Abstract
Metallic nanoparticles, used since antiquity to impart intense and vibrant color into materials, have more recently become a central tool in the nanoscale manipulation of light. This interest has led to a virtual explosion of new types of metal-based nanoparticles and nanostructures of various shapes and compositions, and has given rise to new strategies to harvest, control, and manipulate light based on metallic nanostructures and their properties.
While the scientific foundation for the field of Plasmonics has been built on nanoparticles consisting of noble and coinage metals, more recently we have begun to question whether the same, or similar, plasmonic properties can also be realized in more sustainable materials. Aluminum, the most abundant metal on the Earth, can support high-quality plasmonic properties across the visible region of the spectrum, enabling practical large-area and cost-effective plasmonic applications such as flat-panel displays and robust colorimetric sensors.
About the speaker
Prof Naomi J. Halas received her PhD in physics from Bryn Mawr College in 1987. She then served as a postdoctoral associate at AT&T Bell Laboratories prior to joining the Rice faculty in 1990. Prof Halas is currently the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Science and Nanoengineering. She is also the Founding Director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University, and Director of the Rice Quantum Institute.
Prof Halas is one of the pioneering researchers in the field of plasmonics, creating the concept of the “tunable plasmon” and inventing a family of nanoparticles with resonances spanning the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. She pursues fundamental studies of coupled plasmonic systems as well as applications of plasmonics in biomedicine, optoelectronics, chemical sensing, photocatalysis, and most recently in solar energy, with a novel solar steam technology.
Prof Halas was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2014, the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009. She is a recipient of the American Physical Society 2014 Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids. She is a Fellow of six professional societies: OSA, APS, SPIE, IEEE, MRS, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow of the US Department of Defense, an advisor to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation, and an advisor to the Director of the Defense Sciences Office at DARPA. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Chemical Physics Letters and Laser and Photonics Reviews, and an Associate Editor of Nano Letters.
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