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Evelyn Hu

Faculty
  • Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering

Professor

Evelyn Hu

Contact Information

Office: Pierce Hall 112
Email: ehu [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: (617) 496-1385
Assistant: Sarah Lefebvre
Office: Cruft Hall 217
Email: sarahl [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: 617-495-6304

Education

  1. B.A., Physics, Barnard College
  2. M.S., Physics, Columbia University
  3. Ph.D., Physics, Columbia University

Research Areas

  1. Applied Physics: Electronic and Magnetic Systems and Devices
  2. Applied Physics: Materials Science
  3. Applied Physics: Optics, Electromagnetics, and Light-Matter Interactions
  4. Electrical Engineering: Photonics and Optical Devices
  5. Environmental Sciences and Engineering: Energy and Technology

Research Profile

Our ability to modulate the materials at nanometer length scales allows us to modify the electronic or photonic energy states of that material, thus transforming their properties and applications.

For example, modulating the dielectric constant of materials like GaAs, GaN or diamond, at the length scale of a wavelength, can produce exquisitely tuned optical filters, waveguides or a means to slow or store light itself. We can engineer the number and signature energies of the optical states of such ‘nanophotonic’ structures, and match them to optical sources, such as quantum dots, quantum wells or color centers in diamond.

The results so far include lasers with record low threshold values, triggered single photon sources, enhanced extraction of light from InGaN light emitting diodes, and new, coupled light-matter states. The implications are far-ranging: from energy-efficient optical sources to exploration of quantum information processing.

Sculpting nanostructures from solid state materials requires tools and processes that have high spatial precision, but which themselves introduce the minimum damage to the material.

Our group has focused on developing such techniques, while at the same time exploring the ‘bottom-up’ formation of heterogeneous materials from nanoscale building blocks. Creating new materials from composites of semiconducting, insulating and metallic nanoparticles allows the formation of truly three-dimensional structures that can display improved functionality, such as broad, engineered optical absorption, or distributed carrier collection for a large area, efficient optical absorber.

Important issues here are related to the nature of the interfaces between the nanoparticles, and controlling the ‘hierarchical’ architecture that determines the positions of the components. We have explored a variety of techniques, including a method of templating materials on a biological structure (virus), where the materials-specific linkers are specially identified peptides. We have used these to form metal-semiconductor hybrid materials.