Our group is interested in the science and engineering of making small things and in using them to control light. How small? Between roughly 1 nanometer to several micrometers. Materials at these length scales interact with light in remarkable ways, not seen in the bulk. For instance, polished aluminum and silver are well known to be reflective metals in the bulk. But tiny little particles of the same materials start appearing colorful, with colors that depend sensitively on their actual size, shape, and arrangements. The result is a unique approach to produce colorful prints at unprecedented levels of detail. At 100,000 dots per inch (dpi), this method is a thousand times higher resolution than a desktop color printed. Importantly, the ability to generate colors on demand provides an appealing alternative to pigments and dyes that might be less sustainable.
Through advanced techniques in nanotechnology, we make nanostructures out of a broad range of materials. These materials range from metals such as gold, silver, and aluminum to transparent polymers, 2D materials and semiconductors like silicon. We have probed them with electron beams, shot pulses of energetic photons at them, and performed numerical simulations to investigate their behavior. The fascinating findings are reported in our research publications.
We believe in making the world a better place through our innovations in the field of nanotechnology. Utilizing the craft of miniaturization, we strive to make devices smaller, better, and faster.