Structural Colors and Ultrasonics by Light Interaction with Nanostructures

Abstract

Light interacting with metallic and dielectric nanostructures can produce various interesting optical effects. Rather than traditional colored pigments, structural colors can be produced by exploiting optical resonance effect and manipulating optical phases within these structures. Such approach can be extended to other spectrum range as well. The structural colors may find potential applications in future display and e-book devices that offer more energy saving. They can be used in colored imagers or colored coating that can provide long term stability as no chemical pigments are involved. Active devices using structural colors can also be exploited, e.g. 0rather than traditional black solar panels, solar cells with desirable colors and transparency (or reflectivity) can be built using hybrid semiconductor materials, and without using the traditional doped semiconductor layers. Light interacting with low density carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could conceal the 3D attributes of an object covered by CNTs. The principle can be extended to microwave frequency to formbroadband absorbers. Light interacting with certain materials can be used to generate strong ultrasound signals via optoacoustic effect, which could lead to non-invasive and high-precision therapeutic applications in the future. Using similar concept, a new THz detection scheme is developed: rather than directly measuring the electromagnetic wave itself, high sensitivity acoustic detector is used to “listen to” the sound wave generates by the nano-material absorbing the THz energy. As a result, compact, room-temperature and real-time THz detector can be realized.

Biography

L. Jay Guo started his academic career at the University of Michigan in 1999, and is currently a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, with joint appointment in Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Macomolecular Science and Engineering. He has 190+ refereed journal publications with over 13,500 citations, and more than 12 US patents. Many published work from his lab have been reported by numerous media, and he recently received the Research Excellence Award from the College of Engineering at UM. He served on a number of international conference program committees related to nanotechnologies and photonics. His group’s researches include polymer-based photonic devices and sensor applications, organic and hybrid photovoltaics, plasmonic nanophotonics, nanoimprint-based and roll to roll nanomanufacturing technologies.