IFIMAC+ICMM Joint Seminar Series focuses on cutting-edge research on condensed matter physics, bringing speakers from all over the world to our Cantoblanco Campus. All talks are streamed online. Some of them will be celebrated on campus and onsite participation will also be possible. You need to subscribe to our mailing list at the link provided below to get the links to the seminar room. https://listas-correo.uam.es/sympa/subscribe/seminarios-ifimac-icmm-l
Strong light-matter coupling: from transition metal dichalcogenides to Casimir self-assembly
Timur Shegai, Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
October 28, 2021, 12:00 CEST
Strong light-matter interactions are at the core of many electromagnetic phenomena. In this talk, I will give an overview of several nanophotonic systems which support polaritons – hybrids between light and matter, as well as try to demonstrate their potential usefulness in applications. I will start with transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and specifically discuss one-dimensional edges in these two-dimensional materials. I will show that TMDs can be etched along certain crystallographic axes, such that the obtained edges are nearly atomically sharp and exclusively zigzag-terminated, while still supporting polaritonic regime. Furthermore, I will show that Fabry-Perot resonators, one of the most important workhorses of nanophotonics, can spontaneously form in an aqueous solution of gold nanoflakes. This effect is possible due to the balance between attractive Casimir-Lifshitz forces and repulsive electrostatic forces acting between the flakes. There is a hope that this technology is going to be useful for future developments in self-assembly, nanomachinery, polaritonic devices, and perhaps other disciplines.
