Events Calendar

Photons, Plasmons, and Polaritons: Infrared and Terahertz Modes in Quantum Materials

Associate Professor Stephanie Law; Department of Material Sciences and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

Abstract: When light interacts with quantum materials, we can excite a variety of unusual modes including plasmon polaritons and optical phonons. In heterostructures or superlattices, these modes can interact with each other to produce hybrid excitations resulting in novel optical phenomena such as negative refraction, extreme light confinement, and subwavelength imaging. In this talk, I will describe our work on the growth and measurement of semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials by molecular beam epitaxy. Hyperbolic metamaterials are layered materials comprising alternating metallic and dielectric materials. I will show negative refraction in these materials, their ability to house their own complex plasmon polariton modes, show preferential thermal emission, and strongly couple to embedded quantum wells. I will also discuss recent work on creating gradient permittivity semiconductors for on-chip infrared spectroscopy. Finally, I will briefly discuss our work on the growth and characterization of topological materials for infrared and terahertz plasmonics, including topological insulators and topological semimetals.

Bio: Prof. Law is Associate Professor and the Norris B. McFarlane Faculty Career Development Chair in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State University. She holds affiliate appointments in the Penn State Department of Physics and the Institute for Energy and the Environment. She is the Director of Education, Outreach, and Diversity programs for the Penn State Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. She received her BS in Physics from Iowa State University and her PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She then held a postdoctoral position in the Electrical Engineering department at Illinois before moving to the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor. Prof. Law has won the North American Molecular Beam Epitaxy Young Investigator award, the Department of Energy Early Career award, the AVS Peter Mark Memorial Award, the International Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy Young Investigator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She is a fellow of the American Vacuum Society.