Center for Nano-Optics formed at Georgia State University

Atlanta, GA--The Center for Nano-Optics, with will concentrate on research in photonics and biomedicine, has been created at Georgia State University.

“Creation of the Center for Nano-Optics is an important next step for the university,” notes James Weyhenmeyer, vice president of research and economic development. “Under the leadership of Georgia State Physics Professor Mark Stockman, a group of physics faculty will expand the university’s nanotechnology focus and continue the development of two university inventions -- the spaser and the nanoplasmonic metal funnel.”

In addition to Stockman, the center faculty includes: Vadym Apalkov, Nikolaus Dietz, Xiaochun He, Alexander Kozhanov, Steven Manson, Ramesh Mani, Unil Perera, and Murad Sarsour. Their combined research efforts have led to the accumulation of more than $11 million in federal funding and publication in science journals including Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Physical Review Letters, and Nature Communications. They have formed international partnerships with researchers in Germany, France, India, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Australia.

The spaser and the nanoplasmonic metal funnel
The spaser (from "surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation") is a plasmonic laser that can be created in many forms, including a quantum dot, metamaterial, or other plasmonic nanoparticles. Spasers may be used in photonic circuits or as taggants to help biomedical researchers identify and track single cancer cells in the bloodstream.

The plasmonic metal funnel is designed with a very thin needle at the end, focusing light beyond the diffraction limit and allowing energy to be delivered to very small spaces. The funnel is already widely used in microscopes to give researchers the ability to see on the nanoscale.

$7.5 million grant
Stockman and the center team have also been named leaders of a $7.5 million U.S. Department of Defense Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant. In the framework of this MURI grant, the researchers will work with Purdue University, the University of Central Florida, the University of California at Berkeley, Yale University and Cornell University to study random lasers, spasers, and optical rogue waves.