Topic outline

  • General

    MOTIVATION

    Modern electronics, radio, and microwave techniques show fantastic achievements in device integration, miniaturization, power efficiency, and information processing speed. A device containing millions of transistors can fit into a micrometer-size volume, which is extremely small! However, as we will see in this course, miniaturization in modern electronics is reaching the limits imposed by nature. In order to qualitatively improve existing telecommunication and computing systems, we need to develop other technologies, and optical (photonic) means appear to be the most promising.

    To make optical technologies competitive, it is necessary to use the most recent advances in the field of metamaterials (artificial materials designed to achieve advantageous and unusual electromagnetic and optical properties) and nanophotonics (controlling light at nanoscale).

    Metamaterials and nanophotonics aims to control electromagnetic waves using elemenents significally smaller than the wavelength.

    This course offers a unified description of metamaterials and metasurfaces, beginning with fundamentals of materials and photonic crystals and their underlying electromagnetic properties before introducing plasmonic effects and key metamaterial configurations. The fundamental aspects of the electromagnetic part of nanophotonics will be presented, giving practical examples of nanostructures for miniaturization of optical components, energy harvesting, and sensing. In addition, recent developments in research are also presented along with cutting-edge applications in the field.

    The course is organized by the research group of Theoretical and Applied Electromagnetics of Complex Media. You can find more information at   meta.aalto.fi.

    The course is suitable for second-year MSc students and post-graduates students specializing in radio science and engineering, applied physics, optics and photonics.

    CONTENT AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES

    ·      Electromagnetic waves in media, electromagnetic and optical properties of materials

    ·      Photonic crystals

    ·      Plasmonic nanoparticles and plasmonic waveguides

    ·      Metamaterials

    ·      Metasurfaces

    ·      Review of applications

    After this course, students will understand the limitations of electronic design and the need for subwavelength optical devices.  They will be able to explain the foundations of light-mater interactions and the electromagnetic response of media at different frequencies. Students will understand the principle and purpose of plasmonics. Students will recognize the possibilities and limitations of tailoring the electromagnetic properties of structured materials. They can identify different nanophotonic applications of nanostructures, understand their role, and reflect on their advantages and disadvantages.

    CONTACT SESSIONS
    • Mondays 14:15-16:00, online
    • Thursday 10:15-12:00, online
    Detailed description of the schedule can be found here. We will most likely use  zoom for the online lectures and exercise sessions

    WORKLOAD

    The planned workload is 137 h corresponding to a 5-cr course. There may be, however, individual variation due to the depth of prerequisite knowledge and individual skills.

    TEXTBOOK AND  OTHER MATERIALS

    The main textbook of this course, An Introduction to Metamaterials and Nanophotonics, will be available in September October from Cambridge University Press site.

    http://meta.aalto.fi/images/books/intro_meta_cover.jpg

    Additional materials, such as lecture notes, slides and video presentations, will be provided during the course.

     

    CONTACT INFORMATION

    Lecturers: Profs. Sergei Tretyakov and Constantin Simovski

    Assistants: Dr. Ana Díaz-Rubio, MSc. Francisco Cuesta Soto, MSc. Reza Heydarian