Boston University Electrical & Computer Engineering

Full title: Negative Index Metamaterials and Their Applications to Sub-diffraction Imaging and Infrared Light Harvesting

Speaker: Gennady Shvets, University of Texas at Austin


Abstract:

A MetaMaterial is a man-made medium constructed out of carefully engineered building blocks (unit cells) that has electromagnetic propert...ies unattainable in natural materials. One such property is the negative refractive index which requires that both the dielectric permittivity and negative permeability turn negative. Negative refractive index dramatically alters many well-known phenomena such as the Snell’s Law, Doppler Effect, and the Abbe’s Limit on the resolution of a microscope. While the possibility of negative index materials (NIMs) has been theoretically predicted 1960’s by a Soviet physicist Victor Veselago, there were fabricated and tested only during the past decade, and mainly in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because most exciting applications are found in the optical part of the spectrum, there is considerable effort aimed at developing optical NIMs [2] and using them to beat the Abbe’s diffraction limit. One of the main challenges is to make a metamaterial exhibiting optical magnetism. I will review the progress in the field and the role of plasmonics in building nanostructured NIMs. Our theoretical and experimental efforts aimed at developing mid-infrared NIMs and superlenses will be described. Experimental demonstration of a near-field super-lens in the mid-infrared (around 11 microns) range will be described. The lens is implemented using crystalline SiC films that have remarkable infrared properties: they support surface polaritons with less damping than most metals. Both amplitude and phase-sensitive imaging is demonstrated. It is also demonstrated that super-lensing can be used for sub-surface imaging with a λ/20 [1] spatial resolution. Applications to biologically-relevant imaging through water in nanofluidic channels will be discussed, as well as new approaches to imaging the near field using far-field diagnostics (Far-field SuperLens). Applications of metamaterials to harvesting infrared radiation [3] and mid-infrared index sensing will also be reviewed.


About the Speaker:

Gennady Shvets is an Associate Professor of Physics at The University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1995. He has been on the Physics faculty at the University of Texas at Austin since 2004. Previously he has held research positions at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and was on the faculty of the Illinois Institute of Technology. His research interests include nano-photonics, meta-materials with exotic optical properties (especially negative index), near field optics, laser processing of materials on a nanoscale, and advanced particle accelerators. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100 papers in the refereed journals, including Science, Nature Physics, Nature Materials, Physical Review Letters, and Applied Physics Letters. Dr. Shvets was a Department of Energy Postdoctoral Fellow in 1995-96. He was a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2000. His research is supported by DOE, NSF, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO.

Professor Shvets is one of the pioneers in the emerging fields of Negative Index Metamaterials (NIM). He is part of the DARPA-funded team lead by the Boeing Phantom Works Corporation investigating NIMs-based ultra-compact antennas and near-field imaging devices. He has also contributed to developing and experimentally implementing the concept of the Perfect Lens based on polaritonic materials. Perfect Lens enables imaging of sub-wavelength objects in the in infrared part of the spectrum, including objects buried under the surface. This work was published in the journal Science in 2006. Professor Shvets also pioneered the concept of Sub-wavelength Plasmonic Crystals and developed their applications to sub-wavelength Negative Index Materials in the optical part of the spectrum. With his collaborators, he developed novel techniques for analyzing optical properties of plasmonic nanostructures, including band-structure calculations of periodic plasmonic nanostructures and quasi-static calculations of plasmonic resonances. His recent work deals with the applications of metamaterials to infrared light harvesting, index sensing in mid-infrared, nonlinear and “slow-light” devices, and chiral metamaterials.Read More

Speaker: Andrei Khrennikov, University of Vaxjo, Sweden

Abstract:
Pre-quantum classical statistical field theory (PCSFT) will be discussed. In this approach to quantum phenomena, quantum systems are described by classical random fields, e.g., electromagnetic field (instead of photon), electron field or neutron field. P...CSFT describes even composite quantum systems; in particular, entangled systems. It is well known that in QM, unlike classical mechanics, the state of a composite system is described by the tensor product of state spaces for its subsystems. In PCSFT one can still use Cartesian product, but state spaces are spaces of classical fields (not particles). In particular, entanglement appears naturally as the correlation of classical random fields. Thus entanglement appears in the theory very naturally.


About the speaker:
Prof. Andrei Khrennikov is the director of International center for mathematical modeling in physics, engineering and cognitive science, University of Växjö, Sweden, which was created 8 years ago to perform interdisciplinary research.

Two series of conferences on quantum foundations (especially probabilistic aspects) were established on the basis of this center: "Foundations of Probability and Physics" and "Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations". These series became well known in the quantum community (including quantum information groups). Hundreds of theoreticians (physicists and mathematicians), experimenters and even philosophers participated in these conferences presenting a huge diversity of views to quantum foundations.

