Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024

Time:  Noon - 1:00 PM MST

Location: PAIS Room 2540

Speaker:

Dr. Stavroula Foteinopoulou
UNM ECE

Abstract:

Diffraction gratings are ubiquitous in optical set-ups for integrated photonics owing to their capability to transform the lateral momentum of light thus allowing to engineer the in-coupling and out-coupling of optical beams. Here, I will discuss the fundamental underlying principles that bring new exotic capabilities to these traditional components. In particular, I will show that a strongly asymmetric transmission can be obtained from a diffraction grating with pyramidal-shaped elements. Additionally, I will demonstrate on-off switching of negative beam-steering for MWIR light by incorporating into the diffraction grating a suitable non-volatile phase-change material.

Biography:

Stavroula Foteinopoulou is a Research Professor with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of New Mexico, USA. She received her Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from Iowa State University, USA and has held post-doctoral positions at the University of Namur, Belgium as well as the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of FORTH, Greece. Prior to joining the University of New Mexico, she was a Lecturer at the University of Exeter, UK. Her work in theoretical photonics focuses on conceiving new structured materials for extraordinary light control across the electromagnetic spectrum and has attracted to-date more than 3500 citations. She is the holder of one US patent, a senior member of both Optica and SPIE, and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of the European Optical Society: Rapid Publications (JEOS-RP) and a feature editor of Optical Materials Express (OPG-formerly OSA). She has also been the Chair of the annual SPIE conference Active Photonic Platforms for more than ten years. In 2016 she was recognized by the American Physical Society as an outstanding referee, which is a lifetime award.