Brilliant red self-oriented crystal structures.
Image Credit: Ryan A. DeCrescent & Clayton J. Dahlman

Cover photo: Diversity of hybrid organic/inorganic crystalline microstructures, grown from solution on a substrate. The brilliant red color arises from quantum-confinement effects acting on charges in the inorganic layers.

About Us

Our research concerns novel physical phenomena, both quantum-mechanical and classical in nature, that occur when light interacts with objects of subwavelength dimensions. These objects may be self-assembling molecular crystals, or strategically engineered dielectric structures. We are particularly interested in antenna-like effects arising from oriented dipolar and multipolar resonances, which can be exploited, e.g., to engineer the directionality of absorbed or emitted light. Alternatively, we study naturally occurring radiation/absorption patterns to understand the structure and quantum-mechanical properties of the emitting material. Ultimately, this research may lead to a future where optical properties are controlled and engineered at the atomic or molecular level.