The Mid-Infrared Photonics group is a research group affiliated with the Micro and Nanotechnology Lab (MNTL) at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.  Our group studies mid-infrared (mid-IR) emitters, detectors, and photonic devices for applications in Defense and Security, Sensing, and Communications.

Please use this website to learn more about our lab and our research.  If you have any questions about the group, the Micro and Nanotechnology Lab, or the UIUC ECE Department, feel free to get in touch!

-Dan Wasserman

Assistant Professor

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

Latest News:

4-21-2013:  Johnny (King Group, UIUC), Stephanie, and Chris's (Podolskiy Group, UML) paper "Near-field infrared absorption of plasmonic semiconductor microparticles studied using atomic force microscope infrared spectroscopy", published in Applied Physics Letters.  Congrats all!

4-10-2013:  Daniel Zuo's paper "Direct observation of minority carrier lifetime improvement in InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice photodiodes via interfacial layer control" published in Appl. Phys. Lett.  Congrats Daniel!

4-02-2013: Will, Stephanie, Gino and Tom's paper "Strong absorption and selective emission from engineered metals with dielectric coatings" published in Optics Express!

3-26-2013: Stephanie's paper "Epitaxial growth of engineered metals for mid-infrared plasmonics" published in J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B.

1-19-2013: Our invited review paper “Towards nano-scale photonics with micro-scale photons: the opportunities and challenges of mid-infrared plasmonics”, published online at Nanophotonics.

12-20-2012: Our collaborator's (Daehwan Jung, Yuncheng Song, and Prof. Minjoo Larry Lee, Yale University) paper "2.8um emission from type-I quantum wells grownm on InAsxP1-2/InP metamorphic graded buffers" published in Applied Physics Letters with Lan Yu as a co-author.  Congratulations to Daehwan and Lan!!

9-5-2012: Lan's paper "Electroluminescence from Nanosphere Lithography fabricated Quantum Dots " published in Applied Physics Letters.  Congratulations to Lan!!

5-14-2012: Stephanie's paper "Mid-infrared designer metals" published in Optics Express.  Congratulations to Stephanie!!

4-24-2012: Joshua Mason successfully defends his PhD dissertation: "Selective Thermal Emission from Mid-Infrared Plasmonic and Metamaterial Structures".  Congratulations to Josh!!

4-23-2012: David Adams successfully defends his PhD dissertation: "Plasmonic beam steering and designer metals in the mid-infrared".  Congratulations to David!!

10-26-2011: Josh's paper "Strong Coupling of Molecular and Mid-Infrared Perfect Absorber Resonances" published in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.  Congratulations to Josh!!

9-15-2011: David A., Troy, David S.'s paper "Enhanced Light Funneling Through Subwavelength Apertures Using Epsilon Near Zero Materials" published in Physical Review Letters!  Congratulations to David A., Troy, and David S.!!

6-20-2011: Kevin's paper "Voltage-controlled active mid-infrared plasmonic devices" published in the Journal of Applied Physics Letters.  Congratulations to Kevin, Troy, and David A.!!

6-15-2011: Josh's paper "Strong absorption and selective thermal emission from midinfrared metamaterials " published in Applied Physics Letters.  Congratulations to Josh and Shaun!!!

Post-Doc Positions Available : We are currently looking to hire a post-doctoral research associate in Experimental Optics: Design, fabrication, and characterization of mid-IR photonic and plasmonic structures for security and defense applications.  Applicants must have PhD, experience with optical characterization, preferably in the mid-IR, and cleanroom/fabrication experience.

All applicants please send CV, Cover Letter, and contact information for 3 references to dwass@illinois.edu

4-27-2011: Our paper "Multiscale Beam Evolution in Corrugated Plasmonic Structures" published in Optics Express.  Congratulations to David A. and Suko!!!

3-31-2011: Congratulations to Troy Ribaudo after his successful thesis defense today!!!

1-25-2011: Professor Wasserman wins NSF CAREER award.

1-20-2011: Our paper "Observation of Rabi Splitting from Surface Plasmon Coupled Conduction State Transitions in Electrically Excited InAs Quantum Dots" is published in Nano-Letters.  Congrats David and Troy!!

11-21-2010: Josh's paper "Selective Emission from patterned steel" is published in Optics express.  Congrats Josh!!

9-15-2010: David S. wins the Physics Department First Year Graduate Student Award.  Congratulations David!!

5-21-2010: David A.'s Plasmonic Mid-Infrared Beam Steering paper published in Appllied Physics Letters!

5-12-2010: Troy Ribaudo wins the 2010 Top Graduate Student in the Physics Department Award.  Congratulations Troy!

3-23-2010: Xifeng's nanolithographically defined QD paper published in J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B!

3-18-2010: Photonics Center hosts the second UML Photonics Center Physics Activity Day Challenge!

David Brooks GraniteGeek column on our Physics I class in the Nashua Telegraph

See the trailer for my Physics I class this semester:

10/22/09: Dr. Wasserman wins AFOSR Young Investigator Award.