Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits (PTL)

Director

Shanhui Fan

Lead Institution

Stanford University

Class

2018-2024

Mission

To achieve light-driven energy and information conversion systems that operate at thermodynamic limits by understanding and controlling the flow of photons, electrons, ions, and phonons in atomically-architectured materials.

Partner Institutions

Stanford
UC Berkeley
Caltech
Harvard
UIUC

Quick Facts

Single Slide Overview
Technical Summary
https://ptl.stanford.edu

BES Staff Contact

Athena Sefat; Claudia Mewes

Grand Challenges Addressed

Transformative Opportunities Addressed

Mastering Hierarchical Architectures and Beyond-Equilibrium Matter

Trans. Opp. #1

Understanding the Critical Roles of Heterogeneity, Interfaces, and Disorder

Trans. Opp. #2

Harnessing Coherence in Light and Matter

Trans. Opp. #3

Revolutionary Advances in Models, Mathematics, Algorithms, Data, and Computing

Trans. Opp. #4

Exploiting Transformative Advances in Imaging Capabilities across Multiple Scales

Trans. Opp. #5

BES Reports Addressed

Highlights

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A metallic line atop a medium biased at the edge of chaos can provide effective negative resistance for time-varying signals, outputting a larger signal compared to its input. The energy for amplification comes from the static bias applied to the medium.

The “Edge of Chaos” Amplifies Signals Without Transistors

Emulating the edge of chaos of axons enables a metal wire to overcome its resistance without cooling, thereby amplifying signals flowing inside of it.

Infrared laser light (red beam) illuminates the surface of ZrSiSe and mixes with electron oscillations enabled by an atomic force microscope (silver cone), propagating light as ray-like structures that guide the light through the interior (blue zig-zag).

What If Metals Could Conduct Light?

In the unusual world of quantum materials, metals can guide light in their interiors instead of merely reflecting it.