Developing advanced photonic materials for controlling light-matter interactions

Multimaterial 3D printing at the microscale

LMI EFRC annual team meeting

Gold-coated nano crescents for plasmon-enhanced upconversion

The LMI team is developing nanostructures and absorbers for solar energy conversion

LMI is devoted to new designs and materials for photovoltaics that utilize the entire solar spectrum

Laser-enhanced direct ink writing of freestanding metallic microstructures

Research Groups

Research Group 4: Programmable Assembly of Photonic and Electronic Architectures

RG Leader: Jennifer Lewis
Affiliated PIs: Harry Atwater, Paul Braun, Nate Lewis, Ralph Nuzzo, John Rogers, Eli Yablonovitch

(clockwise from upper left) Spanning ITO microelectrodes (J. Lewis, UIUC); light-directed pattern formation (N. Lewis, Caltech); growth of 3D optoelectronic III-V photonic crystal (P. Braun & J. Rogers, UIUC); Si microwire array photovoltaics (H. Atwater & N. Lewis, Caltech)

New synthetic methods have enabled complex three-dimensional solar absorber architectures that were previously not possible to make. The RG4 team is exploring new protocols for light-directed materials synthesis and fabrication for capturing, converting, and controlling solar energy. These methods combine advanced forms of characterization and modeling with bottom-up and top-down fabrication, bridging mesoscopic length scales—nanoscale, sub-micron, and many-micron-to-millimeters—needed for photon energy capture and conversion.

RG-4 Research Projects include:

Light-directed growth of complex, 3D photonic mesostructures
Fabrication of optical, thermal, and electrical mesostructures using light-enhanced 3D printing
3D mesoscopic structures for highly efficient light absorption and emission