Event FinderEMBS:Nanophotonics for Biomedical Applications
- Starts
- Ends
- Format
- In person
- Location
- 510, Bldg: Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering & Computer Science, 2155 East Wesley Avenue, Denver, CO 80210
About This Event
Nanophotonics enables unprecedented control over the propagation, absorption, and emission of light at the nanoscale. In particular, surface plasmons—collective oscillations of electrons at metal surfaces—provide a powerful mechanism for concentrating light into extremely small regions and producing strong local electromagnetic-field enhancement. These properties are creating new opportunities for sensing, imaging, energy conversion, and biomedical technologies. One emerging frontier in plasmonics is the enhancement of nonlinear optical processes, including luminescence upconversion. In upconversion, lower-energy photons are absorbed and converted into higher-energy emitted light. Unlike conventional nonlinear frequency-conversion processes, luminescence upconversion can operate efficiently under low-intensity, incoherent illumination. This characteristic makes it especially attractive for applications such as bioimaging, biosensing, and solar-energy conversion, where traditional nonlinear optical techniques may be difficult to employ. This talk will begin with an introduction to surface plasmons, nanophotonics, and frequency-upconversion processes. Dr. Park will then describe the electrodynamic principles governing luminescence upconversion in nanophotonic environments and present spectroscopic studies of photonically enhanced upconversion. These studies help identify the mechanisms and factors responsible for enhancement throughout the various stages of the upconversion process.