Undergraduate physics student Grace Cordes and Electrical Engineering student Daniel White head off to the 98th annual Frontiers in Optics/Laser Science conference. This year the conference is being held in Tuscon, AZ from October 19th to the 23rd. Both students work the physics department newest faculty, Dr. Lyuba Kuznetsova in the areas of Optics. Both students are participating in the conference by presenting their latest research at the poster session of this conference. See below for their abstracts.
Grace Cordes
Title: “Noninvasive Nanoparticles Detection Using Silicon Microdisks”
Abstract:
We demonstrate a noninvasive ultra-sensitive biodetection platform using a 2μm diameter silicon microcavity by measuring the resultant resonance frequency shift in the microcavity when a nanoparticle (e.g., viruses) is in contact with the microdisk. Results show detection and sizing of particles (e.g., HIV virus) down to a single nanoparticle.
Daniel White
Title: “Fabrication and Characterization of SiO2/Al Nanolayered Metamaterial”
Abstract:
We have fabricated and characterized a SiO2/AL nanolayered metamaterial using sputtering technique. The Al layer thickness was adjusted based on effective medium approximation to achieve hyperbolic dispersion in visible spectral range. Sputtering parameters (RF and DC powers, chamber pressure) were varied to find optimal conditions for low loss metamaterial.