Seminars & Symposium

[12/20] AIMR Special Seminar

AIMR will hold a special seminar given by Professor Thomas W. Ebbessen from University of Strasbourg, France. Please see below for the details.

Abstract

Light-matter interactions are not only fundamental for the existence of life but also play a key role in our culture and technology. What is perhaps more surprising, is that light-matter interactions occur even in total darkness. This is because vacuum, the three-dimensional space in which we exist, is not a void but is full of quantum electromagnetic fluctuations. When such light-interactions become strong enough, a new regime arises characterized by the formation of hybrid light-matter states. This is the so-called strong coupling regime which leads to fundamental changes in material properties. After introducing basic concepts, examples of modified material properties such as chemical reactivity, energy transfer and superconductivity will be presented^1-5.

References

• T.W. Ebbesen, Acc. Chem. Res. 2016, 49, 2403-2412.
• X. Zhong et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 9034-9038.
• A. Thomas et al, Science 2019, 363, 615-619.
• J. Lather et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 10635-10638.
• A. Thomas et al, arXiv:1911.01459

About the speaker

Professor Thomas W. Ebbesen is a physical chemist born in Oslo, Norway. He was educated in the United States and France, receiving his bachelor degree from Oberlin College (USA) and his PhD from the Curie University in Paris. He then did research in both the US and Japan, most notably at NEC, before returning to France in 1999 to help build a new institute (ISIS) at the University of Strasbourg. He is currently the head of the Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry and the Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Studies (www.usias.fr). He holds the chair of physical chemistry of light-matter interactions. The author of many papers and patents, Professor Ebbesen has received numerous awards for his pioneering research on nanostructured materials including the 2014 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for his transformative contributions to nano-optics. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the French Academy of Science.

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