Special EE Seminar

Synergy of electronics and photonics at the nanoscale offers design paradigms beyond the limits of current technology. In this talk I will demonstrate new pathways for nanoscale control of both photons and electrons. I will show that exploiting nonlinear and magnetic responses additional degrees of freedom for nontrivial light manipulation at the fraction of a wavelength may be attained. Specifically, I will demonstrate a first-of-a-kind passive photonic diode and active one-way light switch – components that are key for modular photonic circuits, networks and optoelectronic processing. I will further show that as the size of optoelectronic devices shrinks novel regimes of light-material interaction emerge. Hence, as I will discuss, ultrathin metals and semiconductors in a quasi-ballistic limit of electron transport enable near-unity light absorption providing avenues for efficient photo-electrocatalysis, and for ultrafast and power efficient devices.  Finally, I will discuss emerging trends and overview challenges facing the field of nanoscale optoelectronics.