Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy Colloquia

Summary: Large-scale order in materials emerges from local interactions among their constituent components. When the components are passive, they self-assemble into equilibrium structures that are well described by minimizing the free energy. When the components consume energy, detailed balance is broken: the material self-organizes out of equilibrium, and its final structure becomes far more difficult to predict. My work builds experimental systems in which the components can be controlled and the resulting organization measured, so that the two can be connected through theory.

Title: “Chiral Nanostructures and Giant Optical Activity”. Chiral nanoparticles and assemblies represent a large and rapidly evolving class of biomimetic materials. They change the perception of chirality in chemistry, and they enable the facile synthesis of chemical structures with previously inaccessible complexity and structural sophistication. Chiral nanostructures also offer novel technological venues for information and biomedical technologies due to 10-1000 times increase in magnitude of polarization rotation compared to classical chiral materials.