nanostructured optics

The research of the nanostructured optics group targets right at a highly innovative area of nanoscience. The central subject of our envisaged research is the development of nanostructured optical materials which will provide optical properties not believed to be possible from natural matter. For this purpose the group combines recent developments in such areas as waveguide arrays, photonic crystals, plasmonics, and lefthanded materials to design and realize artificial optical »metamaterials« which themselves will be used for new applications in imaging, ultra-compact light sources, nano microscopy, and optical nano manipulation. Besides the ability of nanostructured metamaterials to master light in all its properties they will make optics compatible to integrated system technology, hence providing a future to fully integrated optical units comparable to the development of microelectronics. By exploiting the so-called optical near field, unprecedented precision of optical images can be achieved with optics based on metamaterials. As a consequence of breaking the Abbe-limit we may revolutionize our perception of optics and provide the technology for the next generation lithography. Furthermore, metamaterials with engineered nonlinear properties will force the potential of new short pulsed light sources with extreme parameters and of ultrafast all-optical signal-processing applications.

To achieve these highly innovative goals the nanostructured optics group makes full use of recent developments in electromagnetic theory and in the modeling of optical waves. The group is embedded into the local research infrastructure to exploit the state of the art of nanofabrication. A diversity of optical materials and technologies are used also with the help of a number of collaborations.

Besides of pioneering a research field in Jena which will improve the regions international reputation the research group wants to attract international scientists. Furthermore by collaboration with a variety of regional partners the group follows an interdisciplinary approach for the scientific and economic exploitation of the expected results.

Research activities are concentrated on the following areas

• light propagation in microstructures and nanostructures
• optical metamaterials and photonic crystals
• plasmonics, near field optics, scanning optical nearfield microscopy
• nonlinear light-matter interaction in microstructures and nanostructures, nonlinear dynamics
• opto-optical processes in integrated optics
• photonic Bloch oscillations, optical Zener tunneling
• spatio-temporal light localization (light bullets) in microstructured fibers
• light interaction with disordered systems and Anderson localization
• application of optical communication techniques for astronomical interferometers
• efficiency enhancement of photovoltaic elements with optical nanostructures

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