Prof. Andrei Khrennikov published about 300 papers in internationally recognized journals in mathematics, physics and biology and 9 monographs — in p-adic and non-Archimedean analysis with applications to mathematical physics and cognitive sciences as well as foundations of probabilityu theory.Read More

Speaker: Dr. Michael Goldstein, Intel Corporation

Abstract:
Nanolithography resolution is scaling at a remarkable pace. The first microprocessor was fabricated in 1971 on a 10µm technology and contained just 2300 transistors. Today, leading edge fabrication achieves 32nm feature resolution and upcoming products will hav...e ~2 billion transistors. The number of contact holes fabricated on a single wafer can now exceed the number of stars in our galaxy. Perhaps even more significant, though, is the globally pervasive use of semiconductors and the economic impact of continued scaling on society.

This presentation will examine the integral role of optics in nanolithography and the inherent limitations imposed on scaling. Recent progress in 193nm lithography has been advanced by phase mask features and immersion imaging, while double patterning methods are expected. All of these techniques usefully violate assumptions inherent in the simple Rayleigh diffraction limit. Nonetheless, deep sub-wavelength patterning is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, making the need for an affordable implementation of 13.5nm wavelength extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lithography ever more pressing. Optical technology again plays a major role in this subject.

Three of the risks impeding adoption of EUV lithography are light source requirements, defect free masks, and capable photoresists. These challenges have each stimulated innovative research. Here, an example of regression for non-imaging optical design will be given as a means to improve radiometric efficiency to ease light source requirements. Optical designs will also be shown for EUV mask metrology and photoresist testing. The mask inspection tool is designed for the throughput needs of a user facility and, potentially, for commercialization. Finally, it is recognized that many of the techniques used in lithography can also be applied to adjacent and even seemingly unrelated research opportunities. As an example, regression algorithms used in global optical design optimization will be applied to calibrating a systems biology model of influenza virus infection.


About the speaker:
Michael Goldstein is a Senior Principal Physicist on sabbatical from Intel Corporation where he is responsible for 193nm immersion lithography equipment at the Portland Technology Development center. Prior to this, he held positions as a Senior Technologist conducting EUV research for International SEMATECH, and was the Advanced Program Group leader at Intel’s Lithography Capital Equipment Development group in California. Michael received his doctorate in Physics from Dartmouth College in 1994, he has 38 papers and conference presentation, holds 27 issued patents and 42 that are pending.Read More

Speaker: Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, The Edgar L. and Harold H. Buttner Chair of Electrical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley


Abstract:

The design of complex electronic systems has become so complicated that no single company can possibly do it alone. The collaboration for design is necessary but it ...is not easy. Some innovative systems are reviewed with the goal of identifying the challenges and the reasons for success. The characteristics of societal scale systems will be analyzed in terms of design requirements. Some general concepts and design methodologies will be presented and their implications discussed together with the impacts on education.


Speaker's Bio:

Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is the Buttner Chair of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley. He received a Dottore in Ingegneria degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy in 1971. In 1980-1981, he spent a year as a Visiting Scientist at the Mathematical Sciences Department of the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. In 1987, he was Visiting Professor at MIT. He has also held visiting professorships at numerous Italian Universities.

He was a co-founder of Cadence and Synopsys, the two leading companies in the area of Electronic Design Automation and remains the Chief Technology Adviser at Cadence. He was a member of the HP Strategic Technology Advisory Board and is a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Board of General Motors and of the Scientific Council of the Tronchetti Provera and Snaidero foundations. He was also an advisor to the Singapore Government for microelectronics and new ventures.

Dr. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli received the 1995 Graduate Teaching Award of the IEEE. In 2002, he was the recipient of the Aristotle Award of the Semiconductor Research Corporation. He has received numerous research awards including the Guillemin-Cauer Award (1982-1983) and the Darlington Award (1987-1988). In 2001, he was given the Kaufman Award of the Electronic Design Automation Council. In 2008, he was awarded the IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Medal. In 2009, he received the first ACM/IEEE A. Richard Newton Technical Impact Award in Electronic Design Automation.

He is an author of more than 800 papers, 15 books and three patents in the area of design tools and methodologies, large-scale systems, embedded systems, hybrid systems and innovation.

Dr. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the highest honor bestowed upon a US engineer.Read More

Speaker: Prof. Anna Swan

Full Title of Seminar: Carbon: World's oldest and newest material: Photophysics of Low Dimensional Carbon Allotropes


Abstract:

Carbon, one of the most abundant and well known materials on earth, has surprisingly been found in three new stable forms since 1985 - Buckyballs (0D), nanotubes (1D) an...d graphene (2D). These discoveries have generated enormous interest, since sp2 carbon allotropes have demonstrated near world records in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Despite massive research efforts, applications have not yet been fully realized, in part because the much is unknown about the basic mechanisms, typical of a field at an early stage. Thus many expect that the most promising and exciting discoveries and applications are yet to come. In our group we are working on carbon nanotubes and graphene and in this talk I will focus on the electronic and optical properties of carbon nanotubes. Photonic applications of carbon nanotubes are hampered by the surprisingly low optical quantum efficiency. We aim to engineer methods to improve optical quantum efficiency by examining different non-radiative pathways of optically excited nanotubes. The work highlights the distinctive properties related to the 1D character of the nanotubes. Applications to biosensing will be discussed.Read More