Past Events

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Hari Padma

May 21, 2026 @ 10:00 am

Dr. Hari Padma, Case Western Reserve University Decoding light-driven quantum materials Abstract: Driving quantum materials with intense optical pulses offers a powerful means to control their behavior, leading to remarkable emergent phenomena such as photoinduced magnetic, ferroelectric, and superconducting phases. However, such phenomena are usually transient, limited to the sub-picosecond duration of the optical pulse Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Ventsislav K. Valev

March 25, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Speaker: Ventsislav K. Valev Title: Polarization-Resolved Nonlinear Optical Activity in Scattering Abstract:  Nonlinear optical activity in scattered light, first predicted in 1979, has recently become experimentally accessible. The original theory encompassed both elastic scattering and its inelastic counterpart, hyper-Raman. In elastic scattering, depending on the ratio between particle size and wavelength, light scattering is typically classified Read More

Universal Wave-Control Framework for Extremely Tunable Microwave Systems

March 23, 2026 @ 2:00 pm

Wave-domain programmability emerges as technological enabler of next-generation microwave systems for wireless communications, sensing, and wave-domain computing. In this talk, Professor Philipp Del Hougne will describe his lab's recent progress toward establishing a universal framework for controlling waves in extremely tunable microwave systems. Join us in person at the CUNY ASRC or remotely on Monday, Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Philipp Del Hougne

March 23, 2026 @ 2:00 pm

Universal wave-control framework for extremely tunable microwave systems Wave-domain programmability emerges as technological enabler of next-generation microwave systems for wireless communications, sensing, and wave-domain computing. In this talk, I will describe our recent progress toward establishing a universal framework for controlling waves in extremely tunable microwave systems. The predominance of reconfiguration mechanisms based on tunable Read More

Heterogeneously Integrated Photonic Systems for Quantum Science

March 20, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Metasurfaces, subwavelength optical interfaces that control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light, have transformed flat optics, yet extending this control from static wavefront shaping to dynamic, real-time manipulation remains a central challenge. In this talk, scientist Prasad P. Iyer will show how his lab's research addresses this challenge across increasing levels of complexity: from Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Dimitrios Sounas

March 11, 2026 @ 1:30 pm

Wave Engineering with Active Metamaterials: Nonreciprocity, Bandwidth Enhancement, and Analog Computing Modern technological systems are subject to escalating demands for miniaturization, speed, adaptability, and energy efficiency. Conventional design approaches are increasingly approaching fundamental performance limits. Overcoming these constraints requires adopting novel material platforms that are not subject to the constraints of conventional materials. To this Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Giovanni Scuri

March 9, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Heterogeneously integrated photonic systems for quantum science Photonic integration of solid-state quantum emitters offers a promising route to scalable on-chip quantum technologies. Achieving this goal requires combining material platforms that provide both strong opto-electronic tunability and robust qubit coherence. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress in characterizing and enhancing the coherence of Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Javier Garcia De Abajo

February 19, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Dr. Javier Garcia De Abajo (ICREA) Title: When free electrons meet light: Quantum interactions at the nanoscale Abstract: At the intersection of electron microscopy and attosecond science, ultrafast electron microscopy has emerged as a research frontier aiming to investigate material excitations with an unprecedented combination of spatiotemporal resolution, while also granting us access to quantum Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Itai Cohen

February 9, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Dr. Itai Cohen, Cornell University Electronically Integrated Autonomous Microscopic Robots Abstract - What would we be able to do if we could build electronically integrated machines the at a scale of 100 microns? At this scale, semiconductor devices are small enough that we could put the computational power of the spaceship Voyager onto a machine Read More

Photonics Initiative Seminar: Rainer Hillenbrand

February 3, 2026 @ 11:00 am

Dr. Rainer Hillenbrand, CIC nanoGUNE Polaritonic Insights from Near-field Nanoscopy: Flat-Band Ultrastrong Coupling and Plasmons in Gold Monolayers Abstract - Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and nanoscale Fourier-transform infrared (nano-FTIR) spectroscopy probe light–matter interactions at the nanoscale using the sharp tip an atomic force microscope (AFM) as an optical antenna. The illuminated tip generates Read More