Understanding of quantum behavior of materials is of utmost importance for modern electronics. Quantum effects become increasingly influential as the feature size decreases to the wavelength-scale. Novel materials with dramatically different optical properties than those observed in nature can be created when understanding of the nature and peculiarities of quantum effects is applied.
Skoltech Professor Athanasios Polimeridis and his colleagues from Princeton University are studying light-matter interactions in nanostructured media with features on the scale of electromagnetic wavelength. In a recent Rapid Communication in Physical Review B they address the problem of thermal radiation from composite nanostructures and demonstrate that thermal radiation can be readily tailored by changing the geometry of the nanoemitter. In this work, the researchers exploit a recently proposed fluctuating-volume current (FVC) formulation of electromagnetic fluctuations to show that wavelength-scale composite objects can demonstrate designable, directional emission at infrared wavelengths. The ability to tune the radiation properties of composite nanostructures offers potentially new applications in nanophotonics and nanoelectronics, including photovoltaics, energy storage, incoherent sources, and detection.
* The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is a private graduate research university in Skolkovo, Russia, a suburb of Moscow. Established in 2011 in collaboration with MIT, Skoltech educates global leaders in innovation, advances scientific knowledge, and fosters new technologies to address critical issues facing Russia and the world. Applying international research and educational models, the university integrates the best Russian scientific traditions with twenty-first century entrepreneurship and innovation.
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