Name:

Dr. Viktoriia Babicheva

Title:

Assistant Professor

Department:

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Describe your research in about 200 words.

My expertise is in nanophotonics and nano-optics, and my experience includes extensive numerical modeling, nanofabrication, and optical characterization. I worked on switchable materials with low optical losses to be applied for ultra-compact waveguides and efficient modulators. I developed a method to model and interpret experimental data acquired using a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) on layered materials with resonant and non-resonant properties. I studied nanoscale near-field spectroscopic properties of III-nitrides and various layered materials, such as hexagonal boron nitride, tungsten diselenide, molybdenum disulfide, and black phosphorus. Building on my expertise, currently, I focus on efficient light control and dynamic tuning of nanophotonic elements that can be achieved using resonant nanostructures. Specific interests lay in the development of hybrid metal-semiconductor designs with an emphasis on layered transition metal dichalcogenides and trichalcogenides, graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, their heterostructures, and other van der Waals materials. Nanoparticles, two-dimensional flakes, or layers of such materials can support localized and guided modes, which can be tuned by design and dynamically allowing efficient light manipulation at the nanoscale. Periodic nanostructures can support lattice resonances of a high quality factor which are sensitive to the refractive index of the surrounding environment. The results will be paramount for the further development of practical mid-infrared and terahertz ultra-compact devices for sensing and imaging.

What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?

The importance of team work.