Next generation information platforms based on planar integrated photonics and free space optical systems have shown significant promise for overcoming the performance bottlenecks of traditional semiconductor based digital architectures. Developing a fundamental understanding of light-matter physics is important for identifying new opportunities to create breakthrough photonic devices for Integrated Microwave Photonics, Optical Neuromorphic Computing, and Quantum Photonics. The ability to create novel optical behavior in a material by modifying its physical structure is an intriguing approach for creating new platforms to study interesting light-matter interactions. In this talk, we will explore a novel approach to artificially structuring sub-wavelength anisotropy in phase change chalcogenides and silicon to modify their optical behavior. We will introduce phase change chalcogenides on nanostructured silicon (PCNS) as a metamaterial platform to study dynamic optical behavior in strongly coupled structures such as photonic crystals and split ring resonators. In addition, we will explore hyperbolic media as a unique optical crystal with extreme anisotropic permittivity which supports interesting polariton characteristics such as spatial confinement and enhancement. We will introduce Calcite as a unique material platform to experimentally study how structure influences optical behavior in hyperbolic media. Our results have revealed a new fundamental physics for structurally driven phonon polariton modes in hyperbolic media.
Bio:
Dr. Eric Seabron has been an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at Howard University since 2021. He received his PhD in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign in 2017. His graduate research focused on the growth and nanoscale metrology of Carbon Nanotubes and Gallium Arsenide Nanowires. After graduating, he spent 3 years as a microelectronics engineer while working at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Thereafter, he conducted experimental optical research as an NRC postdoctoral fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory. His current interest includes fundamental light-matter physics in structured media, growth and metrology of low dimensional quantum materials, and novel photonic and optoelectronic devices.