EE Colloquium: Nonlinear Light-Matter Interaction: Multiphysics Modeling Employing Carrier Kinetics

Alexander Kildishev of Purdue University will be the speaker.

Abstract

The carrier kinetics approach has been beneficial for describing active laser media (gain media) in response to an external pulse. This seminar will present the interaction of light with several diverse cases of nonlinear media using a semi-classical approach. The carriers of the nonlinear medium are treated quantum-mechanically with a multilevel quantum system depending on the type of material, and the electromagnetic waves are treated classically with the Maxwell equations.

The discussion is centered mainly on the work done with the finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) and the auxiliary differential equation (ADE) technique. The ADE-FDTD approach is one of the most versatile multiphysics techniques. It enables direct integration of other material properties such as nonlinearity, dispersion, nonlocality, etc. Such a multiphysics approach, built on the two-electron scheme with the Pauli exclusion principle, has been significantly enhanced with the ADE-FDTD technique by the Taflove group. The approach has been exceptionally critical for analyzing lasing dynamics in Stockman’s spasers, including their pumping, population inversion, and saturation. This effort is partially supported by DARPA/DSO EXTREME program led by Penn State (Prof. D.H.Werner).

Biography

Professor Alexander V. Kildishev works in the field of the theory and numerical models for nanophotonics. He has had several breakthrough results on negative refractive index metamaterials, optical artificial magnetic structures, loss compensation in metamaterials, plasmonic nanolasers, and optical metasurfaces, as well as optical cloaks, and hyperlenses. Recently, he has been included on Highly Cited Researchers List that recognizes world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by producing multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations in the cross-field category for the year of 2018 in Web of Science (WOS). His current h-factor is 64 WOS, 75 Google Scholar. Publications include 9 book chapters, more than 190 publications in peer-reviewed journals (above 25,000 citations); more than 90 invited seminar talks and conferences presentations, he is a co-inventor of 31 issued and pending patents (14 US patents).