The study of optoelectronics and photonics in nanocomposite and nanostructured materials

提出的研究计划的目的是研究由两个或多个半导体、金属或生物纳米结构组合而成的纳米级复合材料(纳米复合材料)中的光-物质相互作用。通过使用这些纳米结构的各种组合，人们可以创造出数量巨大的纳米复合材料。这些材料在化学和生物传感、光通信和信息处理方面有着重要的应用。当一个或多个外部电磁场施加到纳米复合系统中时，组成的纳米结构成为光学激发。半导体和生物纳米结构中的光激发是电子-空穴对(激子)，而金属纳米结构中的激发是电子(等离子体)的集体振荡。光与纳米复合体系的相互作用可以通过组成纳米结构的形状、大小和相对位置来控制。由于强烈的光-物质相互作用，纳米复合材料在控制非线性光学性质以及纳米结构之间的能量传递和存储方面也具有很大的前景。因此，这些材料是在经典电动力学和量子力学的界面上进行光-物质相互作用和物理基础研究的理想平台。将通过理论设计、建模和模拟来研究纳米复合材料的实际应用和基础科学。我们的团队已经与实验和理论研究小组建立了富有成效的国际合作，以合成和分析功能纳米复合材料，我们将继续合作研究努力。这项研究有望为包括光学传感器、光发射器和光开关在内的新型纳米器件提供基本的物理理解和开发。纳米复合材料的研究在纳米尺度的能量传输和太阳能捕获与收集方面也有许多应用。

The aim of the proposed research program is to study light-matter interactions in nano-scale composite (nanocomposite) materials which are fabricated by combining two or more semiconductor, metallic, or biological nanostructures. By using various combinations of these nanostructures one can create enormous numbers of nanocomposite materials. These materials have important applications in chemical and biological sensing and optical communications and information processing. When one or more external electromagnetic fields are applied to a nanocomposite system, the constituent nanostructures become optically excited. The optical excitations in semiconductor and biological nanostructures are electron-hole pairs (excitons), while excitations in metallic nanostructures are collective oscillations of electrons (plasmons). The interaction of light with a nanocomposite system can be controlled by the shape, size and relative positions of the constituent nanostructures. Due to strong light-matter interactions, nanocomposites also hold great promise for controlling nonlinear optical properites as well as energy transfer and storage between nanostructures. Therefore, these materials are an ideal platform for fundamental research on light-matter interactions and physics at the interface of classical electrodynamics and quantum mechanics. The practical applications and basic science of nanocomposites will be studied through theoretical design, modeling, and simulations. Our group has already established productive international collaborations with experimental and theoretical research groups to synthesize and analyze functional nanocomposite materials, and we will continue our collaborative research efforts. It is expected that this research will provide a basic physical understanding and development of new types of nano-devices including optical sensors, light emitters, and optical switches. Research on nanocomposites also has many applications in nanoscale energy transport and solar energy trapping and harvesting.