Scientific American Article Names Researcher As One of Top 50 Technological Leaders

  • Published
  • By Maria Callier (Quantech)
  • AFOSR Public Affairs
An Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded researcher is included in the "2006 Scientific American List of 50 Leaders in Science and Technology" for building circuits using light at nanometer scales.

Dr. Nader Engheta, professor of electrical and systems engineering and professor of bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science, was honored for his work in plasmonics using circuit elements. These elements work with light instead of electricity. They use both metal (inductors) and non-metal materials (optical capacitors) to create fluctuations in the electric field associated with the light. His research is paving the way towards nanocircuits. Nanocircuits could provide high-capacity data storage, or "nanobarcodes," at optical wavelength and lenses with higher resolutions that could allow scientists to view minute objects from far away.

The award, highlighted in the December issue of Scientific American, honors 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organizations who have shown outstanding technological leadership in the past year.

"Supermicroscopy may become an important element for the future imaging system in various Air Force platforms. Another interesting and important application is in the miniaturization of devices and components which will eventually lead to lighter weight and smaller volume for future airborne platforms," said Dr. Engheta. Though there are conflicting features to be overcome in working with plasmonics, including material loss and narrow bandwidth, Dr. Engheta envisions a future in which nanocircuits will be "interfaced" with biological structures because of their similarity to entities like collections of molecules.

"I would like to test some of these ideas and see what we can learn from such tests which will then help us to push the envelope in the theory side," he said. To view the article featuring Dr. Engheta visit the Scientific American Web site at http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=CA663E2C-E7F2-99DF-3B212D4B44CF6D05 .