Description:

Abstract: The quantum conception of light consisting of particles of discrete energy, or photons, underlies its interaction with matter. For solid materials, this understanding has led to transformational applications both as conventional as sensor and display technologies and as extraordinary as lasers. Despite this ubiquity, advances in materials continue to reveal nuances in the interaction of light with matter. The emergence of layered materials of atomic-scale thickness presents a new two-dimensional (2D) landscape in which to play with the interaction between photons and matter, revealing diverse opportunities for control based on morphology, surface chemistry, and electromagnetic environment. I will describe how the unique features of layered materials can be harnessed for generating and exploring optical phenomena. The properties of 2D materials give rise to spin-polarized half-light, half-matter superpositions that can be manipulated at picosecond timescales like a two-level spin. Reducing the dimensionality allows quantum emission of light that can be tailored using molecular functionalization, exploiting the surface chemistry of 2D materials. The polarization-sensitivity of these materials can be an ingredient of chiral interactions with light when integrated with photonic circuits. The confluence of spin, quantum emission, and quantum control available by combining low-dimensional materials with polarized light expands the toolbox for engineering quantum optical applications.

Speaker: Professor Nathaniel Stern, Northwestern University

Host: Michael Bedzyk