ICE seminar: « Cavities and metamaterials for infrared optoelectronics… »

Abstract

The fundamental laws of electromagnetism, encapsulated in Maxwell’s four equations, have been known for more than a century and a half. Yet, they continue to be a rich source of discoveries and inspiration for new concepts, including photonic crystals and metamaterials. In this seminar, I will illustrate how these concepts can be harnessed to develop and enhance semiconductor devices operating in the Terahertz (THz) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectral ranges. I will focus on two basic architectures that are well known from the low-frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum: the double-metal patch antenna and the inductor-capacitor (LC) resonator. I will show how these simple oscillator concepts can be implemented at much higher frequencies and integrated with semiconductor quantum heterostructures. Such implementations have enabled the development of infrared detectors with enhanced performance, while also providing a platform for exploring the so-called ultra-strong light–matter coupling regime. Finally, I will discuss how further developments of these architectures could open new avenues for probing the quantum properties of Terahertz photons.

Bio

Yanko Todorov is a CNRS Director of Research at the Laboratory of Physics and Materials Studies  (LPEM) at ESPCI Paris – PSL. He received his Master’s degree from the École Normale Supérieure (Paris) and, in 2006, defended his PhD on the Purcell effect in the terahertz (THz) range at the Laboratory for Photonics and Nanostructures (Marcoussis). He joined the CNRS in 2009 and has since conducted his research at several laboratories in Paris, including MPQ (Université Paris Cité, 2009–2019), LPENS (ENS–PSL, 2019–2024), and, since 2024, LPEM at ESPCI Paris–PSL. His research focuses on cavity-enhanced infrared semiconductor devices and on strong and ultra-strong light–matter coupling in the terahertz and mid-infrared spectral ranges. His work combines nanophotonics, semiconductor physics, and quantum electrodynamics to explore novel light–matter interaction phenomena and their applications in infrared and terahertz technologies.