Dr. Michael Geller is hosting Dr. Mark Stockman of Georgia State University Department of Physics and Astronomy this week. His talk is entitled "New Horizons of Nanoplasmonics: from SPASER to Attoseconds."

Nanoplasmonics deals with collective electron dynamics on the surface of metal nanostructures, which arises as a result of excitations called surface plasmons. The surface plasmons localize and concentrate optical energy in nanoscopic regions creating highly enhanced local optical fields. They undergo ultrafast dynamics with timescales as short as a few hundred attoseconds. There are numerous existing applications of nanoplasmonics: nanoantennas for photovoltaic cells and LEDs, labels and tests for biology and medicine, etc. We will focus on the latest developments in nanoplasmonics. Among them is SPASER as a quantum nanoscale generator of optical fields, which has earlier been predicted and recently observed, generation of high harmonics in the EUV range, ultrafast optical modulator with THz bandwidth, generators and modulators of THz radiation, coherent control of ultrafast processes on the nanoscale, attosecond nanoplasmonic field microscope, etc.