2012 Physics Colloquium
Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Light-matter interaction in hybrid
nanomaterials
Mahi R. Singh
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Western University
London, Ontario, Canada
The light-matter interactions in nano-scale hybrid materials will be discussed. Hybrid
nanomaterials are fabricated by combining two or more semiconductor, metallic, or
biological nanostructures. By using various combinations of these nanostructures one can
create enormous numbers of nanocomposite materials. These materials have important
applications in chemical and biological sensing and optical communications and
information processing. When one or more external electromagnetic fields are applied to a
nanocomposite system, the constituent nanostructures become optically excited. The
optical excitations in semiconductor and biological nanostructures are electron-hole pairs
(excitons), while excitations in metallic nanostructures are collective oscillations of
electrons (plasmons). The interaction of light with a nanocomposite system can be
controlled by the shape, size and relative positions of the constituent nanostructures.
Therefore, these materials are an ideal platform for fundamental research on light-matter
interactions and physics at the interface of classical electrodynamics and quantum
mechanics. It is expected that this research will provide a basic physical understanding and
development of new types of nano-devices including optical sensors and optical switches.
Research on nanocomposites also has many applications in nanoscale energy transport and
solar energy trapping and harvesting.
4:00 pm on November 15, 2012
245 Physics Building
Refreshment starts 3:45 pm