Antennas are everywhere in today's wireless world: they're the front-end components in satellites, cell phones, and laptops that establish communication by sending and receiving signals, usually in the MHz-GHz range. However, according to Maxwell’s equations, the same principles of directing and receiving an excitation should work at different scales. So, one might wonder: “Can a TV antenna send a beam of light?” And the answer is “Yes, optical nanoantennas can do just that!"

Optical nanoantennas are among the most promising areas of research in nanophotonics due to their ability to bridge the size and impedance gap between subwavelength emitters and free space radiation. They are highly valuable for developing new optical sensors, solar cells, quantum communication systems, and for enhancing emission and controlling directionality across a broad wavelength range.

The design of an optical nanoantenna often starts with scaling down its radio-frequency counterparts. One of the most versatile antenna designs is the arrayed antenna system. Typically, the elements in an array are identical, but this is not necessary, offering wide opportunities for controlling the radiation pattern.

This project focuses on developing innovative optical antenna designs and testing optical array antennas for molecular sensing and electromagnetic field localization.

A background in electromagnetic  wave propagation will be required to understand basic principle of how nanoantennas operate. The ability to process data using computer packages such as Matlab and/or Mathematica is also desireable.