Prof.
Vladimir
M.
Shalaev
ECE Dept.
Purdue University
Seminar will take place in
Ford ITW Auditorium at 2:00pm
Enabling Nanophotonics,
Data
Storage
and Energy Conversion
with New
Plasmonic
Materials
Abstract:
Over
the
past
decade,
one of
the major
focal
points
for
the area
of nanophotonics
has
been
developing
a new
class of
“plasmonic”
structures
and
“metamaterials”
as potential
building
blocks
for
advanced
optical technologies,
including
data
processing,
exchange
and
storage;
a new
generation
of cheap,
enhanced-sensitivity
sensors;
nanoscale-
resolution
imaging
techniques;
new
concepts
for
energy
conversion
including
improved
solar cells,
as well
as novel
types
of light
sources.
Designing
plasmonic
metamaterials
with versatile
properties
that can
be
tailored
to fit
almost
any
practical
need
promises
a range
of potential
breakthroughs.
However,
to enable
these new
technologies
based
on plasmonics,
grand
limitations
associated
with the
use
of metals
as constituent
materials
must
be
overcome.
In the
structures
demonstrated
so
far,
too
much
light
is absorbed
in the
metals
(such
as silver
and
gold)
commonly
used
in plasmonic
metamaterials.
The
fabrication
and
integration
of metal
nanostructures
with existing
semiconductor
technology
is challenging,
and
the materials
need
to be
more
precisely
tuned
so
that they
possess
the proper
optical
properties
to
enable
the required
functionality.
Our
recent
research
aims
at
developing
novel
plasmonic
materials
(other
than the
metals
used
so
far)
that will
form
the basis
for
future
low-loss,
CMOS-compatible
devices
that could
enable
full-
scale
development
of the
plasmonic
and metamaterial technologies. In
this
work, we
replace
metals
in plasmonic
metamaterials
by
new
plasmonic
ceramics
such
as transition
metal nitrides,
whose
properties
resemble
those
of gold.
However,
unlike
gold,
these materials
have
adjustable/tunable
optical
properties,
they
are cost-effective,
robust,
refractory
(withstanding
very
high
temperatures)
and
compatible
with standard
semiconductor
processing.
Here,
we will
demonstrate
that titanium
nitride’s
addition
to the
short
list
of plasmonic
materials
paves
the way
to
a new
class
of data
recording systems and
CMOS-compatible,
on-chip hybrid
nanophotonic
devices with
unprecedented compactness, speed, and
efficiency
as well
as to
novel
energy
conversion
schemes.
In this talk, the new material platform as well as novel designs and concepts for nanophotonic devices, data storage and energy conversion will be discussed.