Benoît Reynier, from Fribourg University, will give a seminar entitled Manipulating the Magnetic Part of Light on Monday May 18th at 02:00 p.m. in Pierre Cotton’s room of our Lab.
Abstract : Neglected for too long, the optical magnetic field constitutes a decisive control parameter for light–matter interactions.On the one hand, by combining near-field nanophotonics, plasmonics [1], and quantum emitters, I will demonstrate how its significant role has been revealed in the reversible optical manipulation of the criticality of a highly nonlinear complex system such as photon-avalanche process [2,3]. On the other hand, I will introduce how its action is crucial for enhancing chiral light–matter interactions, which are intrinsically weak. I will present the design of high-refractive-index (Si) and self-assembled [4] (DNA technique) antennas, combined with a Scattering Circular Dichroism (SCD) microscopy technique, making it possible to push standard chiral detection limits down to the single-molecule level.
References :
[1] Reynier, B. et al. Nearfield control over magnetic light-matter interactions. Light Sci Appl 14, 127 (2025)
[2] Lee, C. et al. Giant nonlinear optical responses from photon-avalanching nanoparticles. Nature 589, 230–235 (2021)
[3] Reynier, B. et al. Optical Magnetic-Field-Gated Criticality in Photon Avalanching Quantum Processes, in preparation
[4] Sanz‐Paz, M. et al. Color Routing and Beam Steering of Single‐Molecule Emission with a Spherical Silicon Nanoantenna. Adv Funct Materials e29955 (2026)
Invitation : Nanophotonics and components Theme
