PROBE Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: From Second-Harmonic Generation Microscopy to Plasmonic Nanoantennas

Dr. Kimani Toussaint, University of Illinois

Goergen 101

Abstract:

The application of light to help solve problems in biology and nanotechnology has become increasingly popular because of the importance of these areas to society. This talk will highlight the major bio- and nanophotonics projects pursued by the laboratory for Photonics Research of Bio/nano Environments (PROBE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We will discuss our work in biological imaging using second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. In this case, we review the quantitative SHG microscopy techniques pursued by the PROBE lab for quantifying collagen fiber organization in biological tissues. The second part of the talk will highlight some of our work on optical nanoantennas. In particular, we show how the optical parameter space, along with the nanoantenna geometric properties can be tuned for a range of applications, including light-driven particle manipulation and recording of the optical near field. The talk will conclude with a brief discussion of some of the very recent work pursued by the PROBE lab.

Location: Goergen 101