EAGER: Nanotube Composites: Near-Field Electrodynamics and Applications

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The PI has previously developed strong skills in quantum mechanical modeling of optical phenomena in carbon nanotubes (CNT), as required in the field of quantum computing with CNT. In this work, he plans to apply these skills to two modeling tasks with broader implications: (1) the extraction of energy from ambient radiation at microwave and terahertz frequencies ; (2) surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation -- a "laser for plasmons."Intellectual Merit: This work will fill a very important hole in our understanding of what is possible with energy scavenging. A classic paper by Popovic's group calculated that it is possible to extract up to 20% of the energy of ambient disordered microwave radiation using spiral rectennas, but these calculations did not account for coherence issues and other quantum effects, and they did not really attempt to describe what happens at terahertz frequencies, where feature sizes are smaller. This PI has an excellent background for accounting for such effects, considering one possible way to implement spiral rectennas on smaller length scales -- CNT composite structures. New capabilities in surface plasmonics are also extremely important to the NSF priority Beyond Moore's Law. Broad Impacts: This project will also have a big impact on education at North Carolina Central University, the nation's first state-supported public liberal arts college for Afro-Americans. The cross-cutting and advanced nature of this work, and the PI's plan for integration of research and education, ensure large outreach benefits here. New sources of energy and faster computers may also result.