College of Science & Engineering
Twin Cities
The Ferry group studies the optical properties of nanostructured materials, guiding and concentrating light into nanoscale dimensions to interact with other materials. In particular, the group studies approaches to solar energy conversion based on changing the way that light is absorbed inside materials, investigates methods to direct and enhance light emission in solid state lighting, and creates tunable and switchable metamaterial systems. Recent work has demonstrated chiral metamaterials that can switch the direction of rotation in response to an applied stimulus and diffuse light concentrators that enhance performance of solar cells for building integrated photovoltaics.
Computational research is an integal part of this research, where finite element based models are used to design nanostructures and understand the nanoscale mechanisms of light propagation in detail. These calculations are ultimately correlated with experimental measurements.