In optics it is usual to be able direct and control light waves with bulky optical components such as a glass lenses. Recent development of metasurfaces has brought many exciting new ways of manipulating the flow of light. These are essentially flat optical elements comprised of dense arrays of nanostructures that can cleverly harness light scattering and interference effects to redirect and control light waves. The fundamental physical limitations of these optical components can be traced back to the properties of the materials and building blocks that they are constructed from. Current metasurface designs largely employ metallic (e.g. gold and silver) or high-index semiconductor (e.g. silicon or titanium dioxide) nanostructures They afford strong light scattering because they support geometry and size-dependent optical resonances. However, emerging metasurface applications in quantum optical communications, augmented reality, non-linear optics, and spatiotemporal light control require much more than the basic, linear and typically-static scattering responses provided by these conventional materials and nanostructures.

During his lecture, Prof. Dr. med. Mark L. Brongersma will explore the possibility of harnessing the materials resonances of atomically-thin quantum materials to create conceptually new types of metasurfaces with improved performance and radically new functionalities.

Prof. Dr. med. Mark L. Brongersma is a renowned scientist in materials science and nanophotonics. He received his PhD in materials science from the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1998. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Technology from 1998 until 2001. During this time, he coined the term ‘plasmonics’ for this new technology that utilizes the unique optical properties of nanoscale metallic structures to control and manipulate light at the nanoscale. He is currently focused on researching the development and physical analysis of new materials and structures that may be applied in nanoscale electronic and photonic devices. Prof. Brongersma has already received several awards for his work on plasmonics. His work has driven the development of new technologies for manipulating light on the nanoscale.