REU Site: Nanophotonics at the University of New Mexico

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The intellectual focus of the REU Site program is nanophotonics, or the physics and applications of nanoscale photonic structures. The REU projects will be designed to contribute to cutting-edge research programs of faculty mentors.This three-year REU Site program on Nanophotonics at the University of New Mexico (UNM) is intended to support 8 undergraduate students with diverse technical backgrounds each summer, and 9 local students throughout the academic year (AY), giving the students a unique interdisciplinary research and educational experience. The objectives of this program are to: 1) provide meaningful research experience in nanophotonics; 2) facilitate personal and professional development of the students in areas important for careers in engineering and science; and 3) to provide the undergraduate students with mentored team laboratory experience, with positive role models that they can identify with. The proposed program will be carried out at the Center for High Technology Materials, a major research center at UNM, which will offer the students a fertile world-class collaborative research environment.Nanophotonics has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of applications. For example, it can transform the telecommunications industry by providing low power, high bandwidth, ultra-small, interference-free devices such as electrooptic and all-optical switches on a chip. Light-matter interactions on the nanoscale can be enhanced by orders of magnitude, leading to light con-fining structures that can slow down, enhance, and manipulate light. Numerous novel applications in biology and medicine are enabled by the combination of small size and high efficiency of optical emis-sion offered by nanocrystals. The Principal Investigator has an aggressive recruitment program, emphasizing institutional commitment to training of underrepresented groups.