Nonlinearity Engineering: From mode-locked lasers to selfassembled nanostructures |
| TYPE | Electrical Engineering Department |
| Speaker: | Prof. F. Omer Ilday |
| Affiliation: | Bilkent University, Turkey |
| Organizer: | Dr. Guy Bartal, Electrical Engineering Department |
| Date: | 16.11.2015 |
| Time: | 14:30 |
| Location: | |
| Remark: | Host: Distinguished Professor Moti Segev |
| Abstract: | In nature, structure and functionality effortlessly emerge from far-from-equilibrium, dissipative dynamics, often driven by nonlinear feedback mechanisms. While this is ubiquitous all around us, its intentional use in human technology remains relatively rare. I assert that it is possible to exploit these principles to achieve superior technological functionalities and that photonics is a particularly fertile platform to demonstrate this approach, which I refer to as Nonlinearity Engineering. This talk will review successful applications of this approach to solve well-known and stubborn problems in a number of quite different physical systems. These range from overcoming limitations to modelocked lasers to creation of the first 3D photonic devices deep inside silicon and 2D nanoscale patterns of unprecedented uniformity on surfaces of various materials, as well as self-assembly of Si quantum dots into a random network of pre-designed topology, among several others. |