RISE-LightMat Control of Light-Matter Interactions with Plasmonic Systems and Cavities

科学与技术卓越研究中心(CREST)项目中的传统黑人学院和大学科学与工程研究基础设施(HBCU-RISE)活动支持提供科学和工程学科博士学位的HBCU研究能力的发展。HBCU-RISE项目与东道国部门(S)的长期计划和机构使命以及扩大机构研究能力和增加科学和工程博士生产量的计划有直接联系。在国家科学基金会的支持下，诺福克州立大学(NSU)的目标是：1)更新材料科学和工程研究生课程；2)让学生接触创业和创新的概念和实践；3)通过奖学金申请和拓展活动发展，进一步为学生的职业准备。该项目将开发基础设施，以提高北卡罗来纳州立大学的研究竞争力和能力，为研究生提供相关的现代教育和专业培训。通过与现有项目的协同以及与北卡罗来纳州立大学的战略计划保持一致，Rise-lightmat将为STEM学术项目的增强提供路线图。该项目将作为一个框架，在更广泛的材料科学界加强招收和留住非裔美国学生。该研究涉及激子、表面等离子体和电子载流子强耦合条件下与增强光-物质相互作用有关的新的物理效应的研究。研究的目标是：1)开发具有最有效的等离子激元阻力效应(PLDE)的等离子体结构和亚表面；2)探索用纳米尺度几何控制PLDE的可能性；3)表征PLDE对局部介电环境的敏感性(用于基于PLDE效应的传感器)。所提出的多尺度努力将推进等离子体激元领域的基础知识，并潜在地为控制分子、电子以及腔中局域和传播表面等离子体和光子模的杂化耦合系统的经典和量子性质带来新的可能性。这项研究的结果将在光学和光电子学中有许多应用，并有可能给未来基于等离子体的电子学带来革命性的进展，传感器的新工作原理和控制光物质相互作用的新方法。学生将获得光学、等离子体和材料科学方面的实践经验，并结合创业培训，将这些和未来的研究产品用于小企业发展。在Rise-LightMat研究计划中获得的知识将被转移到从催化和成像等不同领域的科学家和工程师组成的广泛社区。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (HBCU-RISE) activity within the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program supports the development of research capability at HBCUs that offer doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines. HBCU-RISE projects have a direct connection to the long-term plans of the host department(s) and the institutional mission, and plans for expanding institutional research capacity as well as increasing the production of doctoral students in science and engineering. With support from the National Science Foundation, Norfolk State University (NSU) aims to: 1) renew the curriculum of the graduate programs in materials science and engineering; 2) expose students to entrepreneurship and innovation concepts and practices; and 3) further students' professional preparation through fellowship applications and outreach activities development. This project will develop the infrastructure to increase NSU research competitiveness and capacity to offer relevant and modern education and professional training to graduate students. Through its synergy with existing projects and alignment with NSU's strategic plan, RISE-LightMat will offer a roadmap for STEM academic programs' enhancement. This project will serve as a framework that will enhance recruitment and retention of African-American students in the broader materials science community. The proposed research involves the study of novel physical effects related to the enhancement of light-matter interactions in the conditions of strong coupling of excitons, surface plasmons and electric carriers. The research objectives are to: 1) develop plasmonic structures and metasurfaces with the most efficient plasmon drag effect (PLDE); 2) explore possibilities to control the PLDE with nanoscale geometry; and 3) characterize sensitivity of PLDE to local dielectric environment (for sensors based on PLDE effect). The proposed multi-scale effort will advance fundamental knowledge in the area of plasmonics and potentially bring new possibilities for unprecedented control of classical and quantum properties of hybridized coupled systems of ensembles of molecules, electrons, and localized and propagating surface plasmons and photonic modes in cavities. Results from this research will have many applications in optics and optoelectronics and have potential to bring revolutionary advances to future plasmonic-based electronics, novel operational principles for sensors and new ways to control light matter interactions. Students will obtain hands-on experience in optics, plasmonics, and materials science combined with training in entrepreneurship to use these and future research products for small business development. The knowledge gained within the RISE-LightMat research programs will be transferred to a broad community of scientists and engineers in fields as diverse as catalysis and imaging.