MANNA LAB

Our research is at the nexus of nanotechnology and optics! We use light to excite single nanostructures (a few tens of nano-meters in dimensions!); and probe their interactions with light using optical spectroscopy. Currently, we are looking into the possibility of enhancement and control of "magnetic" light-matter interactions in high-index dielectric nanoparticles, metamaterials, rare earth ions, etc. For more details, see RESEARCH.

Another area we recently started exploring is Biophotonics! We are currently working on developing a Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence  (TIRF) microscope for imaging apical cell surface to understand intraflagellar (IFT) transport in cilia, in collaboration with Engelke Lab and Kim Lab at ISU.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:

• July 2023, We received the inaugural Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS) grant, in collaboration with Engelke Lab and Kim Lab  from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Illinois State.

• July 2023, Our article on "Resonant coupling of molecular excitons and optical anapoles" is published in Applied Optics!

• December 2022, Our work on "Nanophotonic Effects in Mid-index Mesoscale Materials" is published in Advanced Optical Materials!

• July 2022, We have been awarded $288, 202 from the Div. of Material Research (DMR), National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award # 2208240) to unravel nanophotonic phenomena in mesoscale dielectric particles!

• February 2022, Our work with Biswas Lab on "Fabrication of TiO2 nanodot films" is published in Journal of Applied Physics!

• August 2021, We are awarded $403,900 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award # 2116612) for acquisition for Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) at ISU!

• March 2020, Our manuscript on "Non-radiating Optical Anapoles"  is published in the Physical Review Letters!