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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
T-DO Conference Room (Bldg. 123)

Seminar

Optical Force Mediated Light-Matter Interactions in the Sub-Wavelength Limit

Peter Rakich
Sandia National Labs

Through fundamental examination of energy and force, we show that optical forces in nanostructured systems radically change the nature of photon-phonon coupling. Within nanoscale optical systems, strong light-boundary interactions yield high modal confinement, enhanced dispersion, and enhanced electrostrostrictive forces, all of which conspire to drastically enhance and shape optical forces. Through analyses of the different physical contributions to optical force, we establish simple and intuitive scaling laws to describe the influence of boundaries on optical forces in nanostructures. By way of dynamical multi-physics models, we illustrate how optical forces yield orders of magnitude increased photon-phonon coupling via boundary-mediated parametric processes.

Host: Diego Dalvit, T-4