The optical properties of a material can be changed in two fundamental ways: by varying the chemical composition of the material (creating a composite) or by varying the sub-wavelength structure of the material (creating a metamaterial). When it comes to light in the visible spectrum, the demand for large quantities of intricate, potentially three-dimensional, nanostructured materials can be met using block copolymer self-assembly. In this talk, we will explore the process of creating block copolymer nanostructures with a very particular, chiral morphology—the gyroid—and will highlight some of the unusual optical properties associated with gyroid-structured metamaterials.
James is a Junior Research Fellow in Science Communication at King’s College, University of Cambridge, as well as an Affiliated Lecturer, Nano Doctoral Training Centre, Department of Physics, and a member of the Bio-inspired Photonics Group, Department of Chemistry. He has an MEng in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, a PhD from the University of Cambridge, and completed a postdoc at the Institute for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago. His scientific research interests concern self-assembled nanophotonic structures and device.
