Watching electrons, atoms and molecules dynamics directly with light has been a dream for decades. I will show here how it is possible to use plasmonic metals to achieve extreme nano- and pico-photonics, where light is trapped below 1nm cubed, a billion-fold tighter than with any dielectric resonator. This provides access to optically-induced forces at the nanoscale, to watching and controlling redox photochemistry, and to the realization of nano-machinery. These are important for a whole class of devices, from molecular sensing, understanding of surfaces, to new types of electronic information storage, as well as fundamental quantum science.

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Bio

Prof. Jeremy J. Baumberg FRS, directs a UK Nano-Photonics Centre at the University of Cambridge and is also Director of the Cambridge Nano Doctoral Training Centre, a key UK site for training PhD students in interdisciplinary Nano research. He has strong experience with Hitachi, IBM, his own spin-offs Mesophotonics and Base4. With over 25000 citations, he is a leading innovator in Nano. This has led to awards of the IoP Faraday gold Medal (2017), Royal Society Rumford Medal (2014), IoP Young Medal (2013), Royal Society Mullard Prize (2005), the IoP Charles Vernon Boys Medal (2000) and the IoP Mott Lectureship (2005). He frequently talks on NanoScience to the media, and is a strategic advisor on NanoTechnology to the UK Research Councils. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Optical Society of America, and the Institute of Physics.