasmons are sensitive to the properties of the adjacent materials, various sensing and detection structures are being considered. Absorption enhancement in photovoltaic cells, optical switches, and photo-detectors are under extensively study. Subwavelength microscopy, lithography beyond the diffraction limit of light, photonic data storage, light generation, and bio-photonics are other topics of interest in the field. In this talk, basic theory, applications, and some recent work on the above topics will be presented.
Speaker Biography
Please contact Professor Omar M. Ramahi with any questions concerning this or any other Electromagnetics Series seminars.