Cover Art for Nano Letters by Undergraduate Student, Andrew Land

The American Chemical Society has selected the cover art for the journal Nano Letters from an image taken in Assoc. Prof. Dalziel Wilson's Quantum Optomechanics laboratory. The image (above) was taken by Andrew Land, undergraduate in the College of Science, Physics Department The article, titled "Sub-ppm Nanomechanical Absorption Spectroscopy of Silicon Nitride" was first-authored by Mr. Land and co-authored by Wyant College of Optical Sciences graduate students Mitul Dey Chowdhury and Aman Agrawal, as well as Prof. Wilson. 

The article describes how characterizing material absorption is a significant challenge in nanophotonic systems, and how nanomechanics can help overcome this challenge and accurately measure material absorption at very low levels. Specifically, observing the frequency shift of a high-Q silicon nitride (Si3N4) membrane resonator in response to laser heating, the researchers measured the extinction coefficient (κ) of Si3N4 to be around 0.1–1 ppm for wavelengths between 532 and 1550 nm. This method can be used for diverse photonic materials, offering new insights into their absorption properties.

Congratulations to the team for having this work featured by the journal!