Graphene Plasmonics and Nanoelectromagnetism for Biosensing Applications

Abstract:
Graphene is a flat, two-dimensional monolayer of carbon atoms predicted to display a rich variety of electronic, photonics, and optoelectronic behaviors, as it is a unique gapless semiconductor that exhibits the field-effect-controlled conductivity and the photoexcited plasmon gain. In my talk, I will give an overview of our recent research progress in graphene-based photonics, optoelectronics, and bioelectronics. First, I will discuss how the gate-tunable surface plasmon polaritons in graphene may enable the real-time reconfigurable THz and infrared optoelectronic devices. Then, I will present the parity-time (PT) symmetric THz systems based on the photopumped graphene metasurfaces, which show not only the interesting reciprocal and unidirectional scattering responses, but also the singularity-enhanced sensing of molecular and chemical agents. Finally, I will present a novel all-graphene harmonic sensor that consists of a chemically-reconfigurable RF mixer formed by graphene transistors and a transparent graphene antenna, paving the way towards low-noise, transparent and flexible wireless sensors, such as smart contact lenses.

Biography:
Dr. Pai-Yen Chen is an Assistant Professor at the Wayne State University. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013. He was a Research Scientist at the Intellectual Ventures' Metamaterial Commercialization Center during 2013-2014, and a Research Staff in the National Nano Device Laboratory in Taiwan during 2006-2009. He has been involved in multidisciplinary research on applied electromagnetics, plasmonics, nanophotonics, and metamaterials. He has published approximately 62 peer-review papers (4 journal covers and a number of press interest), 55 conference proceedings, 4 book chapters, 1 book, and 9 US patents. He has served as TPC members and session chairs for several international symposia and conferences. He also received several best student papers in major conferences, and national awards and fellowships, including the URSI Young Scientist Award, DoE Argonne Director’s Fellowship, Donald D. Harrington Fellowship, and United Microelectronics Scholarship.