ECE Seminar with Vinod Menon

Control of Light-Matter Interaction Using Dispersion Engineered Photonic Structures With Vinod M. Menon, Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics, Department of Physics, The City University of New York - Queens College & Graduate Center Faculty Host: Luca Dal Negro Refreshments will be served outside Room 339 at 3:45 p.m. Abstract: The interaction of light with matter can be engineered by controlling the photonic density of states (PDOS). In this talk, I will discuss two different types of dispersion engineered structures to control PDOS that exploit light-matter quasiparticles: plasmon polaritons and exciton polaritons. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our work on engineering the topology of the iso-frequency surface using strongly anisotropic metamaterials as a means to modify the PDOS [1]. The transition in the topology of the iso-frequency surface from a closed ellipsoid to an open hyperboloid manifests itself in increased rates of spontaneous emission of emitters positioned in the near-field of the metamaterial. Approaches to enhance light extraction from such structures, metal free systems and potential applications will also be discussed. Subsequently, I will discuss our recent work on using photons as a “glue” to realize hybrid states of fundamentally different excitons in organic and inorganic semiconductors [2]. By engineering the dispersion of an optical microcavity embedded with the two systems, we show the formation of organic-inorganic exciton-photon quasiparticles with emergent properties. The prospects for realizing enhanced nonlinear optical response from such hybrid systems and their use in all-optical signal processing will also be discussed. [1] “Topological transitions in metamaterials,” H. Krishnamoorthy, Z. Jacob, E. Narimanov, I. Kretzschmar, and V. M. Menon, Science, vol. 336, no. 205, 2012. [2] “Room temperature Frenkel-Wannier-Mott hybridization of degenerate excitons in a strongly coupled microcavity,” M. Slootsky, X. Liu, V. M. Menon* and S. R. Forrest*, Physical Review Letters (2014) – In Press. [Preprint: http://lanmp.org/hybrid_polariton_v10(PRL).pdf] About the Speaker: Vinod Menon is an Associate Professor of Physics at Queens College & Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He joined CUNY as part of the Photonic Initiative in 2004. Prior to joining CUNY he was a research staff member at Princeton University (2003-04). He joined Princeton as the Lucent Bell Labs Post Doctoral Fellow in Photonics in 2001. He received his M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Hyderabad, India, in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in 2001. His current research interests include metamaterials for controlling light-matter interaction, polariton circuits using wide bandgap materials, coherent control of energy transfer in molecular systems and engineered nonlinear optical materials using hybrid nanocomposites. More details about his research interests and publications can be found at: www.lanmp.org