Physics Seminar: "Photonic structures based on hybrid nanocomposites and graphene"

Wright State University Physics Department Seminar
Friday, November 7, 2014 at 3:00pm in 204 Fawcett

"Photonic structures based on hybrid nanocomposites and graphene"
By Saima Husaini, Wyle/AFRL

ABSTRACT:Hybrid systems combining individual optical, electronic and mechanical properties of two or more constituents have the potential of resulting in enhanced functional materials. In this talk I will discuss how graphene, metal nanoparticles and colloidal quantum dots may be functionalized as composites and tuned to suit device function. Work done to integrate various photonic structures with these active materials will be presented. Particular attention has been given to studying the nonlinear optical properties of these composites as applicable to the development of devices such as saturable absorbers and optical limiters. In addition, work carried out to exploit such nonlinear behavior in various graphene-based materials will be discussed. Furthermore, preliminary fabrication and characterization conducted to integrate the graphene materials in a device will be presented.

BIO: Saima Husaini joined the Sensors Directorate at Air Force Research Laboratory as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow and currently works as a research engineer at optoelectronics test lab at the Sensors Directorate WPAFB. Prior to joining AFRL, she was a graduate student at Prof. Vinod Menon’s group at the Laboratory of Nano and Micro Photonics at the City University of New York (CUNY) where she graduated with a PhD in physics in 2011. She received her Bachelors with Honors in Physics and her Masters in physics at Queens College. Her doctoral work focused on the integration of quantum dots and metal nanoparticle composites in photonic structures. Currently her work focuses on the study of graphene-based materials for the development of nonlinear devices such as saturable absorbers and optical limiters.