Plasmon-Enhanced Light-Matter Interactions at the Nanoscale

Wonmi Ahn

MSN Graduate Program and UNAM

Noble metal nanoparticles supporting collective oscillations of conduction electrons, i.e., surface plasmon resonances, exhibit excellent light-focusing ability and high spectral sensitivity to changes in the surrounding medium. These capabilities explain the increasing role of plasmonic nanomaterials in nanoimaging, sensing, energy, and biomedical applications. However, high dissipative losses in plasmonic metals and the lack of mass-production methods have been severe bottlenecks preventing their practical use in many applications. In this seminar, I will show some of the approaches we have taken in the past to overcome the challenges in the field of plasmonics, which have eventually led to the development of new classes of optoplasmonic materials and bottom-up nanofabrication methods. I will also show how we exploited the dissipative plasmonic loss, which has been a significant drawback, to generate hot carriers that drive chemical reactions. Beyond plasmonics, I will also discuss light-matter interactions in the strong coupling regime (for both excitonic and vibrational absorbers), which have great potential to modify materials’ physical and chemical properties by light. The talk will conclude with future research directions that may spark interdisciplinary collaboration within the UNAM community.

Konuşmacı hakkında

Wonmi Ahn obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Soongsil University in South Korea and a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Utah in the United States. She undertook postdoctoral research at Boston University in the United States and continued her research at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow of the United States and later worked as a Materials Research Scientist. She has published more than 21 research papers, including one U.S. Patent on a nanofabrication method based on electroless metal plating technique. Her research interests include light-matter interactions in the strong coupling regime, plasmonic nanomaterials for photocatalysis, plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemistry, and photonic-plasmonic hybrid materials for sensing applications.

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