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Title: Engineering Light-matter Interaction at the Nanoscale: Highly Resonant Optical Nanostructures and Mechanical Manipulation Techniques
Abstract: Nanotechnology has enabled engineering the interaction of light and matter at a subwavelength scale, leading to numerous breakthroughs such as label-free optical detection of single biomolecules, or the demonstration of efficient flat optical elements. In this talk, I will introduce three distinct approaches that leverage micro- and nanostructures to manipulate light-matter interaction, facilitating the creation of novel optical devices and techniques for mechanical manipulation. First, I will discuss the design of highly resonant flat optical elements that show a strong interaction with light and, as a result, exhibit enhanced optical nonlinearity and characteristics that are highly sensitive to external stimuli for active reconfiguration. Next, I will show how the extraordinary optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides can be employed to dynamically modulate visible light by electrically tuning excitonic material resonances. Finally, I will present a powerful method for the mechanical manipulation of an object by light that leverages the object's nanostructuring. These advancements have the potential for a profound impact on the development of light-based propulsion, chip-based hardware for quantum technology, and compact imaging and sensing devices for consumer electronics.
About the Speaker: Dr. Claudio Hail is a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech's Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science under the guidance of Prof. Harry Atwater. Claudio's research centers around highly resonant dielectric optical nanostructures and optomechanics. Prior to joining Caltech, he earned his PhD at ETH Zurich in 2020 in the group of Prof. Dimos Poulikakos, where he developed a technique for the on-demand nanoprinting of single fluorescent molecules and optical materials for structural coloring. Claudio has been honored with the Fulbright Fellowship, the ETH silver medal, and is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
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