A늌W

2012 Seminar

20120317(Stanford, CA)

Nanoscale photonic engineering for solar cells and information processing

Abstract:

Optics is quite different at the nanoscale compared to conventional optics. New physical phenomena arise, creating new opportunities. I will give two examples from my research in the area of device engineering.

 

First, we will look at energy, specifically in the context of solar cells.  Questions that will be discussed also include: Why do we need to manage the sunlight in solar energy conversion devices? What are the general considerations for light management? What are the fundamental advantages using nanoscale engineering?

In the second example, we will look at integrated photonics. The aim of integrated photonics is to create and manipulate light at the nanoscale on a chip for communication and sensing purposes. I will talk about some unconventional functionality enabled by combining the temporal and spatial control of photonic structures, specially, the design of the worlds first linear non-magnetic broadband integrated silicon optical isolator.

Biography:

Dr. Zongfu Yu(ڷ ʿ) is a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He has numerous publications in the area of solar energy and integrated photonics, many of which are in high-profile journals and are frequently cited. He holds 4 U.S. patents and has co-authored a number of review articles and book chapters. Besides his academic interests, Zongfu co-founded a website which has been viewed by over 10 million visitors. Zongfu is a recipient of the Stanford University Postdoc Research Award (2010). He has a Ph.D. degree (2009) in Applied Physics, a M.S. degree (2008) in Management Science and Engineering, both from Stanford University, as well as a B.S. degree (2004) in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China.