Seminar - Leila Yousefi

Wednesday, July 19, 2017 2:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Speaker

Leila Yousefi, Assistant Professor, Nano Photonics and Metamaterial Research Group, University of Tehran and Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo

Topic

Controlling Light at Nanoscale using Plasmonics and Optical Metamaterials

Abstract

Although novel nanoscale transistors used in modern microprocessors are extremely fast, the limited bandwidth of electronic interconnects restricts the overall processing speed. Photonic interconnects, on the contrary, can carry data much faster than does the electronic interconnects. However, the down scaling of photonic components is restricted to the diffraction limit, which restrains the dimension of photonic circuits to the operation wavelength on hundreds of nanometers.

In recent years, surface plasmon polariton–based photonics, or ‘‘plasmonics’’ has provided a solution to this dilemma. Photonic circuits developed based on plasmonic theory, and/or using optical metamaterials, carry fast optical signals, and simultaneously have nanoscale dimensions. In other words, plasmonics can enable us to control the light at nanoscale.

In this talk, we review the exciting field of plasmonics, and optical metamaterials and discuss the recent progress in the development of nano-photonic devices such as nano-antennas, optical interconnects, hyperbolic metamaterial-based active devices, graphene-based THz active devices, and efficient plasmonic solar cells. As the most recent progress in the field, novel plasmonic materials based on transparent conducting oxides and ceramics will be introduced, and their superior properties will be discussed. Finally, we will explore the potential directions of this field in future.

Speaker's Biography

Leila Yousefi received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2000 and 2003, respectively, and her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, in 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo studying metamaterials, miniaturized antennas, electromagnetic bandgap structures, and MIMO systems. In 2011, she joined the Integrated Optics Lab in Johns Hopkins University as a Postdoctoral Researcher where she worked on nanophotonics, and plasmonics. In 2013, she joined the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, as an Assistant Professor. She is currently an Assistant Professor and the director of the Nano-Photonics and Metamaterials Research Lab at the University of Tehran and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests include nanophotonics, plasmonics, and metamaterials.


This talk is part of the Electromagnetics Seminar Series. Please contact Professor Omar M. Ramahi (oramahi@uwaterloo.ca) regarding this or any other Electromagnetics Series seminars.