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The 363rd forum: Non-Hermitian Physics and Wave Transport in Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microresonators

Date: 2019-06-10
Time: 13:30
Venue: M253
Speaker: Professor Lan Yang

Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, Washington University

报告人简介:

Professor Lan Yang is the Edwin H. and Florence G. Skinner professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. She received B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China and received her Ph.D. in applied physics from Caltech in 2005. Her research interests have been focusing on the fundamental understanding of high-quality photonic whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonators and their applications for sensing, lasing, light harvesting, and communications. Recently, her research interests expanded to parity-time-symmetry and non-Hermitian physics in high-quality WGM resonators, which have led to a series of new discoveries for unconventional control of light transport in photonic structures. She is the recipient of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for her work on chip-scale microlasers and her pioneering studies of nanoparticle detection using high-quality optical resonators. She has published ~100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature, Nature Photonics, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Physics, and PNAS, etc. She is a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA). Currently, she serves as the editor-in-chief for Photonics Research.

报告摘要:

In the last 15 years Whispering-Gallery-Mode (WGM) resonator-based photonic systems have emerged as frontrunners in a variety of areas from fundamental scientific research to practical applications including communication, sensing and public health. They provide unprecedented capability to trap light in a highly confined volume smaller than a strand of human hair; a light beam can travel around the boundary of a WGM resonator over a million times, which significantly enhances light-matter interactions, creating the potential for a wealth of new scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. In this talk I will discuss our recent exploration of fundamental physics associated with non-Hermitian physics, such as parity-time symmetry (PT-symmetry) and light-matter interactions around an exceptional point (EP), in high-quality WGM resonators, which can be used to achieve a new generation of optical systems enabling unconventional control of light flow. Here non-Hermitian physics will be presented as an alternative guideline to design resonator structures with new physical behavior and innovative functionality. Specifically, I will talk about nonreciprocal light transmission in a parity-time-(PT)-symmetric resonator system. I will also explain how to enable chiral modes and directional lasing by operating a laser resonator around an EP. Of special note, sensing is an intriguing application that will benefit from unique features of non-Hermitian resonators operated around an EP. A non-Hermtian phonon laser tuned in the vicinity of EPs will be discussed briefly. In the end, I will present a new generic and hand-held microresonator platform that was transformed from a table-top setup, which might help release the power of high-Q WGM resonator technologies. I will wrap up my talk with an overview of Photonics Research, a journal to promote and disseminate high-quality research in photonics and optics.

邀 请 人:许秀来(电话:8264 9820)

联 系 人:李园园(电话:8264 9364)