Sajeev John, University of Toronto
Photonic band gap materials: semiconductors of light
Join us for the next Quantum Frontiers Distinguished Lecture Series when Dr. Sajeev John will talk about light-trapping crystals.
Light refreshments will follow.
Abstract:
The 20th century has been the Age of Artificial Materials. The electronics revolution of the 20th century has been made possible through the ability of semiconductors to microscopically manipulate the flow electrons. Along this line of technological progress, many scientists around the world have suggested that the 21st century will be the Age of Photonics, in which artificial materials are synthesized to microscopically mould the flow of light on a micro-chip. PBG materials are light-trapping crystals that provide a versatile new platform for this to take place. This has applications for optical communications, information technology, solar energy harvesting, and medical diagnostics to name a few. They also offer a new frontier in fundamental science where unprecedented forms strong light-matter coupling are enabled with effects predicted such as above-room-temperature equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation.