The laboratory for Nanoscale Electro-Optics
Methods and Equipment
Theory and simulations
Each experiment is backed with a thorough theoretical investigation- from the fundamental equations to numerical simulations of the electro-magnetic fields, and their interaction with the nanostructure. We use commercial simulation software such as FDTD by Lumerical and finite-elements by COMSOL, as well as numerical simulation code which we write for our specific neesds.
Fabrication
The samples of the Nano-Electro-Optical structures that we investigate usually constructed of nanometric sized feature, which require electron beam lithography techniques to build and scanning electron microscopy to see. For such kind of sample fabrication and characterization, and more, we use the facilities of the Tel Aviv University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
Light sources and measurement devices
In order to excite the optical structure and measure, our lab is equipped with the cutting edge technology of light sources and measurement devices. We use ultra-fast laser systems (Solstice ACE+TOPAS+NIRUVis by SpectraPhysics and Chameleon OPO-Vis by Coherent) to generate high power tunable pulses in the near IR and visible spectral range. For detection and measurement we use a variety of spectrometers, single photon detectors, scientific cameras and more embedded with our optical setups. A near-field optical microscope allows us to measure the electro-magnetic interaction at the subwavelngth scale, and THz time domain spectroscopy (TDS) systems enable the invetsigation of the less familiar part of the electro-magnetic spectrum- The THz band.