Maxwell’s equations are a very accurate representation of optical phenomena in most settings, but their accuracy often fails at nanoscale. In particular, for nanoplasmonic phenomena, whenever the relevant scales are below 10nm or so, there can be substantial discrepancies between the experimental observations and the predictions of Maxwell’s theory. We present our theoretical and experimental framework [1] that extends their accuracy to this nano-scale regime.

We also present our theoretical framework for modelling and tailoring scintillation phenomena using nanophotonic techniques [2], as well as our experimental results in this field.

Finally, we also present our work on Smith-Purcell radiation which occurs when fast electrons interact with nano-structured materials to emit light. We present our novel theoretical framework [3] to understand and tailor such phenomena, as well as how to enhance Smith-Purcell radiation [4].

References

[1] Y.Yang, D.Zhu, W.Yan, A.Agarwal, M.Zheng, J.D.Joannopoulos, P.Lalanne, T.Christensen, K.K.Berggren, M.Soljacic. Nature 576, p.248, (2019).

[2] Charles Roques-Carmes, Nicholas Rivera, Ali Ghorashi, Steven E. Kooi, Yi Yang, Zin Lin, Justin Beroz, Aviram Massuda, Jamison Sloan, Nicolas Romeo, Yang Yu, John D. Joannopoulos, Ido Kaminer, Steven G. Johnson, Marin Soljacic. Science 375, 6583, (2022).

[3] Y.Yang, A.Massuda, C.Roques-Carmes, S.Kooi, T.Christensen, S.Johnson, J.Joannopoulos, O.Miller, I.Kaminer, and M.Soljacic. Nature Physics, DOI: 10.1038/s41567-018-0180-2 (2018).

[4] Yi Yang, Charles Roques-Carmes, Steven E. Kooi, Haoning Tang, Justin Beroz, Eric Mazur, Ido Kaminer, John D. Joannopoulos, Marin Soljacic. Nature 613, 42, (2023).