Seminars

ENZ Plasmonics

Friday, October 21, 2011

Dr. Nader Engheta

Abstract

In this talk, I will discuss the merging of two phenomena, the extreme-parameter metamaterials with the plasmonic optics. It is well known that the surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in plasmonic structures possess apparent wavelengths along the metallic interfaces that are shorter than the free space wavelength. In the field of metamaterials, materials with extreme values for relative permittivities (or permeability), e.g., epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials exhibit refractive index being near zero, resulting in essentially uniform phase and very long apparent wavelengths in such media. We have been interested in exploring the merging of these two seemingly opposite features, by combining ENZ metamaterials with the SPP waves in plasmonic optics. We have been developing and exploring fundamental concepts and various potential applications of extreme-parameter plasmonic metamaterials. We have shown ENZ-based enhanced transmission through ultranarrow channels and bends with arbitrary shapes and forms, we have theoretically studied enhancement of molecular emission near ENZ-inspired plasmonic structures, and confinement of highly intense electric field in a channel. We have also investigated how ENZ materials manipulate the phase patterns of beams. In this talk, I will give an overview of this ENZ-based plasmonics, and will discuss exciting potentials and future ideas and possibilities.

Speaker Biography

Nader Engheta is the H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering, and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BS degree from the University of Tehran, and his MS and Ph.D. degrees from Caltech. Selected as one of the 2006 Scientific American 50 Leaders in Science and Technology for developing the concepts of lumped optical nanocircuit elements, he is a Guggenheim Fellow, an IEEE Third Millennium Medalist, a Fellow of IEEE, OSA, American Physical Society (APS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and SPIE-International Society for Optical Engineering, and the recipient of the George H. Heilmeier Award for Excellence in Research, Fulbright Naples Chair Award, and NSF Presidential Young Investigator (PYI) award, and several teaching awards such as Christian F. and Mary R. Lindback Foundation Award, the S. Reid Warren Jr. award and W. M. Keck Foundation award. He is selected to receive the 2012 IEEE Electromagnetics Award.