Topics

This Fall 2009 session of ELEC 603 will be a course on nanoscale optical phenomena. Please come prepared for an intensely interactive discussion session on a plethora of interesting, and conceptually challenging, topics.

When preparing your paper, and the subsequent presentation, on your topic be prepared to spend time thinking about the physics. A good presentation will go deeper than Wikipedia, and most textbooks, while trying to build a conceptual framework that explains the topic. Mathematics can be used to support your presentation, but should not constitute the bulk of the material.

Week 1 : Introduction to ELEC 603 (Mark Knight)

We'll go over how the course will be structured, how discussions will take place, and sign up for presentation topics.

Week 2 : Research Talks

Jorge Zuloaga - "First principles description of the optical properties of nanorods"

Ryan Huschka - "Gene therapy related to plasmonics"

Week 3 : Plasmons (Sami El Smaili)

What is a plasmon? How is a bulk plasmon different than a surface plasmon polariton? What is a localized plasmon? What is a delocalized plasmon? Explain the physics of both types of plasmons. How is each type excited? What are the advantages of surface plasmons?

Week 4 : Fundamentals of Plasmon Hybridization (Matt Turner & Nick King)

What is plasmon hybridization? When is it used? What can it describe? What are the advantages of plasmon hybridization over other theoretical methods?

Week 5 : Advanced Plasmon Hybridization (Shaunak Mukherjee & Sterling Noelck)

How is plasmon hybridization applied to advanced systems? Is it still useful beyond the quasistatic limit? When does it break down? What systems can and can't be solved analytically?

Week 6 : Absorption and Scattering (Chenghao Shu)

What is the underlying microscopic explanation for how a plasmonic particle absorbs? What gives rise to scattering? How does absorption vary, compared with scattering, in both absolute and relative terms when the particle size changes?

Week 7 : Research Talks

Liane Slaughter - "Size Matters: Not Just the Aspect Ratio"

Lisa Brown - "Fano Resonances and Directional Excitation in Plasmonic Dimers Formed by Controlled Surface Migration of Gold Nanoparticles and Nanoshells"

Dan Ward - "Recent Advances in Single Molecule Electrical / Optical Measurements"

Week 8 : Virtual States (Jared Day, Thomas Searles & Zheng Li)

In general, where can you find virtual states? Where do virtual states appear in plasmonics? Conceptually, what is a virtual state?

Week 9 : Singlet oxygen (Ryan Huschka & Quang Nguyen)

What is singlet oxygen? What are the potential applications? What is the connection between singlet oxygen and plasmonics?

Week 10 : Hot electrons (David Solis & Liane Slaughter)

What is a hot electron? What are some examples of hot electron usage? How can they be generated & manipulated with plasmonics?

Week 11 : Waveguiding (Pattanawit Swanglap)

What is required of a plasmon waveguide? What are the best options now?

Week 12 : Research Talks

Kui Bao - "Emission Polarization of a Thin Long Wire"

Yanpeng Wu - "Finite-Difference Time-Domain Modeling of the Optical Properties of Nanoparticles near Dielectric Substrates"

Heidar Sobhani Khakestar - "Strong Dispersive Coupling Between Modes"

Week 13 : Silicon Photonics (Guest Speaker: Prof. Qianfan Xu)

Why is silicon a good material for photonics? When is it used? What are the emerging applications for silicon photonics?

Week 14 : Quantum Dots (Lisa Brown & Chance Mooney)

What is a quantum dot? How do they work? How are they used?

Week 15 : SPASERS (Ainur Koshkinbbayeva & Yu Zhang)

What is a SPASER? How do they work? How are people trying to make them? (recommended paper)

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Topics for Extra Reading

Extra topic 1 : Fabrication Techniques

How are these nanophotonic devices made?

Extra topic 2 : Plasmonic Sensing (SERS, LSPR, SEFS)

A discussion of how plasmonics can be used for enhanced sensing.

Extra topic 3 : Metamaterials

What is a metamaterial? How do they work? What can they be used for?