Advanced Polymer Composites for 3D Telepresence and Nanoscale Engineering

Holography is a technique that is used to display objects or scenes in three dimensions. Such three-dimensional (3D) images, or holograms, can be seen with the unassisted eye and are very similar to how humans see the actual environment surrounding them. Absence of a large-area and dynamically updatable holographic recording medium has prevented realization of the concept. I will discuss the development of a novel fullerene sensitized photoconductive polymer composite [1] as the recording medium for a refreshable holographic display which led to the development of a quasi-real time proof-of-principle 3D telepresence without the need for special eyewear [2]. Further improvements in the polymer composites could bring applications in telemedicine, advertising, updatable 3D maps and entertainment. The second part of my talk will be focused on the development of printed nanodevices and nanostructures [3]. There would be real advantages to processing methods which could easily nano-texture a donor or an acceptor polymer layer in an organic solar cell (OSC). Such a processing technique, if scaled to device levels can enhance the energy conversion efficiency of OSC by reducing the exciton recombination. Development of sub-50nm printed structures of active polymer for OSC applications will be discussed. In energy storage applications, nanoarchitectured carbon electrodes promise to be a feasible direction for developing rapid charging and high capacity Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors for electric and hybrid vehicles. Our recent advances in high throughput printing of nanostructured carbon electrodes and devices using a newly developed nanoimprinting technique will be demonstrated. Finally, I will talk about the printed biopolymer-based nanodevices which will be highly beneficial in making biodegradable photonic devices.

1. J. Thomas et al., Chem. Mater. (Published online)
2. Blanche et al., Nature 468, 80 (2010)
3. Xiaochun et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 13840 (2009)

Biography
Dr. Jayan Thomas is currently an Associate Research Professor in the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D in Material Science/Chemistry from the Cochin University of Science and Technology with a prestigious Dr. K. S. Krishnan fellowship. His research interests include photorefractive polymer composites for 3D display applications, nonlinear optical materials, optical limiting materials, nanofabrication of optical devices, nanoarchitectured organic and hybrid soar cells, nanostructured Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors and nanoimprinted ceramic and biopolymer based devices. He has published more than fifty peer-reviewed papers, a few book chapters and is currently co-editing the book entitled "Optical Properties of Polymers for Photonic Applications", by John Willey & Sons Inc. He has delivered more than 30 invited/contributed talks and is presently serving in the organizing committee of SPIE's International Conference on "Linear and Nonlinear Optics of Organic Materials". He is a member of the American Association of Advancement of Science (AAAS), MRS, SPIE and OSA.