Research

My research focuses on two main areas:

• Plasmonic nanostructures for surface enhanced vibrational spectroscopy
• Superwetting surfaces and coatings

Plasmonic nanostructures for surface enhanced vibrational spectroscopy

In this area, I work on fabricating plasmonic nanostructures that can enhance the vibrational signal of molecules, making it possible to quickly detect and identify small amounts of target molecules in various fields such as environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis, and food quality control. I also use simulations to study the light scattering and absorption properties of these structures, using techniques such as finite difference time domain (FDTD), the transfer matrix method (TMM), and the rigorously coupled wave analysis (RCWA) approach.

Superwetting surfaces and coatings

In the second area of my research, I study superhydrophobic surfaces that are extremely repellent to water and have a number of interesting applications such as self-cleaning windows and blood repellent devices. They are created by combining a microscopically rough surface with low surface energy, making them extremely effective at repelling water and other liquids. I am particularly interested in the potential of these surfaces to concentrate analyte molecules for use in chemical sensing techniques such as SERS to detect very small amounts of target molecules in fields such as bio-sensing and environmental monitoring of pollutants and toxic chemicals.

Codes

In addition to my research, I have also written and worked with various codes, including Matlab and Python, and have made some of these codes available on platforms such as Matlabcentral and Github.