Light and Heat, Re-imagined
At the Raman lab, we seek to understand how light and heat interact with metamaterials and nanoscale optical structures and devices, with the goal of enabling new technologies. In particular, we are motivated by the possibility of enabling fundamentally new approaches to renewable energy, information processing, sensing, displays and communication systems.
Led by Prof. Aaswath Raman, our research interests span a range of topics, including nanophotonics, photovoltaics, computational methods, machine learning and energy systems. Developments in these fields have allowed us to control light-matter interaction in new and extraordinary ways that we’ve just scratched the surface of. They are thus vital and important frontiers of scientific inquiry with the potential for near-term impact in how we deal with a remarkably broad array of sectors in our economy.
In the recent past, a highlight of our work has been in investigating a mechanism known as radiative sky cooling. We have shown that using nanophotonic and metamaterials approaches one can harness a ubiquitous and renewable source of energy that remains largely unexploited: the cold of the universe. You can watch Prof. Raman’s TED Talk on the subject to learn more.
We are grateful for funding support from a range of sponsors:
