Resonant Photonics

Our work spans the full range from fundamental science to working devices, unified by a focus on resonant photonics: micro- and nano-scale structures that trap and shape light in tiny volumes — organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and other organic microcavities, thin-film filters, whispering-gallery resonators, exciton-polariton systems. Confining light this tightly changes how it behaves. In the strong coupling regime, for example, light and matter merge into hybrid quasiparticles called polaritons, giving rise to effects beyond the reach of today's optoelectronic devices and enabling new light sources, filters and displays.

The same microscopic resonators become remarkably powerful when placed inside or against living cells. As interferometric force sensors they map the piconewton forces a cell exerts on its surroundings; as miniature lasers they report on a cell's interior and mechanical activity; and as light-emitting arrays built on a chip they can stimulate individual neurons in the brain. Underpinning all of this is the design and fundamental study of new materials, tailored to the photonic devices and biological systems they are built into.

The Gather Lab is the founding group of the Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics (HCNB), whose shared fabrication, imaging and cell-culture facilities underpin much of the work described here.