Quantum nanophotonics with free electrons
Guest Speaker： Prof. Javier García de Abajo，Nanophotonics Theory group at ICFO，Spain
Inviter: Assoc. Prof. Xiangdong Guo
Date&Time: Monday, 11.Nov., 10:00-11:30
Venue: Yiucheng Lecture Hall (500), Xu Zuyao Building
Biography:
Javier García de Abajo is an expert in the science of light and its interaction with atoms, molecules, and nanostructures. He maintains an intense research agenda covering a wide range of topics and involving an extended network of collaborators in the fields of surface science, physical chemistry, electron microscopy, plasmonics, and nanophotonics. He heads the Nanophotonics Theory Group at ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, with an output of about 30 papers per year in prestigious journal.Through seminal theoretical works, he has predicted and explained new phenomena that include collective electron excitations–plasmons–in atomic scale systems such as molecules and nanographenes; complete optical absorption by atomic layers; ultrasfast electron-beam interactions with localized optical fields; strong coupling between molecules and localized optical resonances; ultrafast radiative heat transfer; and others.
Javier’s work is well cited (60000+ citation, h index of 121, WoK data) and widely visible at international conferences (200+ invited talks, including 30+ keynotes and 12 plenaries). He has 400+ publications in refereed international journals, of which 2 in Reviews of Modern Physics, 4 in Nature, 4 in Science, 2 in Chemical Society Reviews, 3 in Nature Materials, 2 in Nature Nanotechnology, 2 in Nature Photonics, 3 in Nature Physics, 9 in Nature Commun. , 41 in Physical Review Letters, 2 in Science Advances, etc. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society.
Abstract:
The synergetic combination of electron microscopy and ultrafast optics has given birth to ultrafast electron microscopy as a research area aiming to investigate material excitations with an unprecedented combination of spatiotemporal resolution. In this context, we will discuss the fundamental principles ruling the interactions between free electrons, light, and photonic nanostructures, with an emphasis on exploring quantum aspects that include electron decoherence caused by coupling to radiative modes and the generation of quantum states of light. In particular, radiative decoherence could be potentially useful to sense the presence of distant objects and measure the vacuum temperature, while the study of quantum correlations between electrons and surface polaritons enables the generation of single and entangled photons heralded by the detection of electrons that have experienced specific amounts of energy losses and angular deflections.