New Materials for Photonics in the Mid-Infrared: From Lasers and Detectors to Plasmonics and Metamaterials

New materials afford access to novel physical effects and are a constant source of disruptions in photonic device functionality and performance. Significant opportunities exist in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum; while it is rich in vibrational absorption bands of gaseous chemicals and atmospheric transmission windows, devices remain underdeveloped when compared with their counterparts in the visible and near-infrared.
 
We describe progress in mid-infrared diode lasers and avalanche photodetectors, both compelling building blocks for future sensing/imaging systems, as well as alternative plasmonic materials for localizing and manipulating light at subwavelength scales. Rather than metals, we focus our attention on crystalline semimetals and doped-semiconductors, as their unique optical properties can be continuously tuned with composition and doping, respectively, yielding a new class of designer plasmonic materials. Moreover, these crystalline 'metals' can offer greatly reduced optical losses, as well as the tantalizing prospect of seamless integration of plasmonic and metamaterial functionality with optically-active semiconductors.  We anticipate that these capabilities will enable new paradigms in nanophotonic device design and functionality.

Speaker: Seth R. Bank, University of Texas at Austin

Room 232